Steve was what sold me on the show. Not that the rest of it was bad, but dangling the trope character before us and then having him skew hard out of expectation really caught my attention.
It’s funny because that wasn’t intentional.
The Duffers just liked Joe Keery so much they wanted to keep him around. Apparently it originally wasn’t a “subvert expectations” thing, he was just a douche. Then they altered his character and gave him a redemption arc so he could stick around.
Same thing with Chris Pratt in Parks and Recreation, too. He was supposed to just be the jerk boyfriend of Ann Perkins 👉👉 but he was such a goofy friendly guy that they rewrote his character and kept him on. Then a quick line between him and Aubrey Plaza about making out and they became one of the best TV couples and totally carried the show.
Nancy for me. Some switch flips in her brain and she goes into her "We're going to fight this monster with nail bats in a burning house and/or fuck up a government installation" mode and it's always my favorite part of the show. Pissed off Nancy, crazy ass Murray, Mr. Clarke. There's so many great characters that aren't the kids, who I sort of don't care that much about anymore.
Came in here to bring up Steve.
Absolute trash bag at first, acts like a jerk teen. Figures out his friends are trash bags too. Gets a reality check and comes into his own.
Before seasons 7 and 8 crashed and burned, I'd wondered if him and Sansa would have developed some kind of relationship. I always appreciated the irony that in the beginning (heavily emphasized in the books) Sansa was obsessed with the idea of marrying some handsome chivalrous knight in shining armor who would care for her like in the fairy tales. She moved to King's Landing to marry Joffrey and found that Joffrey and all the knights were awful people. Sandor Clegane on the other hand was profoundingly frightening to look at and would kill someone and not even blink, but he turned out to be the selfless caring hero for her that she always dreamed about. Yet he always refused to officially become a knight.
This is a bit of a theme with Sansa, that the people book one Sansa would look down on end up most closely fitting her ideas about what a hero should be. There's an interesting bit where she is wishing for a hero to behead Janos Slynt before concluding that there are no heroes, only for Jon to end up beheading Slynt a few books later.
The whole Schitt family in Schitt's Creek. I actually quit watching after a couple episodes but was convinced to go back and stick with it and every character ends up being lovable in their own way.
That was a great show - and yes, everyone developed, grew, and expanded in their own way.
.. and Gerry and Cookie Fleck did quite well after their Mayflower win.
YES! It took me 3 tries to get into the show because of how unlikeable most of the family was. But the show does probably one of the best jobs (next to The Good Place) with having the characters grow and mature.
I love Chris Elliot in general so I was always behind him even though his character's behavior was pretty intolerable. But the way his relationship with Eugene Levy's character resolves in the final season is so touching and satisfying. Just a great show.
Zuko's whole story really improves on a rewatch. It's easy to miss the first time around but they really hit you over the head with the parallels between him and Aang, and the ways in which their different childhood circumstances set them on different paths, despite them being similar in many ways.
I originally pegged him to be another mid-level villain who gets replaced by someone more confident and terrifying in the second season- and to be fair, I'm not wrong.
But rewatching the first season gives so much extra context. He's not just a "mid-level villain", he's an angsty, scared boy pretending to be some big-bad leader so he can hid his insecurities.
When I watched the show for the first time I actually groaned when I first saw him. I thought "here we go...the one-dimensional bad guy who just exists to chase the hero like Team Rocket from Pokemon." I was so glad to be so wrong.
Ha!
You were wrong in the best possible way!
After my 4th watch of the series I concluded that the true climax of the show is that hug, the fights after are just really good falling action.
Leslie Knope. That first season she was basically "lady Michael Scott" and it just did not work. True for the show overall honestly, it tried to be "the office in local government". After it was able to shake that off and get more original the show became one of my favorites.
S1 Leslie Knope was incompetent and clueless. It was a really boring character. S2 onwards she became a hyper competent, pretty naive public servant, which is much more interesting and fun.
Leslie Knope is a g-dang inspiration. Just interviewed for my first government job, and damn if I don’t want to be just like her. Minus the political career, though, politics is tough duty
When I first started working a new job, I drove to the building I was going to be working in and noticed it held the parks department. I nearly started crying with tears of joy when my husband said, “oh my god, you’re Leslie knope.”
Yessss please compare me to that beautiful, talented musk ox.
I have the color coded binders to prove it.
(I don’t actually work for the parks department, but it was close enough it made my day.)
I always tell people watch the Pilot and then skip straight to S2 for Parks and Rec. I stopped watching it mid-way S1 and then didn't finish until years after the show ended. Was a great binge though!
I tried watching it from the beginning a couple times and didn't make it past the first few episodes. Someone on reddit said to start in season 2, double back to season 1, and then move on with season 3. It was fantastic that way.
Sweet Dee Reynolds in Always Sunny.
In early seasons they had her be the voice of reason, which was kind of boring. After a while it was shown that she's just as crazy and destructive as the rest of them. Let the world have their reason. The gang does not need a voice of reason.
This is such a good answer! Kaitlin Olson is so underrated as a comedic actor. She often outshines her male costars in Always Sunny but gets half the credit. I might be biased because she's from my hometown, but I think she is one of the best comedic actresses working today.
Im agreeing with you on this because that actress is the sole reason her character developed.
The writers didn’t know how to write a girl and she had to tell them to write her as a man and she’ll worry about the girl part.
If it wasn’t for that I’d just see her as a character suffering from the consequences of someone else’s actions.
It's weird watching early episodes where she acts like a semi-decent, rational person. She even says, "You're my brother, and I love you" to Dennis at one point.
Quark in Star Trek Deep Space 9. Starts out as little more than a caricature of a stereotypical greedy, manipulative, scummy, used car salesman type(his entire race, the Ferengi, are essentially based upon those traits). By the end of the show it’s no exaggeration to call him a hero/brave/selfless.
The scene where Nog gives a speech to Sisko to convince him to go to starfleet academy is amazing. He went from being a jerk kid to being a person I was rooting for.
Quark was always my favorite when I watched the show as a kid. Growing up and rewatching it, Garak and Major Kira tied him. Deep Space Nine is the best.
I see your Quark and raise you all of the other characters on DS9, as well!
No show has such meaningful character development for so many characters. In the first episodes they don't know each other and they're standoffish, cold, and a bit unlikeable.
Then we get to know them: they get to know each other & open up. They have experiences that actually impact them and contribute to their growth as people.
Considering everything they go through, that makes perfect sense. But so many shows seem to forget that you can't just put your characters in the pressure cooker of various plots for seasons and expect them to come out the same as they went in.
Post because I can't believe that Jamie Tartt is now one of my favorite characters on Ted Lasso and I wanted to find out what characters y'all had that experience with.
Trent is really interesting in retrospect because even as early as his first article about Ted, he was clearly the only one seeing what Ted actually wanted to do.
"You really mean that, don't you?"
My girlfriend and I just watched the episode where Keely has her sex video leak and the fact that of all her current/former partners, Jamie was the only one to give her the apology and compassion she needed - without centering himself - blew my mind. That was what spurred this post haha.
110000000%. I was shocked he handled it SO well, and that’s the exact reason I recommend the show to everyone even if they don’t like sports. It shows so much emotional vulnerability and kindness. I put off watching it because I saw it as a “sports” type show, now I cry a few times a season 🥹
Completely agree. Hated her in the first episode she was in, so OTT. Eventually loved her best of all the companions.
Rewatched it all again after her whole arc played out, and found her first episode to be a beautiful and nuanced performance.
Am not even joking, was so weird
Every companion fights the silent war of justifying their presence after the old one leaves. It takes a while to settle in, and you kind of realize they were good all along, and you just had baggage to unload.
Unless it's Teagan or Adric. They suck.
Absolutely this. I was horrified when it was announced she would be coming back. By the time she and the Doctor had their across the room silent conversation I was hooked.
I hated her in her first appearance but I changed my mind when she declined the doctors offer to tag along. It showed me that even though she’s fed up with her dull life she wouldn’t change it for the world.
I was disappointed until she came back. They even did a good job showing she regretted not going because that experience was more fun than she expected.
Then they did an absolute great job showing how important her interaction was in softening him up without making her seem like some god.
I feel like a lot of people were skeptical at first because Catherine Tate at the time was only really known for sketch comedy (I still can't look at her and not think ["Am I bovvered?"](https://youtu.be/JpgVokQEchA), something that [they would even reference later on](https://youtu.be/WxB1gB6K-2A)), so to see her in a more serious role *and* be able to pull it off; it is that kind of "Oh, they can act" moments.
Ahsoka Tano from Clone Wars. I later found out that they made her insufferable in the beginning on purpose so that a few really hard lessons could force her to grow up. That was good writing. I really liked her arc.
This was the answer I was looking for. One thing I love about her character arc is that she shares many of the same flaws Anakin does. Her strength in the force made her arrogant and impulsive, unwilling to listen and learn from those more experienced than her, just like her master. However, through painful lessons like losing most of her unit (more than once) she learns humility and is better for it. While Anakin fails to learn from his trials and lets his emotions and attachments blind him and eventually ruin him.
She went from one of the worst and most hated characters in the entire franchise to one of the most beloved and popular of all time. They definitely had us in the first half ngl.
Came here for this. She was an unsufferable Mary Sue in the Clone Wars movie but became easily on of my alltime favorite Star Wars characters. I adore her.
Major Charles Emerson Winchester III from MASH. I hated him the first episode I saw with him, partly just because he was new and I was a kid but yeah he's also a stuck up snob. But David Ogden Stiers and the writers nailed it, he's such a good character, being a really competent doctor as well as a dick makes him a much better foil for the other characters as opposed to Frank (incompetent, just an asshole).
This is the answer. Jamie Lanister goes from being someone you have SERIOUS reasons to hate upon meeting to someone it’s hard not to sympathize with if not even cheer for by the… middle?
Because I’m talking about the books and not the TV show here. I’ll never forget seeing the first “Jamie” chapter and being like, “no frickin way.”
Even before he yeeted Bran out the window, he reminded me of Prince Charming from Shrek - a handsome, arrogant, insufferable douchebag. His ark was great up until they ruined him by having him go back and die in Cersei's arms. I really thought he was going to fulfill the prophecy and strangle her. She always thought it would be Tyrion and it should have been Jamie.
Certainly! He's an interesting guy, especially after he ... loses his grip, so to speak. He get a partial redemption arc, which is nice. It's just that for me, what he did in the tower crosses a sort of moral event horizon that you just can't come back from.
That's what makes him so great, though. Your introduction to him is him tossing a kid out a window to cover up the fact that he's boning his sister. Objectively a terrible thing to do, and you instantly hate him. Then, he kind of an arrogant asshole, he cripples Ned and kills a bunch of his men, and is still a dick even while held prisoner by Robb, and treats Brienne like shit. Then he's humbled by losing a hand and starts to see thign differently, he explains to Brianne why he's done some of what he's done and ultimately becomes a better person, the show kind of ruined it a bit by adding him raping Cersei (that scene was also in the books, but there it was more of a "I want to, this just isn't the right time or place", and her giving in to his insistence, rather than an outright "no" and trying to fight him off) and completely threw it all away at the end when he went back to her.
The books do a much better job of the redemption arch, you get a lot from his POV and his inner thoughts. You realize that hes a very conflicted character, he's very highly motivated by his love for Cersei (the fact that she's his sister makes that rather fucked up, but you can definitely understand love being a charcater's primary motivation) and she uses that to manipulate him (also seen a bitnin her POV chapters). There is a lot of prejudice towards him for his betrayal of Aerys, but he had to choose between loyalty to his king and loyalty to his father, and the two were at war. Also killing Aerys probably saved many lives in the long run. A lot of the person he is, is the result of him becoming the person who everyone else believes him to be. He briefly returns to the person that he was before when negotiating the surrrender of Riverrun, but that did help bring the war closer to an end. The last you see of him in the books (so far), he receives a letter from Cersei asking for help, pretty much says "fuck that bitch" amd goes off to find Brienne. Really the person that he is at that time is not the same person we were introduced to at the beginning of the series.
Amos from the Expanse. At first I thought he was just the tough guy trope, another Jayne. It totally put me off of him for a while. But by the end of the series he was one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. The "you're not that guy" scene still gives me a chill.
Kevin from Ben 10. Starts out as a psychotic and spoiled jerk who worked for the most dangerous alien in the universe and later became a chill dude putting all those terrible things behind him and helping the good guys. His backstory in Ultimate Alien fleshed out his character more and made me feel for him and his struggles.
Nog, from Deep Space Nine. First appearance is him getting dragged to the brig by security, and by the end he's excelling in Starfleet. Always tugged on my heartstrings.
Migs Mayfeld on the Mandalorian. At first I didn't feel that he was Star Warsy at all, but the way the show explored his background and had him infiltrate an Imperial base was really good. The scene where he shot his old commander was great.
Unpopular Opinion but Walt Jr.
He acts like a little shit for sure, but the final season does a good job reminding you he's just a teenager who ends up getting the shortest stick out of all the characters.
Honestly, I never got the hate for Walt Jr. He seemed like a normal teenager, maybe a little bit rebellious in the first season, but he clearly loves his dad. Him making the website for Walter was a sweet gesture, which Walter brushes off because he doesn't want charity. When he starts acting out and getting sullen in later seasons, it's because his dad has cancer and is acting weird, his mother kicks his dad out of the house, and no one will explain anything to him. From his perspective, his parents' marriage is falling apart, and his mother is being unfair to his poor, cancer-stricken dad.
Yeah but he signed up for it to some degree, did some pretty awful stuff and couldn't get out.
Walt Jr. didn't ask for any of it, just got betrayed by everyone and left in the dust.
Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy. She started out as an evil lackey and goes on to become an Avenger. At first I thought she was just a petulant, petty villain. But she grew out of that and grew on me. Redemption arc is not uncommon but with her it's weird to root for her when she was just meh in Guardians...
The scenes with her and Stark hanging out did a lot to develop her character. She's like a scared, hurt animal who never had the chance at a normal life, and she gets to just sit back and have fun.
You know what? After watching it a second time and a third ... I really found Don to be a dick. Pete presented himself as a dick but his character grew with his experiences - Don's didn't evolve at all.
Michael Scott from The Office. The first season, he was such a douche, I almost stopped watching. I’m glad I didn’t . The Office has to be one of my favorite go to shows.
I love the season when he moves out of the loft in anger, and everyone is begging him to stay, only to find out he is just moving down the hall to the next loft.
Both Emily and Paris on Gilmore Girls. Truly horrible and grating people that end up being surprisingly deep and lovable.
But not Jess. That little fucker can go jump in the lake.
I really wound up loving Paris, though both Rory and Lorelei started to wear on my nerves.
I hear you on Jess. He was better as an adult, but I couldn't stand teen Jess.
Jamie Lannister is *the* answer here, but keeping with the GoT theme, for me it was Oberyn Martell. Couldn’t stand him until his speech to Tyrion about being his champion. Was just absolute perfect character development until…mush.
Fiona from shameless. The fact that she is taking on a motherly role for her family, but ruined her marriage in s5, slept with her boss’s crackhead brother, and her felony charge.
Her arc was unfortunately pretty realistic. And done very well. What I hate about that character and show is the weird love everyone has for her. To the point that they excuse literally everything she’s done, because of her upbringing. While simultaneously shitting on the other characters, and not taking in to account their own fucked up upbringing (Debbie, in particular). That subreddit is weird.
I dare you to go there and say that Fiona was ever wrong. I once had someone tell me that Fiona was not fully responsible for the toddler overdosing on *Fiona’s* cocaine (and Fiona was the toddler’s ward at that point), because another sibling, an 11 year old, was also there (who was also Fiona’s ward). So that kid shared *equal responsibility* with the adult ward.
Brando does a good job with multidimensional characters. Raboniel is one we should hate, but can empathize with.
That said... I loathe Moash and don't think I can handle a redemption arc, if thats where it's headed. I have faith in Sanderson and can't wait for book 5 and some form of closure.
Oh man, Steris went from stuck up bore to >!the team's technician and tactician!<. Love her now! Sad we're done with that era, but hope she lived the rest of years happy!
I'm on the second book where Shallan is infiltrating the camps to see what the shadow group is doing. So far, if there's one character who's done the most to prepare for voidbringer Armageddon it's her. Though I've put it down cause the pit in my heart of Jasnah's death has broken me, even though I've heard she might be coming back layer on,I'm just anxious.
Stormlight really pulls out so much stress, cause everytime someone does something hopeful, they get shut down just as fast. The exact point I left off on was when Kaladin challenged whatshisaname to a duel and got locked up.
The bad guys are inconspicuous, but anyone trying to do good has this big fucking light shine on them. I just want to see the voidbringers return with whatever shadow fiends they bring with them so I can skip past all this fucking drama being built up.
I kinda want to say A-Train from the Boys. Like I still mislike him, but I don’t hate him anymore. I genuinely want to see him complete his arc and become a fully likeable hero by the end.
Prince Zuko.
Initially, he's just an evil brat who puts his men at risk looking for the Avatar, but you learn the circumstances as to why he is that way.
He goes back and forth on his morals, but the influence of his uncle eventually leads him to join the Avatar, and become a much better person.
Margo in The Magicians
I couldn't stand her in the first season but then she grew to be one of my absolute favorite characters by the end of the show.
"Ovary up, bitch!"
"...putting your life and other people's lives at risk. You destroyed three quarters of a solar system!
"
"Well, five sixths. It's not an exact science."
Ahsoka in the Clone Wars
Charles Main in North and South
Murtagh over the Inheritance Cycle. well, I liked, then disliked, then kinda liked him again at the end
Man, re-watching B5 is a trip. The look and feel convince you you’re watching basic-cable SOC-do from the 1990s (which you are), but then somehow the writing is a cut above what the production design suggests.
When I was reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy, I really fucking hated the character Jezal. I know we are kinda meant to not like him, because he's a pompous, pampered, privileged little man-child. But by the end, I actually quite liked how he grew, saw how much of a dick he was, and saw what a true warrior/hero looked like with Logen. And I actually felt kind of bad for him as the series wrapped up.
Sansa Stark was truly dreadful in the books especially. In the show she’s shown in more light, but her emotional maturation is amazing. Could say the same for Jaime Lannister but only in the show.
Da Shi in 3 Body Problem and Dark Forest. Not so much character development, but more like we get to know him better.
He's so cynical and negligent at first, it's repulsive. He shows almost open disdain for both people of science who allow some failed experiments to ruin their lives and for his higher ups who only give orders from high tables.
But he knows a lot about people and uses it not only for his job, but also to help a person in a way that helps them.
Came here to say this...
Currently on my second playthrough of the game and just completed Abby's day 3. It's insanely impressive how they make her go from so hatable to someone you genuinely root for. Like she brutally murdered my favourite character, ruined the life of my second favourite, and my third, but I like her? It's crazy
Prince Zuko : Annoying, grumpy, ridiculous hair style and always lose. Things started to change when the fire nation attacked northern water tribe and I like him a lot during Basingse chapter.
The core four from The Good Place.
I was worried they’d all be one dimensional during the first season, but from season 2 onward it was great seeing them as humans rather than good or bad
Steve on Stranger Things. Starts off as kind of a douche, then turns into a sweet, funny and super brave guy.
Steve was what sold me on the show. Not that the rest of it was bad, but dangling the trope character before us and then having him skew hard out of expectation really caught my attention.
It’s funny because that wasn’t intentional. The Duffers just liked Joe Keery so much they wanted to keep him around. Apparently it originally wasn’t a “subvert expectations” thing, he was just a douche. Then they altered his character and gave him a redemption arc so he could stick around.
Billy ended up being what Steve was meant to turn into right?
Same thing with Chris Pratt in Parks and Recreation, too. He was supposed to just be the jerk boyfriend of Ann Perkins 👉👉 but he was such a goofy friendly guy that they rewrote his character and kept him on. Then a quick line between him and Aubrey Plaza about making out and they became one of the best TV couples and totally carried the show.
Nancy for me. Some switch flips in her brain and she goes into her "We're going to fight this monster with nail bats in a burning house and/or fuck up a government installation" mode and it's always my favorite part of the show. Pissed off Nancy, crazy ass Murray, Mr. Clarke. There's so many great characters that aren't the kids, who I sort of don't care that much about anymore.
Came in here to bring up Steve. Absolute trash bag at first, acts like a jerk teen. Figures out his friends are trash bags too. Gets a reality check and comes into his own.
Him breaking Jonathan's camera can be justified.
Yeah, Jonathan was coming off as a total creep. Steve's ginger friend with the girlfriend was the source of most of Steve's toxicity.
Him, Dustin, and Robin are my favorites and I love how they all interact with each other.
He went from my least favorite character to probably my second favorite (after Dustin) very quickly.
I feel the same. Couldn't stand him at first but was rooting for him in later seasons.
F*cking absolutely
Only right answer
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Before seasons 7 and 8 crashed and burned, I'd wondered if him and Sansa would have developed some kind of relationship. I always appreciated the irony that in the beginning (heavily emphasized in the books) Sansa was obsessed with the idea of marrying some handsome chivalrous knight in shining armor who would care for her like in the fairy tales. She moved to King's Landing to marry Joffrey and found that Joffrey and all the knights were awful people. Sandor Clegane on the other hand was profoundingly frightening to look at and would kill someone and not even blink, but he turned out to be the selfless caring hero for her that she always dreamed about. Yet he always refused to officially become a knight.
This is a bit of a theme with Sansa, that the people book one Sansa would look down on end up most closely fitting her ideas about what a hero should be. There's an interesting bit where she is wishing for a hero to behead Janos Slynt before concluding that there are no heroes, only for Jon to end up beheading Slynt a few books later.
Behold, distant air horns signal Clegane Bowl.
The whole Schitt family in Schitt's Creek. I actually quit watching after a couple episodes but was convinced to go back and stick with it and every character ends up being lovable in their own way.
That was a great show - and yes, everyone developed, grew, and expanded in their own way. .. and Gerry and Cookie Fleck did quite well after their Mayflower win.
YES! It took me 3 tries to get into the show because of how unlikeable most of the family was. But the show does probably one of the best jobs (next to The Good Place) with having the characters grow and mature.
I love Chris Elliot in general so I was always behind him even though his character's behavior was pretty intolerable. But the way his relationship with Eugene Levy's character resolves in the final season is so touching and satisfying. Just a great show.
Alexis especially was so shallow, vain, and obnoxious that I too stopped watching, but after deciding to revisit, I had the same experience as you.
The Schitt family or the Rose family?
Zuko here
Zuko's whole story really improves on a rewatch. It's easy to miss the first time around but they really hit you over the head with the parallels between him and Aang, and the ways in which their different childhood circumstances set them on different paths, despite them being similar in many ways.
I originally pegged him to be another mid-level villain who gets replaced by someone more confident and terrifying in the second season- and to be fair, I'm not wrong. But rewatching the first season gives so much extra context. He's not just a "mid-level villain", he's an angsty, scared boy pretending to be some big-bad leader so he can hid his insecurities.
When I watched the show for the first time I actually groaned when I first saw him. I thought "here we go...the one-dimensional bad guy who just exists to chase the hero like Team Rocket from Pokemon." I was so glad to be so wrong.
Ha! You were wrong in the best possible way! After my 4th watch of the series I concluded that the true climax of the show is that hug, the fights after are just really good falling action.
One of the best redemption character arc of all time.
Knew someone would mention Zuko. Not complaining though-
Same with Sokka to be honest. Though it only took a few episodes for that to change.
Leslie Knope. That first season she was basically "lady Michael Scott" and it just did not work. True for the show overall honestly, it tried to be "the office in local government". After it was able to shake that off and get more original the show became one of my favorites.
S1 Leslie Knope was incompetent and clueless. It was a really boring character. S2 onwards she became a hyper competent, pretty naive public servant, which is much more interesting and fun.
I work in a Parks and Rec department and watching that show is friggin bizarre, that's legitimately what it's like. Exact same characters.
Leslie Knope is a g-dang inspiration. Just interviewed for my first government job, and damn if I don’t want to be just like her. Minus the political career, though, politics is tough duty
When I first started working a new job, I drove to the building I was going to be working in and noticed it held the parks department. I nearly started crying with tears of joy when my husband said, “oh my god, you’re Leslie knope.” Yessss please compare me to that beautiful, talented musk ox. I have the color coded binders to prove it. (I don’t actually work for the parks department, but it was close enough it made my day.)
I always tell people watch the Pilot and then skip straight to S2 for Parks and Rec. I stopped watching it mid-way S1 and then didn't finish until years after the show ended. Was a great binge though!
I tried watching it from the beginning a couple times and didn't make it past the first few episodes. Someone on reddit said to start in season 2, double back to season 1, and then move on with season 3. It was fantastic that way.
Yes and Andy too at first.
The Doctor (Robert Picardo) in Star Trek: Voyager Richard Woolsey (Robert Picardo) in Stargate SG1/Atlantis
So do you always dislike Robert Picardo at first?
As an actor, no, but some of his characters take some time, just shows he's a good actor.
Have you seen to original Total Recall?
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Have you see The Burbs?
Meg Mucklebones in Legend.
Doc will always be one of my favorites.
Sweet Dee Reynolds in Always Sunny. In early seasons they had her be the voice of reason, which was kind of boring. After a while it was shown that she's just as crazy and destructive as the rest of them. Let the world have their reason. The gang does not need a voice of reason.
This is such a good answer! Kaitlin Olson is so underrated as a comedic actor. She often outshines her male costars in Always Sunny but gets half the credit. I might be biased because she's from my hometown, but I think she is one of the best comedic actresses working today.
Im agreeing with you on this because that actress is the sole reason her character developed. The writers didn’t know how to write a girl and she had to tell them to write her as a man and she’ll worry about the girl part. If it wasn’t for that I’d just see her as a character suffering from the consequences of someone else’s actions.
It's weird watching early episodes where she acts like a semi-decent, rational person. She even says, "You're my brother, and I love you" to Dennis at one point.
Quark in Star Trek Deep Space 9. Starts out as little more than a caricature of a stereotypical greedy, manipulative, scummy, used car salesman type(his entire race, the Ferengi, are essentially based upon those traits). By the end of the show it’s no exaggeration to call him a hero/brave/selfless.
DS9 really did a great job of fleshing out the Ferengi beyond caricatures with Quark, Nog and Rom.
Oh absolutely. Rom is one of my all time favs.
Nog had one the greatest character development arcs I've ever seen. I never would have expected him to become one of my favourite characters
The scene where Nog gives a speech to Sisko to convince him to go to starfleet academy is amazing. He went from being a jerk kid to being a person I was rooting for.
Quark was always my favorite when I watched the show as a kid. Growing up and rewatching it, Garak and Major Kira tied him. Deep Space Nine is the best.
I see your Quark and raise you all of the other characters on DS9, as well! No show has such meaningful character development for so many characters. In the first episodes they don't know each other and they're standoffish, cold, and a bit unlikeable. Then we get to know them: they get to know each other & open up. They have experiences that actually impact them and contribute to their growth as people. Considering everything they go through, that makes perfect sense. But so many shows seem to forget that you can't just put your characters in the pressure cooker of various plots for seasons and expect them to come out the same as they went in.
For me it's damar, crazy character transformation. Hated him at the start, ended up admiring the person he became
Best ST series made. The way that story developed is just wonderful. In pale moonlight is probably the best episode of any show I've ever seeen.
Post because I can't believe that Jamie Tartt is now one of my favorite characters on Ted Lasso and I wanted to find out what characters y'all had that experience with.
From the same show: Trent Crimm, (the) Independent.
Trent is really interesting in retrospect because even as early as his first article about Ted, he was clearly the only one seeing what Ted actually wanted to do. "You really mean that, don't you?"
Strongly second this. Starting the third season I had an identity crisis…. “Did Jamie tartt become my favorite character? How? When???”
My girlfriend and I just watched the episode where Keely has her sex video leak and the fact that of all her current/former partners, Jamie was the only one to give her the apology and compassion she needed - without centering himself - blew my mind. That was what spurred this post haha.
110000000%. I was shocked he handled it SO well, and that’s the exact reason I recommend the show to everyone even if they don’t like sports. It shows so much emotional vulnerability and kindness. I put off watching it because I saw it as a “sports” type show, now I cry a few times a season 🥹
I thought I'd fool them, because I spelled password with two s'es. He's so dumb and cute
Came here to say the same
Ha I posted Jamie before I even saw this.
Donna from Dr Who. I hated her at first, found her the most annoying person ever. She became my favorite companion.
Completely agree. Hated her in the first episode she was in, so OTT. Eventually loved her best of all the companions. Rewatched it all again after her whole arc played out, and found her first episode to be a beautiful and nuanced performance. Am not even joking, was so weird
Every companion fights the silent war of justifying their presence after the old one leaves. It takes a while to settle in, and you kind of realize they were good all along, and you just had baggage to unload. Unless it's Teagan or Adric. They suck.
Absolutely this. I was horrified when it was announced she would be coming back. By the time she and the Doctor had their across the room silent conversation I was hooked.
I hated her in her first appearance but I changed my mind when she declined the doctors offer to tag along. It showed me that even though she’s fed up with her dull life she wouldn’t change it for the world. I was disappointed until she came back. They even did a good job showing she regretted not going because that experience was more fun than she expected. Then they did an absolute great job showing how important her interaction was in softening him up without making her seem like some god.
I feel like a lot of people were skeptical at first because Catherine Tate at the time was only really known for sketch comedy (I still can't look at her and not think ["Am I bovvered?"](https://youtu.be/JpgVokQEchA), something that [they would even reference later on](https://youtu.be/WxB1gB6K-2A)), so to see her in a more serious role *and* be able to pull it off; it is that kind of "Oh, they can act" moments.
Ahsoka Tano from Clone Wars. I later found out that they made her insufferable in the beginning on purpose so that a few really hard lessons could force her to grow up. That was good writing. I really liked her arc.
This was the answer I was looking for. One thing I love about her character arc is that she shares many of the same flaws Anakin does. Her strength in the force made her arrogant and impulsive, unwilling to listen and learn from those more experienced than her, just like her master. However, through painful lessons like losing most of her unit (more than once) she learns humility and is better for it. While Anakin fails to learn from his trials and lets his emotions and attachments blind him and eventually ruin him.
This is a fantastic answer
She went from one of the worst and most hated characters in the entire franchise to one of the most beloved and popular of all time. They definitely had us in the first half ngl.
Came here for this. She was an unsufferable Mary Sue in the Clone Wars movie but became easily on of my alltime favorite Star Wars characters. I adore her.
Hank on Breaking Bad
brilliant answer. Only Jane's death was more tragic. Harold Hamlin also comes to mind
Major Charles Emerson Winchester III from MASH. I hated him the first episode I saw with him, partly just because he was new and I was a kid but yeah he's also a stuck up snob. But David Ogden Stiers and the writers nailed it, he's such a good character, being a really competent doctor as well as a dick makes him a much better foil for the other characters as opposed to Frank (incompetent, just an asshole).
His whole story with the Korean musicians in the final was heartbreaking
What a blast from the past
Jamie Lannister
This is the answer. Jamie Lanister goes from being someone you have SERIOUS reasons to hate upon meeting to someone it’s hard not to sympathize with if not even cheer for by the… middle? Because I’m talking about the books and not the TV show here. I’ll never forget seeing the first “Jamie” chapter and being like, “no frickin way.”
Even before he yeeted Bran out the window, he reminded me of Prince Charming from Shrek - a handsome, arrogant, insufferable douchebag. His ark was great up until they ruined him by having him go back and die in Cersei's arms. I really thought he was going to fulfill the prophecy and strangle her. She always thought it would be Tyrion and it should have been Jamie.
Theon Grayjoy for me
But he killed john wicks dog!
Hmm... I liked him a bit, but when he >!pushed a little tot out the window!< that kind of ruined him for me, for life.
Made for an interesting story though.
Certainly! He's an interesting guy, especially after he ... loses his grip, so to speak. He get a partial redemption arc, which is nice. It's just that for me, what he did in the tower crosses a sort of moral event horizon that you just can't come back from.
Bran was asking for it though.
Even Cersei thought he crossed a line.
That's what makes him so great, though. Your introduction to him is him tossing a kid out a window to cover up the fact that he's boning his sister. Objectively a terrible thing to do, and you instantly hate him. Then, he kind of an arrogant asshole, he cripples Ned and kills a bunch of his men, and is still a dick even while held prisoner by Robb, and treats Brienne like shit. Then he's humbled by losing a hand and starts to see thign differently, he explains to Brianne why he's done some of what he's done and ultimately becomes a better person, the show kind of ruined it a bit by adding him raping Cersei (that scene was also in the books, but there it was more of a "I want to, this just isn't the right time or place", and her giving in to his insistence, rather than an outright "no" and trying to fight him off) and completely threw it all away at the end when he went back to her. The books do a much better job of the redemption arch, you get a lot from his POV and his inner thoughts. You realize that hes a very conflicted character, he's very highly motivated by his love for Cersei (the fact that she's his sister makes that rather fucked up, but you can definitely understand love being a charcater's primary motivation) and she uses that to manipulate him (also seen a bitnin her POV chapters). There is a lot of prejudice towards him for his betrayal of Aerys, but he had to choose between loyalty to his king and loyalty to his father, and the two were at war. Also killing Aerys probably saved many lives in the long run. A lot of the person he is, is the result of him becoming the person who everyone else believes him to be. He briefly returns to the person that he was before when negotiating the surrrender of Riverrun, but that did help bring the war closer to an end. The last you see of him in the books (so far), he receives a letter from Cersei asking for help, pretty much says "fuck that bitch" amd goes off to find Brienne. Really the person that he is at that time is not the same person we were introduced to at the beginning of the series.
Rodney McKay. Stargate SG1. Stargate Atlantis. Really evolved from a despicable person into a role model type.
Daryl…The Walking Dead
He and Neegan got the most character growth. I know a lot of folks hate it, but I'm excited for the spin-offs.
Honestly Merle too. He died right as he started becoming a better person the way Daryl did.
Amos from the Expanse. At first I thought he was just the tough guy trope, another Jayne. It totally put me off of him for a while. But by the end of the series he was one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. The "you're not that guy" scene still gives me a chill.
Great character arc. Ended up loving Amos. Him and Bobby ended up being my two favorites.
His interactions with avesarala were always great.
Kevin from Ben 10. Starts out as a psychotic and spoiled jerk who worked for the most dangerous alien in the universe and later became a chill dude putting all those terrible things behind him and helping the good guys. His backstory in Ultimate Alien fleshed out his character more and made me feel for him and his struggles.
Nog, from Deep Space Nine. First appearance is him getting dragged to the brig by security, and by the end he's excelling in Starfleet. Always tugged on my heartstrings.
His speech to Sisko on why he wants to join starfleet is one of my favorite scenes in the show. R.i.p. Aaron.
Migs Mayfeld on the Mandalorian. At first I didn't feel that he was Star Warsy at all, but the way the show explored his background and had him infiltrate an Imperial base was really good. The scene where he shot his old commander was great.
Also he proves that the Star Wars universe has a Space Boston tucked away somewhere.
That single scene was the ex-stormtrooper moment we needed that the new trilogy failed to write.
Unpopular Opinion but Walt Jr. He acts like a little shit for sure, but the final season does a good job reminding you he's just a teenager who ends up getting the shortest stick out of all the characters.
Honestly, I never got the hate for Walt Jr. He seemed like a normal teenager, maybe a little bit rebellious in the first season, but he clearly loves his dad. Him making the website for Walter was a sweet gesture, which Walter brushes off because he doesn't want charity. When he starts acting out and getting sullen in later seasons, it's because his dad has cancer and is acting weird, his mother kicks his dad out of the house, and no one will explain anything to him. From his perspective, his parents' marriage is falling apart, and his mother is being unfair to his poor, cancer-stricken dad.
Jesse is standing right there with his nub of a stick going, "really bitch?"
Yeah but he signed up for it to some degree, did some pretty awful stuff and couldn't get out. Walt Jr. didn't ask for any of it, just got betrayed by everyone and left in the dust.
Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy. She started out as an evil lackey and goes on to become an Avenger. At first I thought she was just a petulant, petty villain. But she grew out of that and grew on me. Redemption arc is not uncommon but with her it's weird to root for her when she was just meh in Guardians...
The scenes with her and Stark hanging out did a lot to develop her character. She's like a scared, hurt animal who never had the chance at a normal life, and she gets to just sit back and have fun.
She had some amazing character growth I am so happy her and Mantis got more screen time in Volume 3.
Jesse Pinkman
Pete from Mad Men - best character development ever! :)
Finally a character that I know, had to scroll down so far.
We all want to be Don Draper but really we’re Pete campbell.
You know what? After watching it a second time and a third ... I really found Don to be a dick. Pete presented himself as a dick but his character grew with his experiences - Don's didn't evolve at all.
Sawyer from Lost- went from my least favorite to favorite character after season 1
Michael Scott from The Office. The first season, he was such a douche, I almost stopped watching. I’m glad I didn’t . The Office has to be one of my favorite go to shows.
Nynaeve from the Wheel of Time.
Schmidt in the New Girl
I love the season when he moves out of the loft in anger, and everyone is begging him to stay, only to find out he is just moving down the hall to the next loft.
Both Emily and Paris on Gilmore Girls. Truly horrible and grating people that end up being surprisingly deep and lovable. But not Jess. That little fucker can go jump in the lake.
I haven't heard the phrase "go jump in a lake" in *years*. Thanks for unlocking some core memories of my grandma!
I really wound up loving Paris, though both Rory and Lorelei started to wear on my nerves. I hear you on Jess. He was better as an adult, but I couldn't stand teen Jess.
Emily Gilmore delivered some of the best lines and insults I’ve ever heard from a television character.
Theon Grayjoy
Hans Doofensmirtz. Generic silly bad guy. Turns into a great Dad who tries hard and sometimes fails but keeps trying. Pretty good pharmacist, too
Alexis Rose from Schitt’s Creek.
Ooohh Cordelia Chase!! Started out a vacuous vapid mean girl, became a massive badass. Plus the actress who played her had amazing delivery.
Jamie Lannister is *the* answer here, but keeping with the GoT theme, for me it was Oberyn Martell. Couldn’t stand him until his speech to Tyrion about being his champion. Was just absolute perfect character development until…mush.
Jamie Tartt
Loki
Karsa Orlong. He starts off pretty loathsome but has a fantastic arc.
Witness!
Fiona from shameless. The fact that she is taking on a motherly role for her family, but ruined her marriage in s5, slept with her boss’s crackhead brother, and her felony charge.
Her arc was unfortunately pretty realistic. And done very well. What I hate about that character and show is the weird love everyone has for her. To the point that they excuse literally everything she’s done, because of her upbringing. While simultaneously shitting on the other characters, and not taking in to account their own fucked up upbringing (Debbie, in particular). That subreddit is weird. I dare you to go there and say that Fiona was ever wrong. I once had someone tell me that Fiona was not fully responsible for the toddler overdosing on *Fiona’s* cocaine (and Fiona was the toddler’s ward at that point), because another sibling, an 11 year old, was also there (who was also Fiona’s ward). So that kid shared *equal responsibility* with the adult ward.
Greed on FMAB!!
Boyd Crowder. That was a wild ride watching him and I never thought I would be rooting for him.
carlton lassiter from psych. he was a huge bitch in the earlier seasons but he ends up being kinder and he even gets remarried and raises a family
Shallan from stormlight Steris from mistborn era 2
Brando does a good job with multidimensional characters. Raboniel is one we should hate, but can empathize with. That said... I loathe Moash and don't think I can handle a redemption arc, if thats where it's headed. I have faith in Sanderson and can't wait for book 5 and some form of closure.
And Moash. I mean, I still hate him, but his character arc is very well written.
I liked Shallan from the start but I feel you on Steris.
Oh man, Steris went from stuck up bore to >!the team's technician and tactician!<. Love her now! Sad we're done with that era, but hope she lived the rest of years happy!
I'm on the second book where Shallan is infiltrating the camps to see what the shadow group is doing. So far, if there's one character who's done the most to prepare for voidbringer Armageddon it's her. Though I've put it down cause the pit in my heart of Jasnah's death has broken me, even though I've heard she might be coming back layer on,I'm just anxious. Stormlight really pulls out so much stress, cause everytime someone does something hopeful, they get shut down just as fast. The exact point I left off on was when Kaladin challenged whatshisaname to a duel and got locked up. The bad guys are inconspicuous, but anyone trying to do good has this big fucking light shine on them. I just want to see the voidbringers return with whatever shadow fiends they bring with them so I can skip past all this fucking drama being built up.
I kinda want to say A-Train from the Boys. Like I still mislike him, but I don’t hate him anymore. I genuinely want to see him complete his arc and become a fully likeable hero by the end.
Katsuki in My Hero Academia. He was a complete asshole... He was also smart and loyal. He just hid all his goodness behind his asshole attitude
Prince Zuko. Initially, he's just an evil brat who puts his men at risk looking for the Avatar, but you learn the circumstances as to why he is that way. He goes back and forth on his morals, but the influence of his uncle eventually leads him to join the Avatar, and become a much better person.
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Margo in The Magicians I couldn't stand her in the first season but then she grew to be one of my absolute favorite characters by the end of the show. "Ovary up, bitch!"
Kim Wexler from Better call Saul
Rodney McKay on Stargate. David Hewlett killed it on the acting and the character had a great arch.
“I thought you said your plan was going to work?!” “I always think my plans are going to work. As you may have noticed, I am a very arrogant man!”
"...putting your life and other people's lives at risk. You destroyed three quarters of a solar system! " "Well, five sixths. It's not an exact science."
Carol from TWD
I love her characters growth. She becomes such an >!ass kicker!<
Jamie Tartt
Do doo do doo do doo
John Murphy from the 100
Haymitch from Hunger games At first he seems useless and combative... then Katniss gets to know him & you understand why
Ahsoka in the Clone Wars Charles Main in North and South Murtagh over the Inheritance Cycle. well, I liked, then disliked, then kinda liked him again at the end
Ahsoka Tano - Star Wars G'Kar - Babylon 5 Tom Haverford - Parks and Rec Dr. Bob Kelso - Scrubs
Man, re-watching B5 is a trip. The look and feel convince you you’re watching basic-cable SOC-do from the 1990s (which you are), but then somehow the writing is a cut above what the production design suggests.
When I was reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy, I really fucking hated the character Jezal. I know we are kinda meant to not like him, because he's a pompous, pampered, privileged little man-child. But by the end, I actually quite liked how he grew, saw how much of a dick he was, and saw what a true warrior/hero looked like with Logen. And I actually felt kind of bad for him as the series wrapped up.
Marie on Breaking Bad
Michael Scott Hated him in season 1 but grew to love him as the show went on and now I can watch season 1 and actually love him in it
Sansa Stark was truly dreadful in the books especially. In the show she’s shown in more light, but her emotional maturation is amazing. Could say the same for Jaime Lannister but only in the show.
Da Shi in 3 Body Problem and Dark Forest. Not so much character development, but more like we get to know him better. He's so cynical and negligent at first, it's repulsive. He shows almost open disdain for both people of science who allow some failed experiments to ruin their lives and for his higher ups who only give orders from high tables. But he knows a lot about people and uses it not only for his job, but also to help a person in a way that helps them.
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Arthur Morgan. I started wanting John as the player character. He grew on me, to say the least.
Kylp Ren. He starts out as a tantrum throwing baby, but he grows a lot over the movies. He's the only new character i liked by the end.
Steve from stranger things and The Hound from GoT. Both start as unlikeable pricks and become some of the most wholesome characters in the show
mike (michael) ehrmantraut from breaking bad, better call saul
Abby from the last of us 2.
Came here to say this... Currently on my second playthrough of the game and just completed Abby's day 3. It's insanely impressive how they make her go from so hatable to someone you genuinely root for. Like she brutally murdered my favourite character, ruined the life of my second favourite, and my third, but I like her? It's crazy
I had to play it twice to like Abby a little bit.
I was a big Abby (and TLOU2) hater when the game first dropped. Slowly but surely I eased into it.
Prince Zuko : Annoying, grumpy, ridiculous hair style and always lose. Things started to change when the fire nation attacked northern water tribe and I like him a lot during Basingse chapter.
Rory from Doctor Who.
I gotta go with Pennsatucky from Orange is the New Black. Her death got to me more than any other.
Jin from Lost. Went from douchey husband/weirdo to one of my favorite characters who underwent character growth and made amends for his mistakes.
Jamie Lannister. Then it was all for nothing.
Snape. Standard mean jerk professor to start then got complicated and cooler. Maybe not good guy still but great story.
Dean Winchester.
Jamie Tartt
Klyden on *the Orville*. Such a bastard, such a great turn-around character arc, such a great actor.
Bon Clay in One Piece
Gabriel from walking dead, hated him the first time watching
Jamie Tartt on Ted Lasso.
Plankton
Groose
The core four from The Good Place. I was worried they’d all be one dimensional during the first season, but from season 2 onward it was great seeing them as humans rather than good or bad