The most hated character in fandom is always the one that you love.

Alternately, the most loved character in fandom is the one you can't stand.



Just going by the results of this poll about character sympathy, here are some fun facts to keep in mind next time you think Character X is universally hated/loved:

- The majority of people (74.8%) never lost sympathy for Buffy.

- Only 32.4% of the voters never lost sympathy for Xander. 16.2% never had sympathy for him. Easily the least liked of the Scoobies, yet he still managed to keep sympathy with 1/3 of the voters in a Spike/Spuffy-heavy part of fandom.

- A whopping 39% of people lose sympathy for Willow in S6. Despite this, 41.2% of voters never lost sympathy for her.

- Although a large number (40.1%) of people never gained sympathy for Riley, 25.5% of voters did take a liking to him and never lost it. That's 1/4 of the voting audience who ended up liking Riley throughout.

- If you're looking for a character who's almost universally loved, look to Tara. 94.8% of people never lost sympathy for her.

The basic moral? If you hate a character, you're gonna notice all the people that like that character and you'll think fandom is ultimately pro-Character. You're probably wrong, though. Likewise with characters you love who you notice getting a lot of flack/hate in fandom.

Unless you hate Tara, in which case, you're right. Pretty much everybody loves her.