Characters that you disliked, but grew to like in the end.

[Innegativeion]

I'm gonna go ahead and say Tidus from Final Fantasy X; seems like it was Square's intention too.

I mean, his growth through the game is just SO stark and it's written so well.
Whiny, bitchy sports star -> pseudo leader of the group.

...a lot of disagreement inbound, surely xD.

It seems to me that squenix pulled this off much better with Neku from The World Ends With You. Even towards the end of the first part of the game he's grown as a person and you can see that he is able to make a personal connection with another human being.

AH yes, making the player hate him initially was definitely intentional.

I feel like they also intentionally made Joshua a total dickweed, so players would respect him more when they find out

Spoiler: ending of twewy. It's a great game. Seriously go play it.

That he's a magnificent bastard who's been manipulating everything from the start, the motivation behind the main antagonist, and can totally back up everything he says. All that douchebaggery of his suddenly makes him cool when you realize he's not some punk ass kid who was lucky enough to be a psychic and therefor thinks too much of himself, but is actually the GOD of purgatory.

 

[Uratoh]

Garrosh Hellscream from WoW...Mists character changes aside. He started out afraid of his own legacy, seemed a whiney git, then he started being all headstrong, and stupid..and...he's the new Warchief? what? but the leadership role...changed him. Suddenly, having responsability made him temper down, he upheld honor, even dealing with subordinates who'd use Total War tactics to win...and they're going to suddenly derail him and turn him into his dad Mk2, without the 'saves his entire race' ending.

 

[Dtox333]

Two characters come to mind.

Envy from full metal alchemist: Brotherhood.

I hated this guy's guts, he was cocky, deceptive, and was the cause of a lot of crap. But he started to grow on me, his playful/nonchalant attitude made me start to wish he would some how become a good guy, and then his ending made me feel very bad for him, even pitied him. I was conflicted when mustang was just unloading on him in all of his rage. On one hand, I was glad Roy was getting his vengeance, and that envy was paying for his transgressions. But at the same time, I couldn't help but feel sad for envy, and I couldn't tell if I wanted Roy to stop or keep going.

The second character is Rarity from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Rarity completely surprised me. Her demeanor at first was that of the typical diva character who was all pompous but somehow remained friends with the main character, and I was not looking forward to her crap. But then the show progressed, and rarity was not at all what I expected. She was not only a very likable character, but also went beyond her stereotype, such as throwing the first punch when danger showed up, and wasn't always a damsel in distress. Her love for fashion was also a plus more than a negative, because they didn't make that her character, instead it added to her artistic expression and how much she loves to create and design, something I can relate with.

 

[sextus the crazy]

I'm gonna go ahead and say Tidus from Final Fantasy X; seems like it was Square's intention too.

I mean, his growth through the game is just SO stark and it's written so well.
Whiny, bitchy sports star -> pseudo leader of the group.

...a lot of disagreement inbound, surely xD.

It seems to me that squenix pulled this off much better with Neku from The World Ends With You. Even towards the end of the first part of the game he's grown as a person and you can see that he is able to make a personal connection with another human being.

AH yes, making the player hate him initially was definitely intentional.

I feel like they also intentionally made Joshua a total dickweed, so players would respect him more when they find out

TWEWY is one of my favorite DS games and the characters are part of the reason why.

In all honesty, I liked both Neku and Joshua. I somewhat had the safe disdain for other people that Neku has (but not to that degree) and I liked how he quickly got development that showed that underneath his cold exterior, he could be a good person (also, he didn't brood or whine, so much as he just acted aloof). I liked Joshua knowing he was a dick because he's the type of dick that most of my friends are like.

 

[AlphaMandate]

Captain Bannon from World in Conflict. Probably because he was designed this way; you were supposed to dislike him at first, then he grows on you.

 

[Leemaster777]

This and also Pinkie Pie.

Now hear me out, I was new to the show existence and decide to watch the first episode. It was that scene when Pinkie Pie keep bugging Twlight after she throw her a party (the part when she talk nonstop). To me she pretty much fill in as the "annoying character" archtype seen in other cartoon shows.
However watching the rest of the episodes, I grew to like her due to her random antics!

I'm right there with you.

My first reaction to Pinkie showing up was "Ugh, I'm going to hate this character, aren't I?". But, she quickly avoided becoming annoying, and just like you, I found myself loving her random antics.

 

[Instant K4rma]

Fable 3.

Spoiler: Hated this guy:

Spoiler: Right up until I realized that he was voiced by this guy:

Changed my whole outlook, even if his character was still a massive dick.

 

[PirateRose]

Mical the Disciple from KOTOR2.

I had issues with that character for years actually, I was put off by the whole prince charming vibe like a lot of people and just flat out ignored him. Then one day I matured and actually paid attention to his character and his purpose. I realized he wasn't as bad as I thought, he's actually pretty smart, has a unique viewpoint when it comes to the Jedi and how things should change. He's a useful tank that can also heal and make med packs out in the middle of nowhere. Mical is that good boy nerd, who's happy and angstless to balance out all the dark, angsty characters in KOTOR2.

 

[Vrex360]

Xander Harris from Buffy.

The first time I saw him and for a while after that I just thought he was an idiot. He was lazy, irresponsible and screwed up constantly. He kept pining for Buffy Summers while ignoring the ever adorable Willow and kept getting really personal and in the other characters faces as well as cracking dumb jokes at innappropriate times. He also, on the rare occassion when the women who date him aren't evil demons trying to kill him, manages to screw up every single relationship he has.

But then he did actually start to grow on me, because despite the many times he screws up he always manages to pick himself back up again and make up for them. He does the right thing and his heart is in the right place and despite having no real powers to call his own he never backs down and never gives up. I finally figured out what Joss Whedon and the writers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were doing with Xander, he really was the every man of the story.

Not the smartest and not the strongest but the most loyal, he screws up constantly and can sometimes even just be a selfish jerk but he always pushes forward despite his own flaws and does the right thing in the end. He's deeply flawed but his determination and bravery even in the face of impossible odds makes up for that.

As a result the character who I first considered just the annoying comedic relief sidekick is now, in my opinion anyway, more like the real unsung hero of the series.

 

[TallanKhan]

Wrex from Mass Effect, pretty much your standard, ungrateful, meat headed thug throughout the first game right up until the end. Changed my whole perspective of him with Virmire and beyond.

 

[Penguin_Factory]

I actually ended up liking all of the Final Fantasy XIII characters, even the ones like Snow who annoyed me to no end at the start.

 

[Konatacalypse]

Groose from Skyward Sword. At first I thought he was just one of those annoying full of himself bully archetypes that exist only as a foil to the protagonist. But then later on he shows he has good intentions and learns humility and becomes a pretty funny support character. He also has a pretty stylin' do.

This.


Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop. For the longest time I just found him to be generic and a little boring. But, around the end of the series I started to warm up to him. I still find him a little generic, but I've found myself enjoying his episodes a lot more.

 

[King of Asgaard]

I'm gonna go ahead and say Tidus from Final Fantasy X; seems like it was Square's intention too.

I mean, his growth through the game is just SO stark and it's written so well.
Whiny, bitchy sports star -> pseudo leader of the group.

...a lot of disagreement inbound, surely xD.

Agreed, though I liked him from the start, and his 'whining' is justified.
I mean, he's just been transported a thousand years into the future, and has to learn the culture while making it seem as though he knows it already. Tell me you wouldn't whine too.
But yes, his growth, and subsequently Yuna's, is one of the strongest parts of FFX, one overlooked by some who can't get passed Tidus in the beginning.

 

[cerebus23]

Draven from League of Legends. I've never played him because he's an AD Carry and I just can't play one of those things to save my life but his arrogant "League of Draven" egotistical jerkishness used to really annoy me... Now he seems pretty cool to me for some reason.

His global ultimate doesn't seem that global to me though. It's actually double global because it goes from Draven and then returns to Draven so it must just be me. Maybe because nobody ever does anything dramatic with it. Woo you just sniped a low health person in a straight line, Caitlyn does that all day with zero effort get with the times man!

Also Leona... She seemed really lacklustre in the rare occasions she would actually be in a game (she's underplayed as hell.) I bought her just because I wanted to compare her to Diana and she is so dang fun.

Any Carry who does good damage early game (Graves) is going to dominate the lane with Leona as soon as she hits lvl 3. The moment she lands her Zenith Blade > Eclipse > Shield of Daybreak > Eclipse detonation combo her target will be stunlocked from the word go.

She has a good mid/lategame as well. Suck it Alistair.

Suzaku from Code Geass is a funny one. He goes from rage, to not so rage, then rage again, then pretty cool, cool but tragic then back to rage.

Season 2, rage, rage, rage, rage, more rage, increasing rage, rage, rage, fuck this guy's life then oh wow this guy is actually pretty awesome. I'm sure anyone in the Lulu is Right camp can understand this vague as heck statement rather well XD

gods i hated suzaku right from the go, only took 99% percent of the series to figure out why his best and only friend from childhood was doing what he was doing, and his in your face dont punk out on me to laluche right near the end just soured me on him entirely.

great series when you can watch just how much lulus actions were wearing him down and each and every time there was suzaku to pile on time after time and get a good few kicks in.

nothing he could have done at the end of that series would have made me like him.

here is one i not seen the main character from bulletstorm, he starts off the biggest jerk face moron you could want to meet, but turns out to be a pretty decent guy in a pretty damn indecent world.

garrus in ME, i really disliked him in me1, but over the course of 2 and 3 they just have too many great moments together, plus by the 2nd game you figure if anyone in the universe got your back its garrus.

tidus in FFX playing that again recently and after 260 some hours into FFX on my old ps2, i had forgotten what a whiny jerk he was at the start of the game.

 

[Legion]

Most of my first impressions tend to be spot-on, actually. Comes with the territory.

I wasn't asking about peoples abilities to judge characters from first impressions.

 

[OldKingClancy]

Tyrion Lannister.
Seemed like an ass in the first episode, but quickly showed his true colors.

I'm almost the opposite, I loved Tyrion from the start and just grew to like him more and more.

His father Tywin on the other hand, I hated him to start with because he was a vicious Lannister but I've grown to really like him, his scenes with Arya in Season 2 were great.

Actually the whole Lannister clan started off as hateable villains but now I really like them, especially Jaime.

 

[Brodre]

Oghren from Dragon Age - really just seemed like a sad drunk to me throughout Origins, but after my first "oh no" it is Oghren reaction in Awakening, I really started liking him, despite his flaws =)

Garrus in ME - Really started off as kind of a flat character for me, but then he evolved alot in ME2, and I started liking him alot

All characters from Saints Row: The Third - They just kinda seemed dumb and slightly over the top for me, but later along the storyline they kinda grew on me, maybe it was just me who accepted them for what they were.

Misa from Death Note: God damn I hated her at first, that attitude which caused so many problems and kinda seemed like stupidity ablazing. But she turned into a more interesting character for me, even though she was greatly manipulated by Light =)

 

[CrazyJew]

Eleventh Doctor. He still is a bit annoying, but I warmed up to him.

 

[smithy_2045]

Assuming that reality TV contestants can count for this thread, I'd have to say Paul in The Amazing Race Australia. Sure, he was arrogant and hyper competitive, but unlike some of the other contestants he never went out of his way to put anyone else down. It was about getting the most out of himself and his mate Steve, enjoying themselves and trying their utmost hardest to win. I definitely respected his commitment to the cause, and his ability to remain calm under the extreme pressure of the race. Some of the other teams (Michelle and Jo, and Joseph and Grace (especially Grace)) should feel ashamed for how they acted towards him, and could really have learnt something from Paul about how to treat your teammate.