Character Bashing thoughts...? (More fanfic stuff)

parron · Post by **parron** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 10:49 pm

I think we all know what character bashing consists of, but I wanted to ask something after noticing a bit of a trend in both fanfiction communities (which tend to be populated by girls) and forums (which tend to be filled with guys). I've noticed that each "community" (although not so much this one, thank goodness) seems to have certain characters that are bashed and warped vastly (in some cases) OOC. As mentioned, this forum tends to be void of these annoyances, so I thought I'd ask the people here what they thought of this occurance.

But first, a few examples of bashed characters...

Yamcha

It seems the guy has no fans, everywhere. On forums he is regarded as weak and pathetic and a loser, the fanfiction.net world (known for exaggeration if nothing else) has made him out to be a rapist and/or mass murderer (the irony of the later, since this comes from Vegeta fangirls, does not escape me. ^__~). I'm not arguing any of this, not now, but this is the case.

Pan

The interesting bit is that she is one of the most popular characters amoung the ff.neters, but on almost all forums I have seen she's high on the "I wish I could kill _____" lists. But again, the ff.net crowd thinks Pan is a brat/bitch/slut/baby/loser/desprate Trunks glomper (whether these are true or not), the forum crowd tend to hate her because she's not strong / pretty enough.

Marron (The blonde one)

This is, as far as I can tell, only found in fanfiction, and stems directly from the "Fun" of the T/P/M wars a year or so back*. Esentially, the ff.net crowd will often find Marron a slut/whore/bitch/heartless/evil/slut/pathetic/desprate Trunks glomper, which IMO makes even less sense then for Pan, and no sense when it is considered how MINOR of a character she is.

The opposite is true, too; where fans take a character they like and glorify them to unidentifyable proportions, but that's a different rant.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I've asked various ff.net people, but they are as a whole female, and I'd like to hear the male POV. What makes these characters (esp. the latter two) so bashable? Do you bash them? Etc.?

Thanks, once again, for bearing with the "idiot fanfic writer" that is Parron. ^^;;

Deus ex Machina · Post by **Deus ex Machina** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:04 pm

This kind of thing has plagued the fan fiction community for years, further convincing everyone that all DBZ fans are hyper-active, retarded, illiterate prebubsents.

To take a quote from the Guide to Writing a Really Bad DBZ Fic:

Step Eleven: Glamorize the good, belittle the bad.

Goku was so handsome with rippling muscles and a broad chest. He wins every battle. Everyone is scared of him, except Vegita and Trunks who are also really hot and also win every battle. And they seldom fight each other, but when they do, everyone wins! Frieza is a girl who can't fight and no one likes him and he's stupid and Goku kills him. Same with Cell, the Ginyu Force, and the androids. But not 18 because she's cute.

As for Yamcha; holy crap do fic writers like to belittle him. I've seen him portrayed as an adulterer, a pedophile, a closet homosexual, etc etc. Even as a lame middle aged guy with a pony tail and yellow suit...hey, wait a minute...

PsyLiam · Post by **PsyLiam** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:35 pm

Assuming that you haven't just thought that up on the spot, I want to read that guide.

And my 6 year old nephew likes Yamcha. So he has one fan. (He also prefers DB to DBZ. And yes, we're talking about the dub. Crazy, eh?)

Deus ex Machina · Post by **Deus ex Machina** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 11:50 pm

Nah, I don't think I'm that witty enough to make that up on the spot.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/366832/1/

Great for a laugh, as the writer really sums up everything that's wrong in DBZ fic.

parron · Post by **parron** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:21 am

Yes, I've read that. ^^;; It's on my favorites list, actually, but I *know* it happens, I want to hear reasons -- if any -- for why. Rather, even if I don't often post here, I read almost everything, and I've noticed some people here seem to bash. As mentioned above, people on forums tend to be male, and prior I've only really heard the female opinions on this sort of thing. Which is why I posted this; because I'm curious.

*Yes, I realize I make little sense...

The S · Post by **The S** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:06 am

Call me nuts, but I like Pan, and was actually considering making Trunks and Marron a couple in a fic. I have no opinion on Yamcha either way.

parron · Post by **parron** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:22 am

>.> Yeah, I thought all that was dumb. Pan and Marron (and Goten) are probably my favorite characters (*cough*penname*cough*), and bashing of them is dumb. >.>

But in any case, it seems obvious that I'm not going to find what I was looking for here, so sorry for the waste in time. ^^;;

SpaceKappa · Post by **SpaceKappa** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:28 am

Pan is my favorite character (at least when it comes to GT), and I've always been a Yamucha supporter. Guess who I played as first in Budokai? >_>

I've got no opinion on Marron either way. I don't dislike her, but she sure didn't do much.

Xyex · Post by **Xyex** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:37 am

I tend not to bash, as I like all DBZ chars minus Chiaoutzu who I simply exclude from stories most of the time. As for why people bash, cause they're idiots. Plan and simple.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:14 am

Well, I am female, but I'll say anyway that I've stopped trying to figure out why people do those things. My conclusion is similar to Xyex's in that these people are immature, small-minded, idiotic nimrods and really don't deserve any of my time trying to figure them out. Instead I hunt'em and kill'em, making the anime community a better place for the rest of us that have to put up with that crap.

PsyLiam · Post by **PsyLiam** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:33 am

It always interests me how, in fanfiction, people always want to create couples out of excitisting characters that showed no love for each other whatsoever in the official canon (and this doesn't just go for DBZ, but all fanfiction). The only explanation I can think of is that the human race are all romantics at heart. Or that most people who write fanfiction really shouldn't. Because they can't write.

One of those two.

Jerseymilk · Post by **Jerseymilk** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:48 am

Oh, oh, can I put ten dollars down on the latter?!

Izlude · Post by **Izlude** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:25 pm

Ya know fanfiction REALLY gets on my nuts? Anime FA fanfiction. Out of NO WHERE male characters are suddenly turning into FA's and feeders, and female characters wanna get fat and enjoy their ub3r curvy bodies.

I have no problem with fat chicks, cuz some can be hot, but christ, keep it away from fanfiction unless by some FREAK chance an anime is made about guys chasing after fat chicks, then you can do what you please if it, but since that is likely not to happen, forget it about it!

Ya know what else gets on my nerves? Fanfics that abuse vulgar language! Uragh...sure it looks cool, but it really isnt!

parron · Post by **parron** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:37 pm

Well, I sort of fall under the "loser ff writer that also does romance," but in my defence my stories have a lot more then just romance. >.>

What irratates me in fanfiction in character glorification. It's obvious bashers are idiots, but these people confuse me. I'm talking about the people who love a character so much that they not only make him/her look better, but give him/her NEW talents that I'm sure they didn't have... in the example of Bra -- some of her rabid fans will flame anyone (like me) who doesn't make Bra the most powerful fighter ever who Pan (it's always Pan, for some reason) worships and wishes to be. Not only does it come out of no where and seem OOC, but it's just silly. The problem is is that often (in this example) people tend to be good writers and do this. Great writers, even. I saw one girl -- awesomely good writing talent -- and in her story Bra not only is the Strongest Evah, but she manages to reach SSJ4 in one go. It confuses me to no end.

Them and the "pair 'em uppers," who belive that a story cannot be good without every single character, down to the minions of the lowliest villan, in some sort of romance, always angsty in nature. >.<

Oops, I ranted.

Post by **VegettoEX** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:41 pm

*raises hand* I think fanfics suck

Actually, there was one I half-read a few years back that concerned Gohan, who constructed a robot that looked and acted just like himself to "take over" while he took a "break" because the pressures were just getting to be too much for him... that was kinda neat...

There was some random sex in it, though, that I remember not making any sense.

But yeah, I absolutely hate pairing of non-canon characters. But I've made this hint of a rant, before ^^;;.

Izlude · Post by **Izlude** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:43 pm

If there was one fanfic I did enjoy, it was SSJ4Kain's DBZ:VA Style cuz it had all the Funi VA's playing the part of the characters they did, and it was...different!

But also very very mondo lame

parron · Post by **parron** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:44 pm

They don't all suck, but I agree it takes some digging, sometimes. As for the pairing of non-canon couples... that can be bad, but I've read stories that really make it work out... probably because it's not just "randomly, characters A and B are together now!"

So there. ^^

PsyLiam · Post by **PsyLiam** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:24 pm

VegettoEX wrote:Actually, there was one I half-read a few years back that concerned Gohan, who constructed a robot that looked and acted just like himself to "take over" while he took a "break" because the pressures were just getting to be too much for him... that was kinda neat...

Wasn't there a Superman story that was quite similar to that? (And by "quite similar", I mean "exactly the same".)

The S · Post by **The S** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 1:05 am

At least I'm attempting to put some thought into why I want Trunks and Marron as a couple. I had a good reason, but forgot it -_- It'll come to me someday, though.[/quote]

Sun_Wukong · Post by **Sun_Wukong** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 10:24 am

PsyLiam wrote:
VegettoEX wrote:Actually, there was one I half-read a few years back that concerned Gohan, who constructed a robot that looked and acted just like himself to "take over" while he took a "break" because the pressures were just getting to be too much for him... that was kinda neat...
Wasn't there a Superman story that was quite similar to that? (And by "quite similar", I mean "exactly the same".)

Yeah, it was in the animated series. Supergirl constructed one because Darkseid abducted and brainwashed the original.

Kanzenshuu

Character Bashing thoughts...? (More fanfic stuff)

Character Bashing thoughts...? (More fanfic stuff)

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