YMMV / House of Anubis

• Actor Shipping: In the early days of the fandom, people shipped Nathalia Ramos and Brad Kavanagh, to the point where Brad's (at the time) real-life girlfriend ended up being unpopular with the fandom for being in the way.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • A popular theory that gained traction after the show ended is that KT is actually a lesbian, something popular with fans as KT hasn't had a love-interest in the show proper. Her relationship with Eddie never gets romantic, meaning that while it's implied she has a crush on him, her constant denial and willingness to step aside for Patricia's sake means it could also be interpreted as 100% platonic, adding to the theory.
  • Jason was a good guy at first, and then he started to unravel the mystery of Joy Mercer's disappearance. Ultimately, this led him to Victor and the next thing the viewers knew, he had joined Victor's society. This spawned some debate among fans of the series as to whether Jason was being forced to cooperate with the society or whether he had joined of his own free will. (A third theory is that he is The Mole, pretending to be loyal to the society in order to gather information on them.) Turned out, he was slowly dying and needed The Cup of Ankh to save himself.
• Base-Breaking Character: Nina Martin herself. You either think she's a good protagonist and find her sympathetic despite her occasional show of a temper, or you think she's a poorly-written Jerkass who was mean to her (more sympathetic, in this case) friends. One thing that all these fans seem to agree on, though, is that she makes the best Fabian love interest.
• Broken Base:
  • The revelation that Nina would not be returning in the third season caused a lot of debating- fans couldn't agree on if Nina's absence bettered the show or worsened it, if Fabian should move on or if he should eventually end up back with Nina, and if new character KT was a good replacement or not.
  • In Touchstone of Ra, Mabian is either a cute couple that we should all be happy about for allowing Fabian to move on or a poorly-done, shoehorned example of Strangled by the Red String and Pair the Spares.
• Cargo Ship: A couple, but the most popular is Victor/Corbierre—Corbierre being his dead, stuffed raven. Who he talks to as if it is alive and even panicked when Fabian 'kidnapped' it. It's no wonder many people like shipping it.
• Complete Monster:
  • Season 2: Senkhara, the Forgotten Ruler, is season 2's primary villain and a major step up from the likes of the pragmatic Rufus and the troubled Victor. Being both King Tut's stepmother and killer, Senkhara appeared to force Nina Martin to hunt down the mythical Mask of Anubis in order to possess her body, enter the Egyptian afterlife, and reign as a goddess. To ensure Nina did this for her, Senkhara put a curse on Sibuna to threaten their lives and make them suffer when things didn't go her way. Senkhara also cursed Nina's grandmother, using her as a "Time Piece" and slowly killing her in order to make Nina work faster. Nina suffered a lot of psychological torture at her hands, being taunted at every moment about the potential death of everyone she loves. Even when Senkhara helped the kids, it was to get the mask, and she used one of those chances to curse Vera and torment Victor, proving her true love of using petty and evil tactics to get her way.
  • Season 3: Caroline Denby stole her adoptive sister, Harriet's, identity and destiny before locking her in a mental institution through the use of drugs and manipulation. Caroline got a job at the school under her sister's name, masquerading as Robert Frobisher-Smythe's "keeper" in order to get him reawakened. After manipulating the students to succeed, Caroline's heart was so impure that she single-handedly corrupted the ceremony and allowed Robert to wake up evil. This didn't bother her, as she happily joined him in his goal of starting an apocalypse by unleashing an evil goddess, and willingly tormented the students to steal their souls and make them into sinners. Even Harriet and Robert weren't spared from her ambitions, as Caroline ultimately attempted to become Ammut's main follower to rule the apocalypse as the only person who still had her soul — ultimately making her the only season 3 villain to intentionally choose the path of evil.
• Crack Pairing:
  • There are several "food pairings", tongue-in-cheek shippings meant to poke fun at a character and their Trademark Favorite Food. These include Joy/Cereal, Jerome/Apple, and Mick/Banana. Similarly, fans like to ship Victor with his stuffed raven, Corbierre.
  • One relatively popular pairing is of Nina and Mick- two characters who almost never interacted during the show, paired mostly based on appearances.
  • KT/Tree. Yes, one of the main characters and a tree. It exists because KT's actress, Alexandra Shipp, joked about wanting KT to have a boyfriend of any kind, "even a tree". Fans took it and ran with it.
• Die for Our Ship: Before Joy had rejoined the main cast in the second season, all fans really knew about her was that she was Patricia's best friend and that she had a very obvious crush on Fabian. However, the fans at this point had fallen in love with the pairing of Fabian and Nina, and were not keen on the idea of this romantic competition. While Joy would eventually start acting like a Jerkass, the hate for her had begun much earlier than that simply due to standing in the way of a happy future for "Fabina".
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Despite being a teacher who only appeared in the first season, Jason Winkler remains super popular among fans. People begged for his return in season 2 or 3, and he's always brought up as one of the characters the show forgot about. This may have something to do with his implied romance with Patricia- Pason, despite being non-canon, was wildly popular.
  • Fans really like Patricia's Polar Opposite Twin, Piper. Her brief cameo in season 3 was met with excitement and surprise, and she's beloved for being a genuinely sweet Nice Girl who contrasts her sister nicely. This is despite that she was only in the show for a handful of episodes and was barely mentioned since.
  • While the other characters introduced in Touchstone of Ra were criticized as being annoying or unnecessary, Dexter escaped that fate by virtue of being funny, likeable, and sympathetic. His personality, considered by many to be a mix of all the male characters in the show, stood out and made him endearing, making him surprisingly popular for a character who only appeared in the finale.
• Ho Yay: Based on their dynamic in Season 1, it was common to interpret either Patricia, Joy, or both as being gay or bi. This comes from the intensity of their friendship, most obvious in Patricia's sheer determination to save Joy and Joy's own loyalty back. Additionally, there were smaller moments adding fuel to the fire, such as the two of them dancing together at prom, and the fact that when they were on screen together they were attached at the hip. While Joy had a crush on Fabian at this time, that didn't stop the fandom from interpreting that the two of them had more going on — or at least that Patricia may have had an unrequited crush on Joy.
• I Knew It!: A lot of viewers caught on that Rufus was The Collector before The Reveal.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Patricia is, even in her best moments, snarky, jealous, and rude. In the beginning of the show, she was relentlessly bullying Nina and antagonizing everyone else, and the jerk streak failed to die down even as she became a softer, friendlier character. However, due to the fact that she's implied to be lashing out due to insecurities and the fact that she's a magnet for misfortune, her mean side is constantly balanced by tragedy. For example, even back in the beginning of season 1, she was depicted both as a bully and as a scared, desperate girl just looking for her best friend; her struggles with romance humanized her more in season 2; and in season 3, she was coerced into doing the ceremony despite her best efforts and was later tricked into thinking Eddie was cheating on her.
  • Jerome tends to lean toward the side of manipulation, selfishness, and pragmatism, even when he's trying to be good. He's done a ton of awful things, willingly blackmailing his fellow housemates, cheating on Mara and Willow, and even temporarily helping Rufus for money. Despite that, his tendency to suffer problems that outweigh any of his own actions, his familial problems, and his personal struggle with being a good person despite various setbacks, makes him a character people tend to feel sorry for, at least once they stop being upset at him. In season 3, he was at his best and worst, being both a cheating, selfish boyfriend and a troubled, sympathetic soul who doesn't want to keep hurting people.
  • For a large percentage of season 2, Joy was downright nasty — a petty, jealous bully who went on a crusade to break up Nina and Fabian's relationship, and who began to take out her anger on everyone else in the house as well. The intensity of her character flaws didn't change the fact that she was still in a sympathetic situation, especially with an understanding of trauma. After being kidnapped for an entire year, she returned feeling isolated, hurt and still clinging to the past; her attitude was as much a symptom of her pain as it was jealousy towards Nina. The end of the season made a point out of having her get to her absolute worst before showing her teaming up with Sibuna and thriving when she felt included and valued.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Vera, Denby, and Sophia are by far the most hated villains in the show. However, fans don't hate them for their evil acts; instead, they're despised for being Jerkasses to the heroes, such as by manipulating their insecurities or getting them expelled. Indeed, they're even hated worse than the other villains, as characters like Rufus, Senkhara and the Sinners are beloved for being competent and entertaining. The other three simply don't have the same charisma and are instead just generally unpleasant.
• Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Most characters have at least a few ships to their name, but Patricia in particular stands out as being paired up with Eddie, Jerome, Joy, Nina, Fabian, Alfie, Mick, Ben, Jason, and even Rufus to an extent. Generally, her personality is considered to mesh well with others and lead to a variety of fun romantic dynamics, regardless of gender or in-show relationship.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • To squee or not to squee? SQUEE! ^explanation A popular quote from Willow.
  • Falls out of his/her chair in amazement. ^explanation  One of Alfie's most popular quotes
  • You have five minutes precisely, tropers, and then I shall want to hear a pin drop. ^explanation  Victor's famous catchphrase.
  • Moy Castle ^explanation  Moy is the name for the pairing of Joy and Mick. Some fans searched it up and discovered there is a Moy Castle in England, leading to the idea of Mick and Joy being the rulers of Moy castle, with Alfie as the jester, and all the shippers living there too.
  • Dark!Fabian and Angry!Fabian ^explanation  Came from fans wanting to see Nice Guy Extreme Doormat Fabian with an evil side.
  • WHERE'S JOY?! ^explanation  In the first episode, Patricia would constantly ask this question.
  • LOAS ^explanation  Also known as Lack Of Anubis Syndrome, the fan's term for what happens when the show is over, and they remain obsessed. Apparently, the only cure is more of the show.
  • Willow's abilities ^explanation  It was popular to interpret Willow as being anywhere from a more straight-forward empath to a literal faerie, due to her odd mannerisms and apparent sensory abilities. If any character is to be viewed as having unique magical abilities, it tends to be her.
• More Interesting as a Villain: For the bulk of the show, Fabian was seen as the resident Nice Guy who was unfailingly on the side of good. Among the fandom, however, the idea of a "Dark Fabian" became popular, as fans grew curious about what it would be like for such an unambiguously kind and heroic character to reveal some sort of dark or evil side. Fanfics portraying him as some sort of antihero were rather common, as were speculations on what such a character would be like. In season 3, Fabian did indeed turn evil for a short time after losing his soul, something that only added more fuel to the idea of "Dark Fabian" as this version of the character was absolutely beloved for being both threatening and charismatic in a way that couldn't be said about normal Fabian.
• Never Live It Down:
  • Joy, despite being an Anti-Hero at her worst, will still be associated with the time she wrote a nasty attack article on Nina. Though she was Rescued from the Scrappy Heap come season 3, no discussion of her actions can gloss over how cruel she was in that moment.
  • No discussion of Mara ignores her bullying of Joy and Jerome in season 3, specifically and especially the nasty play she wrote to humiliate Jerome with. This is despite Mara being a perfectly kind character for most of the show, and the fact that her treatment of both Joy and Jerome was out of a sense of betrayal and heartbreak.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: All of the pairings, major or minor, platonic or romantic, were given these. The most notable ones are Fabina (Fabian/Nina), Mickra (Mick/Mara), Peddie (Patricia/Eddie), Jara (Jerome/Mara), Jabian (Joy/Fabian), Jeroy (Jerome/Joy), Amfie (Amber/Alfie) and Walfie (Willow/Alfie).
• Preemptive Shipping: Before his debut in season 2, all the viewers really knew about Eddie Miller was that he had a slightly edgy wardrobe and was played by an American actor. Regardless, he was shipped with the tomboyish Patricia. The ship eventually proved to be canonical when the season was released, with the two of them having a lot of Belligerent Sexual Tension.
• Replacement Scrappy: Both KT and Willow are seen in this light for replacing fan-favourite Nina and Amber respectively, not helped by the fact their personalities (and especially KT’s origin) are almost the same. While some fans still hate them for this, things have calmed down for most once the characters settled into their roles and proved to be not ''that'' identical to Nina and Amber.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Joy was incredibly unpopular in Season 2 as her efforts to steal Fabian from Nina meant that she was standing in the way of the fandom's favorite ship, making her a target for bashing right from the start. Not helping matters was the fact that she had some major Jerkass traits in that season, with a major selfish streak that resulted in her bullying Nina, stealing Mara's journalism credit, and pushing everyone else away. This is all before she'd joined forces with Sibuna, took the lightning bolt to save Fabian, and agreed to simply be friends with him. In season 3, most of her unlikable traits disappeared completely, leaving behind only the traits that made her fun, likable, and sympathetic. She then ended up being paired with Jerome in a relationship that was extremely popular with the fandom, elevating her to one of the most popular characters in the show.
• The Scrappy: Almost nobody seems to like the new students introduced in "The Touchstone Of Ra" (aside from Dexter). Cassie and Erin are seen as being annoying and pointless additions to the movie as well as being disliked for flirting with the guys. Sophia, meanwhile, gets this for flirting with Eddie and for being the Big Bad. The flirting is especially disliked in both cases- the characters are freshmen flirting with seniors, coming off as super Squicky in addition to being unnecessary padding and getting in the way of the pairings people wanted to watch one last time.
• Seasonal Rot: Season 3 is often considered to be the low point of the show for several reasons. Nathalia leaving made them introduce Alexandria Shipp as KT, who became a Replacement Scrappy due to the character's blatant similarities. Eddie also became the new protagonist, which sounded cool, until it became clear that his personality had changed a lot to suit the new role. Other characters didn't fare much better - Patricia spent most of the season being jealous, right up until the last minute make-up; Jerome became a cheater, when he'd previously been a very loyal boyfriend; Mara, in turn, became so extreme in her revenge quest that she stopped being sympathetic; Mr. Sweet's poor parental skills turned from awkward and bumbling to borderline abusive; Even Victor garnered some complaints for losing the sympathetic side of himself we saw in the first two seasons. Jerome and Joy both stopped being involved in the mystery, despite their unique Sixth Ranger statuses being popular. The finale didn't help matters, as after a ton of buildup involving sinners, Ammit's unleashing, and KT and Eddie hitting their darkest hour, their ultimate victory turned out to be anti-climatic, with the sinners in particular not being involved at all. Over all, while there are still things fans enjoy about season 3, it was the most highly criticized season, ending the show on a low note.
• Ship Mates: At least for season one, the most common ship mates were Nina/Fabian, Mick/Mara, Amber/Alfie, and then Patricia/Jerome thanks to the fans wanting to Pair the Spares. It got a little more complicated once other pairings began to emerge.
• Shocking Moments:
  • We all expected mythical and downright strange things to happen as our heroes slowly solve the mysteries, as well as drama. But when Nina falls down a very long pit because of Season 2's mysterious spirit, ending on a cliffhanger... well... Granted it turned out to be All Just a Dream, but it was still such a shock, especially as she was Dreaming of Things to Come...
  • It might be safe to say that Season 2 took a level in this when compared to Season 1. We have Senkhara's Reality Warper powers, the first actual on-screen death for Rufus, the Nightmare Fuel as mentioned above...
  • More than halfway through Season 3, we have Victor who is a sinner at the time set up a variant of an actual guillotine, which sliced through a book with ease.
• Strangled by the Red String: Fabian and Mara, apparently. They had very few interactions until the end of Season 3, and suddenly got paired together in "Touchstone of Ra". While their personalities fit pretty well, it came out of nowhere, and jarred viewers who were hoping for a Fabina reunion.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Joy's arc in season 2 was meant to make her seem like a tragic character who was lashing out due to feelings of abandonment. This is demonstrated by how she would repeatedly flip between doing something cruel or selfish, and then be shown struggling or crying alone with nobody to help her. Fans, however, latched on more to the mean side of Joy and did not find her moments of vulnerability to be as sympathetic as intended. This is due to the fact that Joy's actions went far over the line into petty and intentional bullying, rather than merely lashing out in a state of emotion. At the end, she was targeting people who had done nothing to her, such as carelessly backstabbing Mara and temporarily kicking Patricia out of her life. This made it much harder to feel bad for anything she was going through because she was rejecting her friends and then crying over not having friends. Additionally, some felt that her redemption at the end was hollow and undeserved, as her attitude effectively took a 180 the moment Fabian asked for her help and thus she didn't need to actually apologize; it doesn't help that when Fabian officially called her out for her bad actions, the scenario was one in which Joy's side of the argument was quickly proven right and in the end it was Fabian who had to admit he was wrong.
  • Mara in season 3 started out as being a deeply sympathetic character due to being cheated on by Jerome, who then appeared to not feel bad over how he'd hurt her. At first, the fandom took her side and wanted to see him get his karma. However, when "Operation Jerome" rolled around, her actions went from justifiable to needlessly cruel. Getting revenge on Jerome began to consume her character to the point where it was the purpose of every scene she had, and she roped Joy into becoming an Intentional Heartbreaker... only to then turn against her when she discovered that Joy had legitimately fallen for him. All of this was meant to be Mara lashing out from unresolved heartbreak and a sense of betrayal, but was instead percieved as cruel bullying toward Jerome (who in the meantime was being portrayed as genuinely sympathetic and guilt-ridden) and Joy (who was stuck between both sides of the conflict).
• Visual Effects of Awesome: Some of the visual effects on this show are the very embodiment of Nightmare Fuel: Senkhara's curse on Nina's grandmother, the black smoke and red skies when Ammut is influencing the world in Season 3, the lightning being fired from the skies when Ra is pissed off in "The Touchstone of Ra"...and those are just a few examples. The visual effects artists deserve some serious kudos.
• The Woobie:
  • In Season 2, Nina was under near constant stress and trauma. She was being tormented and cursed by Senkhara, bullied by Joy, broke up with Fabian over a miscommunication, nearly lost her Gran, and nearly lost her friends, as well. While she would occasionally lash out or act irrationally, the amount of pain she went through just to save the lives of her everyone she loved made her into a tragic and sympathetic character. She would constantly blame herself for what was going on, suffer from various abuses, and was forced into a Heroic Sacrifice just to end the curse.
  • Eddie went through a lot of trauma in his life. Starting from being abandoned by his father as a child, he eventually wound up at the school, where his father was still incredibly distant toward him. Things ramped up in season 3, where he was thrust into the role of the Osirian without really understanding what it meant or how to protect his friends. Instead, he was forced to deal with Patricia dumping him for no reason, the revelation that his father was one of the villains (with a new confirmation every time he tried to deny it), the pressure of stopping the "Great Evil" without knowing how, and a lot of intrusive, frightening visions. Team Evil would torment him relentlessly, such as by locking him in a crypt and trying to bully him into Sinning. Things didn't get better in The Touchstone of Ra, as in that movie he had to sacrifice himself to save his friends, and even after surviving it, he suffered from Power Loss Depression.
  • In season 3, Amber went through a lot of pain in a short time. After losing her best friend just before her birthday, she learned that the present Alfie got her was actually Victor's ceremony bracelet — and that he was willing to hurt people to get it, a danger she'd never asked for. Then she got locked in the Gatehouse tank room for a day, eventually being caught by Denby, and then Victor, who forced her to lie to her father, who then forced her to apologize to Victor. She was forced from the school that same day, and while she managed to come back and say goodbye, it didn't make the sting go away.
  • Alfie tends to suffer from a lot of unnecessary pain due to being the resident Butt-Monkey, and while some of it just bounces off of him, the rest tends to really hurt him. He got locked in the cellar, witnessing a ceremony that traumatized him to the point of giving him recurring nightmares. In season 2, he spent several episodes being pushed around by Amber, even after becoming her boyfriend; after trying to break up with her, she made him crawl through a creepy tunnel for her, which started to collapse while he was in it. In season 3, he had to make the tough decision to stand up to Amber's father for her and convince him to send her to the fashion school, a choice that deeply pained him. Then, after being forced into the ceremony, threatened with expulsion, and tormented by Fabian (as a Sinner), he became a Sinner, too — because Willow was threatened, and Eddie and KT failed to rescue him in time.