Alternative Character Interpretation: This causes a lot of the broken bases. Every character gets one. Is Victor a Noble Demon without whom the show would be nowhere, or is he a Villain Sue whom the show would better off not having? Is Jack completely justified in constantly trying to regain his family, or is he a loser trying to hold on to something he really should abandon? Even minor characters can’t avoid this: Is Esther a really good friend to Katherine, her employer, or is Esther an annoying idiot, or both?
Ass Pull: After over a year of drama with the JT plot line, after they reveal him to be alive and well they decide to try and redeem back to the good hearted if troubled man he was before. Given he was abusive both emotionally and physically to Victoria and Mack, and the attempted murder of Victor how do they explain that away? They go the old General Hospital Franco direction, blaming it all on a brain tumor changing his personality.
Award Snub: Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki) once jokingly referred to herself as "the non-nominated Susan Lucci", citing that Susan Lucci has at least been nominated for multiple Emmys (19), whereas despite having been an Iconic and principle character on the show since 1979, she has one nomination to her name.
Ironically the only year she was nominated, 1999, was the same year Susan Lucci finally broke her legendary losing streak.
Designated Villain: Carmen Mesta, for filing charges against Dru after she breaks into her apartment and trashes it and later physically assaults her, angry over Carmen's fling with her husband Neil. Despite Neil outright witnessing Dru's crazed behavior, somehow Carmen was the bad guy in the whole mess when she had every right to press charges and be concerned for her safety.
Draco in Leather Pants: Quite a few of the most popular characters started out as villains, including Victor, Nina, Phyllis, Michael, Kevin and Chloe. They turned out to be popular with viewers so they were retooled by writers to be more likable, albeit still with an edge.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Traci Abbott is a secondary character, especially compared to her siblings, but viewers tend to really like her, since she's one of the few genuinely kind and well-adjusted characters who tries her best to mediate her family's constant drama. It helps that she's also The Woobie. A common sentiment is, "Can't Traci catch a break for once?!"
Viewers got beaten over the head with this one during the Carmen/Neil/Dru storyline. Carmen and Neil entered into a completely mutual flirtation/fling while he was estranged from Dru after learning of her infidelity. When Dru discovered the relationship, she broke into Carmen's apartment and trashed it. Carmen promptly pressed charges, and when Dru physically assaulted her, she pressed charges about that too. From then on, every discussion of Carmen was as though she were some Fatal Attraction-type who had wickedly tried to seduce innocent, Happily Married Neil and had had Dru arrested purely to be vindictive.
Of course everyone knows Adam killed Delia in a hit and run...wait a minute didn't he get out of the car to check and see what he hit and only drove off after not noticing an obscured by darkness Delia and seeing a limping but over all unharmed puppy scamper off the road?
Jerkass Woobie: Most of the characters, really. Most characters have done something that could be considered unforgivable in some way or another, but most characters also have some sort of tragic backstory, redeeming quality, or moments of humanity that let you sympathize with them at least a little. And of course, this being a soap, misfortunes befall everyone constantly, meaning that even a character you loathe is prone to be hit with some terrible twist of fate that makes you go, "Okay, well, no one deserves that."
LGBT Fanbase: After the Tessa/Mariah storyline started, a lot of younger LGBT people began watching.
Sheila remains to this day the show's most beloved batshit insane villain, just because of how evil, between her drugging and raping Lauren's husband, stealing Lauren's baby, undergoing cosmetic surgery to look like Phyllis and that's just her acts on Y&R, with her going on to The Bold and the Beautiful committing such actions as shoot both Brooke and Taylor, "killing" the latter, she got better, dropping Ridge into a burning furnace, and manipulated evidence to make it look like Quinn was having an affair in order to sink her claws into Eric.
Graham. He was eventually revealed to be an utterly evil bastard, but a lot of people expressed sadness when he was killed off. He may have been manipulative, vindictive, and ruthless, but damned if he wasn't entertaining.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the new ''The Young And The Restless. Explanation On August 2nd, 2022, Entertainment Weekly published a feature on Amazon's series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. Included in that feature was a video montage of the series' central characters looking at the camera before fading into the next character. The people were quick to notice the similarities between the feature and the intro of The Young And The Restless.
Never Live It Down: Summer and Fenmore cyberbullying Jamie to the point that he attempted to jump off the roof of a skyscraper, and getting off scot free for driving a kid to suicide. Needless to say they've been hated by the fanbase ever since, Fenmore, the one who kept going with the abuse of Jamie, not even being allowed back on the show, as the time they tried to bring him back, the backlash was so bad, he was almost immediately Put on a Bus right back out of town.
Everyone's reaction when Sharon/Victor was a thing for awhile. (A very short while, as the audience pushback was unable to go ignored.)
Similarly, the reaction to Summer seducing Billy (and him later sleeping with her to get back at Phyllis) was either "No!" or "Ewwwwwwwww."
Then there is Summer/Kyle and Theo/Lola, mostly hated as they broke up the popular Kyle/Lola, and acting as if said relationship meant nothing, as well as rewarding both Summer and Theo's despicable acts to break the two apart.
Replacement Scrappy: A large part of the reason Summer is so disliked is because she's essentially Phyllis 2.0, displaying a lot of her mother's worst qualities, but without any of her redeeming characteristics to balance them out.
With no help from the writers whatsoever, Sharon Newman. The character remains a fan favorite through some of the most infuriating, Squick inducing and reviled plot-lines, all due to Sharon Case's amazing ability to act above them. So less Rescued and more Refuses to Sink Into the Scrappy Heap.
A more traditional example is Hilary Curtis. She was reviled, both in-universe and out, for much of her time on the show. However, during her 2017/2018 storyline, the writers seemed determined to drag her back into the audience's good graces, and it mostly worked, with Hilary being given a Heel Realization, a lot more Pet the Dog moments, a genuinely sympathetic backstory, and a Morality Pet in the form of Shauna. Also used in-universe, as several characters gradually realize that Hilary truly is trying to change — namely, Devon (who wound up marrying her), Jack (who gradually came to confide in Hilary), Phyllis (who became her best friend), and to a lesser extent, Mariah (who still found Hilary annoying, but was also able to see the good in her). Her genuinely tragic death basically cemented it, as even several of Hilary's detractors agreed, as mean as she was, she didn't deserve that.
Frequently subverted with Summer, who will occasionally get a moment of Jerkass Has a Point, show some remorse for her past actions, or at least display a degree of self-awareness, hinting that she may finally be maturing... before sliding right back into her usual behavior. This has not endeared her to the audience one bit.
Summer Newman, the SpoiledIt's All About MeAlpha Bitch. Not only does she consistently display her mother's worst qualities taken up to eleven, but she also completely lacks Phyllis' self-awareness. Phyllis at least knows what she's about; Summer is genuinely oblivious to how appalling her behavior is. Furthermore, Phyllis usually at least has some reason for her actions, even if it's a Disproportionate Retribution, while Summer frequently has no excuse. In high school, Summer cyber-bullied a kid to the brink of suicide, just because she could, only showing remorse and guilt when threats of legal action against her were brought up. She also has blackmailed her parents, and openly tried to seduce Billy when he was dating her mother. But worst of all, whenever anyone has had enough of her bullshit and bitchy behavior calls her out on it, she will whine and cry, usually uttering the stock phrase "Why are you being so mean to me...?" refusing to take responsibility for her actions like the petulant, pathetic woman-child she is. Case in point, her treatment of Kyle really showcases her worst qualities. She consistently treats him like crap, despite claiming to be his friend. When he admitted he loved her, she basically laughed in his face, and continued trying to seduce Billy (again, her mother's then-boyfriend). After Kyle moved on and fell in love with Lola, Summer then decided that she was in love with Kyle all along, and frequently tells Kyle that he loves her, too, ignoring his constant claims to the contrary. And this all goes down when Lola is in a coma fighting for her life. She even has the gall to claim that Kyle only claims to love Lola because of the coma, as if she can't possibly fathom that he would choose Lola over her — even though he has consistently done just that. Not helping matters is that Summer's constant pursuit of Kyle, ignoring his requests that she leave him alone, come off as extremely stalker-ish — if the genders were reversed, it would almost certainly be treated as such. (Hell, even her pursuit of Billy was on the borderline, especially since they lived in the same house.) Summer also attracts some hatred from some portions of the viewership having issues with her actress Hunter King, due to her making a sexual harassment allegation against another, beloved cast member.
Arturo Rosales, the playboy, hypocritical bastard that slept with both Nikki and her step-daughter Abby, then had the gall to compare Kyle to a gigolo, for moves that Summer had made on him, banning Kyle from staying by a comatose Lola's side. Almost immediately after all his holier than vow condemnation of Kyle, he ended up sleeping with Mia, his brother's wife, while engaged to Abby. It came to a point that in one episode he literally went from confessing his everlasting love for a pissed off Abby, claiming she was the love of his life, to literally the next scene ending up in bed with Mia by the end of the episode. The hate got so bad, the writers had to assure the fandom that he would end up leaving Genoa City and the series behind very soon.
Likewise Mia, read all of the things she did with Arturo then add on top of it that before she was married to Rey, she was with Arturo, then left him for Rey, yet continued to have an affair. Also her treatment of Sharon, who never knew that Rey was married. Even though Rey assures Sharon the two are separated, Mia treats her like she is the other women, often forgetting that her sleeping with Arturo while still married to Rey was what turned the Rosales family dynamic to shit in the first place. Finally, her while drunk, attacking and leaving Lola pretty much to die of hypothermia in the Abbot's ice cold pool in the winter, because she thought it was Abby, pretty much sealed her fate. The fact that she called out Arturo's name while making love with Rey, and guilt-baiting Rey from turning her in for her crimes against Lola, due to her being pregnant with his child didn't help. Neither did the fact that she can't openly confirm if the baby really is Rey's or Arturo's make people glad she, along with Arturo, will be leaving the series soon. It really is saying something that when Arturo returned for Kyle and Lola's wedding, aside from the baby, she was barely even mentioned. Even still, while Arturo and the baby are mentioned, the Rosales never openly refer to Mia by name.
Fenmore Baldwin, for the simple fact that he continued to cyberbully Jamie, even after Summer stopped, due to his obsessive crush on Summer. It really is telling that the one time they tried to bring him back was met with such strong criticism he was immediately Put Back On The Bus out of Genoia City less than a month later.
Amelia Heinle surprised a lot of people with her heartbreaking performance during the storyline covering her abusive relationship with J.T., and her subsequent breakdown.
Alyvia Alyn Lind, the child actress playing Faith, gets a surprising number of chances to show off her chops. Her sadness after Sharon and Nick break up yet again in a 2018 storyline is palpable.
Camryn Grimes always received praise for her performance as Cassie, but when she returned as Mariah, Cassie's total opposite, she got a chance to show off her range.
Ship Mates: Fans of Sharon/Nick and Phyllis/Billy or Billy/Victoria tend to get along. Likewise, fans of Victor/Nikki and Jack/Phyllis (or Jack/anyone else).
The various factions of Sharon/Nick vs. Nick/Phyllis vs. Jack/Phyllis vs. Phyllis/Billy vs. Billy/Victoria have been arguing for years, with no signs of stopping. Every now and then, a new pairing like Sharon/Rey and Nick/Chloe crops up, which adds a little variety.
Nikki/Victor vs. Jack/Nikki has been dragging on for decades. The former is theSuper Couple of the show, but the latter still has plenty of fans. Jack is often shipped with other people, such as Phyllis, Jill, Gloria, and Kerry.
Lola/Kyle vs. Kyle/Summer, though with Summer becoming The Scrappy, the latter has been losing supporters.
Take That, Scrappy!: A Two for One, Billy gets back at both Mother and Daughter in one shot. After constantly being sexually harassed by Summer and ignored and emotionally abused by Phyllis, to the point she lied about having cheated on him with Nick, which only came up during Nick and Sharon's wedding, after a pissed off Sharon revealed she learned the truth, Billy takes an over eager Summer to bed, pretending to have fallen in love with all of her skeezy advances towards him only for a shot at his hate filled eyes while making love to the little tramp. Yep, he got revenge on both of Mother and Daughter in one fell swoop, and watching both the bitches cry when he revealed he did it out of disgust at both of them... Revenge is sweet indeed.
Jeanne Cooper's final scene as Katherine Chancellor before her death in May 2013.
Jill: Do you want me to help you up the stairs?
Katherine: I believe I can manage. Thank you, though. Good night.
The storyline following Dina's descent into Alzheimer's, starting in mid-2017. The show doesn't pull punches in how it affects the family, and her status as a Scatterbrained Senior is not Played for Laughs at all. She routinely fails to recognize her own children, and feels terrible about it when she's lucid. It's especially painful since Dina, when she's in her right mind, is so smart, funny, and capable — and little by little, it's all being stripped away. It doesn't help that this is an excruciating example of Truth in Television—every viewer with a loved one suffering from dementia is probably cringing through this storyline.
The added Nightmare Fuel of Graham trying to manipulate and control Dina doesn't help, especially since once again, there are numerous Real Life examples of this.
When Hillary and Devon get married in the ICU, when Hillary's been told she doesn't have long to live. Her actual death the next day is gutwrenching, as are everyone's reactions. Mariah and Lily, who didn't even like her for most of the time they knew her, are both genuinely heartbroken, Phyllis is suffering the loss of her best friend... and poor, poor Devon...
Tessa leaving Genoa City. Especially since, after constant obstacles, Mariah and Tessa were finally together... and now this. Neither she or Mariah want to break up, but Mariah can't go with her, and Tessa can't stay in contact without risking Mariah gets hurt. Cue a mutual Anguished Declaration of Love, and a tearful kiss... and the audience going to pieces.
Victoria being abused by J.T. is really hard to watch, especially as Victoria's mental state deteriorates. It gets even worse after Nikki is forced to kill J.T. to protect her, and Victoria blames herself for not kicking him out sooner.
Sharon and Nick breaking up? Nothing new. But Faith's reaction to them yanking her around and breaking their promises yet again? Genuinely heartbreaking.
Faith: I knew this would happen. You make all these promises about us being a family, and then you ruin it every time!
Neil's passing. With the untimely death of his actor, Kristoff St. John, we all knew it was coming, but it's still devastating. The episode where he dies simply ends with a silent scene of a sobbing Lily collapsing, while Devon, Mattie, and Charlie hold each other and cry.
His tribute episode carried the same celebratory tone that Jeanne Cooper's had, while looking back at his life. Yet at the same time, the entire episode the casts' devastation at loosing their friend and colleague is much more transparent. While Jeanne's death was tragic, she had lived a long and amazing life, with Kristoff, you really do realize they all lost him way too soon, with many of them choking back tears while on camera, particularly Victoria Rowell, Christel Khalil and Shemar Moore.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: People still find it strange that ever since Mariah came into the scene, they haven't had Cassie's spirit visit her twin sister like she has done multiple times for her parents and grandparents.
Took the Bad Film Seriously: As noted above, Sharon's actress somehow manages to Take the Bad Writing Seriously. The main reason Sharon is still a beloved character despite her godawful storylines is because her actress plays her completely and totally sincerely.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: At least as of 2013, the characters have had a nasty habit of believing the worst in others.
When Stitch was revealed to have killed his father, not even one character outside his family even bothered to consider other circumstances, vilifying him on the deed alone.
When Sharon was believed to have murdered several young adults, only a small handful of people considered she had been framed, with everyone else insulting or suspecting her at every turn.
When Avery was attacked and ravaged in an alley, she not only suspected Joe- she successfully convinced everyone else (including police chief Paul) of her stance with little proof. The only person who bailed Joe was the same who did for Sharon.
The show tried to push the lesson of the partaking in a woman's nude photo's leaked online without their permission makes the viewer just as despicable as the poster. A valid lesson, only problem, said victim is Hillary, who with her trashy gossip television show has ruined many of Genoa City's pillars reputations, and often resorting to blackmail to keep said information from airing. The poster of her photo Jordan, for that matter, does so in retaliation, after Hillary leaks his past as a reformed Conman purely out spite, damaging Chelsea's, another reformed con turned respected buisnesswoman, reputation as collateral. So while the message of leaking nude photos being bad is usually true, in this case it feels more like the lesson is paybacks a bitch.
In the 2019 Lola/Kyle/Summer arc, the show tries to frame all three parties as being equally sympathetic. Except Summer, upon finding out she could donate her liver to a dying Lola, initially had misgivings about doing it. Okay, understandable, seeing as she would be undergoing surgery. When trying to talk her into it, Kyle said he'd do anything, throwing out, "I'll even marry you." Summer, insulted at the idea that marrying her would be something Kyle would do only in desperation to save Lola, began to storm off, but Kyle then got her to sit back down and talk about it... and Summer decided that actually, Kyle marrying her would be the perfect payment. Kyle agreed, but made it very clear he was in love with Lola, and would do anything to save her life. Summer, however, was convinced that Kyle was really in love with her (admittedly, not helped by the fact that he does sleep with her while they're married), and would get over Lola. Unsurprisingly, his feelings for Lola don't just magically evaporate when he marries Summer, and even when he kisses Lola and tells Summer what happened (more than once!), she's still convinced they should stay married because they're "soulmates." This led to many viewers feeling that she was just being too stupid to be sympathized with. When Kyle finally decided to do the right thing and outright demand a divorce, Summer (rightfully) kicks herself for not seeing it coming, but is still saying that she and Kyle belong together, and that he wouldn't have married her if he didn't love her, deep down. (Which begs the question... what did she expect him to do? Just let Lola die?) Even people who don't ship Kyle/Lola find Summer's behavior to be utterly insufferable. Not helped by the fact that most of the other characters, including Kyle and Lola, seem remarkably okay with the fact that Summer basically blackmailed/bribed Kyle into marrying her. (At least Mariah and Abby both called out how utterly screwed-up this was.)
Chelsea for some, at least when Adam's involved. So many of their storylines can be summarized as, "Chelsea takes a supposedly-reformed Adam back and continues to defend his indefensible behavior to anyone who will listen, only to be surprised when he slides back into his old habits and disappoints her and Connor again."
On that note, many find Adam's angsting to be excessive, since he has received multiple offers for redemption and rejects them nearly every time.
When J.T. Hellstrom was revealed to be alive over a year after his "death" at the hands of Nikki (with the coverup being done by Victoria, Phyllis, and Sharon), the response was essentially, "Well, duh."
Amanda is Hillary's long lost identical twin... Gee! Who could have seen that, (Cassie and Mariah), twist coming.
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