Characters that you hated in the beginning but changed your mind later on (and vice versa)

[tkarrde421]

So, I was rereading EotW (for what seems like the hundredth time), and it occurs to me that many of the characters that were introduced to us throughout the series undergo such great character development as to be unrecognizable from their roots.  Am I the only one who couldn't stand Mat in the first couple of books, and then suddenly he becomes a favorite?  Same thing for me with Egwene until MUCH later.  Whereas, Rand and Perrin undergo a reverse metamorphosis for me (going from favorite to... not-so-much).  Here's my incomplete list.  Any other ideas?  Anyone flat out disagree with me?

 

LIKE -> DISLIKE

Rand

Perrin

Gawyn

Siuan

 

DISLIKE -> LIKE

Mat

Egwene

Galad

Thom

Moiraine

 

DISLIKE -> LIKE -> DISLIKE

Tuon

[Sabio]

I'm shocked anyone liked Gawyn at any time and Egwene I hated from beginning to the end.  

[tkarrde421]

Ha! Well, I can see Gawyn not working for someone, but Egwene is pretty amazing once she hits Salidar.  She got me through the brooding Rand, boring Perrin and emasculating Mat story lines.  At some point I realized that I was looking ahead to see when we'd get an Egwene update, and seeing how she was going to put the idiotic Aes Sedai in their respective places. ?

[Sabio]

I always look at Nyn and Egwene, both started out as arrogant.  The difference is Nyn grew and instead of trying to force Rand, she helped him.  Where Eg IMO stayed the arrogant, had to always be right, who had no trouble manipulating her friends, blackmailing Aes Sedai etc. Her treatment of Mat in Salidar to me is unforgiveable.   For all her push for change in the tower, she started to fall into Aes Sedai bad habits like all channelers need to be part of the tower (hence her being upset at Elayne's deal with the kin).  I just never saw a lot of growth from Egwene.

 

Nyn was on the dislike list for me but at the end I really liked her.  I agree with your position on Moiraine, I forgot how unlikeable she was in the first three books but she was another who changed for the better.

[tkarrde421]

I hear ya, Sabio, and I can definitely see where you're coming from.  She didn't experience the same type of growth as did the other main characters.  I guess I just view it differently.  For me, Egwene is the embodiment of women empowerment that WoT strived for.  I think her character arc beautifully portrayed a girl who was destined to lead from the very beginning.  Unlike the boys who began the journey with her, she never played the "reluctant hero" archetype.  She was subservient only to those whom she deemed worthy of it.  I think the biggest lesson she learned was from the Aiel when they schooled her in the "do what you want, and pay for it" philosophy.  Maybe the biggest reason I'm able to give her a pass, is that I really admire her thirst for knowledge.  In Randland, that thirst could have taken a very dark turn, since it seemed to be the downfall of many of the Forsaken.  But in the end, she winds up... doing what she wants, and paying for it.

 

Not to sound like an Egwene fanboy, but out of all the available candidates, I'm voting for her to be the newest addition to the Heroes of the Horn.

[TheSociopath]

I never really cared for Egwene.

When we very first met Gawyn, I thought he had potential, but it wasn't really followed through on.

 

I liked Siuan at the beginning, and ended with being lukewarm on her.

 

I also liked both Rand and Mat all the way through. Same with Thom. And Tuon.

 

Moiraine I went from lukewarm to liking and back to lukewarm.

[JamesBrown]

I didn't care for Mat in the first few books, but when he matured into a leader he became my favorite.

 

I started out liking Perrin, and I really enjoyed his defense of Two Rivers. But then he married Faile, and then he went on and on and ON with Slayer, and I quickly grew tired of him. And I really got annoyed with him sniffing people all the time. Even across a field on a windy day, he somehow could tell that one person out of a hundred was feeling "jealousy tinged with sadness, and with subtle top notes of horniness for Berelain."

 

 

[tkarrde421]

 

15 hours ago, JamesBrown said:

I didn't care for Mat in the first few books, but when he matured into a leader he became my favorite.

 

I started out liking Perrin, and I really enjoyed his defense of Two Rivers. But then he married Faile, and then he went on and on and ON with Slayer, and I quickly grew tired of him. And I really got annoyed with him sniffing people all the time. Even across a field on a windy day, he somehow could tell that one person out of a hundred was feeling "jealousy tinged with sadness, and with subtle top notes of horniness for Berelain."

 

 

 

Ha! I love "subtle top notes of horniness"!  I think that's the newest Axe body scent.  And I agree wholeheartedly on Perrirn.  On that note, though, I kind of liked Berelain's character throughout.  I'm sure I'm again in the minority here.  She was such a professional when needed, but her alter-ego Super Whore was interesting, and gave her character a much-needed boost.  Otherwise she becomes "just another Randite".

 

I'd like to add Logain to the category of "couldn't stand him at first, but warmed on him later on".

[Kirsti]

Like to Dislike

 

Egwene

Gawyn

Tuon

 

 

Dislike to Like

 

Perrin 

Faile

Nynaeve

Mat

Logain

[Lethira]

Like to Dislike

 

Egwene.

 

She had such promise, I felt that she finally learned some humility with the Aiel. As soon as she got the Amyrlin seat she went back to being arrogant and self conceited.  The final nail in her coffin for me was Nynaeves test for the shawl.  It was clear that the Aes Sedai went overboard with it and yet Egwene (her supposed friend) went with the cruellest blow.  I don't think she understood what it meant to be a 'servant of all', she was instead a slave to her own ego.

 

She was amazingly well written but I could not stand her.

 

 

 

 

[Apple151]

On.... er... none....

 

One of hte gigfts of RJ universe is that characters have this transparent introduction amk makes everything easy to see/understand.

[JakeSt4r]

Liked at first then hated:

- Egwene 

- Gawyn

 

Hated at first, then liked:

- Moiraine

- Nynaeve

- Ishamael/Moridin

- Galad

 

The only two characters I can really say I went from liking to disliking were Egwene and her puppy dog. She started out like the sweet innocent girl next door type, then as soon as she hit the tower that sweet girl next door became a self entitled cheerleader with an ego the size of the white tower itself. As for Gawyn, he seemed like a cool dude at first, then he ended up being an irrational little twit with zero self control, and an ego the size of Caemlyn.

 

As for why Moridin is on the dislike to like list... I couldn't stand him as an antagonist in the first three books. He was little more than the boogeyman that shows up and yells boo every now and then, and he had nothing unique about him. He was just dull... we get it, you like having fire eyes and yelling things at kids, can you do something interesting? But once he was reborn as Moridin, I loved him as an antagonist. He was clever, intimidating, and his scenes didn't feel like an obnoxious distraction from the storylines I was reading previously. 

[Kat_152]

dislike to like

 

Mat

Galad

 

liked for the whole series

 

Moraine

Tuon

Perrin

Faile

Rand

Thom

Land

Egwene

Gawyn

Tam al'Thor

Logain

Nynaeve

 

[DemandredFO]

Gawyn is a character who should've been killed off sometime after Elaida's coup because his only value after that was to serve as an object lesson of what can happen to someone who invests their whole being toward one goal and things go sideways and then proceeds to make all the wrong choices. This arc is real enough, it's just after the coup and letting siuan escape, he serves no purpose other than to take inkspace away from someone useful.

[Guest randaconda]

Egwene was fine at first, but got more and more annoying.

[CrystallineTart]

Lan..

 

there's definitely more but certainly Lan.

[Bard29]

I got annoyed with the whole Elayne and Rand reletionship. During book 4-5 Elayne send Rand alot of messages through Egwene but Rand never send any back. During book 6 Elayne learns that Rand slept with Avendhia and ask her to marry him, most people would conclude that the man your in loved with dosen't feel the same way about you. 

[CrystallineTart]

Dislike.... to like

 

Mat dislike to like....

 

Perrin... like to dislike....

 

Thi sis part of my own read of Wheel of Time I'm doing... where I'm sorta imagining crazy things that would turn a lot of the series upside down such as the idea (might as well say it now, ) that Perrin was actually a Darkfriend the whole time and it's on this super deep meta level that the readers themselves are supposed to figure out somehow

 

Suffice to say though, even if that weren't true, I would still kinda honestly hate Perrin and Faile and the whole angle they brought .... what were they even doing in Two Rivers? They seem like these vboring steadfast/hearty types... and Two Rivers is clearly rural and distinct in many ways... just doesn't make sense I guess.

 

The fact that they're all infused with such intense personas unredeemingly straight arrow makes them sorta hard to believe also... and the whole natural/woodland take is just bizzare because it's redundant with the setting

which there is pretty rural...

 

I mean hawks/Wolves? It's almost distantly vaguely kinda corporatists.... oh your the nature people well I sure like Hawks and Wolves... like the most basic recognizable obvious things right?

 

So yeah I don't know what the ln language filter thing is here but screw Perrin and Faile...

 

Mat on the other hand....

 

I also don't want to sound savant ty But I also never really bought Perrin's character...

So even the idea that I ever liked him is in question.... or Faile for that matter...

Edited May 8, 2019 by CrystallineTart