Quotes / Character Derailment

Web Original

"I'm beginning to worry that in this series Laura may have regressed from being a character who has triumphantly overcome her trauma back to someone who is defined by it, from an embodiment of humanist positivity to a once bitten, twice shy cynic.... undoing a lot of personal growth and leaving us with a superhero book that says: 'don't be a hero.'"

— Comic Watch on X-23 Vol. 4 #9

"The major change, of course, is that Lois Lane has a child and is engaged to another man, Richard White. But, for the purposes of this movie, all that pales in comparison to the fact that she also wrote an article for an article called 'Why The World Doesn't Need Superman'. Which is pretty much just played off as something she wrote because she was mad Superman left without saying goodbye. So that's two characters undermined in one scene! Three, if you count Jimmy Olsen being a jerk and eating Clark's 'Welcome Back' cake."

— ComicsAlliance on Superman Returns

"'Rise' is about as useful to Tuvok as the British were to Hitler in the Second World War, a complete spanner in the works of his development and taking him in a direction he has already flirted with and sinking him."

— Joe Ford on Star Trek: Voyager, "Rise"

"I don't really think 'make your lead character unlikable' was ever going to be a winning strategy — 'make your character unlikable and then put yourself in a situation where the first impression matters more than ever to the success of your show' is an idea that almost weaponizes stupidity."

— El Sandifer on Doctor Who, "The Twin Dilemma"

"Why is Chloe, who just last week was lamenting how much she was expected to give up in order to fulfill her duties as Watchtower, so adamant that Clark sacrifice himself for the greater good? If I were Clark I would look for better friends next season."

— Julian Finn on Smallville, "Salvation"

"'Get Spike.' That's... really all you have to say, is, 'Get Spike.' You... went behind your friend's back, stole their hard work, and used it to destroy an entire town, including people's homes and businesses, which would destroy the economy, all for the sake of satisfying your stupid adrenaline rush, and all you have to say is... 'Get... Spike.' (long Beat) THAT. IS NOT. RAINBOW DASH. That is a caricature of what bad fanfiction thinks Rainbow Dash is! A selfish twit whose only thought process is, 'Lulz! Gotta go fast!' Oh, you see this likability meter?! There is nothing that describes the absolute disgust I feel against this character right now!"

— Josh Scorcher on Double Rainboom

Web Video

"'Annoying character' goes to T'Pol, continuing B&B's theme of character assassination of their own creations. You'd think they were trying to burn the show down for the insurance money.

— SFDebris on Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, executive producers of Star Trek: Enterprise ("Bounty")

"In fact, the Joker does not smile at any point in this comic. Let me repeat that. The Joker does not smile!"

— Atop the Fourth Wall on All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder

"How does this happen?! It's as if someone just completely rewrote your characteristics for the sake of creating pointless drama, regardless of everything you've ever said or did before this point!"

— Will Turner, How Dead Man's Chest Should Have Ended

"And this is honestly the biggest problem with the film, it treats Ralph like a blithering manbaby when that really wasn't who he was at all in the first film. He was more of an everyman, a down-on-his-luck guy who was tired of nobody appreciating him."

— Schaffrillas Productions, "Why Ralph Breaks the Internet is a Cinematic Disaster"

Superhero Editorial Manager: Hey, if it isn't my favorite client! What can I do you for, champ?
Wally West: I just killed a LOT of people!
Manager: …What?
Wally: I'm not even talking about bad guys, I mean, just, straight-up innocent heroes! Just outright slaughtered!
Manager: Okay, I-I mean like, what— what's the plot? Like, are you trying to say you were brainwashed, possessed, or—
Wally: Nope, all me! Just, uh… I just did it!
(Beat)
Manager: WHY?
Wally: Mental illness!
Manager: What does that even mean?
Wally: Literally no idea!
Manager: I just don't get it, I-I mean you said it like you were their golden boy! I-I mean, what did they do with you for the last ten years!?
Wally: I didn't exist!
Manager: You didn't exist!?
Wally: Nope!
Manager: But that can't even be true because they said that Wally West was gonna be in—
Wally: Wasn't me!
Manager: Are you saying… they made another Flash named "Wally West"… and it wasn't you!?
Wally: That's the skinny. (with nervous laughter) Say, what do you say we do about this? I mean, there's got to be some solution here! Evil clone, time travel, I mean, really, anything should work!

— "Superhero Editorial Room" by Solid jj^note Unfortunately, DC doesn't fix the murders, they just give Wally back the kids and even then there's a catch to it.

Mike: Do you remember that time when Captain Picard was drunk in Ten Forward and started singing sailor songs with the crew? That's because that wasn't Captain Picard, it was a replacement that an alien put there. That's what that felt like. Captain Picard has never done a wacky accent.
Rich: They don't care! They don't give a shit! Mike, we're the only people that care any more! Picard is the guy that does this: [replicates Picard's famous Face Palm] This is Captain Picard's entire character now for two generations! Fuck it, Patrick Stewart wants to put an eyepatch and dance around an alien bar? Go ahead motherfucker! Patrick Stewart wants to ride a dune buggy? Fuck yeah, here's your dune buggy! That's how much respect they have for the franchise!
Mike: All I'm trying to say is Captain Picard would not do a wacky accent!
Rich: No of course he wouldn't! Of course Captain Picard woul- CAPTAIN PICARD ISN'T HERE MIKE! HE'S NOT HERE! IT'S ALL AN ILLUSION!

— Re:View on Star Trek: Picard

"Apparently, Mr. Paragon Hero, Savior of the Whole Dang Galaxy, most noted for his tendency to never give up on family members even if they're super evil, made a cursory attempt to revive the Jedi Order, and then when his nephew turned evil and killed everybody, he gave up forever and ran off to a distant planet to sulk for the rest of his life. Like, I get that they wanted to give Luke a character arc about rediscovering his hope for the future of the Jedi, but Luke WAS supposed to be the future of the Jedi! He's the dang Return of the Jedi! It genuinely does not make sense to take his character and turn him into a generic jaded, reluctant mentor. I mean, you're telling me Luke Skywalker, who fought relentlessly to redeem his father after he turned to the Dark Side, slaughtered the Jedi, and joined ranks with an evil space wizard, didn't have it in him to give it another shot when his nephew did the exact same thing?!"

— Red on the portrayal of Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, Overly Sarcastic Productions, "Sequels"

"I won't go into too much detail since I do want to tackle the story of Frontiers separately at some point, but the gist of it is this is one of the best stories we've had in a long time… but everyone in this story feels out-of-character. To me, anyway. And unfortunately, our girl got it the worst. Amy is unrecognizable in Frontiers; she's a complete shell of her former self. There's no energy, no over-the-top emotion, no optimism, no fun. And before you say it, yes, Frontiers is a darker story, but you know what, so was Shadow the Hedgehog, and everyone was fine in that game! The common argument I see in favor of the character writing in Frontiers is that the characters are maturing and developing and… okay, sure, but: one, why didn't we actually see the development; and two, why do they even need to mature? Is it because the 2010s sucked? Because the problem wasn't that no one evolved, the problem was that they regressed. (…) Amy just isn't fun anymore because she's not allowed to be. Instead of finding a way to make her character work, they just cut out a huge chunk of it and didn't bother to replace it with anything of value. What do you mean, she's not chasing after Sonic anymore? Why? It was so cute! But hey, she does fortune card readings. Don't you like fortune card readings? Personality? Who needs that? Look at the funny cards. If Amy isn't allowed to be as loud and crazy as she used to be, what separates her from any other female character?"

— "Nobody Understands Amy Rose" by Pixelrush

"Seriously, what is going on with Sonic? They turned him into a pretentious, self-righteous goody-two-shoes! He'd rather tell you how awesome he is instead of actually showing it! He spouts platitudes about the importance of freedom instead of being the physical embodiment of it! He lets his enemies go, hoping they'll turn over a new leaf instead of actually punishing them! It makes seem like a huge pushover! I'm not saying he has to kill his enemies or whatever, but show a little spine! Now, maybe this is just a story they're trying to tell in IDW; a story of Sonic facing the consequences of his flawed philosophy. But here's the thing: that's not Sonic. Sonic doesn't have a philosophy. He acts on instinct and lets his actions speak for him, not his words. He's had some inspirational quotes in the past, but they were always short and concise. They felt genuine and down-to-earth instead of condescending and lame. That kind of simplicity has so much depth to it. He doesn't need to grow or mature in order to be interesting, he just is interesting."

— "Nobody Understands Sonic" by Pixelrush

Real Life

"On Friends, Joey was a womanizer, but we enjoyed his exploits. He was a solid friend, a guy you knew you could count on. Joey was deconstructed to be a guy who couldn't get a job, couldn't ask a girl out. He became a pathetic, mopey character. I felt he was moving in the wrong direction, but I was not heard."

— Kevin S. Bright on the reason behind Joey's cancellation.

"We had seen Lennier sacrifice his well-being and almost die to save Peter Jurasik's character, who was the epitome of a Nazi war criminal at the time. So we'd seen that this noble character would sacrifice his life for any lifeform... And, y'know. He chooses to let this fellow Ranger and Sheridan die. —And then he changes his mind like a wimp and goes to undo it, and it's too late 'cause Sheridan's already gotten himself out of the mess, and then he turns to the Dark Side and goes off and banishes himself like a whiny wimp. I wasn't happy with the end."

— Bill Mumy on his role in Babylon 5

"I wasn't as happy with the revisions, but it's not my show, you have to sort of adjust, even if sometimes it does seem a bit of a contradiction in terms for what your character is supposed to be about.

— John Billingsly on Star Trek: Enterprise, "Dear Doctor"

"Plans changed. Nash and Hall beat Rey Mysterio and Konnan to win Rey's mask. Rey, unmasked, looked about fourteen years old, but apparently Bischoff felt he was more marketable that way than as a superhero-like luchador whose mask would sell en masse at the merchandise stand."

— R. D. Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez, The Death of WCW

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