Flanderization/Web Comics

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Flanderization in Web Comics include:

  • Achewood's Cassandra "Roast Beef" Kazanzakis is an interesting case. He didn't have a personality to speak of to begin with, but around the party arc we learn that he is depressed and borderline suicidal. Shortly after that the trait began to dominate his personality, though despite this high focus on his depression he remains a rather multifaceted and interesting character
  • Hannelore from Questionable Content, shortly after her first appearance, mentioned that she had severe OCD. Over time, she developed more and more quirks and phobias to the point of being essentially a female Adrian Monk (she even had a "sex" dream about him, where they cleaned together in the nude). It wasn't long before they had to Hand Wave the fact that she even has piercings, and the circumstances of her first appearance—loitering in a public restroom, nonchalantly talking to a man peeing in the sink—have become absolutely inconceivable. The problems had to be explained in Comic 1046, where Hannelore reveals she's always had these problems; it just varies by the drugs she takes.
    • Also from QC is Raven. At first, she was a little bit of a Genki Girl with rare flashes of wisdom and occasional casual sex. As of her most recent appearance on QC, she was a flat out bizarre Cloudcuckoolander (even by the standards of Cloudcuckoolanders), and has probably gone around the block an innumerable number of times.
      • Technically, at first she was an easy-to-rile goth stereotype who was not the brightest bulb. Then she reappeared as a Perky Emo.
    • Even Pintsize to an extent. Originally he was just a quirky, sociopathic robot with weird fetishes. Now he is just /b/ personified doing anything for attention.
      • Possible Fridge Brilliance; Pintsize is trapped in an addictive cycle of exposure with the more horrible parts of the internet, causing an actual, in-universe Flanderization; he is, after all, an AI, and so will not have the same cultural or psychological limits as a normal human. The cast just doesn't notice because they've realised that it's just best to try and ignore it.
  • Ethan in Ctrl-Alt-Del began as The Ditz, but moved on to the The Ditz. More recently, he has surpassed this, and some fans are starting to suspect he is in fact clinically insane. (And he was recently put in a mental institution in the animated version...)
  • Szark Sturtz from Dominic Deegan was originally a master swordsman and a sadist. Following his Heel Face Turn and admittance to having a crush on the title character, he eventually became "Szark (who is gay)", according to one forum that follows the comic.
  • Richard from Looking for Group was always intended to be an Exclusively Evil insensitive dick and main comic relief, but his antics as of late have done nothing but break the pace of the story.
    • Richard is mostly a victim of the fact that Ryan Sohmer desperately wants to write for Deadpool, and hasn't exactly made a secret of the fact that he feels he deserves to be writing it. But since for some reason Marvel won't let him, he's turned Richard into a Captain Ersatz of Deadpool. (And, in the process, done a pretty good job of illustrating why he shouldn't be allowed to write for the comic.)
    • Least I Could Do, from the same creative team, has seen this happen to most of the characters, but it's particularly noticable with Rayne, whose childlike obsession with Star Wars and other geek properties and 12-year old boy-like obsession with getting laid have basically consumed his personality, to the point where it's a surprise when he acts like an actual person, or even gets something accomplished, other than weirding people out with his desire to be Emperor or getting laid.
  • David from Bittersweet Candy Bowl. The author originally intended him to be far less weird and wacky than his later appearances suggest.
  • Leo from VG Cats was at first a typical Cloudcuckoolander whom, despite some unusual quirks, still made sense at times. Then It Got Worse, much to the discomfort of his co-star, Aeris. Now he is effectively a textbook The Ditz.
    • Actually, he may be a case of Too Dumb To Kill, after surviving a SUCCESSFUL time-travel assassination plot:

Aeris: But I aborted you... from time!
Leo: I Got Better.

    • Aeris used to be just the slightly more sensible female version of Leo. She's since just turned into a complete bitch.

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