Characters you used to hate and grew to like

I did a typo on the title...it was supposed to be called "Characters you hate and then grew to like."

We all have those characters we despised, but as the series progressed, they're now one of your favorite characters.

1. Meg, Chris, and Stewie from Family Guy. I used to dislike Meg and Chris because they were bland characters, but now, it's between. I don;t like how Chris became more of a jerk, but at the same time, he's hilarious, like how he told Brian to shut up when he became more preachy. Meg used to be self-centered and bland, but now she's a lot nicer and selfless (she even saved Peter's life!) and sometimes fights back when people mess with her, but at the same time, she's a bit psychotic, and has Yandere tendencies and it's not a good thing. When Stewie was evil in the few seasons, it was annoying how he tried to kill Lois, but I like the new Stewie. He's funny and he's still a Badass.

2. Angelica from Rugrats. She used to be a Jerkass, but she became a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, albeit having her Kick the Dog moments. At least she got her karmic punishments. I heard that Sarah from Ed Edd N Eddy was inspired by Angelica, but the writers failed because Sarah didn't go through Character Development, failed to get her karmic punishments, and got meaner and meaner each season until the movie that is, but it was too late for her to be redeemed, which is why she still remains a scrappy to this day.

3. Videl from Dragonball Z. I disliked her at first because she was mean and Tsunderish (Type A) to Gohan, but after getting her ass kicked by Spopovitch, I started liking her because she warmed up to Gohan.

4. Squidward from Spongebob Squarepants. I hated him at first because he was mean to Spongebob (unprovoked) most of the time. Like in "Grandma's Cookies" and "Can You Spare A Dime," he was a jerk and those episodes were the ones that he didn't get his comeuppance when he deserved it, which is strange because in recent episodes, he's punished for just existing, which made me feel sorry for him and made me start liking him a lot more.

edited 29th Dec '12 6:51:37 AM by MsCC93

As mentioned for many kids, I had a more moral driven favoritism for characters originally (not to mention fell for What Measure Is a Non-Cute?) so tended not to like villains, which changed for many cases later on, to the point I feel some steal the show and are actually more likeable than good guys in places. The Urpneys, Dr Robotnik and Elmer Fudd are good examples. Tom is a rare exception, I've always liked him, it was arguably Jerry I started liking more as I grew up.

I also tended not to be fond of the "haughty, temperamental female" archetype (eg. Rebecca Cunningham, Sally Acorn) since I found them kind of odious and preventing the main character doing their thing most of the time. Nowadays I tend to find them more entertaining and sympathetic over more conventional Closer to Earth female characters.

edited 29th Dec '12 5:31:36 PM by Psi001

I was annoyed by Mr. Slave when he first appeared on South Park, but as time passed, I realized just how hilarious the character could be. I miss him now.

edited 30th Dec '12 10:24:42 AM by redhed311

@ 2. I agree with you about Tom....I actually started liking Jerry when the writers made Tom more villainous, because I saw him as the Designated Hero who would always act good, but really was a jackass.

edited 31st Dec '12 10:37:10 AM by MsCC93

I think it also helped that at the same time they kept a two sided karma towards the shorts later on, and often demonstrated how instantly Jerry lost his winning streak if he was the instigator (it was a staple at that point for Jerry to lose a short at least once every year). This made him seem much more fallible, and when he won, it felt more like he earned it.

While they dwindled a bit in quality, I think the late 50s Hanna Barbara shorts did a good job making both sides rather sympathable, compared to most other classic shorts of that time that headed more for a 'winner hero vs loser villain' mechanic.

edited 30th Dec '12 2:25:06 PM by Psi001

Agree...they way karma was handled in older cartoons (especially Hanna Barbera) are 10X better than how it's handled in today's cartoon, when jerks can torment a woobie willingly and receive zero comeuppance for it, which is why people stop watching certain shows.

I used to dislike Meg and Squidward, but I think we all know what happened there.

I used to dislike Wonder Woman in the DC animated shows due to having a silly outfit and being kind of corny, but Justice League onwards made her more and more badass with each new iteration tot he DC canon, so now I have quite a bit of respect for her. She also gets some of the best fight scenes in the films.

Superman is another one, though unlike Wonder Woman his initial JL incarnation made me dislike him more, as he was pretty weak(fans call him Superwimp for a reason). While I still don't outright like him I don't have the same hatred towards him I used to and feel he makes a great foil for Batman, plus some of his battles are really well done. He does a good job at his role, and I feel like he's best when teamed with other DC heroes.

Robbie from Gravity Falls is still the butt monkey for anything related Gravity Falls for me but seeing him compared to other jerks makes him slightly less hated. He is still is the weakest link but the link isn't that weak.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. While hardly to the point of hatred, I thought they were kinda the weaker of the main ponies from my first glimpse at the series. Twilight Sparkle seemed the duller 'normal' character of the group while Rainbow Dash seemed too obnoxious and the most lacking in redeeming aspects.

Twilight slowly gained more amusing quirks ("Lesson Zero" pretty much sealed the deal) while Character Development kicked in for Rainbow Dash in late Season Two/Season Three. They're now pretty much my two favorite characters in the show.

edited 17th Jan '13 8:47:21 AM by Psi001

"Hate" is an extremely strong term but there is this certain show with an ensemble cast and I couldn't decide on a favorite but I knew who I liked the least. Then as the show went on this awkward moment came when I was watching the latest episode and I realized "Holy crap Rarity is my favorite pony."

I didn't like Inferno and Waspinator when I started watching Beast Wars. Scary, I know.

Rarity's in the 'not favorite but okay character' group for me. Pretty much been that way consistantly.

I actually heard she was The Scrappy early on however, until she got spotlight episodes such as Suited For Success.

edited 21st Jan '13 4:47:43 PM by Psi001

And she totally deserved it,she was just so fru-fru ish and she'd still be this if she wasn't self-aware

But Fluttershy and Scootaloo have definitely become real good characters since their debuts.

Yeah, Rarity grew on me.

It also helps that fanworks tend to run with her so damn well.

Let's see, who else. Iago. A couple of the companions from Pokemon (and Ash on his smarter days). Robin.

edited 24th Jan '13 12:03:48 AM by Pykrete

Scootaloo and the other CMC are pretty much on the same league as Rarity for me, they're okay, but they haven't really diverged from each other enough yet. I heard they were The Scrappy early on too however.

I thought Rarity got her personality moderated a lot earlier than Rainbow Dash did, which was a more long running development. Though I may just say that because I saw some episodes out of order so the first ones I saw were more establishing ones for Rarity such as Secret of my Excess and Look Before You Sleep. The actual first episode I got a taster of was Mysterious Mare Do Well.

There's no FIM character I hate outright however, just some I find kinda one note or lacking.

Do you think a contrasting thread of this (Characters you used to like and grew to hate) would last without becoming a generic flame thread that gets banned instantly?

edited 24th Jan '13 7:07:06 AM by Psi001

If we can keep it civil, yes. I wouldn't mind seeing that topic.

I thought it was already covered under Moral Event Horizon.

Not really, if anything it'd be more of a character itself Jumping the Shark.

My mistake.

Speaking of ponies, I thought I was going to hate Babs Seed in her episode — I was bullied like crazy in HS, so I hate "bully" characters as a whole — but she redeemed herself in the end and became likeable to me.

Also, that song the CMC sang about her will NEVER LEAVE MY HEAD.

edited 24th Jan '13 11:34:52 AM by Twentington

Moral Event Horizon is only really under characters who evolved into iredeemable jerks to an extent no one likes them anymore. Other evolutions or changes in characters can come into play to making them less likeable (eg. becoming dumber or blander in personality). In some cases they may have stayed the same but your overall tastes in character have evolved so they don't garner the same reaction from you anymore. A lot of examples here fit such a category.

Let's face it, as a kid we often liked or disliked character for rather trivial reasons. Not that we don't do now as well, but for very different ideals.

edited 24th Jan '13 1:09:56 PM by Psi001

Up until I saw Mobros Studios Worst Spongebob Countdown, I thought Squidward was the worst character in fiction. I used to think he was what was what was bringing the show down, and I'd always point to his outburst at the climax of "Good Neighbors" as an example on unnecessary hostility. Then I saw what Spongebob had turned into and he became the most sympathetic character who ever lived. I feel bad that Roger Bumpass is doing great work with such awful material. Besides that, I can't really think of a lot. If this was the oppossite, I'd have a lot to say.

I second that.

I always thought Squidward was kind of sympathetic, just his abuse was usually more karmic and moderated better. They go so far to make his treatment unjust in later episodes that Spongebob is actually starting to lean the opposite way of this thread for me.

I admit Plankton got more sympathetic however. He originally just seemed a generic bumbling villain first time I saw him. Though he got Jerkass Woobie cred as early as "Valentines Day". Similar to the Squidward example however, a lot of his sympathy cred seems to be from devolving Mr Krabs to be the less rootable character.

I've never been big on when they try to make one character sympathetic by turning another into a jerk (par maybe Tom And Jerry, but largely because it was done in very delicate moderation and execution, not to mention they at least got the point to actually change the formula so the more likeable character still wins).

edited 28th Jan '13 12:47:48 PM by Psi001