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Alternative Character Interpretation/New Media: Difference between revisions
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** Something from the snarkdom: The Orcs: [[Noble Savage|Noble Savages]] unjustly and [[Anvilicious|excessively]] [[Fantastic Racism|persecuted]] by [[Strawman Political|the Callanians]], or a bunch of vicious barbarians that are not undeserving of the derision and hatred they receive as large portions of their species really do engage in casual brutality and [[Rape as Drama|worse]]. [[Take a Third Option|Or a race as diverse as any other]], with both its heros and monsters, just like the Callanians.
** Was [http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2010-03-25 Milov's praising of Nimmel] [[Creator's Pet|a blatant shill]], or [http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2010-03-08 a sign that Nimmel has] [[Villain with Good Publicity|successfully pulled the wool over Milov]].
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]:''
** Vaarsuvius: [[Insufferable Genius]] who occasionally commits [[Shoot the Dog|morally questionable acts]], but still, ultimately, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|means well]], [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] who couldn't care less about saving the world, but is nonetheless extremely loyal to his/her friends, or full-blown [[Heroic Sociopath]] who takes sadistic pleasure at tormenting Belkar (not that he doesn't deserve it) and only cares about increasing his/her own arcane power, no matter what the cost? Good? Neutral? Evil, or merely traumatized and in need of therapy? Male? Female? Genderless? A mixed-sex team of ninjas who randomly switch places whenever no one is looking?
** Miko: self-righteous [[Knight Templar]] with a chosen-of-god complex, almost incapable of seeing anything but her own ego and her own view of the world? Or an isolated young woman who used ego-boosting statements her lord once told her to help get her through those years of lonely, loyal service, which resulted in an attitude creating a vicious cycle of arrogance and isolation. Her execution of Lord Shojo: brutal act done in a completely unjustified bout of self-righteous fury? Or someone finally snapping from the feelings of betrayal that her lord would trust foreigners (which include an unrepentant murderer) over his own loyal order, the stress of seeing an army powerful enough to crush her homeland on their doorstop, and her years of isolation and religious zealotry (plus maybe severe head trauma resulting from the MitD slamming her through a wall, landing headfirst onto a solid surface, right before having a horse land on her head). Miko: picture perfect example on how [[Knight Templar|not to play a paladin]], or someone in [[The Woobie|desperate need of a therapist]]? Whatever is your answer, [[Internet Backdraft|SHUT UP ABOUT IT ALREADY]]!
** Lord Shojo himself. Fans are divided as to whether he was an amoral [[Jerkass]] who misused his office as commander of the Sapphire Guard for his own personal gain, perverting the very rules he was sworn to uphold in the process, or a [[Guile Hero]] who did everything in his power to fulfill his duty to safe-guard the Gates, even if it meant abandoning [[Honor Before Reason|the outdated and overly restricted system of rules]] which the Guard's founder had set in place.
*** Technically, he did not try everything in his power. Rich points out in his commentary that Shojo did not even try to convince the paladins that there was a need to abandon the oaths, and that his complete disregard for the oaths and his paladins was asking for trouble (though he did not deserve the summary execution), and Celia's summary at the trial was a pointed summary about how changing the rules when they needed to be changed can still be in the spirit of Lawful.
*** {{spoiler|or a [[Royals Who Actually Do Something|strong]][[Reasonable Authority Figure|ruler]] who truly cared about everyone in his city and worked for the greater good in ways that could be considered wrong}} [[Knight Templar|by]] [[Lawful Stupid|some]], who understood all too well [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right|that being lawful comes second to the amount of people that live to see another day, every day]]... ''and'' didn't try to convince other he was right, but instead tried to avoid conflict with his own people as much as he could]]... what?
**** {{spoiler|[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0406.html "It's all well and good for you paladins to stick for your convictions, but if I make a mistake, half a million citizens pay for it"]}}
*** Since the other members of the Order of the Scribble were convinced that Soon would break his word and send someone or go himself, {{spoiler|and the location given to Soon regarding Girard's Gate was actually booby-trapped to explode quite powerfully, apparently keeping the Oaths was not such a bad idea after all.}}
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* Reynardine from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]''. Has he undergone a [[Heel Face Turn]]? Does he have feelings (paternal? romantic?) for Antimony? Or is he ultimately looking out for his own skin, with his improved behavior stemming from recognition that Annie is the [[Kid with the Leash|alpha wolf]]? There's no clear answer.
** [[Ship Tease|But oh so many hints...]]
* Some have theorized that Fighter of ''[[8-Bit Theater
** [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2007/03/20/episode-822-too-many-light-warriors-spoil-the-npc/ This has been suggested by Fighter himself, of all people.]
** While everyone agrees that Black Mage is a horrifically sadistic mass-murdering [[Heroic Sociopath|"Heroic" Sociopath]], there's disagreement as to whether he's the universe's [[Chew Toy]] because he's that evil or he ''became'' that evil because he was the universe's [[Chew Toy]] initially; the old chicken-or-egg dilemma.
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*** For that matter, is Kimiko a saintly [[Broken Bird]] who has been more than understanding towards Piro and his various neuroses and whose self-esteem and relationship issues are due to having been burnt in love, or just a [[Wangst|wangsty]] minor celebrity who builds up unrealistic fantasies concerning the people around her, lashes out at the people involved when her fantasies prove to be just that, punishes herself by sabotaging her relationships with the people who actually do care about her, and then has the nerve to complain that people only love her for her fiction persona, and not for who she really is?
*** Moreover, is the Piro/Kimiko relationship a hasty, ill-advised hook-up that is ultimately doom to failure, or a heroic love between two deeply flawed individuals who have managed to find strength in each other to become better people?
** Also, who is the more admirable character, Piro or Largo? Piro, despite acting in a more socially acceptable way, is solely focused on his own little world, barely noticing anything else, such as that Erika was once one of his favourite idols or that Tokyo really is infested with zombies and monsters and such, or that the robot girl staying with him that he ignores has some humanity within her. Largo, a complete nut case, has shown to be quite justified in his paranoid delusions, preparing for zombie attacks, which eventually happen, and also stopping hackers from discovering Erika, which they do and causes problems. Also, he does help others, giving Yuki his phone while she was tracking Miho and helping Erika set up her own computer system so she could protect herself form her fans in a completely platonic way after she told him she didn't want a relationship or anything like that.
* Happens a bit in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''. [http://www.sluggy.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10499 This] thread shows just how ridiculously deep Sluggy fans can try to probe into the characters' psyches. Can sometimes creep into the strip itself during guest artist filler arcs, like [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=070528 this one].
* ''[http://chesspiece.smackjeeves.com Chess Piece]'' is based on this trope. Many characters have wildly different personalities due to wildly different lives. Effectively, Vlad Masters and [[Danny Phantom]] switch personalities and become father and son most notably. It makes sense, since it is massively AU and cross over between almost any Nicktoon imaginable.
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** Baron Klaus Wulfenbach: tyrannical trigger-happy [[Knight Templar]] or long-suffering responsible ruler who [[Shoot the Dog|does what's necessary]] to protect Europe? Claims on both sides are scattered throughout this wiki.
** And Othar Tryggvassen: hero, nutcase, both or neither?
*** '''''[[Gentleman Adventurer]]'''''!
** Tarvek Sturmvoraus--[[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who underwent a [[Heel Face Turn]] and is bound for an [[
* ''[[Planescape Survival Guide]]'' is '''built''' on this trope. You won't find Swiftbow's interpretations of [[Have You Seen My God?|Aoskar the Portal God]] or [[The Chessmaster|The Lady of Pain]] in many ''Planescape'' sourcebooks. Apropriately, it's one of the things most likely to turn ''Planescape'' fans off to the comic, but makes no apologies for it at least.
* Kore from ''[[Goblins]]'': while him being a merciless [[Knight Templar]] isn't disputed, his status as a paladin is. We don't see him lose his powers for slaughtering innocent beings, and the one time we see him use a paladin power is to heal someone ''[[Complete Monster|so he can torture him longer]].'' For no reason other than convenience: his screams would draw his allies so Kore wouldn't have to hunt them down one by one. Kore: paladin whose fanaticism has managed to warp the rules? Or deluded but incredibly [[Badass]] fallen paladin/blackguard that no one dares to contradict? Manipulated by a powerful, decidedly NOT holy being who grants him paladin-like powers for its own reasons?
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* ''[[Dresden Codak]]'': Is Kimiko Ross just a somewhat neurotic girl whose obsession with technology is ultimately harmless, or a budding [[Omnicidal Maniac]] [[Evilutionary Biologist]] midway through her [[Start of Darkness]]? Does she actively want to wipe out the human race [[For the Evulz|for the lulz]], or is she merely uncaring towards the fate of a world that she feels has mistreated her? Or, does she simply object to saving mankind at the price of ''genociding'' what she believes to be another sentient race?
** Is she perhaps a [[The Singularity|transhumanist]] messiah who longs to bring about a golden age that would overshadow any paradise imagined by mankind and considers the risk of human extinction well worth it?
* This is actually a major plot point in ''[[Homestuck]]'' with the relationships between the main characters and their parents/guardians.
** John sees his father as an embarrassing [[Bumbling Dad]] with an obsession with clowns, when he really {{spoiler|is actually a very boring businessman outside of the home, and not really all that into harlequins. He only collects clown-related figurines and memorabilia because he thinks ''John'' is obsessed with them, from observing John's subconscious drawings on the walls of his room.}}
*** But then, John's dad is ''also'' {{spoiler|a badass fighter with the ability to lift heavy safes, punch out powerful monsters, and put the Hegemonic Brute in a headlock. He also ran a joke shop with Nanna before it (and she) got hit by the meteor carrying Baby John}}. Clearly a man of many layers.
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*** Warbots are sentient beings. Warbots were banned because they killed too many people. But instead of being allowed to live, they were killed and are now suffering enternally in Hell. It explains everything, really!
* Similar to ''[[Planescape Survival Guide]]'' is ''[[Darths and Droids]]''. Qui-Gon Jinn is a [[Cloudcuckoolander]]! R2D2 is a [[Jerkass]] [[Munchkin]]! Darth Maul is a [[Private Detective]]! Chancellor Valorum is {{spoiler|General Grevious}}!
* Page picture for the ACI hub: ''[[Awkward Zombie]]'' on Marth. It's not entirely Katie's fault. When she says she "kind of completely made it up" she forgets that she based his characterization on what little characterization there was in the [[Super Smash Bros.]] games -- which was more like an egocentric prick than a teamwork-loving hippy.
* The original [[Nuzlocke Comics|Nuzlocke Comic]] as well as the many offshoot comics done by others often have these for most if not all the characters that appear in the main Pokemon canon but have a little or no characterization. The rival, (Blue/Green/Gary from [[Pokémon Red and Blue|R/B/G/Y and the remakes]] especially), the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four are the most common. [http://www.nuzlocke.com/pokemonhardmode.php?p=28 Pot head Ericka from the original comic really takes the cake.]
** The added grimness of a person's Pokemon possibly being [[Killed Off for Real|killed]] also adds a frequent point of variation in showing how gym leaders and other trainers respond to death on the battlefield. Any given gym leader could be portrayed as a professional who has accepted death as a natural consequence of battle, a friendly foe who's honestly shocked at seeing their opponent's Pokemon die, or an utter Jerkass who gloats and rubs the loss in their face.
* ''[[Blade Bunny]]'' is a master of [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]. This may in part be due to her having more than enough real stupidity to make the act credible, it is certainly hard to tell the difference at times.
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** Harry and Ron are now huge jerks and Harry has a huge ego. But they learn.
** Voldemort and Quirrel are only [[Affably Evil]] plus have major [[Ho Yay]].
** Draco is a petite [[Ted Baxter]] [[Cloudcuckoolander]] whom no one can stand who is obsessed with a space school called Pigfarts. {{spoiler|He also joins the heroes through a [[Heel Face Turn]], is in love with Hermione only to hook up with Luna Lovegood and is the biological son of Dobby}}.
** Dumbledore is openly gay [[Trickster Mentor]] who mocks his students.
** Umbridge is steroid-pumped [[Ax Crazy]] bitch with a [[Freudian Excuse]] and is in love with Dumbledore.
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* In the same vein, [[Potter Puppet Pals]] portrays Harry as a self-praising jerk, Ron as a [[Straw Loser]] [[Butt Monkey]], Hermione as a [[Flat Character]], Snape as the most emo character alive, and Dumbledore is just... Dumbledore.
* [[Christian Humber Reloaded]] with its massive size and ridiculousness, opens itself to some fun interpretations. Is it a stream of consciousness interpretation of the writer's dysfunctional life? A story of a clumsy [[Physical God]] unable to control his impulses and anger? A self-imposed challenge to write the most ridiculous story ever?
* Lear Dunham of ''[[Broken Saints]]'': {{spoiler|[[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who was willing to sacrifice anything in order to make the world a better place?}} Or [[Mad Scientist|who completely lost his marbles after his wife's death and started deluding himself into thinking he ease the pain by becoming a religious zealot and taking over the world]]? Or [[Take a Third Option|a little of both?]]
* [[Retsupurae]]'s takes on MuscleBomber2021 (who is desperately trying to impress a girl named Amy with his Super <s>[[Bomberman|Bummerman]]</s> [[Bomberman|Bomberman 2]] [[Let's Play|LP]]) and [[Billy MC]] (whose parents force him to play Mario games and give him McDonald's food as christmas presents).
** Also, Darknessthecurse and Rijno as gay lovers.
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{{quote|'''Slowbeef''': In this monochrome world I will search the depths of the earth and the limitless skies for you. Alternate Title: I Didn't Get You A Valentine's Day Present. }}
* [[The Angry Video Game Nerd]]: drunk asshole or depressed [[The Chew Toy|Chew Toy?]]
* A common element of [[The Abridged Series|abridged]] and other [[Gag Dub|parody series]]. For example, in ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]'', Mars has gone from a temple miko to a hilariously stereotyped pyromaniac satanist.
* Unlike most Machinima which create their own original characters, the characters of ''[[Melee's End]]'' are just Alternate Character Interpretations of the game's characters.
* [http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/cow This flash animation] shows how a cow might view the farmer coming out to milk her...
* The last post of [[Seeking Truth]] offers one of these for its protagonist, Zeke. Until then, he was something of a [[Memetic Badass]] due to defying [[Sanity Slippage]] as best he could, actually scrabbling for a way to take the fight to the Slender Man, and leaving a [[Do Not Go Gentle]] speech before doing so. Then, in ''Status Report'', {{spoiler|we learn that the traps he set up in his home killed at least one stranger, and he seemingly hid the body in his garage for weeks.}}
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