Line #17 YMMV/Flashman


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Flashman first started out as the antagonist in ''Literature/TomBrownsSchooldays''. In this version, he's more of a VillainProtagonist.
2	* BadassDecay: Many ''Flashman'' fans felt the protagonist suffered from this in later entries, engaging (however reluctantly) in outright heroic actions, for instance saving the British army in ''Flashman and the Mountain of Light'', while downplaying his roguish side. Fraser told Creator/ChristopherHitchens that he deliberately amped up Flashman's nastiness in ''Flashman on the March'' to assuage such criticisms.
3	* BrokenBase:
4	** Is the movie version of ''Royal Flash'' a funny comedy that makes acceptable deviations from the source material? Or a wretched bastardization of Flashman's character, replacing his wit and sarcasm with overwrought slapstick while making him ''way'' too sympathetic? Both sides at least concur Creator/MalcolmMcDowell was [[QuestionableCasting less-than-ideal casting]] ([=McDowell=] himself agrees).
5	** For the books, is ''Flashman and the Tiger'' (the eleventh book, actually a collection of three short novellas) an enjoyable deviation from GMF's formula, or the series' ruining moment? The title story's Literature/SherlockHolmes cameo in particular is considered either brilliant or inexcusable, with little middle ground.
6	* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments:
7	** Flashman meeting Ilderim again in ''in the Great Game'', especially as Flashy thought that Ilderim had died after the events of the first book. Additionally, Ilderim's very high opinion if Flashman has hardly changed at all, and the ex-Afgan noble serves admirably and actively as Flashy's BattleButler for the rest of the book.
8	*** Heck, Flashman even [[spoiler: weeps for him when he finds out that Ilderim died and his body was thrown into a pit with other sepoys.]] And that's coming from someone who's often stated (and has) left other companions to die if he considered it practicable.
9	** The opening of ''Angel of the Lord'' features a ninety-two-year-old and retired Brigadier General Flashman... spoiling and indulging his great-grandchildren. Although some of them have acquired traits that he's consistently hated in people for all his life (one of his great-granddaughters has a very moralistic streak), it's made very clear the old general loves them all the same despite their differences.
10	*** Crosses the line into funny when he leads them to a march at tea time... while singing naughty variations of "John Brown's Body" that end up embarrassing their great-grandma Elspeth and her guests.
11	*** Even better is the aftermath: the kids are punished and sent to bed early without any sweets... but Flashy later steals some from the cupboard and smuggles them to their rooms. He then proceeds to regale them with the tale of how he met John Brown (which manages to bore the little ones to sleep midway through).
12	* MisaimedFandom: As with many other works, there are some ''Flashman'' fans who don't understand that the books are meant to be a satire of Victorian RatedMForManly adventure stories and their heroes, seeing Flashy as a more straightforward LovableRogue and EscapistCharacter than [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist the cowardly and misogynistic bully he actually is]].
13	* MoralEventHorizon:
14	** Flashman himself arguably crosses this in the first book by raping Nareeman, although the story certainly doesn't portray it that way. A more likely candidate is when he [[spoiler:sells Cleonie into Navajo sex slavery]] in ''Flashman and the Redskins''.
15	** [[TheCaligula Ranavalona I of Madagascar]] crosses it before she appears in the story proper when Flashman sees a group of condemned men being [[CruelAndUnusualDeath slowly boiled alive]] in a large pit on her orders. Worse, it's mentioned that this is a daily occurrence.
16	** [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain John Charity Spring]] selling his cabin boy to the Dahomeys, which even momentarily shocks [[VillainProtagonist Flashman]].
17	** Nicholas Ignatieff orders a man flogged to death and has Flashman ForcedToWatch in order to demonstrate what will happen if he fails to give in.
18	*** Sang Kol-in-sen in ''Flashman and the Dragon'' has a similar moment when he forces Flashman to watch a random criminal enduring [[CruelAndUnusualDeath death by wire jacket]] so he'll grovel before the emperor.
19	** Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi allows the Indian mutineers in ''Flashman and the Great Game'' to slaughter the entire British garrison, [[WouldHurtAChild including the children]]. Whilst [[AmbiguousSituation it's ambiguous how involved she is in the Mutiny]], she does still knowingly allow the massacre to occur. This also applies to the leaders of the Mutiny for carrying out this and similar atrocities.
20	** [[TheCaligula Emperor Theodore of Abyssinia]], the BigBad of ''Flashman on the March'' has two potential line-crosses. The first is the destruction of an Abyssinian city [[EvilIsPetty because it was grander than his palace]], during which the offending temple is torn down and Theodore himself personally crucifies many people for the "crime" of being in the city. The other is the Islamgee massacre, during which Theodore hacks a random prisoner to death just because he's angry and then orders all the prisoners, [[WouldHurtAChild including children]] [[GuiltByAssociation imprisoned for being related to criminals]], to be hurled over the cliff. Ultimately, the massacre only stops because it's getting dark.
21	* QuestionableCasting: Creator/OliverReed, who does resemble Flashman, was not cast in the lead role in the film, but Otto von Bismark. Instead, Creator/MalcolmMcDowell was cast.
22	* TearJerker:
23	** Flashman tends to weep for his completely deserved miseries in nearly every book, but sometimes something awful enough happens to jolt even him. In ''Flashman and the Great Game'', Flashman actually weeps when he learns that [[spoiler:Scud East died a horrible death]], though he swiftly starts sobbing for himself again. He's also stunned senseless when he learns that poor loyal [[spoiler:Ilderim Khan]] was killed by the Sepoys. In the same book he is sickened and grieved by the slaughter of the British household he's been serving as a native butler and their neighbors.
24	** The brief moment in ''Flashman and the Redskins'' where Flashman has to give up on the only one of his children he seems genuinely fond of is also quite touching.
25	** There's also the scene in ''Flashman and the Mountain of Light'' where Flashman is informed that [[spoiler:George Broadfoot]] was killed in battle and refuses to believe it until being given [[spoiler:Broadfoot]]'s broken spectacles.
26	** A slightly lesser, but still genuine example is Flashman's reaction to hearing that Brooke, a famed pirate-hunter in ''Flashman's Lady'' suffered a debilitating injury to his...[[GroinAttack lower extremity]] some time ago and can no longer act on his desires. Being a wanton lecher of the highest order, Flashman remarks that he had never before felt so deeply moved by another's plight.
27	* ValuesDissonance: The first Flashman largely does play sexual violence for laughs.
28	** Nareeman's rape by Flashman [[spoiler:and her attempt to seek revenge is not given any pathos but the butt of a punch-line and Sergeant Hudson, the "good" English subordinate, calls out Flashman for his attempt to execute her in cold blood but not for raping her, which Flashman had confessed]].
29	** The subplot where [[spoiler:Flashman gropes Betty Parker and then for her to reject and shriek when Flashman tries to act on his advances, while calling out Flashy's attitude, does tend to lean into the "she was asking for it" since Betty was apparently raised with the notion that men groping women was acceptable social behaviour. The way the writer treats Betty Parker's consent differently from Nareeman does call into the DoubleStandard by which white characters and behaviour to them is treated differently than the same is done to non-white characters]].
30	** Despite claiming he didn't rape anyone after Nareeman, Flashman also rapes the SexSlave he's given in ''Flash for Freedom!'' - not only is she a slave and unable to consent due to the power differential, she's also explicitly not into it; Flashman mentions that he couldn't get her to respond either by sweet-talking her or with a whip. However, given how slavery is portrayed in the book this is likely DeliberateValuesDissonance.

Context YMMV / Flashman