What is it about a show that creates an insane fandom?

Reading the Edit Banned thread, and following internet drama in general, I've noticed that certain works seem to have some volatile fans following them. Works like Sonic The Hedgehog and Total Drama Island. What is it about these shows and others like them that draws more insane fans than say, Donkey Kong or Ed Edd And Eddy?

I bet that catering to an audience who has the time necessary for insane fandom is one of the prerequisites. If most of your potential fandom are single moms, they'll probably lack the time and energy for insanity.

You know that is a very good question. Maybe there are some related studies on it hiding somewhere.

It probably has less to do with the show itself than the idiosyncrasies of the fans. One bad "seed" can corrupt a number of other people by setting the standard for what fandom interaction looks like.

edited 25th Mar '11 4:52:58 AM by Clarste

Well, some fandoms seem more prone to fannish lunacy than others (anything that enables huge shipwars over an extended period can get this). But that said, I agree with you, it's an echo chamber effect. All it takes is one or two people who go around shouting crazy shit, and shouting crazy shit becomes an accepted part of the fandom. Then when new people join, they'll know fandom as the crazy-shit shouters.

In my experience, the top three things that contribute to a crazy fandom are:

• Controversial story decisions by showrunners
• Shipper rivalry
  • to a lesser extent, extreme opinions over certain characters
• The Law of Fan Jackassery

I also think science fiction and fantasy shows have a higher tendency for obsession and insanity. When you watch SF/Fantasy, it's very easy to become completely "immersed" in that world (in fact, the best SF shows do this).

edited 25th Mar '11 6:36:30 AM by apassingthought

Can't speak for Sonic, since I'm not familiar with it except playing some of the games when I was younger.

But with like Spongebob, Total Drama Island, as well as Ranma 1/2, which also seems to attract crazy people, the common factor seems to be the level of Comedic Sociopathy in the shows.

I have this kind of theory based on my own preferences that while people generally don't have a problem with Comedic Sociopathy when a show doesn't expect you to sympathize with characters, when it does, the sociopathy can be less excusable- and then, you start getting people ranting on how evil characters are and calling The Libby a Complete Monster.

edited 25th Mar '11 7:01:50 AM by Jordan

They are of a high enough quality to have interesting characters, good moments and some actually interesting plot lines, but not actually high enough in quality to be considered a "good" show ala A:TLA.

As a result it's harder for it to get fans that are not "casual" and anyone that does become a devoted fan will need to be much more obsessed than your average devoted fan, because they will be in the minority where a quality "speaks to them" even if it doesn't to most people.

/

Also, and I don't mean to be offensive or insulting at all, but I've noticed that a high percentage of the Sonic fandom is Austistic/Asperger, and I find this fact rather interesting.

I haven't, personally, but I don't doubt it. My guess is that since it's not mainstream anymore, the only people who are going to stick with it are the really devoted fans.

Maybe.

That's an interesting thought, perhaps the looniest fandoms are those that grew extremely large, then sort of “shut down” for the most part, shedding the bulk of their fans so far as active participants in the day-to-day fandom are concerned. Harry Potter presents a textbook example.

So have I. Maybe it's just on the Internet and not in real life. The Internet is a refuge for people who have been shunned for being "different" and unfortunately people with Aspergers are shunned. Even in many circles of the Internet. Sure they can be annoying but not all of them are.

Alternatively it could just be the GIFT in effect. The larger the fandom is, the higher concentration of idiots, douchebags, and utter bastards you'll find.

edited 25th Mar '11 10:37:39 AM by STK

1) It's not quite normal to devote hours of your time to discussing a show online in any case.

2) When that show is directed primarily at children, you can't really talk about it at all in real life. When the internet is your only outlet for a discussion, you start seeing it through GIFT-tinted lenses.

3) When you are spending time discussing only that show with other people on a forum dedicated to only that show, it can skew your perspective of not just how important that show is, but how important every little detail is.

4) If the show only has a small fandom, it compounds the "directed at children" thing to make the adult or teenaged fans of it form and even more insular and self-reinforcing community.

edited 25th Mar '11 10:57:27 AM by Wanderhome

I disagree with the large fan base idea. I find that the Raildex fans on /a/ no less are not only calm, but orderly and productive.

The difference between the English-language fandoms for the Big Three shonen series is an interesting case study. One Piece fans tend to be the most positive towards their series (to the point of overreacting to criticism of it). Naruto probably has the worst Fan Dumb, due to shipping wars, Base Breaker characters, and being mainstream enough to attract a segment of fans who, while not scarily obsessive or irrational in the usual fannish ways, are simply vapid. I don't know as much about Bleach fans; they seem to mostly be a mix of people who enjoy it "ironically" to some extent (but not all the same extent) and the aforementioned "vapid" group.

I find that many people I know who like Bleach like it for the characters. They all agree that they could pretty much do without the plot after the Soul Society arc.

I think it's a question of numbers myself. The bigger the fan base, the bigger the chance to run into some rather rabid fans. It also depends on the audience.

As far as Sonic is concerned, I think it may be related to how old he is and where SEGA took him. Things started trending more to younger audiences, and the idea of Sonic being awesome and kicking ass toned down to an attitude where Sonic is "cool" by 5-year old standards. That would tend to piss of older fans of the series, as I've seen.

I'm not completely sure how valid this is since I haven't really looked into it that much, but I've an idea that it could have something to do with the episodic nature of most shows. Basically, since you only get an hour a week of developments, you think about little details more and read too much into it, so then when you talk to someone who over-analyzed it in the opposite direction, it seems like they're completely wrong and ends up polarizing the fandom.

This only really applies to fandom infighting though, not much to do with fans freaking out at a non fan.

Um... I can't see such a change in Sonic's history. Perhaps the fans are irritated that he didn't grow up with them?

Said change came with the shift to 3-D: around Sonic Adventure, the plots became more "serious", the characters more defined and redesigned. Sonic himself has since gone from a flat Mascot with Attitude to a do-good wanderer who is less about trying to be cool. The games themselves have not had a smooth ride; glitches and new characters are a frequent point of grief, the former meeting its nadir with Sonic The Hedgehog 2006.

I can't say I understand the attachment a lot of people seem to have to the franchise, even if I was once a raving fanboy (I was 8-9 at the time, though, and I tend/tended to get extremely obsessed with things anyway).

edited 25th Mar '11 10:01:08 PM by AnonymousUser

Those changes are divorced from Sonic himself. The 'shift' occurred with dumping a handful of furries into a human-overrun earth, making the main cast blatantly irrelevant.

But really, Nintendo fanboys aren't that different. It's all the same. The nostalgia that Mario and Pikachu and Optimus Prime entail just causes your brain synapses to tingle. Gameplay, plot, overall workmanship — all secondary.

edited 25th Mar '11 10:15:09 PM by johnnyfog

Another thing I've seen argued with Sonic is that there are actually several different fanbases thanks to the various alternate continuities, and they keep warring with each other over which elements should and shouldn't be canon. It's a bit like how the people who like Silver Age versions of superheroes keep warring with the people who like their more modern counterparts. (Thankfully, the Sonic fandom isn't Running the Asylum.)

I'm going to have to agree with myrm that there is probably something like that going on. obsessiveness coupled with the fact that the target audience for this shows/games are normally to young/don't care to discuss it online means we get a misrepresentation of the fandom because the 1% is obsessive and abrasive.

That seems to case: The craziest minority of the fanbase just happens to be the loudest and most talkative.

My little pony seems to be coming along because of its ability to be made into fan art and image macros.

In all seriousness, half the fun is browsing ponibooru and Pony Chan for stuff, and making avatars.