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Character Perception Evolution / Live-Action TV

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  • Arrowverse:
    • Arrow:
      • Felicity Smoak was originally the show's Breakout Character, with fans loving her for being an Adorkable Genki Girl who served as The Heart of Team Arrow, with many even shipping her and Oliver over the source material's pairing of Oliver and Laurel. When Season 3 actually made this canon however, many fans started to think that Felicity had become a Creator's Pet, with too much focus being put on her at the expense of other characters, her romance with Oliver being seen as a Romantic Plot Tumor, and her actions occasionally coming across as self-centered and hypocritical. By Season 4, these traits had become so exaggerated that Felicity ended becoming the biggest Base-Breaking Character in the entire series. However, it wasn't until her actions in Crisis on Earth-X resulting in the infamous "double wedding" that finally killed off whatever remaining popularity she had and resulted in her being The Scrappy of the entire Arrowverse at the time, with her character now being seen as perhaps the biggest example of what happens when an originally popular character gets way too much exposure. However, a few years after the show has ended, there's been some fans who have considered the hatred towards her to be overblown, helped by the fact that the writers had taken strides to redeem the character in the last few seasons, along with giving her a rather somber send-off. As a result, she's moved back to being a Base-Breaking Character, albeit one that plenty of fans will admit could have been handled way better.
      • Back during Season 1 and 2, Laurel Lance was seen as The Scrappy due to her Drama Queen tendencies and constantly being a Damsel in Distress, to say nothing of her descent into alcoholism and drug addiction during Season 2. These days, when people re-watch these seasons they view her in a more positive light, as these trials helped her develop into the Black Canary and put everything into perspective. Granted, part of this is Nostalgia Filter, due to Laurel's premature and widely despised death in Season 4, which even detractors hated.
      • Helena Bertinelli/Huntress was not very popular when she first debuted, being seen by many as a blatant Catwoman Expy. However, as the series entered some Seasonal Rot later on, not helped by the addition of several divisive characters, she became one of the most missed characters on the show, along with the likes of Walter Steele, Roy Harper, Slade Wilson, and Thea Queen (Tommy Merlyn, Moira Queen, and Laurel Lance, too, if you count dead characters).
    • The Flash (2014):
  • Breaking Bad:
    • Walter White was originally viewed during the show's run as a compellingly savvy Villain Protagonist whose ability to outwit his enemies and ascend the ranks of the criminal underworld made for a badass Protagonist Journey to Villain story, with many people outright deifying him as a result. However, when the prequel series Better Call Saul established how much of Albuquerque's underbelly was already built up before Walter entered the drug trade, people started reevaluating Walter as less of a criminal genius and more of a Psychopathic Manchild whose skills were offset by a massive ego and a short fuse, not helped by how his actions ended up dooming most of the BCS cast. Consequently, while Walter isn't exactly hated by fans, the more deific interpretations that drove much of his popularity are far less popular than before.
    • Skyler White was a major Base-Breaking Character for a good while thanks to her opposition towards Walter's participation in the meth trade and her role in his eventual downfall. "Fuck Skyler" was a popular fan catchphrase during the show's run, and the sentiment stuck around for nearly a decade after its conclusion. However, when the publicity towards El Camino and the final season of the prequel series Better Call Saul brought renewed attention to Breaking Bad, people started criticizing segments of Walter's fanbase as running off a very generous Draco in Leather Pants interpretation of him, and in turn, Skyler was widely reevaluated as being a victim of Walter's actions. Consequently, while she still remains divisive, she has a much bigger number of supporters compared to in 2013.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
    • During the show's original broadcast, a lot of viewers sympathized with and related to Xander Harris as The Heart of the Scoobies, but Values Dissonance has led to a new generation of viewers (especially female ones) absolutely loathing him for his interference in Buffy's love life (in particular his hostility to Angel and Spike, and his support of her human love interest Riley, who is also unpopular with fans) and for his treatment of his own female romantic partners Cordelia and Anya, which has been accused of including strong elements of entitlement, inability to take no for an answer and other types of unpleasantness. The fact that he is an acknowledged Author Avatar for Joss Whedon made things even worse following the allegations against Whedon of abusive behavior towards cast members and writers going all the way back to the days of Buffy after the Troubled Production and box-office failure of Justice League (2017).
    • Warren Mears, the Big Bad of the polarizing sixth season, was initially seen as a step down from prior villains due to him just being an ordinary (albeit very intelligent) nerd with severe entitlement issues and deeply unhealthy attitudes toward the female gender. As time has gone on, however, Warren is now considered one of the show's most effectively disturbing villains for the exact same reasons he was once derided as pathetic; he's horrifying because of how plausible and realistic he is, since people like him do exist in real life.
    • Buffy, during the divisive season 6, was also seen as overly angsty, annoying and unsympathetic upon being unwillingly resurrected with many complaining that it took the entire season for her to recover when she went back to being herself quicker after facing traumatic events in the earlier season. Many modern fans strongly sympathize with her struggles with mental health and, if anything, are more critical of her friends for how little they support her.
  • Cheers: When Dr. Frasier Crane was introduced as a Romantic False Lead in the third season, the audience hated him as intended, but the hate grew to the point where the studio would receive tons of hate mail over the character and actor Kelsey Grammer would be harassed on the streets by Sam/Diane shippers. While Frasier's reception would improve once he became a regular character, he was still one of the least popular characters on the show. When a fan poll was conducted to see which character from Cheers should star in a spinoff, Frasier came in dead last, with only 1% in favor of it. Turns out, Frasier would end up getting his own spinoff and his character would become much more well-received, due in no small part to the fact that the show attracted viewers who had never seen Cheers (especially in the years following its original run), which allowed them to judge Frasier on his own merits. His series would end up matching Cheers' eleven-season run and winning a record-setting 37 Primetime Emmys, ultimately being revived almost twenty years after it ended, while Cheers has mostly fallen into Mainstream Obscurity.
  • Doctor Who, being a Long Runner that's been in production almost nonstop since the '60s (apart from a lengthy hiatus in the '90s and 2000s), inevitably has a number of characters whose reputation shifted with time:
    • The First Doctor, by virtue of being the only Doctor for the show's first three years, was a popular figure among viewers. Initially devised as an Anti-Hero to contrast main protagonists Ian, Barbara, and Susan, he quickly became the show's Breakout Character and became a more beloved hero through Character Development; after William Hartnell's departure in 1966, reactions ranged from scepticism to outrage at the idea of anyone else playing the Doctor. Nowadays, while he's still well-regarded, the First Doctor is seen as more of a historical curiosity thanks to him being very different from later incarnations.
    • The Second Doctor was initially a huge Base-Breaking Character with viewers thanks to Patrick Troughton bearing the burden of being the very first actor to take on the role from the previous (and at the time, only) incumbent. The First Doctor was quite beloved, and Hartnell's exit and unconventional means of replacement initially came as a big shock to audiences (something Troughton himself anticipated), with Troughton's performance in his first story receiving plenty of negative audience feedback. While Troughton soon won over audiences and brought an increase in ratings from their low ebb at the end of the Hartnell era, they never recovered to the heights of the earlier Hartnell era, and by the end of Troughton's final season ratings had begun to slide again to the point where the show faced cancellation at the end of the '60s. Decades later, he's now considered one of the best and most influential incarnations of the Doctor, with his "secretly-scheming mad hobo" characterization laying the groundwork for all later versions of the character.
    • The Fourth Doctor was initially a Base-Breaking Character. His actor, Tom Baker, was much younger than prior incarnations, he came right after the highly popular Third Doctor, and he was initially seen as a bit too out-there compared to his comparatively grounded predecessors. Within a few years, however, he quickly became the single most popular incarnation of the Doctor, thanks in part to his mammoth seven-year run, his broad-reaching appeal (having been deliberately written to resonate with both children and countercultural adults alike), and his arrival coinciding with what is widely considered the show's golden age. Today, the Fourth Doctor remains the most iconic version of the Doctor in the Classic Series, with his overall popularity only being rivaled by the Tenth Doctor from the Revival Series.
    • For years, the Sixth Doctor was widely regarded by fandom as the worst incarnation. His characterization as a haughty Anti-Hero was derided as a poor attempt at emulating earlier Doctors, while his greater willingness to use violence was seen as straying far from the show's ethos of "brains over brawn." However, several factors over the years would contribute to a belated reappraisal: the Big Finish Doctor Who audio plays gave him Character Development that stripped away his most abrasive elements, the Revival Series would feature multiple morally gray Doctors to great success, and more information about the behind-the-scenes chaos of Colin Baker's tenure would become publicly available. All of this resulted in a major reevaluation of Six's portrayal in the mainline TV series, with him now being seen as an ahead-of-his-time incarnation who simply got stuck with bad scripts and never got to use his full potential until the audio plays.
    • Martha Jones was initially a Base-Breaking Character, coming after the similarly polarizing companion Rose Tyler and being unflatteringly compared to her in-universe by the Doctor himself. Years later, however, she's now considered one of the best Revival Series companions next to her successor, Donna Noble, for being far more intelligent than many of her predecessors and for being able to hold her own without any New Powers as the Plot Demands (which was a criticism of both Rose and Donna). Furthermore, her exit, leaving the TARDIS entirely on her own terms, is considered one of the best for how against the grain it was compared to other Revival Series companions, who were more often than not forced away from the Doctor.
    • The Daleks immediately became the show's most iconic and beloved villainous race when they debuted in its second serial, ushering in a wave of "Dalekmania" that culminated in film adaptations of their first two stories. However, as the decades dragged on, Villain Decay gradually soured their reputation, leading them to become emblematic of the show's limitations in the eyes of audiences. Their final appearance in the Classic Series restored their menace among hardcore fans, but it would be the Revival Series story "Dalek" that reignited their popularity with casual viewers as well. Nowadays perception of the Daleks remains fairly positive, if not returning to Dalekmania levels.
    • Upon their introduction in 1966, the Cybermen were considered genuinely terrifying, leading them to become the Second Doctor's equivalent of the Daleks when the pepperpots were seemingly Killed Off for Real. However, the Cybermen would sit out most of the '70s after the Daleks' "final end" was undone, and once they became mainstays again in the '80s, their reputation sharply declined due to severe Villain Decay (most notably a scene in "The Five Doctors" where a bunch of Cybermen get the crap beat out of them by a monster specifically made to trash them, as they were the writer's least favorite monster) that undercut the Cybernetics Eat Your Soul elements that made them appealing in the first place. The Revival Series would briefly turn this around when they introduced an alternate universe version of the Cybermen that emphasized how each one Was Once a Man, but Villain Decay would quickly affect them too: nowadays, what people think of the Cybermen is entirely dependent on how a given story uses them.
    • The Celestial Toymaker, a one-off villain from a First Doctor story of the same name, was considered one of the show's best antagonists for decades thanks to reviews that praised the lost serial as a forgotten classic; there were even plans to bring him back for Season 23 before a BBC-imposed 18-month hiatus led to the season being completely rewritten. However, after a reconstruction of "The Celestial Toymaker" released and sank the story's reputation (with many now knowing it for its copious padding and racist elements, in particular the fact that he was designed like a Chinese Mandarin but played by a white actor), the titular villain would decline into curiosity status at most, with people praising Michael Gough's performance but considering his character an Orientalist relic of the show's Early Instalment Weirdness in the '60s. It's notable that when the Toymaker returned in a 14th doctor story, these now despised elements underwent a heavy Retcon; the 'Celestial' is dropped from his name, and he flips between mockeries of different earth accents - most prominently German - which, when combined with his bigoted comments, implied his original appearance was something closer to in-universe Yellowface.
  • Family Matters: Steve Urkel was originally intended as a one-shot character, created for an early episode about Carl Winslow trying to find a tame guy to take his daughter Laura to a dance. Unexpectedly, he proved a hit with viewers, leading to the producers deciding to make him a regular. At first, he was seen as a welcome addition to the cast, with his quirky personality and bizarre inventions helping to give the show its own unique identity. However, as Steve went on to dominate the series, his reputation became increasingly polarizing, with fans of the show to this day arguing over whether he elevated Family Matters from being just another family sitcom or ruined it by turning it into a wacky sci-fi series centered around himself. The fact that some of his behavior towards Laura comes off as more creepy than funny nowadays has only given his detractors more ammunition, though his defenders will point to moments where he respects Laura's boundaries and decisions.
  • Friends:
    • When the show first premiered, Ross was usually perceived as a Lovable Nerd in a Give Geeks a Chance type relationship with Rachel. He is thought of by younger generations as far too much of a Crazy Jealous Guy and manchild to actually be likable, and many find his On-Again, Off-Again Relationship with Rachel more toxic than romantic.
    • Susan was originally either ignored or disliked for being the woman Ross' first wife cheated on him with. As newer fans find Ross less sympathetic, Susan became much more appreciated for being one of the few characters to openly dislike him; her Deadpan Snarker comments at his expense making her an unintentional Audience Surrogate. She's also appreciated for the Fair for Its Day portrayal of a lesbian couple, as she and Carol got married before it was legal in the US and their relationship is shown in a sympathetic light. (All humor surrounding it is at Ross' expense)
  • Full House: Midway through the show's run, Michelle Tanner became the show's most popular character, with "Michelle" merchandise outselling all other show merchandise by a notable margin and helped propel the Olsen twins into stardom. This prompted the show's writers to give her a more prominent role in the series. However, they took it too far and she quickly became a divisive Spotlight-Stealing Squad who was the main cause for turning the show from a family-friendly sitcom into aesop-dropping kid's show within the last three seasons.
  • Glee:
    • When the show first started, Will Schuester used to be pretty well-liked by the fandom for being a Cool Teacher, his charisma, and his good looks courtesy of his actor, Matthew Morrison. Nowadays, he's The Scrappy for reliving his glory days vicariously through the Glee club, forcing Finn to join by planting pot on him and threatening to destroy his academic future, cheating on his wife with Emma (noticeably doing so before becoming aware of his wife faking her supposed pregnancy), and regularly having his underage students dress provocatively and perform sexually suggestive dances for the Glee club's performances.
    • Kurt Hummel was once very well-liked by viewers, especially gay fans, for being a sympathetic portrayal of a gay teenager in a time when it was still rare on television. Over the years, though, he became more of a Base-Breaking Character, even among gay fans. One of the reasons is that his Camp Gay portrayal comes off as very stereotypical (despite Ryan Murphy being gay himself). Another point of contention was his crush on Finn early on, which led to him setting his father up with Finn's mother in the hopes of getting closer to him, without considering the possibility that they might become stepbrothers one day. Kurt's actions during this arc were meant to be seen as a case of Love Makes You Dumb, but the fact that he kept pursuing Finn even after he made it abundantly clear that he was straight have been widely accused of unintentionally playing up the "predatory gay" stereotype. The final point of contention was his status as Ryan Murphy's Author Avatar becoming problematic in the episode "Blame It On The Alcohol", where he infamously goes on a tangent about how bisexual people are just closeted homosexuals when Blaine starts to question his sexuality, and by the end of the episode, Blaine realizes that Kurt was right.
  • How I Met Your Mother: Barney Stinson was initially the show's Breakout Character, due to getting a lot of the best lines and Neil Patrick Harris's charisma in the role. However, after the #MeToo movement brought greater attention to sexual harassment and abuse, many have felt that some of his supposedly Lovable Sex Maniac antics have aged him poorly as a character. Despite his character development, his womanizing bordered on rape at times. He has been implied to sleep with drunk women regardless of his own sobriety, and he regularly lies to women to get them to sleep with him (including dressing as a woman to have sex with lesbians and tricking a woman into shooting a sex tape with him so he can show it to Ted). Nowadays, while he still has his fans thanks to his larger-than-life personality, there are many people who think some of his more questionable sexual behavior makes it hard to find him funny or charming and wish he'd been written as a bit less creepy.
  • Kamen Rider: Shocker, a terrorist organization formed by transhumanist Nazis, were originally intended as terrifying and despicable villains to make it easy to root for the wholly heroic Kamen Rider as he was fighting them. But because they became so iconic to the franchise, they were continuously brought back to be the villains of more light-hearted anniversary shows and special events, resulting in the perception of them shifting from sinister terrorists to a Goldfish Poop Gang of Laughably Evil baddies. Newer appearances by Shocker now often omit their Nazi ties and make their combatmen into lovable Butt Monkeys. You can even buy merchandise like clocks in the shape of the Shocker symbol.
  • Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation: When the show first aired, Venus de Milo was often singled out as one of its worst aspects. Many fans were put off by her supernatural powers standing in contrast to the martial arts of the other turtles, and her role as a potential love-interest for the group led to the controversial decision to erase their relationship as brothers. TMNT co-creator Peter Laird even banned her from showing up in future instalments in the franchise due to his own dislike for the character. However, fans who have revisited the show since its cancellation have been a lot kinder to Venus, acknowledging how she was one of the few characters who bothered taking things seriously and was often treated rather unfairly by the other turtles when she was trying to help out. Nowadays, most fans agree that while Venus had her flaws, her character was one of the more tolerable ones to watch and was far from the biggest issue with the show. This also led to fans wanting to see her show up in the franchise again in another entry, which eventually happened in the IDW adaptation (albeit significantly overhauled).
  • The Office (US): When the show was first running, Jim Halpert was one of the most popular characters and beloved by most of the fanbase. Over the years, however, due in large part to Values Dissonance, an increasing number of people have begun to look at him with a much more critical lens. Nowadays, Jim is one of the biggest Base Breaking Characters of The Office fandom, with people split between those who consider him a funny and sweet moral center of the show and those who consider him a Designated Hero and The Bully.
  • Once Upon a Time: When the show's version of Robin Hood was first introduced, he was quite popular, with many fans finding him likeable and charming, especially in regards to his romance with Regina. However, in the years since Robin was killed off, while he still has his fans, a lot of fans have grown to dislike the character, due to him being mostly defined by his relationship with Regina and a lot of them feeling that his actions during the time when Marian was seemingly brought back (such as sleeping with Regina not far from his wife's frozen body) makes him come off as manipulative rather than charming. Robin Hood was also considered a bit of a badass when he first appeared due to managing to get away with stealing from Rumplestiltskin, but nowadays he's a bit of a Memetic Loser due to how he often does very little to help out in battles.
  • Power Rangers:
  • Smallville: Lana Lang, Clark Kent's high school sweetheart, is regarded as The Scrappy due to her Romantic Plot Tumor with Clark which had been going on for 8 seasons even though Clark's canon love interest, Lois Lane, shows up in Season 4. This is coupled with how fans perceived her as the Creator's Pet leading to her increased presence in the show. However, after many years had passed since the show ended, Lana is regarded as a Base-Breaking Character after some fans and new viewers saw that she wasn't exactly the worst character in the entire show. While she still has detractors, many find the hatred against her to be overblown.
  • The Sopranos: A.J. Soprano was widely considered The Scrappy during the show's original run, as most viewers saw him as a whiny Spoiled Brat who continually wastes the opportunities his upper-middle class upbringing has provided him with by being a Lazy Bum. However, as mental health awareness has increased in The New '10s and The New '20s, more and more viewers have come to recognize just how serious the psychological issues and depression he suffers from are and how they cause him to act the way he does. These days, while he's still a Base-Breaking Character overall, he's nowhere near the universally hated character he was in the 2000s.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
  • Super Sentai:
    • Choujin Sentai Jetman: Gai Yuki was the season's Breakout Character due to his badass moments, his rebellious personality, and his good looks. However, in recent years, especially in the West, his role in the love triangle between him, Kaori, and Ryu has made him look less favorable. While he does ultimately accept that Kaori loves Ryu, his behavior towards her during the love triangle bordered on entitlement. The most infamous example of this is when he physically dragged her away from the group and demanded to know why she didn't like him and didn't get punished for it.
  • Victorious:
    • While it wasn't universal, there were some pretty vocal anti-Tori sentiments during the show's run, mainly for being the Sitcom Arch-Nemesis of fan-favorite Jade as well as her tendency to kiss other girls' boyfriends, but also general Character Shilling and constantly being at the center of every plot as those who wish one of her more mercurial co-stars got time to shine as a main character for once. And even some of the hate was felt to be more about rumors of backstage fighting, thought that was purely speculative. In retrospect, though, more have come around to enjoying her character, feeling that some of the more selfish and jealous traits even as she generally tried to make everyone happy and do the right thing in most given situations made her feel like a more believably flawed heroine than some of Dan Schneider's past main girls (notably Zoey and Carly), as well as certainly being aided by her character's growth as a beloved LGBTQ+ icon after Jade and Tori's Playdate (even with the character's canonically ambiguous sexuality) and liking her subversion of the more boy-and-image-obsessed characterization of most Zitcom heroines of the time.
    • Cat Valentine was at one point the show's Breakout Character due to her Kindhearted Simpleton nature, being a Fountain of Memes, and for her singing voice courtesy of Ariana Grande early in her career. She was popular enough to co-star in the spin-off Sam & Cat, which doubled as a spin-off to iCarly. However, in the years since the show ended, Cat has been more harshly criticized due to being Flanderized from a ditz to being Too Dumb to Live, often being an Idiot Houdini, and undergoing massive Character Shilling that was done in response to Ariana Grande's growing fame. The most notable example was how she was shoe-horned into Sam And Cat when it originally started development as just being a solo spin-off for Sam, and the show demonstrated that Sam and Cat didn't work as a duo. Ariana Grande's behavior behind the scenes also negatively effected her character perception, as friction between her and Jennette McCurdy ultimately got Sam And Cat canceled, there was even some rumored friction between her and Victoria Justice after she passive aggresively accused her of getting Victorious canceled. After the allegations of Dan Schneider started coming out, the show's tendency to sexualize Cat got very uncomfortable in retrospect.

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