Characters are not defined by a single character trait
Nov 26, 2016 16:10:21 GMT -5
𝓣𝓲𝓷𝓾𝓿𝓲𝓮𝓵 and Ƒєαтнєяℓєαƒ like this
Post by 𝕡𝕖𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕥 on Nov 26, 2016 16:10:21 GMT -5
Lately, I've noticed (mostly on websites like YouTube) that people will narrow a character down to a single character trait or virtue, and form an opinion based on that. For example, those fans who throw the word "Mary Sue" around will often do this, forgetting everything else. I hate it when people do this to argue for or against a character.
A good example of this is the Firestar debate: oftentimes, these people will think of Firestar as a perfect Gary Stu, solely because he became leader of ThunderClan and was the original protagonist. While Gary Stus might traditionally have both of traits, they by themselves don't transform a character into a Stu. These fans will remember only these details, forgetting that Firestar is a complicated cat (shown most prominently in the first series . . . this effect weakened once we lost his perspective) with flaws and insecurities. He just hides it behind a "leadership mask", so other protagonists don't touch upon this.
A more subjective example would be Needletail. In her case, it's actually understandable why people don't like her. It's perfectly understandable not to like her, or to believe that she can't be redeemed. A lot of her story is currently untold, after all. What annoys me is that some people dislike her solely because she's a brat, or similar. Yes, she is a brat. But she's a lot more than that. It's perfectly fine to hate a character for a certain trait as long as you're aware of his/her other traits, and have taken them into consideration. Needletail is heavily flawed, but she displays a few positive character traits, especially in TAQ. She has committed inexcusable crimes, yet she still isn't a total villain. Not yet, at least. As I stated on another thread, she's an interesting character. She did many crazy, stupid, awful things, but her morality seems pretty ambiguous at the moment. It's interesting to make predictions about where her character will go. She's bratty, but that's not her sole character trait. It's just the most prominent.
Obviously, this list could go on and on. There are too many character misinterpretations to talk about on one post. The point is, people who do this fail to appreciate the character's complexity, and come across as ignorant in their arguments. No one character in this series is a Sue/Stu, though there are some characters who come close. But very few. The point is, nearly all of the major and secondary characters have multiple sides to them, and shouldn't be defined by a single characteristic.
Unfortunately, this argument doesn't really apply to background characters, because most of them are deliberately written with one (or no) character trait.
A good example of this is the Firestar debate: oftentimes, these people will think of Firestar as a perfect Gary Stu, solely because he became leader of ThunderClan and was the original protagonist. While Gary Stus might traditionally have both of traits, they by themselves don't transform a character into a Stu. These fans will remember only these details, forgetting that Firestar is a complicated cat (shown most prominently in the first series . . . this effect weakened once we lost his perspective) with flaws and insecurities. He just hides it behind a "leadership mask", so other protagonists don't touch upon this.
A more subjective example would be Needletail. In her case, it's actually understandable why people don't like her. It's perfectly understandable not to like her, or to believe that she can't be redeemed. A lot of her story is currently untold, after all. What annoys me is that some people dislike her solely because she's a brat, or similar. Yes, she is a brat. But she's a lot more than that. It's perfectly fine to hate a character for a certain trait as long as you're aware of his/her other traits, and have taken them into consideration. Needletail is heavily flawed, but she displays a few positive character traits, especially in TAQ. She has committed inexcusable crimes, yet she still isn't a total villain. Not yet, at least. As I stated on another thread, she's an interesting character. She did many crazy, stupid, awful things, but her morality seems pretty ambiguous at the moment. It's interesting to make predictions about where her character will go. She's bratty, but that's not her sole character trait. It's just the most prominent.
Obviously, this list could go on and on. There are too many character misinterpretations to talk about on one post. The point is, people who do this fail to appreciate the character's complexity, and come across as ignorant in their arguments. No one character in this series is a Sue/Stu, though there are some characters who come close. But very few. The point is, nearly all of the major and secondary characters have multiple sides to them, and shouldn't be defined by a single characteristic.
Unfortunately, this argument doesn't really apply to background characters, because most of them are deliberately written with one (or no) character trait.
