Character Bashing

Character bashing is the expression of hostility towards a character by fans. Bashing occurs in a wide variety of fandom activities and fanworks, such as fanfiction and meta posts, and takes many forms. It may be done by demonizing a character, referring to them with derogatory terms, or making them the subject of deathfics or spitefics. Discussion of character bashing is often the subject of drama, as fans may take personal offense at what they perceive as undeserved bashing.
==Causes==
* Hero Bashing - Characters who are in the spotlight of a canon are often resented from taking focus away from the supporting cast, at least one of which becomes the fan favorite.
* Ship Wars - A character perceived as "in the way" of a popular ship ends up being put in their place or taken out of the picture in fan works or discussions.
* Misogyny in Fandom - Female characters being held to higher standards than males. Women may receive hate for the same things males are given a pass for. A powerful and strong female character or one who's widely liked by the cast is called a Mary Sue, while a similar male character is beloved by the fandom. Women who cry or lose a single fight are called "weak" while men are coddled. Housewives are seen as worthless, while house-husbands are cooed over as progressive.
* Protective Fans - A character who insults, annoys, or causes problems for the BSO will be treated like an evil villain whose only goal in life is to hurt said BSO. This is common among villain fans, who believe the heroes simply want to hurt their favorites when most of the time they're simply acting in self-defense.
* Loyalty - Fans may react negatively when a character replaces another who already has a dedicated following (aka Replacement Scrappy syndrome"A popular character is killed off or otherwise written out and replaced with a new character who fills their previous role. Regardless of what this new character is like, they're likely to end up with a Hatedom directed at them, just because they're not the old favourite. If they'd been there from the start, maybe the fans could have loved this new character, or at least respected them. But no—they’re a replacement." - Replacement Scrappy on TV Tropes). Randy from That 70s Show and Tracey from the Pokémon anime are prime examples.
==Policies and Practices==
Some fannish spaces may want take steps to prevent bashing and the resulting conflict.
===Fan Forums===
Many fan forums have policies against character bashing in the interest of maintaining polite discussion and avoiding wank. The Chamber of Secrets policy states:
Penalties for character bashing range from removal from forums to banning from communitiesThe LinkxMidna LiveJournal Community.
Some nicknames used frequently in fan forums cross the line between "we only make fun of the ones we love" and a disrespect-bordering-on-hate. Examples include calling John Sheppard on SGA a Pretty Pretty Princess and using Our Ponytailed Hero for Duncan MacLeod.
Other nicknames are clear examples of bashing: Big Dumb Alien (BDA) for Clark Kent, Mary Sue Keller for Jennifer Keller, Ziva Sue (implying a Mary Sue) for Ziva David, "Pansywood" for Eliwood, "The Pink Roach" for Sakura Haruno, and "Whorihime" for Orihime Inoue.
==In Fanworks==
Expressions of dislike frequently come in the form of death stories, where the character is killed off, sometimes repeatedly, often in a manner intended to be black comedy or darkly humorous. One example is Get Wesley. by smuffster, based on The Exceedingly Sad And Very Touching Story of How Dr. Elizabeth Weir Died Saving Atlantis by lavvyan. Accessed January 2009. There are communities dedicated to killing disliked characters.Kill Dr. Weir community on LJ (Accessed October 24, 2008)Kill Sam Carter community on LJ (Accessed October 24, 2008)Die Carter Die community on LJ(Accessed October 24, 2008)Die Ron Die community on LJ (Accessed October 24, 2008) 
In On the Double #34, Mystery Frank proposed a zine called "Without a Trace":
 
While some fans point to the omnipresence of female-character bashing as evidence of misogyny within fandom, male characters get bashed as well. One Star Wars link collection that was last updated in 1999 lists 56 Jar Jar Binks hate sites from Ways Jar Jar Binks Should Die to the Kill Jar Jar Binks GameJar Jar Binks Hate Links!, last updated 07 September 1999. (Accessed 12 January 2009) and the fan reaction to the introduction of Joxer in Xena: Warrior Princess (as a potential love interest for one half of the femslash OTP) was so bad that fans repeatedly killed him in fanfiction and created several kill Joxer sites. The actor recalls in an article: "the fans were ready to lynch me! They were saying things like, 'Kill Joxer!' Someone had a column that came out every three days and it would say, 'Here's the 11th way to kill Joxer...' and it was full of these four or five-page diatribes on ways to mutilate and destroy him."Joe Nazzaro. Earth's Mightiest Hero, StarLog Yearbook #16, August 1998. (Accessed 12 January 2008) Another often bashed male character was Wesley Crusher on Star Trek TNG, who was regarded by many as an egregious Gary Stu, to the point that the actor would be booed at conventions and a Usenet newsgroup called alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die was created.
Some fandoms call this variant Anti-Fic.
Character bashing frequently occurs when the hated character is seen as a threat to the fan's preferred ship, either as a third party in a love triangle, or a het love interest to one member of a slash or femslash pairing. One example in The X-Files is Mulder's ex Diana Fowley, for whom an Anti Diana Fowley Archive exists. The Anti Diana Fowley Archive (accessed 18 February 2009) Pixychelle sends up this bashing cliche in her story How Severus Snape (Didn't) Kill Nymphadora Tonks: "...he learnt that the annoying twit had moved in on his werewolf while he was busy sacrificing for the war effort. Clearly, she needed to die."How Severus Snape (Didn't) Kill Nymphadora Tonks (Accessed January 12, 2009) However, ex-wives, (in The Sentinel, Die Hard IV, Star Trek (movie era), and Starsky & Hutch) who might be seen as less of a threat, are bashed as much or more than current canon girlfriends in those fandoms.
Bashing occurs in anime fandom as well, aimed at such characters as Kikyo from InuYasha and Relena from Gundam Wing. A more light-hearted example is The Chibi Project in Sailor Moon fandom, which documented many attempts to destroy an action figure of the widely disliked character, Chibi-Usa.
Many archives for fan fiction have policies against character bashing. The Stargate Atlantis archive Wraithbait states in its rules:
No character bashing stories. Character bashing includes, but is not limited to, making characters look bad because you think that they are a threat to your OTP or your favourite character; making characters look bad because you think it makes your favourite character look good in comparison; characters acting severely out of character - plotting murder, committing rape, beating the hell out of people - for no good reason that is explained in the story when there is no indication in canon that they would behave in such a way.Wraithbait Rules (accessed 1/2009)
Among fans, there is debate as to whether character bashing is a legitimate form of creative expression,"hating characters: why it's okay to bash" posted by Xparrot, Jan. 25th, 2007 (accessed 1/2009) or whether it is sloppy writing.Midian: A Hellsing Forum, "Character Bashing in Fan Fiction" comment by Jay FicLover, 12/17/2005 (accessed 1/2009)
===Backlash===
Character bashing is heavily frowned upon in many fan circles and a major pet peeve of those who like the characters being bashed. Many even consider it a form of prejudice if the character is a minority, even if the character isn't outwardly bashed on the basis of gender, race, sexuality, or religion.
Communities and blogs were started in response to the trend, created to defend the common targets or debunk the reasons used to bash the characters. Hated Character, started on Livejournal in 2003, was fairly notable among fans of bashed characters back in the old days.
==Fan Comments==
===2013===
==Notable Targets, Past and Present==
These are examples of individual characters that fans tend to bash, or were heavily bashed in their series' heyday. 
===A===
* Aang (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
* Adric (Doctor Who)
* Administrator (SCP Foundation)
* Akane Tendo (Ranma 1/2)
* Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter)
* Alphys (Undertale)
* Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune (Slayers)
* Andromeda Shun (Saint Seiya)
* Anzu Mazaki/Téa Gardener (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
* Ash Ketchum (Pokémon anime)
* Ayaka Usami (Gravitation)
===B===
* Beowolf (Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War)
===C===
* Cassie Welles (The Sentinel)
* ChibiUsa (Sailor Moon)
* Chara (Undertale)
*Cho Chang (Harry Potter)
* Clive (Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia)
* Corrin and Camilla (Fire Emblem Fates)
* Curtis (Voltron: Legendary Defender)
===D===
*Daisuke/Davis Motomiya (Digimon 02)
* Dawn Summers (Buffy)
* Donna Eleese-Beckett (Quantum Leap)
* Donna Noble (Doctor Who)
* Diana Bennett (Beauty and the Beast (TV)
* Deirdre (Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War)
* Dream (Dream SMP)
=== E ===
* Edelgard von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
===F===
* Faye (Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia)
* Frisk (Undertale)
===G===
* Ginny Weasley (Harry Potter) – see Weasley Bashing
=== H ===
* Harpy/Lillian Corvus (Sentinels of the Multiverse)
* Hitomi Shizuki (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)
=== I ===
* Ingrid Brandl Galatea (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
===J===
*Jar Jar Binks (Star Wars)
*Jennifer Keller (Stargate Atlantis)
* John Doggett (The X-Files)
* Julia (Cowboy Bebop)
===K===
* Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)
* Kennedy (Buffy)
* Kikyo (Inuyasha)
* Kira (Starsky & Hutch)
===L===
* Lana Lang (Smallville)
*Li Syaoran (Cardcaptor Sakura)
===M===
* Makalov (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn)
* Mai (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
* Marcus (Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword)
*Mamoru Chiba (Sailor Moon)
*Martha Jones (Doctor Who)
*Matthias Raoul Gautier (Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes)
* Matthis (Fire Emblem Akaneia)
* Mekhane (SCP Foundation)
*Miaka Yuuki (Fushigi Yuugi)
*Micaiah (Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn)
*Mineta Minoru (Boku no Hero Academia)
*Misty (Pokémon anime)
===N===
* Nick Starsky (Starsky & Hutch)
* Ninian (Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword)
===O===
*Orihime Inoue (Bleach)
===R===
* Raoul de Chagny (The Phantom of the Opera)
*Relena Darlian Peacecraft (Gundam Wing)
* Rinoa Heartily (Final Fantasy 8)
* Rolo (Code Geass)
*Ron Weasley (Harry Potter) – see Weasley Bashing
*Rose Tyler (Doctor Who)
===S===
* Sakura Haruno (Naruto)
* Scott Summers/Cyclops (Marvel's Earth-616)
*Scrappy-Doo (Scooby-Doo)He was hated enough that on TV Tropes he is the Trope Namer for The Scrappy.
*Shinji Ikari (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
*Shiori Takatsuki (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
*Shirley Fenette (Code Geass)
*Sumia (Fire Emblem Awakening)
*Suzaku Kururugi (Code Geass)
===T===
* Tracy Vetter (Forever Knight)
* Tracey Sketchit (Pokémon anime)
===W===
*Wesley Crusher (Star Trek)
* Winry Rockbell (FMA)
* Wufei Chang (Gundam Wing)
===V===
* Vanessa Hutchinson (Starsky & Hutch)
=== Y ===
* Yaldabaoth (SCP Foundation)
==Further Reading==
* Who Do You Like Better by Charlotte Frost (Mar. 3rd, 2012); WayBack Machine
* A troubling phenomenon I've noticed by Laura Shapiro (1998)
== References ==
==Notes==
Category:Fandom WarsCategory:2019 Featured Articles