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captainofthestars

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Bitterly Divisive

There are some characters who are broadly popular and liked or loved by most. There are characters who are widely hated or disliked, and generally unpopular. And then there are the characters who are both. That's these guys.

A list of characters who (in my experience anyway), seem to generate the most intense disagreement and very strong feelings both positive and negative. And while obviously just about any given character will have some number of fans and haters, some seem much more divisive in my experience than do others, and that's who this list is meant to cover.

If you see a character or characters here that you like, try not to be offended. This is not a list of who I personally think is good or bad. Just characters who, near as I can tell, are divisive (though with that said I will give my own thoughts on some of them too).

If anyone's got suggestions, feel free to mention them.

List items

  • Due to those who see her as too much of a damsel in distress and/or ship Sonic with someone else, Amy has a LOT of haters. But she remains a recognizable and popular Sonic character despite that, so...

  • Awesome badass villain, or a Mary Sue? Depends on which Warhammer fan you ask. Archaon is either the epitome of everything that's cool about Warriors of Chaos, or a writer's pet with a poorly written story who destroyed the world.

  • Ungrateful bitch who hates aliens, or totally justified in everything she does? Depends on who you ask, though I myself consider the former position more legitimate. Avoid debates involving this character like a plague.

  • All Disney Princesses have a following to some degree, and Aurora is no different. But it is also the case that many see her as weak/boring, and an example of sexist writing.

  • DC's most popular superhero, and also one who is endlessly bashed and hated on for everything from not killing Joker to laughable and spurious accusations of fascism and sexism (yes, I kid you not, I have seen people try to argue this). There's also the folks who like to grouse that he gets too much exposure relative to other DC superheroes. Proof that even a character as popular as Batman can qualify as polarizing.

  • This character has proven quite popular and gotten quite the following for himself, but I've also noticed a lot of people who dislike him, deriding him as too edgelord / badly written / a dumb idea / etc., plus at least one Youtube video arguing why he "doesn't work" compared to Owlman. Personally, I think he's a great villain, but again, polarizing. Given that the original Batman himself is too, I guess it's only right.

  • The divisive audience score for his show on Rotten Tomatoes pretty neatly proves this one I'd say. Plus the endless chorus of "He didn't do anything! HE FELL INTO THE SARLAAC! HE'S OVERRATED!" that his haters have been singing for decades now. Yet for all that, he remains one of Star Wars' most widely popular characters (part of how he got that aforementioned show in the first place).

  • A lovable sidekick character and one of the hearts of the franchise, or an unbearably annoying and whiny waste of space? Depends on who you ask.

  • I've got the soiled ears to prove this one. Word to the wise; don't try defending Carol to her haters, as doing so subjects you to machine gun barrages of verbal abuse and bile. Again, I know from experience.

  • Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the single most polarizing video game Star Wars character of all time. Hands down. Period. For every person who whines that he's nothing but a whiner (heh), there are countless folks out there who ship him with Female Revan as though it's the OTP. Good luck finding a Star Wars fan besides this one who has a middle-of-the-road opinion on Carth.

    The funny thing about this one is, his voice actor would go on to voice ANOTHER polarizing boy scout in a Bioware RPG series set in outer space who is a love interest for the female player (Kaidan Alenko).

  • Many sympathize with and even sometimes whitewash her, and many others hate her. A "victim or villain?" debate you might say.

  • I mean, the character WAS meant to be provocative and shocking, so this shouldn't be surprising.

  • Among hard-core fans of my generation, the Count is generally respected and well liked as a formidable Sith Lord. Amongst Prequel haters and/or casual fans, the opinions are much less kind.

  • Boring and unlikable stick-in-the-mud, or one of the greatest X-Men/Marvel heroes in general? Depends on which fan you're asking. AVX and Cyclops' actions in it only added fuel to the fire.

  • Likely on account of how much exposure he's gotten (plus the fact that Marvel's Anti-Hero characters in general seem to be rather polarizing), there's a not insubstantial number of people who strongly dislike the Merc with a Mouth. But of course, as Death Battle's Boomstick correctly pointed out, you see him "everywhere you look at nerd conventions", so no matter how vocal the haters and the salty, Deadpool still has legions of dedicated fans (myself among them, if I'm being totally candid).

  • The term "Draco in Leather Pants" doesn't exist for no reason, after all. But to those who do NOT give him a set of leather pants, he is generally recognized for the unpleasant, bigoted bully that he is (and yes, this is indeed one where I side with the haters).

  • While the enduring popularity of the original Heroic Drow speaks for itself, there are a lot of folks in the tabletop gaming/roleplaying/general nerd sphere who HATE Drizzt for all of the poorly written imitations and copycats that he inspired. That Drizzt's own, more recent books by RA Salvatore are generally seen as being of poor quality only adds to the flak poor Drizzt gets. And yet even so, he remains a popular poster boy for the D&D franchise.

  • This man's been courting controversy at least since the days of his first 3D title, and the less than stellar reception to his more recent game "Duke Nukem Forever", only added fuel to that fire.

  • Loved by younger and/or more casual fans, but relentlessly sneered at and dismissed by humorless, stuck-up older fans who scorn him for reasons I've never really understood myself, despite being a fan who is neither casual nor a kid or teenager. But then, its mostly fans who are middle-aged that tend to not give Venom the respect he deserves; folks who were young(er) in the 90s, when Marvel was admittedly over-using him, which probably soured him for many of them.

  • Loved by Twilight fans (at least those that ship him with Bella). Hated by everyone else.

  • Funny, contemptible, or both? Similar to Peter Griffin, Eric Cartman is purposefully horrible, but whether one finds his awfulness funny satire or just plain detestable seems to vary.

  • Supposedly, from what I've been told. I'm not an FMA fan or know hardly anything about it, so I can't really confirm this one.

  • Arrowverse version, at least beginning around Season 3 of the show anyway. This does, of course, extend to opinions on her romance with Oliver Queen.

  • Tons of people love or like him, but he also got enough votes to qualify for an online "Top 10 Worst Dragon Age Companions" list.

  • While some number of people will always find him a cool and badass Warchief of the Horde (and lament that Sylvanas succeeded him), many others (rightly) hate him for the Bombing of Theramore. And, if you don't like how Jaina's character took a turn for the dark and extreme afterwards, you basically have Garrosh to thank for it.

    Again though, some number of people still like him and even compare him favorably to Sylvanas (even though both of them are responsible for the Horde's worst deeds).

  • And no, this isn't the last Family Guy character you'll see here.

  • Let the accusations of "Mary Sues" and "Matt Ward's pets" (other than Ultramarines) commence!

  • Liked by his whitewashers and fanatics. Understandably despised by everyone else.

  • Well, what do you expect when the faction as a whole has committed some of the worst atrocities in the setting, but still have tons of players who are loyal to them?

  • There's the camp that hate for being an abrasive, foul-mouthed (and foul-tempered), psycho, and then there's the camp who act as though her tragic backstory excuses every bad thing she does. For what it's worth, I agree with neither perspective.

  • Same as Edward; liked by those who ship him with Bella, hated by everyone else.

  • As the female Thor, and this being another one to mostly fall along fan/critic lines. Really the fan nickname of "Feminist Thor" says a lot.

  • Formerly at least. I mean, there WAS a vote by the readers to decide if he should live or die, and it came out as a fairly close margin. Sounds polarizing to me.

  • I think at this point most Star Wars fans have encountered (or indulged in) Jedi bashing/vilifying at some point or another. The widespread nature of it means that Star Wars' main group of heroes are more divisive than one might think.

  • A widely beloved sex symbol to be sure, but also drew a lot of controversy/criticism at the time for exactly that reason. But remember everybody: she's not bad. She's just drawn that way.

  • Fairly notorious for being of these. And...

  • ...doubles as a real-life example!

  • Many (including myself), hate her design, but she still sees use in the Pokemon world. And then of course there's the added controversy over how her original design used to be, to be perfectly blunt, rather racist.

  • For similar reasons to Ashley Williams.

  • As with many of Marvel's newer faces, Kamala engenders both love and hate, if not perhaps quite as much of the latter as some of the others. Still polarizing enough to make this list though.

  • She's with Cerberus and is a nice person, so that combination is bound to stir up conflicting views.

  • For every person who dismisses him as a character or who outright hates him, there's someone else who treats him as the greatest Star Wars villain ever since his grandfather.

  • The Main Man has always had a dedicated following. For most who are NOT part of that following, he is intensely despised and reviled in my experience. I have even seen people proclaim him the worst comic book character from not just DC, but ALL comic franchises. Yeah.

  • TLJ version specifically. Mostly a critics/fans divide, though not completely.

  • Lovable and cute, or a nightmarishly overpowered monster? The thing about this one is that Blizzard themselves seem to be aware of the strong feelings against her, given her Anniversary quotes:

    "I was just trying to help!"

    "So mean! Honestly!"

  • Loved by some as the gold standard for Affirmative Action Legacy characters, scorned by others on the grounds that he's naught but Peter Parker only black. Thanks in part to Into the Spider-Verse, the former probably outnumber the latter by now. I know *I* like him a lot.

  • The number of haters for this character is something to behold, but the volume of fan-art and fandom that you see for her also shows that Miranda inspires divisive opinions. This seems to be true among critics as well, as the character got a mostly positive reception, but the haters were especially intense in their vitriol.

  • Most players see her for what she is, but as is perhaps inevitable with a black leather wearing space Vampire, she's got her advocates and whitewashers too.

  • The entire bloody franchise is divisiveness incarnate. Just thinking of the wars between the Bronies and Anti-Bronies makes me shudder.

  • Because so much of her character is built around her love story with Anakin, and that love story wasn't executed very well, a LOT of folks hate her relentlessly. But, as with most things and characters Prequel-related, opinions have softened in recent years (at least in some corners anyway).

  • Really, all of the Griffins, and Family Guy in general, are polarizing. But Peter here especially, as there are many (legitimate) reasons for hating him. But, tons of people still find him funny. Not that the two things are mutually exclusive of course, but there is still a divide between those who find him "awful but funny", and those who just find him awful.

  • Same reasons as Peach detailed below.

  • Iconic Nintendo character, but her status as a frequent damsel in distress has drawn ire and disdain from many.

  • Either loved as a total badass, or disliked for being the first of many anti-heroes that the haters roll their eyes at. I suspect some recent real-world controversies involving his logo have also added to this.

  • Either one of the best women Star Wars has ever given us or a Mary Sue, depending on who you consult.

  • Due to the enormous success of Overwatch, just about all of its characters are popular and have followings to some extent, but in Roadhog's case there are also many people (including myself), who hate him for being basically broken as a character. His "hook-snag-blast" trick has been the bane of many an Overwatch player's existence.

  • "Ron the Death Eater" is an actual phenomenon, but for plenty of others, Weasley is King (kudos to anyone who got that reference).

  • Another one that tends to fall along fan/critic lines. The latter either loved or liked Rose by and large, with few if any of them having any real problem with her. Conversely, I have yet to meet that many fans who have anything other than utter contempt for Rose. So basically, fans mostly hate her, and critics mostly love her.

  • Similar to Rey, there seems to be a bit of a divide on whether she's a great heroine or a Mary Sue, though unlike Rey, attitudes these days seem to be predominantly the former instead of the latter...at least until the Ahsoka mini-series, where suddenly lots of folks began hating on her (SW fans can be a bit fickle as you can see).

  • Those Shipping Wars, man.

  • Limited as my knowledge (or interest), in Naruto is, even I know this one.

  • Mostly the comic version due to her controversial actions in Disassembled and House of M, followed by the contentious Young Avengers: Children's Crusade that sought to redeem her of those earlier controversial acts.

  • However many fans he has, there are lots of other folks who have never forgiven him for his infamously bad video game. Others dislike him on the grounds that he's too similar of a character to Knuckles, or just trying too hard to be edgy.

  • MCU version, or so I've been told.

  • Beloved Disney Princess or weak-willed manifestation of sexist writing? You decide!

  • Compelling and interesting character, or one of the worst and most boring DA party members ever?

  • While the Space Wolves have their fans (obviously), there is no getting around the fact that they are HATED by a huge swath of the fanbase with similar intensity to the Ultramarines and Grey Knights (and for similar reasons too).

  • Consider: years ago, a Youtube channel asked people to vote on who they considered the most annoying cartoon character to be. Spongebob beat everyone else, even Scrappy-Doo, by a landslide. Yet, lots of people love Spongebob, a fact that is easily provable by the longevity of the cartoon alone. If that isn't polarizing, I don't know what is.

  • Sympathetic and relatable, or annoying and unlikable jerk? Both attitudes seem to be common, meaning Spongebob's neighbor is, like him, a polarizing character.

  • Well, him and his whole franchise really. Either overrated, garbage tripe or Batman: The Animated Series/Avatar-tier perfection depending on who you ask. And given how..."sensitive" some of the fans can be, I'd actually recommend NOT asking.

  • Really, Age of Sigmar in general is polarizing, but that holds especially true of these guys, given that they're blatantly meant to be a Fantasy version of Space Marines. As not everyone likes Space Marines, or just resents Age of Sigmar for replacing Warhammer Fantasy and trying to be more like 40K, the Stormcast get their share of flak from some parts of the fanbase.

  • One of DC's greatest and most lovable Superheroes, or an overly pure stick in the mud and goody-two-shoes? You decide!

  • While Sylvanas will always have some number of loyal fans, overall reception to the character has turned decidedly sour from Battle for Azeroth onwards, when Sylvanas went from a figure most found sympathetic and easy to root for to a genocidal lunatic who most instead found it easy to hate.

  • The poster boys of 40K...which is exactly why a lot of people hate them. To be honest, I'd argue most of the Ultramarines hate is from salty fans of other Space Marine chapters who would prefer that their favorite chapters got the spotlight, but either way, the Ultramarines are intensely hated by a large swath of the fan-base. None of which changes the fact that they also still have dedicated fans who collect their models and play as them on the tabletop.

  • Same reasons as Eddie Brock detailed above.
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