History YMMV / Torchwood

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Whereas ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' had hopeful and optimistic outlooks on life and the universe, this show offers a darker and more cynical worldview with copious amounts of sleaze, violence, sex, gore and existential angst, populated by deeply flawed and borderline unlikable characters (the main character formerly a campy and fun hero).

* FauxSymbolism: "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS1E13EndOfDays}} End of Days]]" has this in spades. Abaddon[[note]]A.K.A. TheDevil[[/note]] is unleashed by Owen, Gwen, Ianto and Tosh opening the rift, going against Jack’s explicit orders not to. Jack ends up performing a HeroicSacrifice to stop Abaddon, even dying in a CrucifiedHeroShot. He remains dead for several days, then rises and immediately forgives those who betrayed him.

* {{Moe}}: Tosh is a cute and shy [[{{Adorkable}} dork]] who has [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited love]] for her coworker Owen, who is unfortunately both a {{Jerkass}} toward her and also oblivious to her feelings [[SleepsWithEveryoneButYou while having interest in nearly everyone else.]] Between that, dealing with IntelligenceEqualsIsolation, and [[spoiler:her tragic death]] in Season 2, she is widely considered one of the show’s biggest {{Woobie}}s and a character that most fans like to shower with love and sympathy. The HotLibrarian {{Meganekko}} look that she sports helps a lot too.

* {{Narm}}: "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS1E4Cyberwoman}} Cyberwoman]]". You would expect the producers would use their newfound ability to show gore to really play up the BodyHorror of the Cybermen, and show what it's like to have a lover's body be stripped of its organic material and violently replaced with machinery. Instead, we got an actress in a cyber-thong and bendy plastic top that doesn't even slightly look like it's part of her skin.

** Many fans viewed the extremely negative depiction of UNIT in "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS2E12Fragments}} Fragments]]" as an example of this trope.

* TheScrappy: Owen, an apparent attempt to create a [[TheCharmer Jack-the-Lad]] type character that failed dismally. In the story world he's supposed to be some kind of [[TheCasanova love god]], but the actor playing him is strangely froglike and charm-free. It doesn't help that when we first see him he's getting women to sleep with him by using a special spray he nicked from Torchwood supplies that made him irresistible (which more than a few fans saw as essentially Owen raping unwilling sexual partners). However, in the second series, the writers acknowledged all of this and early on took constant digs at him. [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap His popularity increased]] with his character arc through the second season, only for [[spoiler:him to be [[AlasPoorScrappy killed off]] in a heartbreaking final episode]].

** The 'cash cow' from "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS2E4Meat}} Meat]]". Also the main alien from spin-off novel [[NothingIsScarier 'Into The Silence']]. The latter also counts as a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, and the way in which it finds refuge is oddly SugarWiki/{{heart|warming moments}}[[TearJerker warming]].
** Practically all the cast do this at some point.

* {{Moe}}: Tosh is a cute and shy [[{{Adorkable}} dork]] who has [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited love]] for her coworker Owen, who is unfortunately both a {{Jerkass}} toward her and also oblivious to her feelings [[SleepsWithEveryoneButYou while having interest in nearly everyone else.]] Between that, dealing with IntelligenceEqualsIsolation, and [[spoiler:her tragic death]] in Season 2, she is widely considered one of the show’s biggest {{Woobie}}s and a character that most fans like to shower with love and sympathy.

* TheScrappy: Owen, an apparent attempt to create a [[TheCharmer Jack-the-Lad]] type character that failed dismally. In the story world he's supposed to be some kind of [[TheCasanova love god]], but the actor playing him is strangely froglike and charm-free. It doesn't help that when we first see him he's getting women to sleep with him by using a special spray he nicked from Torchwood supplies that made him irresistible, which more than a few fans saw as essentially Owen raping unwilling sexual partners. In all likelihood, neither Owen nor the writers saw this as rape at the time due to the science-fiction scenario and the fact that the spray makes people ''want'' to have sex with whoever's wearing it. It was presumably intended to just be a very effective cologne but given its effects, it's till basically a sci-fi date rape drug and [[RealitySubtext rapists in real life often convince themselves that they're not really rapists]]. However, in the second series, the writers seemed to realise all of this and early on took constant digs at him. [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap His popularity increased]] with his character arc through the second season, only for [[spoiler:him to be [[AlasPoorScrappy killed off]] in a heartbreaking final episode]].

* UncertainAudience: One of the problems about the first season seems to have been that the writers and directors were all over the shop about whether they were doing a DenserAndWackier HotterAndSexier show full of fanboy RuleOfCool moments and fangirl feels, or a grey rain-soaked ultra-depressing cop show with barely-relevant SF {{MacGuffin}}s. This led to some weird juxtapositions between episodes and even more disturbing results when the two seemed to overlap. One critic when it first came out said that it feels like a kid's show desperately trying to be an adult show by including as much sex as possible, adding that it's main demographic would be thirteen-year-olds desperately trying to be grown up.

** Torchwood collectively. Practically every TV episode or Doctor Who Expanded Universe work that discusses pre-"Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday" Torchwood makes it clear that they were outright evil, being dedicated to robbing and murdering innocent aliens in order to get weapons to kill non-British people in the service of extreme nationalism. By contrast, fanfic and commentary treats them like, at worst, ruthless people doing what they had to do to save humanity, and more often just a fun-loving hero team. Just because it's implied that some of them might have been LGBT at a time when British society as a whole was violently homophobic.

** Torchwood collectively. Practically every TV episode or Doctor Who Expanded Universe work that discusses pre-"Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday" Torchwood makes it clear that they were outright evil, being dedicated to robbing and murdering innocent aliens in order to get weapons to kill non-British people in the service of extreme imperialistic and racist British nationalism. By contrast, fanfic and commentary treats them like, at worst, ruthless people doing what they had to do to save humanity, and more often just a fun-loving hero team. Just because it's implied that some of them might have been LGBT at a time when British society as a whole was violently homophobic.

* TheScrappy: Owen, an apparent attempt to create a [[TheCharmer Jack-the-Lad]] type character that failed dismally. In the story world he's supposed to be some kind of [[TheCasanova love god]], but the actor playing him is strangely froglike and charm-free. It doesn't help that when we first see him he's getting women to sleep with him by using a special spray he nicked from Torchwood supplies that made him irresistible (which more than a few fans saw as essentially Owen raping unwilling sexual partners). However, in the second series, the writers acknowledged all of this and early on took constant digs at him. [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap His popularity increased]] with his character arc through the second season, only for [[spoiler:him to be [[AlasPoorScrappy killed off]] in a heartbreaking final episode]].

* UncertainAudience: One of the problems about the first season seems to have been that the writers and directors were all over the shop about whether they were doing a DenserAndWackier HotterAndSexier show full of fanboy RuleOfCool moments and fangirl feels, or a grey rain-soaked ultra-depressing cop show with barely-relevant SF {{MacGuffin}}s. This led to some weird juxtapositions between episodes and even more disturbing results when the two seemed to overlap.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Gwen has a bad case of this trope in Series 1, when she decides that the only way to cope with all the new and frightening things she's discovering about the universe is to cheat on her boyfriend with the office JerkAss, confessing to said boyfriend to assuage her guilt, and drug said boyfriend so he'd have no memory of the event and she could feel better without facing the consequences. Her boyfriend even calls her a "selfish bitch" to her face for the sheer cruelty and selfishness she exhibits while drugging him.

* GeniusBonus: The faeries quote W.B. Yeats' poem ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stolen_Child The Stolen Child]]'' in their entreaties to get [[spoiler: Jasmine]] to go with them, [[spoiler: as well as at the end of the episode.]]

* IronWoobie: Jack.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Gwen a bad case of this trope in Series 1, when she decides that the only way to cope with all the new and frightening things she's discovering about the universe is to cheat on her boyfriend with the office JerkAss, confessing to said boyfriend to assuage her guilt, and drug said boyfriend so he'd have no memory of the event and she could feel better without facing the consequences. Her boyfriend even calls her a "selfish bitch" to her face for the sheer cruelty and selfishness she exhibits while drugging him.

** Suzie's second death ends on an ominous note with Ianto reminding Jack that gloves usually come in pairs. This was most likely meant to imply that Suzie could eventually come back if another character out there stole the glove and planned to use it to revive her. Considering her second appearance depended entirely on a MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning plan, it was reasonable to think she could pull it off again. However, she never came back and then [[KilledOffForReal the lab got destroyed with her frozen body still inside of it]].
*** Creator/BigFinish seems in the process of explaining these in their ''Torchwood'' ranges and ''The Lives of Captain Jack''.

* DieForOurShip: Gwen is perceived as getting in the way of Jack/Ianto, despite the fact that she married someone else.

** Torchwood collectively. Practically every TV episode or Doctor Who Expanded Universe work that discusses pre-"Army of Ghosts"/"Doomsday" Torchwood makes it clear that they were outright evil, being dedicated to robbing and murdering innocent aliens in order to get weapons to kill non-British people in the service of extreme imperialistic and racist British nationalism. By contrast, fanfic and commentary treats them like, at worst, ruthless people doing what they had to do to save humanity, and more often just a fun-loving hero team. Just because it's implied that some of them might have been LGBT at a time when British society as a whole was violently homophobic.

* RonTheDeathEater: Many fans viewed the extremely negative depiction of UNIT in "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS2E12Fragments}} Fragments]]" as an example of this trope.

** The 'cash cow' from "[[{{Recap/TorchwoodS2E4Meat}} Meat]]". Also the main alien from spin-off novel [[NothingIsScarier 'Into The Silence']]. The latter also counts as a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, and the way in which it finds refuge is oddly {{heart|warming moments}}[[TearJerker warming]].

* GeniusBonus: The faeries quote W.B. Yeats' poem ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stolen_Child The Stolen Child]]'' in their entreaties to get Jasmine to go with them.
-->''"Come away, O human child! Come away!"''

* GeniusBonus: The faeries quote W.B. Yeats' ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stolen_Child The Stolen Child]]'' in their entreaties to get Jasmine to go with them.

* MagnificentBastard: John Hart. Jack has his moments, as well.

* FauxSymbolism: ''End of Days'' has this in spades. Abaddon[[note]]A.K.A. TheDevil[[/note]] is unleashed by Owen, Gwen, Ianto and Tosh opening the rift, going against Jack’s explicit orders not to. Jack ends up performing a HeroicSacrifice to stop Abaddon, even dying in a CrucifiedHeroShot. He remains dead for several days, then rises and immediately forgives those who betrayed him.
* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Ianto's offhand comment that his dad was a master tailor in "Something Borrowed" leaves a different taste in your mouth after ''Children of Earth''.

*** Though the Woobie elements have been hinted at since "Ghost Machine", where Owen is deeply affected by witnessing a young woman's brutal rape and murder from years ago. The machine ''did'' cause him to feel her emotions, but that doesn't change that Owen was deeply affected to the point of nearly killing her (now old and mentally unsound) murderer - yet when the old man was dying, Owen's instincts as a doctor kick in and he tries to unsuccessfully save his life.

* NeverLiveItDown: Owen using alien drugs to make a couple have sex with him, essentially ''raping'' them.

* {{Narm}}: "Cyberwoman". You would expect the producers would use their newfound ability to show gore to really play up the BodyHorror of the Cybermen, and show what it's like to have a lover's body be stripped of its organic material and violently replaced with machinery. Instead, we got an actress in a cyber-thong and bendy plastic top that doesn't even slightly look like it's part of her skin.

* RonTheDeathEater: Many fans viewed the extremely negative depiction of UNIT in "Fragments" as an example of this trope.

* TheScrappy:
** Owen, an apparent attempt to create a [[TheCharmer Jack-the-Lad]] type character that failed dismally. In the story world he's supposed to be some kind of [[TheCasanova love god]], but the actor playing him is strangely froglike and charm-free. It doesn't help that when we first see him he's getting women to sleep with him by using a special spray he nicked from Torchwood supplies that made him irresistible (which more than a few fans saw as essentially Owen raping unwilling sexual partners). However, in the second series, the writers acknowledged all of this and early on took constant digs at him. [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap His popularity increased]] with his character arc through the second season, only for [[spoiler:him to be [[AlasPoorScrappy killed off]] in a heartbreaking final episode]].

*** Big Finish seems in the process of explaining these in their ''Torchwood'' ranges and ''The Lives of Captain Jack''.

** The 'cash cow' from Meat. Also the main alien from spin-off novel [[NothingIsScarier 'Into The Silence']]. The latter also counts as a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, and the way in which it finds refuge is oddly {{heart|warming moments}}[[TearJerker warming]].

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Fans are divided on whether Gwen is TheScrappy or a decent, well-liked character.
* BrokenBase: Some fans ran into a few problems with this over [[BaseBreakingCharacter Gwen]] in the first two seasons. What really dug a divide between previously calm fans were the events of [[spoiler: ''Children of Earth'''s Day Four and Day Five]]. Be careful about any criticisms OR compliments you have about [[spoiler:Ianto's death or how it was handled]]. And what Jack did on Day Five [[spoiler:[[WouldHurtAChild to Steven]]]] is a HUGE hot button issue.

** Gwen Cooper is probably the most polarizing character on the series usually for DieForOurShip reasons, due to her mutual UST with Jack interfering with the [[DieForOurShip beloved]] [[OfficialCouple Jack/Ianto]] relationship; she is also EasilyForgiven. In all fairness, pretty much the whole team is EasilyForgiven: Tosh brought an evil alien into the Hub itself, Owen [[spoiler: killed Jack before knowing he couldn't die]], Ianto had his [[spoiler: killer cyberwoman girlfriend in the basement]], and Gwen set loose a killer alien on her first day by trying to show off. [[DoubleStandard The double standards on how much everyone is easily forgiven make her Scrappy status baffling to some.]] Additionally, given that Gwen has an equal amount of fans who do like her, she qualifies much more easily as a BaseBreakingCharacter than [[TheScrappy the scrappy]]. Of course, the whole thing with Rhys at the end of the season 1 when she selfishly drugs her boyfriend to erase his memory of her cheating on him for the sake of her own catharsis while attempting to dodge any real consequences for it is a sticking point to those who dislike Gwen.

** Gwen Cooper is probably the most [[LoveItOrHateIt polarizing character on the series]] usually for DieForOurShip reasons, due to her mutual UST with Jack interfering with the [[DieForOurShip beloved]] [[OfficialCouple Jack/Ianto]] relationship; she is also EasilyForgiven. In all fairness, pretty much the whole team is EasilyForgiven: Tosh brought an evil alien into the Hub itself, Owen [[spoiler: killed Jack before knowing he couldn't die]], Ianto had his [[spoiler: killer cyberwoman girlfriend in the basement]], and Gwen set loose a killer alien on her first day by trying to show off. [[DoubleStandard The double standards on how much everyone is easily forgiven make her Scrappy status baffling to some.]] Additionally, given that Gwen has an equal amount of fans who do like her, she qualifies much more easily as a BaseBreakingCharacter than [[TheScrappy the scrappy]]. Of course, the whole thing with Rhys at the end of the season 1 when she selfishly drugs her boyfriend to erase his memory of her cheating on him for the sake of her own catharsis while attempting to dodge any real consequences for it is a sticking point to those who dislike Gwen.