Total Drama
"Out of all I've seen from this sub, Courtney and Sierra are on the extreme end of polarizing. You either love them or you hate them. I don't really see any in-between. I've also seen some polarization on Duncan and Scarlett, to a lesser extent".
— Reddit user Navybluetotodile, explaining why Total Drama has such a long Base-Breaking Character page.
In a series with tons of characters that spoof the love-it-or-hate-it world of reality TV, every character is bound to have lots of fans and just as many detractors. Below are some of the big examples:
Hosts
- Depending on who you ask, Chris McLean himself is either the best character in the show or the worst character in the show. For half of the fanbase, his jerkass characterization and sadistic mistreatment of the contestants is utterly hilarious; his skilled and unpredictable ways at creating drama and raising tensions among the cast make him an utterly irreplaceable part of the show; and he is one of the main attractions of the series to the point of overshadowing the contestants themselves. For the other half, that same sociopathic behaviour and depraved personality is utterly despicable; his interference with the game, frequent Karma Houdini status, and habit of always getting what he wants make them wish he was fired as host and/or arrested again; and they find it immensely annoying how he always gets ample amounts of screentime in a show they argue is really about the contestants and not the hosts.
- Some fans consider Blaineley to be a hilarious character and love her ability to stir up drama and tension in the World Tour Aftermath episodes, while others believe that she is a completely unenjoyable character and consider her a completely unnecessary addition to the show.
Contestants
First generation
While the first generation cast is often considered the most iconic and most popular cast of the series, it does have its fair share of divisive characters, even within the series' debut season. In subsequent seasons, some previously popular characters have become unpopular in hindsight, either due to various Plot Tumors or Flanderization, while some initially unpopular characters were similarly Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.- Beth is a very divisive character within the fanbase. Some fans find her to be an Adorkable character whose lack of social skills and desire to make friends and get along with others make her a cute, funny and relatable character while others find her to be one of the most boring and annoying characters on the show. Then there's her taking a level in jerkass in Action. Fans are a little divided on whether or not she was still likeable in that season despite this. And yet others (particular those who are/were unpopular like her) still found her to be a relatable character and while they agree that her behavior in Action was questionable, she was good before that. A YouTube reactor hated Beth so much that they took the trouble to make a random post to tell everyone that "Beth is trash", despite knowing that he'd get some backlash from Beth fans.
- While he used to be an Ensemble Dark Horse, Cody became a Base-Breaking Character in World Tour. Many people felt that, despite coming in third place, he contributed very little to the overall story and had no purpose outside of his satellite interactions with Sierra. On the other hand, others feel that he was still funny that season, keeping up with his attraction towards Gwen in the previous season (though this made him look hypocritical with how he was treating Sierra), as well as what he did while avoiding Sierra. Fans are also a little divided on whether his perverted tendencies are funny or can at least be partially justified due to him being a hormonal teenager who isn't quite aware of the consequences of his actions or gross and off-putting behavior that would be even more unacceptable today than it was in the late 2000's.
- Courtney is among the most controversial characters of them all, with her subplots in all her seasons except Island being highly contentious. Some find her to be a relatable character or otherwise funny, entertaining, empowering, and developed, but others find her incredibly obnoxious or annoying. This was especially the case when she returned in Action, as some found that she was winning too many challenges and was calling her lawyers too often, but others felt that her stint as the antagonist helped pick up the pace in the season, especially since the season's antagonist for the first half, Justin, was generally disliked. Being involved in the love triangle only furthers her status as a base breaker; prior to that, some fans liked her Slap-Slap-Kiss dynamic with Duncan, while others found her treatment of him to be controlling and abusive. Then All-Stars makes it worse when she looks like she was getting development... only to have it thrown away in one episode. Some see her as a Karma Houdini who was simply getting what was coming to her, but others genuinely enjoy her and are resentful of her highly inconsistent portrayal that has inevitably seen her suffer for it.
- Duncan is probably second to Courtney in fan polarization. Some people find his bad boy gimmick funny (or, for the teenage fanbase, attractive), and were touched by his secret soft side. Others despised his cruel treatment of others (especially Harold) and felt he got away with everything. He's also blamed for ruining World Tour, by wrecking Gwen and Courtney and creating the love triangle, and how he was an Elimination Houdini who caused other loved characters like Gwen, Noah, and Tyler to be eliminated in favor of him despite making it far in the first two seasons. Then, come All-Stars, his extreme denial of his Badass/Villain Decay and turning into a nicer person, culminating in a massive self-inflicted Heel–Face Door-Slam, was either seen as hilarious, a sign of potential character exploration, or just another example of the season's rampant Flanderization.
- While his feral transformation is almost universally reviled, Ezekiel himself is an incredibly divisive character: he's either a boring, unlikeable, and annoying Flat Character whose transformation into a monster was the only potential that his character ever possessed for or an underrated, sympathetic, and endearing contestant with plenty of potential for growth that deserves another chance as a human.
- To round out the love triangle, Gwen has also become a base breaker. She was one of the most popular female characters in the first season due to her relatable snarky goth loner portrayal, but she still has detractors for her harsh behavior towards the nicer contestants, as well as those who think her character archetype is overused and overrated. Her part in the Love Triangle made her one of the most divisive characters, with some insisting that she was the victim of the drama that followed and others insisting that she's no less guilty for what befell her when her affair with Duncan was exposed. By the time All-Stars ended, she drew considerable ire from many for being seen as a far departure from her former self, many even openly debating whether she should even be considered a goth anymore due to her intimate friendships with Zoey and Cameron. Her brief reconciliation with Courtney also led to a lot of conflict over whether it was deserved. Even then, however, many people feel sorry for all that she has had to go through since the first season and point to her regret over kissing Duncan as a sign of her still being sympathetic.
- Justin developed into this during Total Drama Action. Some fans loved how the series significantly fleshed him out, turning him into a hilarious Big Bad Wannabe with an interesting and immensely entertaining personality, while others hated how underwhelming he proved as the initial antagonist of the season and considered his constant complaining about "damages" to his appearance to be incredibly annoying and uninteresting. The fact that the series effectively replaced him with Alejandro afterwards has done little to help matters.
- Leshawna, post-Island. While she was an undeniable fan-favorite in Island, some of her actions during Action and World Tour earned her quite a few detractors, from the Wounded Gazelle Gambit she played on the Screaming Gaffers to get the spa trip reward, to laying a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Heather (despite the two girls presumably burying the hatchet in Action) after she tried to warn her about Alejandro's manipulative nature and bragging about it even after finding out Heather was telling the truth. Her constant poor treatment and overall lack of respect for Harold during these seasons didn't help her much either.
- Owen. Many people disliked how long he lasted in Island despite him not winning any challenges after the merge as well as often relying on gross-out humor, but others found him to be genuinely funny and appreciate how much of a Nice Guy he is. Action did nothing to help his case, especially after he returned to the competition when there were only five contestants left, World Tour balanced it out with his Odd Friendship with Noah and many felt sorry for him after his breakup with Izzy. It also helps that he does not come across as much as the Creator's Pet as much as before, not having competed since that season. Although his return in The Ridonculous Race ended up not sitting well for people who thought that a more deserving character (like Izzy, despite her VA being unavailable due to moving to Los Angeles) could've been used instead, many people are glad that, if he's doing anything, it's continuing his fantastically-received Odd Friendship with Noah. Even after The Ridonculous Race ended, people who hate him despite admitting that this was Owen at his best would still prefer that he'd be retired since his one-note tendencies (farting and eating) were still occasionally highlighted and consider him a character who has long overstayed his welcome.
- Sierra. Some fans find her an Adorkable character whose obsession with Total Drama is very relatable and whose behavior towards Cody can at least partially be excused due to a combination of her not knowing how to behave around people due to her Friendless Background and her being a hormonal teenager who's had never had a boyfriend before. Others find her an annoying and obnoxious character whose obsession with Total Drama is downright unhealthy and whose behavior towards Cody is equivalent to sexual assault (in particular those who have had stalkers in the past and dislike the show using that for humor). And yet others find her a hilarious character in how she parodies the more extreme section of the fanbase, particularly the massive Estrogen Brigade Cody had developed in the days of Island and Action, and while they agree her stalker-ish behavior towards Cody is unhealthy, it's also part of what makes her so funny.
- Trent. In Island, some love him for his friendly Only Sane Man personality and his heartwarming relationship with Gwen, others found him uninteresting and generic with little to no contribution to the plot. He only got worse in Action when he underwent Sanity Slippage and got hit with the "9 obsession" Running Gag that was disliked by both his fans and detractors.
Second generation
When Revenge of the Island originally aired, the second generation cast were initially viewed as Replacement Scrappies because they were replacing the original cast, who the audience have gotten to know and love (or hate) over three seasons. Nowadays, most of the second generation cast are better received when compared to the third generation cast that succeeded them.- Anne Maria has a very divided base, mainly between the age groups of the show. She's generally disliked by younger fans who consider her a rude Jersey Shore ripoff who gives Zoey a hard time. While older fans like her for having one of the most refined personalities in the second generation, while being entertaining at the same time. There are however older fans who also claim that there's nothing more to her other than being in the love triangle or the jokes regarding her hair.
- Depending on who you ask, Cameron is either likable and interesting or one of the worst characters to be conceived by the show. His fans cite him as an Adorkable Badass Bookworm, who accomplished astounding feats and underwent substantial Character Development by learning how to stand up to his bullies. His haters blast him for being a clichéd Harold or Cody ripoff with a high-pitched, annoying voice and received far too much focus while overstaying his welcome. Being a member of the trio with the equally divisive Mike and Zoey doesn't do much to help his case either.
- Lightning has also gotten mixed reception. Half of the fandom hates him for being an annoying, one-dimensional comic-relief character who was irrelevant for the first half of the season and made little to no plot contribution, before his sudden character change into a villain in the last few episodes. The other half find him to be one of the most hilarious and enjoyable characters on the show, with a brand of Dumb Jock comedy rivaling Lindsay's Dumb Blonde humor, and consider him a genuinely entertaining character.
- Mal, Mike's evil Split Personality. As the Big Bad of All-Stars he ends up being second only to Mike in terms of most divisive second generation character with a very polarizing reception. A fair few loved him due to being the evilest villain to date, being a chaotic sociopath, and the whole backstory of an evil Split Personality. However many hated him due to possessing no strategy in his endeavors who spent half the season breaking things, yet was made into an Invincible Villain and fumbled all the way to the finales due to everyone else being dumbed down and derailed to make him look better. All of the heated discourse surrounding the depiction of Mike's DID naturally spills over to him too — some think the "evil alter" concept is inherently offensive and Mal shouldn't exist at all, while others believe Mal has interesting potential in his dynamic with Mike and the rest of the system. Much like Mike, there is also a third camp that will admit that while the concept of an evil Split Personality is an interesting idea, the same can't be said for the execution.
- Due to the liberties taken in portraying his Dissociative Identity Disorder accurately, Mike is likely the most polarizing character of the second generation. Some find his concept offensive due to having little personality outside of his disorder and relationship with Zoey, especially after the addition of an evil personality in All-Stars and the deletion of all his alters in that season's finale. However, he also has a large fanbase that finds him adorkable and considers his relationship with Zoey to be sweet rather than dull, and feel bad for him (since DID is the result of severe childhood trauma). There is also a third camp that will admit that while his character concept is interesting on paper, the show executed it very poorly. During the time of All-Stars, the debate over Mike was so heated on Tumblr that "anti-Mike" fans made "kill Mike" a meme and wrote letters to Fresh TV insisting the character be rewritten, a Vocal Minority of "pro-Mike" fans created anonymous hate blogs harassing those who hated Mike, and both sides flooded character and show tags with vicious debates over whether Mike was a good or bad character. While the debate has cooled down since then, Mike is still a very divisive character.
- While he was more or less universally hated in Revenge of the Island, Scott definitely became this in All-Stars. Some people say that his personality change made him the funniest character that season. While others say that it was evidence of him being derailed just as badly as everyone else (especially since in the first few episodes he's more like his Revenge of the Island self) and comes across as a poorly written attempt to make him sympathetic and give him a redemption arc (in some cases, a few said that the change made him worse). There's also the fact that just like Cody in World Tour, he did absolutely nothing to justify making it to 3rd place and was mainly a satellite for Courtney.
- While originally a popular character, Zoey became this by the time All-Stars finished airing, as many disliked how her successful post-merge immunity run came off as hollow and unfair since it was caused by Mal tampering with challenges; how the subplot of her figuring out Mal's identity dragged on for an entire season and made her seem incredibly dumbnote ; how despite being a Spotlight-Stealing Squad member for two seasons in a row, she received little Character Development and comes off as a generic Nice Girl (with her "Indie Chick" label coming off as an Informed Attribute); and how other characters kept going out of their way to talk about how amazing she is. However, she still has plenty of fans who adore her sweet personality, her cute appearance, her happy relationship with Mike, and her brief period as Commando Zoey.
Third generation
The third generation cast is seen by some fans as the most divisive cast, mostly due to the questionable writing and seemingly rushed nature of their only season, and partly due to them replacing both the first and second generation casts. Some people find the third generation characters' personalities to be too overly annoying and one-dimensional as well as too gimmicky and unrealistic to be relatable, especially when compared to the other cast generations, while others find them funny and unique.- Due to his actions in the finale, entitlement towards Sky and his personality in general, Dave is likely the most polarizing character of the third generation. Some hate him for being a whiny and entitled Spoiled Brat and found his crush on Sky to be very creepy and annoying. However, he also has a very large fanbase that finds him Adorkable, found his attempts at wooing Sky to be Endearingly Dorky and cute and view him as a good Foil to the gimmicky third generation cast. Then there's his actions in the finale. Fans are split on whether his actions were justified due to Sky using him and giving him false hope or can at least partially be excused since he is a moody and temperamental teenage boy who isn't quite aware of the consequences of his actions or if he was over-reacting and he was committing Disproportionate Retribution. Things only got worse in mid-2020 where shortly after Youtuber Total Drama Ricky placed Dave at number one in his "Worst Total Drama Characters List", similar to the above-mentioned Mike debate, the debate over Dave got so heated, that Dave haters made Dave's Face–Heel Turn a meme while Dave fans kept trying to justify his actions in the finale and both sides flooded both YouTube and the Total Drama subreddit with vicious debates over whether Dave was a good or bad character. While the debate has cooled down since then (mostly due to Total Drama Ricky not making as much Total Drama content as much as he used to), Dave is still a very divisive character.
- Max's unique take as a hammy Big Bad Wannabe split the fandom over those who found it hilarious and those who thought he was the most annoying gimmick in the season and just wanted him gone. Then there's his gonk design which put a lot of people off even from his initial reveal.
- Samey, although she has her fans who sympathize with her hard life, has quite a number of detractors who find her boring and just a sympathy magnet, and find her meaner sister far more entertaining.
- Scarlett's run as a one-episode-antagonist has received both praise and criticism. Some adore how she managed to remain hidden the entire season (with the occasional tiny hint every now and then) and then reveal herself as a psychotic Evil Genius willing to kill everyone just to win, while others felt The Reveal was poorly done and instead ruined her established character. She is typically regarded as either the best or worst antagonist of all time.
- Sky. Some people claim she's very bland and boring, while others do believe her to be a unique and interesting character in her own right, along with being a more grounded character in a gimmick-filled cast. Her role in her ultimately failed relationship with Dave only further divides the fanbase, as some sympathized with Dave and felt Sky shouldn't have misled him and then dumped him for the sake of the competition (and then there was the fact she already had a boyfriend back home when flirting with Dave), while others sided with Sky and believed Dave to be the one at fault for refusing to listen to Sky, acting like she was a prize to be won, and performing a Face–Heel Turn over not getting the girl in the end.
- Sugar quite firmly splits the fanbase, with extreme opinions about her on both sides and surprisingly very little middle ground. There are those who find her to be extremely entertaining, funny, and a well fleshed out character with lots of depth, while her haters see her as nothing but an obvious teenaged Expy of Honey Boo Boo and Mama June who is disgusting, obnoxious, and needlessly cruel to other characters. Then there's her villainy, with one half thinking her unorthodox take as a Contrasting Sequel Antagonist was refreshing and less predictable, while her detractors view her as being stupid and despise her for abusing Ella as well as a poorly-written contrived means of eliminating Jasmine. Her detractors felt that she had way too much screen time, and unlike Heather in Island, Justin and Courtney in Action, Alejandro in World Tour, or Scott in Revenge of the Island, Sugar doesn't get an appropriate painful and humiliating comeuppance in her elimination episode, practically getting off scot-free for her cruelty. There are just as many people vouching for her return as there are people who wish to never see her again.
- Topher. Some people found him hilarious and love the way he got on Chris's nerves. Others found him to be incessantly annoying and were irritated by the fact he was a useless Attention Whore who overstayed his welcome despite having no plot or interactions with anyone other than Chris, and maybe the seventh episode where he was forced to work with Jasmine. All in all, the people who do proclaim themselves fans of him absolutely adore him, while those who proclaim themselves haters of him absolutely loathe him.
Fourth generation
Despite some initial skepticism when they were first revealed, the fourth generation cast is generally better received than the second and third generation casts, although the first generation cast remains a Tough Act to Follow. As the older casts were (mostly) based on late Gen X and Millennial teenage archetypes, the reboot cast is based on Gen Z teenage archetypes, some of which are more divisive than their older counterparts.- Chase. A large portion of the fanbase finds him one of the most despicable characters in the entire franchise for being a horrendous boyfriend to Emma and for his obnoxious attempts to win her back. Also, unlike Ripper, who's implied to have a Freudian Excuse for his behavior, or Julia, who fully embraces her true personality, he acts like Emma should be grateful to have a boyfriend like him and refuses to own up to any of his abuse, despite having long-lasting effects such as crippling Emma's mother or putting Emma in severe debt to a pet store. However, there are still many people who find his oblivious nature and status as the pain magnet very funny and they generally consider him a well-written character who's supposed to be hated. Some fans think his being Easily Forgiven by Emma makes her just as guilty and gives him a Draco in Leather Pants depiction for not realizing how toxic he really is.
- Emma is every bit as divisive as her love interest. Many people sympathize with her for being the victim of an abusive relationship and believe she has every right to be mad at Chase, as well as like her sweet nature she shows around most people and her initial friendship with Bowie. Other people consider her just as guilty as Chase for going back to him over a misunderstanding not once, but twice, and they think she has little to offer as a character on her own. Her breaking her friendship with Bowie for voting Chase off when Emma was the one who told him about all the horrible things he did to her doesn't help her case.
- Millie has proven to be the most divisive character of this generation. Half the fandom loves her for being relatable to introverts, sympathetic in her Friendless Background and finds this backstory to justify her attitude since even the more flawed characters are shown to have friends outside the game. They also love her Character Development arc in developing a genuine friendship with Priya while coming around to contribute more to the alliance. An equal half found her unbearably condescending, felt that the narrative glossed over her attitude and attempts to exploit Priya for a book, not putting as much effort into the alliance as Priya, and felt she was Easily Forgiven even after she tried to manipulate Priya into forgiving her even despite feeling remorseful after the fact.
- Ripper is a character who's hated and loved for the same reasons. For half the fanbase he is nothing but an annoying misogynistic bully who calls every person who says something smart a nerd, and a fart machine who doesn't have Owen's likability to make up for it. The other half, who is willing to look past the fart jokes, finds his jerkass nature extremely funny, seeing him as the G-rated version of Eric Cartman. They also think he has good interactions with other characters, especially his friendship with Chase and Zee. Fans and detractors alike also are willing to cut him some slack as he obliviously makes it clear he had an abusive upbringing and has no idea how unhealthy it really was.
