Has being on this forums and engaging in various debates made you more prone to liking/dislike certain characters?

[Jolene Brown]

I am still fascinated by Stannis but I do at times get frustrated with the unquestioning worship of him. I feel sort of defensive of Cercei, at the same time as I recognize that her deeds are totally awful. I mostly just feel even more than I did before that George made some poor choices in how he wrote her as of AFFC. I think she might be a character that would have benefited from being kept non-POV.

[Kosh Naranek]

I was used to the unreal Cat hate due to a friend of mine. He falls into the camp of everything bad that has happened in Westeros is Cat's fault camp. I don't see that. She had flaws like everyone else. I, however, hate UnCat. When I first read the books I thought it was a interesting twist, and I am not opposed to some Freys snuffing it. But the more I thought on it, her ultimate fate ticks me off. A reasonably good wife and mother is nothing but a vengence zombie. Sad.

The boards have made me dislike Dany. Granted I found most of her chapters in Dance skim worthy, but I did not find her all that annoying, just boring. But, the points made by other posters about her bratty and entitled attitude have made me view her in a less favorable light.

I was shocked that so many found Jon boring. I guess I never did because I always found the secondary characters around him to be engaging. So, I don't think it has made me like him or love him....I guess I remain the same on that front.

[RenlyIsNotRight]

Since coming here I've...

• Become even more firm in my love for the Starks & Stannis
  
• Begun to dislike the Targs (I was initially nuetral on them, now...bleh)
  
• Actually started to like Darkstar (simply because the ridiculous amount of hate he generates makes him even funnier than he already is)
  

[E-Ro]

My views really have not changed much. Before these forums I only disliked Danny a little( I actually thought her and Robb would be good together untill mid storm, and the dislike was due to boring chapters, not because of dany herself) but reading many posts on her I realized that my first interpretation of her was wrong, and now that I realize it I cannot stand her. Sometimes dany fans will say silly things about her, but really that does not factor into how much/ little I like her.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Rhaegar and Tywin apologists made them pass from characters that, while I disliked, I thought were potentially interesting, to downright loath them.

In Rhaegar's case specially, because apparently every action he made was justified, running off (because Rhaegar is too perfect to kidnap anyone) with Lyanna, abandoning his wife and children under control of an increasingly unstable king having to deal with two angry Lord Paramounts was perfectly right and nothing bad that came from it is in any shape or form his responsability; heck, if he lost to Robert, was because he wanted to lose, and Elia was 100% on him running off with Lyanna and leave her in KL, and not only that, she probably even supported and pushed him to do it.

It's impossible for him to simply have been irresponsible and a jerk, because Ned, Tyrion, Catelyn, Daenerys, Stannis, and pretty much all the most popular characters can be accused of being one or another (or both) at some point, but, oh noes, the Perfect Silver Prince does nothing wrong.

As for Tywin, not only his supporters give him credit for things well beyond his control he couldn't predict nor played any role in it, ignoring many of his flaws, which is bad enough, but he seemingly turns on some people's worst instincts and makes them advocates of Hobbesian style of ruling: they claim the 7K under him would be at the best they could ever be, never mind the fact he considers his family a superior master race, their interests are ALWAYS ahead of the ones of the realm and he would let the Others take half of it if he thought it suited him, and he would have the women of anyone that opposed him raped and the children killed, but hey, he would give them peace and it's all that matters.

[SeanF]

Since coming to these forums, I've become more interested in Sansa, and become much more aware of the flaws in Tyrion's and Daenerys' characters, but I haven't stopped liking them as characters.

[ellisg]

These haven't changed my opinions directly but they have opened my mind a bit a more. I was surprised the amount of support Stannis gets on here as I am not a massive fan of his, I don't hate him I just like other characters more and I prefer other characters like Dany and Victarion that ultimately want the same thing as him and although peoples arguments haven't really changed my opinions on him I can certainly see why some people do like him. Some characters were already a bit easier to understand, I am a fan of Dany but before I came on here I could more then understand why some people wouldn't like her.

[Ser Bleys of Amber]

Positively affected:

Stannis fan's really convinced me to jump on that bandwagon, hardcore-like

Became a bigger fan of Jaime

Robert, simply because I feel the need to defend him

Negatively affected:

Queen Cersei I has made me absolutely detest Cersei now. Everytime I see a discussion and then see anything about the defamation of women, the unfairness, yadda, yadda, yadda in a three page long post, I just want to die.

I never liked Sansa and coming to this forum made me like her just a bit less, but no hate there. Just not my cup of tea of a character.

Tyrion, althought I loved him before, people have pointed out his major flaws

[Lady Lea]

Hmm and I started to like Daario :dunno:

Poor Daario.

[David Selig]

I now like Cersei more simply because her namesake on this board (Queen Cersei I) writes such great and often totally hilarious posts.

[RenlyIsNotRight]

Tyrion, althought I loved him before, people have pointed out his major flaws

I've become sort of apathetic towards Tyrion myself as of late, when originally I liked him a fair bit. To be fair, this probably has more to do with how boring his storyline in ADWD was and how whiny and pathetic he's become since then. Still, give me Dolorous Edd or Stannis for quips over him any day.

[plurabel]

the forum made it clearer to me which characters I like or don't like but has also changed some of my likes and dislikes. I was always a bit bored on sansa's chapters and now I'm paying more attention on my re-read, for instance. some characters that are exaggeratedly praised for being badasses ended up getting on my nerves. I don't see 'badass' as a compliment necessarily. it depends on other factors. it was good to finally admit that I'm not keen on dany or any targaryen, for that matter.

[Fire and Blood!]

I always disliked Stannis but I never took him seriously, now after seeing how many people like him on this forum he has become my most hated character.

[Light a wight tonight]

Some characters up, some down. But I got on the foum before reading Dragons, so the books may have influenced that.

I never much cared for King Bob, and like him a little less now. Disliked Stannis at first, now he seems pretty good, though maybe that's because his character changed.

I didn't realize the extent of Littlefinger's machinations until I started here and was forced to think about him. He's vile but one of the most interesting characters in the books.

I like Sansa a lot more now. Some of the posts on her bring out points that are easy to miss if you're reading for action rather than human interaction. Arya, unchanged.

Daenerys is one of the few characters that the fanbase has influenced me on. Negatively, that is. It infuriates me that so may character flaws get ignored so that the True Princess can be exalted. Makes me want her to come to a bad end just to upset her fans. I realize that's uncharitable, but that's how it goes.

I guess that's the othe side of the coin where the Tryion haters can see only flaws. I mean, as a pre-teen he maintained the Casterly Rock sewage system in better order than it had ever been in. What had Dany accomplished at that age? For the most part he's the most enjoyable character in the books, by far. He's far from perfect, but demanding perfection from a character in these books is unreasonable.

What I'm amazed at is the strength of emotion some posters display. Absolute hatred for some characters, of both sexes. Absolute adulation for others, again, female and male. And apparently it's based not on the character in the book but the character of the poster. Maybe somewhere there's a masochistic fanbase for Ramsay Snow.

[LuisDantas]

I suppose these forums made me aware of the need to actively point out Stannis' flaws. Before finding the topics about him I just assumed that people would naturally notice how rotten he was, much as they do about, say, Walder Frey or Ramsay Bolton.

To a lesser extent I feel the same way about Tywin and even Roose Bolton.

[butterbumps!]

I don't know if it was the forum or just doing that reread project, but my hatred of Bowen Marsh has skyrocketed as of late. What a jackass that guy is. Axelle Florent is not far behind.

Seeing other's criticisms of Jon actually made me like the guy. I was neutral-positive about Jon prior. So good work, all you Jon detractors- he has another diehard fan thanks to you, lol.

Also, some of the praises of Dany I've seen (not all but a choice few) served to bring to light new criticisms of her character that I'd not have thought of otherwise, so again, excellent work.

I guess the ridiculous extremism on both sides of the spectrum- praise and critique- sort of have the opposite effect than they mean to-- it makes me more cautious about taking those opinions at face value and actually considering whether they're valid. Unless it's hate on Bowen Marsh- that's completely legit.

[Alric Stark]

I love the topic, which was what the "like" was for. (Cause I am a Stark shill and love Arya) I definitiely agree the forums has drawn out the hate in me for certain characters. Some have remained hated from the beginning, some have moved to the front of the despised line.

In particular Rheagar at first I disliked him but the segment of the fandom that adores the Silver Prince and feels he can do no wrong has made me hate the character with a passion. Even if GRRM comes out and states Elia was happy he took Lyanna as a second wife, and encouraged it. I will have a tough time liking this character.

At the same time my appreication for certain characters has grown reading some other interpretations and points of view. Stannis is probably chief among those characters.

[Helgar]

This thread is everything I ever looked for! It happens to me all the time!

1. I never really cared much for Catelyn and I always thought she was a rather boring POV (I remember wishing ACoK dropped Cat's POVs for Robb's), but after seeing the ludicrusly overblown hate she gets in these forums I have taken up sword and board in her defense.
   
2. I also like Robert Baratheon, at least the young version of him; the fat, drunken king version of him, I do not like or dislike, but always defend against those rabid Cersei fans. Especially the ones that share her name. You know.
   
3. I now loathe Rhaegar Targaryen. I think that one was a long time coming, because when I read Martin's descriptions of him in the books (how he was good at everything, how everyone liked him, how he was so melancholic, intelligent, thoughtful, deep, and a tragic figure) is pretty much the vintage definition of a Mary Sue character. But the fact that some ASOIAF fans actually fell for this kind of inferior characterization made me certain of how I feel about him.
   
4. I always hated Jaime Lannister, but now I hate that people like him. Have you seen those ridiculous "Jaime is a nice person/great guy/moral/honorable/honest/kind" threads floating around? Have you heard that sound like someone banging their head against the wall? It's me.
   
5. Stannis. I love Stannis, and I thank these forums for making me realize it!
   
6. I know it's not a character, but the massive support of the R+L=J theory seriously upsets me. It feels as though fans are trying to simplify ASOIAF into a traditional "the chosen one" story, in which the chosen one whose coming has been foretold by ancient prophecies will come to save the world from eternal darkness/evil. All the groundbreaking progress ASOIAF has made for fantasy in its complex portrayal of characters is being threatened to be swept away by a bunch of cheap literary stunts that seek to tell the same story that Harry Potter and Wheel of Time did, and the R+L=J theory is right in the middle of it. If R+L=J, and the Azor Ahai prophecy stuff, and the Others' invasion turns out to be true, then ASOIAF has little more to offer us than those series in terms of content.
   

[Juli Greyjoy]

I love Jaime even more now. ^_^

But I also really hate Daenerys, in the books I just disliked her. And I also kind of dislike Tyrion now...

[The Storm Queen]

Yep! That is unfair to characters, but it's certainly the case. With Cat, it was actually the other way around for me, the criticism was so ridiculous (she is solely responsible for the war! She is stupid for being mad with grief over Bran! How could she not be interested in new stablemaster while her son was agonizing!) that I began to like her much more.

Same with Sansa, but I am more naturally interested in her than in Catelyn.

Now, Jon's fans have opposite effect on me. He's just bland and boring, but they make me dislike poor guy and wish bad things on him with their gushing fanboyism.

Tyrion I dislike on my own now, it started on first read through.

Dany is a curious case, as I can see both sides and think both defenders and haters are being fairly ridiculous at times.

Seconded so much. Everything of this, with a little exception: I was not overly fond of Dany (which had more to do with her arc than with her actual character) but after reading some real hilarious criticism (á la She only slept herself to the top/she is the Great Other, worse as Gregor etc.) I actually found myself defending her in some instances