Characters we like in canon and hate in fanon
Ooh, Regulus is a good character to talk about. The guy doesn't even have dialogue in the books other than his message in the fake locket, and all we hear about him is second-hand information.
Yeah, I hate the Regulus of marauder fandom. They make him a group of Slytherin friends called Slytherin Skitties(seriously 😹) which consists of him, Evan Rosier and Barty Crouch Jr. They make the three boys poor uwu babies who get forced into becoming death eaters. And poor Regulus is rescued by heroic James Potter and his justice warrior marauders(🤮). Pairing are Jegulus in AU type setting and Jegulily in canon compliant setting alongwith Rosekiller(Rosier/Crouch) and of course the fucking Wolfstar.
I think Regulus can be done well if his character reflects what we're told about him: someone who got in over his head despite his beliefs and then realized his actions hurt someone he loved.
Evan Rosier and Barty Crouch Jr., on the other hand, don't strike me as poor babies. Evan Rosier went down fighting the Aurors, and Crouch Jr. shared a somewhat similar personality to that of Tom Riddle himself.
Pretty much agree on the Marauders.
I think Regulus can be done well if his character reflects what we're told about him: someone who got in over his head despite his beliefs and then realized his actions hurt someone he loved.
I think Regulus was as prejudiced as Draco in his youth, grew up hearing the stuff and unlike Sirius who went full rebel in Gryffindor, Regulus had to pick up Sirius' slack as heir. He turned because Kreature was hurt and wanted payback, he cunning enough to decode horcruxes and his death remained a mystery until Kreature's story was revealed.
Evan Rosier went down fighting the Aurors.
Yeah, Rosier strikes me as a fighter, not a uwu baby forced into this stuff. He was allegedly Bellatrix cousin too(not sure it is canon or fanon) because Bella's mother was a Rosier.
Crouch Jr. shared a somewhat similar personality to that of Tom Riddle himself.
I headcanon Jr. as a Ravenclaw. He was a brilliant boy neglected by his father who only pressurized him. Voldemort saw this brilliant young man and through their shared hatred of father's turned Jr. into DE. Jr. I think he was also a spy in first war, in ministry where he kept tabs on ministry activities through his father. He definitely was not a suspected DE so he was most likely not a Slytherin and only got caught because Karkaroff opened his mouth.
I pretty much have all three of these interpretations in my work, even down to Evan's relation to the Black sisters
Yeah, Rosier relative to Black sisters makes him an interesting character.
Another fanon character I hate(who I like in canon) is Lupin. He is often whitewashed in both marauder and Snape fics.
It might depend on how old Lupin is during the fic. If it's Marauder-era, then I can understand where he might be whitewashed and why; it might be to add some depth to why he stays friends with the Marauders, despite their behavior. Adult Lupin, on the other hand, is someone I hate being whitewashed, simply because the older Lupin is more willing to do bad things in the name of friendship.
Yeah, I hate whitewashed adult Lupin. The man was an irresponsible coward who wanted to look good and kept making excuses for his friends. He also had manipulative tendencies which are often washed away in fics.
A canon character I like but hate the fanon counterpart is Albus Dumbledore.
I've never managed to find a canon compliant Dumbledore, his spectrum lies from portraying him in saintly grandfather/father figure to manipulative bastard who wants to control Harry like a god, steal his money and get Weasleys to follow him like loyal puppets to brainwash Harry. I even loathe a manipulative Dumbeldore whose first instinct is to find a way to use a character.
Pssssst.
Certain Dark Things has a very realistic Dumbledore. He isn't a buffoonish grandfather but also not an evil puppet master but simply the person who has to make difficult decisions. The difference to canon being that the outcome of the CDT first Wizarding war has made him more reluctant to sacrificing others for the greater good, he contemplates how far is too far
The evil or manipulative Dumbledore fics have really become annoying to me as well and sadly he's often found in my beloved Slytherin Harry trope.
