Post by celestialsquared on Feb 11, 2013 20:27:51 GMT -6
Pulling this over from the "scourge's offspring" thread, Grey brought up a great point:
And despite the fact he's otherwise a very flat character, he gets a lot of fan-attention, whether through shipping with OCs or canon clan-cats, or as having OCs that are related to him (especially as offspring). I'm wondering what traits he has that has brought all this about.
Does anyone have any theories?
(I've noticed that the Homestuck 'Scourge' was - and maybe still is? - Gamzee Makara for a while there, and that's led me to believe that many fans favour dangerous characters for this kind of treatment? Does anyone more knowledgeable than me on fandom want to explain these trends, because that would be stellar.)
It's something I see in a lot of fandoms. Dangerous and murderous characters often fantasied about and copied within the fandom.
Why? I have no idea.
I think maybe because the character is so flat, the fandom is able to make up any headcanons they wish for the character. Most often then not, they give murderous characters a soft or cute side, maybe to justify liking them? I think an even better example than Gamzee at this point would be Jack Noir (and all his various other names). What do we know about the guy besides the fact he hates overly colorful clothing and he stabs first and ask questions later? Even so, there's plenty of art of him showing a softer, fatherly side.
Or maybe it's the "badass" factor? Everyone loves badasses, even if they happen to be killing protagonist + friends. Scourge definitely fits that description; he killed Tigerstar in one blow and managed to make Firestar lose a life. That could be all a fan needs to cause them to fall in love with a character.
And despite the fact he's otherwise a very flat character, he gets a lot of fan-attention, whether through shipping with OCs or canon clan-cats, or as having OCs that are related to him (especially as offspring). I'm wondering what traits he has that has brought all this about.
Does anyone have any theories?
(I've noticed that the Homestuck 'Scourge' was - and maybe still is? - Gamzee Makara for a while there, and that's led me to believe that many fans favour dangerous characters for this kind of treatment? Does anyone more knowledgeable than me on fandom want to explain these trends, because that would be stellar.)
It's something I see in a lot of fandoms. Dangerous and murderous characters often fantasied about and copied within the fandom.
Why? I have no idea.
I think maybe because the character is so flat, the fandom is able to make up any headcanons they wish for the character. Most often then not, they give murderous characters a soft or cute side, maybe to justify liking them? I think an even better example than Gamzee at this point would be Jack Noir (and all his various other names). What do we know about the guy besides the fact he hates overly colorful clothing and he stabs first and ask questions later? Even so, there's plenty of art of him showing a softer, fatherly side.
Or maybe it's the "badass" factor? Everyone loves badasses, even if they happen to be killing protagonist + friends. Scourge definitely fits that description; he killed Tigerstar in one blow and managed to make Firestar lose a life. That could be all a fan needs to cause them to fall in love with a character.