Characters you didn't like at first, but now do.

I was wondering if anyone else had this happen, where a character they never really cared for suddenly became interesting/likeable to you.

For me, it's Riker. I don't know what happened, but I really started liking him and it was in the movies of all places. Something just clicked where I found him really likeable there.

Also, how about a character you liked at first, but then got tired of for whatever reasons.

 

Worf.
It was sometime around "Sins of the Father" that Worf started to become more than the brainless, violent comic relief. He became a man of honor, of courage, of ethics and great character, and that stuck with me when he went over to DS9, too, although I think he took a bit of a step back there.


Wesley.
I know, I know. However, I was about half Wesley's age when TNG premiered, and I looked up to him as relatable. Not the MOST relatable, that would go to Mr. Data, but relatable nonetheless.

 

My character preferences have changed over the years as I've matured. (I'm only 20 years old now.) For example, in TNG, I used to really like Troi, and now I can hardly understand why. I used to be pretty indifferent to Riker and Worf, but now I can't get enough of them.

 

Didn't like at first....

Vic Fontaine.

I don't know what it was about him, but he really rubbed me the wrong way. When they bought Ezri on as the station's counselor, I thought - "Finally, we can get rid of that idiotic quasi-counselor who likes to sing!" It wasn't until he got his own episode in Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang that I warmed to him. I don't know why I didn't like and I don't really know why I now like him. Oh well.

Liked at first....

Barclay.

I loved Barclay in TNG. He was easily the most relatable character EVER in Trek, IMO. But when they started using him on Voyager, he really went down as far as I was concerned. It was almost like he became a walking joke, not the well-crafted character he once was. Whereas he was once a social phobic who was getting steadily better, he was now static - socially phobic with little to no improvement.

 

I totally understand the change in view of Riker. The early seasons were played with a lot of arrogance and I could not stand him. Later that was toned down a lot.

I think Torres had the longest transition for me. It took a few years for her to develop into a character I did not hate and at some point even like.

 

Tuvok. I always loved Vulcans for their complexity and nervous energy burning just under the surface, but Tuvok was just... flat. The monotone guy with his hand on his phaser. Then, beginning with Meld, they started to add layers to his character, and now I really like him. Not as much as Spock, but still.

 

There are quite a few characters I didn't like at the beginning of their shows and grew to like over the course of the show, as they developed.
In DS9 - Bashir (I found him annoying and badly-acted in season 1, started liking him around season 4), Jadzia Dax (I found her dull in season 1, then I found her a bit better, then realized I really liked her around season 4)

I had a peculiar experience with ENT, when I first tried to watch the pilot, I hated it, couldn't even watch the episodes all the way through, and I disliked most of the characters - I hated Archer and Trip, didn't like Reed much either, and had an impression that Phlox was going to be an annoying wacky-alien-comic-relief character like Neelix. Then I decided to give it another try a few months later, watched it again and liked it this time. The first time I thought the (male) human characters were ignorant gung-ho jerks, the second time I watched it I found it refreshing that they weren't like the 24th century Trek people. Maybe it was because I had watched VOY in the meantime. I soon realized that Phlox is actually awesome and nothing like Neelix, and most of the characters really grew on me (apart from Travis since he was hardly a character). Instead of an annoying moron, I found to be Archer an endearing moron and he got much better and less stupid over time

Is there a category "a character you really hated, and then grew to dislike less"? I thought Neelix was really horrible in the early seasons of VOY, the worst character in Trek ever - but he got tolerable since Kes left. He was always at his most annoying around her. I still think he's a badly conceived character whose role on the ship makes no sense, but in the later seasons of VOY I don't get the urge to curse whenever I see him.

As for characters I liked at first but not now... Well, the first time I watched TNG (it was season 1), I was about 12 or 13, so I liked Riker because I found him hot (though I found his posturing a bit silly even back then) and Troi because I found her gorgeous, and I shipped them. (What do you expect from a 13-year old girl?) Then when I grew up and watched it again, I was indifferent to Riker and I realized just how lame Troi is as a character, especially in early seasons. Though they both get better later on, especially Riker who gets more likable - and better-acted.

Funny, even as a 12/13-year old, I was completely indifferent to Wesley. I didn't hate him, but I just hardly noticed him. He was just... there.

 

Kira took me the longest to appreciate. The chip on her shoulder really got annoying during the first few seasons of DS9, but once they toned down the brashness, I could tolerate her.

I think many will also say Bashir. The way he was written/acted in the beginning was insufferable. It wasn't until "Things Past" when he began to act like a Starfleet Officer and not a bumbling horny high-school kid.

Never have warmed up to Neelix though...except in maybe Jetrel and Mortal Coil.

 

Didnt like Spock in TOS but now properly watching them i think he is utter brilliant, i never really realised how good of an actor Nimoy was before.

 

Chakotay. When I first started watching Voyager, he was really just another block of wood I hardly noticed, with a stereotypical Indian background, and episodes like Tattoo hardly helped matters.

I think it was in Season 4 I really began to like him. In Mortal Coil, especially, his talk with Neelix on the transporter was the only good thing I got out of that episode.

As regards to DS9, both Kira and Odo I was hardly crazy about in the first few seasons, but later in the show I warmed up to them, especially when I realised some of the great impact of some of their episodes (rewatching Duet and Necessary Evil), and how integral they were to the show.

For characters I originally liked, then didn't really like, I don't have any. I never really hate characters enough to say that I hate them, and my least favourite characters are ones I never particularly liked anyway.

 

I originally liked Troi a lot; when I watched the whole series again last year I sort of wondered why.

Two who became more interesting over time: Odo and Nog.

 

Picard. At first I thought he was a stuffy know-it-all that was going to make this voyage one long, horrible trip. I especially didn't like that he didn't like kids. But as they softened him up, I began to understand the man and grew to like him.

Archer. He never seemed to take anything seriously and it seemed to me that if you are the captain of a ship, responsible for other people's lives you need to be a little more responsible. Then about the middle of the second season, I got him. Archer was supposed to be the wide-eyed optimist that believed space was going to be an "adventure" and right about the middle of season two he was starting to understand that space isn't going to be fun, it is dangerous.

By the time the series was over I really liked Archer and believe that no actor in Star Trek ever worked harder to develop his/her character than Scott Bakula.

 

I couldn't stand Neelix at first. I grew to really like him. I got the impression that if I was there he'd be the one I'd be most likely to be friends with.

I also didn't like Kira much, but grew to like her, too.

 

I don't have a rational reason, but I thought Troi improved 10 fold the minute they put her in uniform.

 

TNG:
Riker: He was stiff during the first few season but once he grew the beard, Frakes seemed to me to be more comfortable in the role.

DS9:
Quark: He really irritated me for the first few years, but I grew to like him (mainly as his relationship with Odo evolved).
Nog: He was a pain in the butt when he was a kid but I like how his character developed over the series.

VOY:
Neelix: Once he and Kes broke up and he stopped carrying on like a frantic little old lady.

ENT:
Archer: I always loved Scott, but what a jerk Archer was early on.

 

I hated Jake and Nog before they grew up. Neelix also went from being annoying to being a good and relateable character. Troi improved a lot when they put her in a uniform.

As for the ones whom I liked at first, I can't think of any off the top of my head.

 

I warmed or cooled to certain characters as they became developed or given more screen time. But I never grew from hating a character to loving a character or vice versa. Most of this is because the bulk of the characters we meet are already fully mature and formed when we meet them, plus they remain at the same job/post for the duration of the series. Think about your own life. You're an adult, you have a job, you work the same job for seven years with the same co-workers, same routine. How different are you at the end of that seven years?

Think of cast members of any the shows. Did they have an arc? Not really, in most cases. Every character is pretty much identical to the way they were introduced in the pilot. Sure, there are some minor things that change, and a few exceptions, but not many.

Plus add in the cardinal rule of TV, "At the end of the episode everything has to be back to the way it was at the beginning." The serialization of DS9 and ENT got away from this somewhat, but not enough. And TOS, TNG and VOY follow this rule to the letter.

 

Same here, but it took longer for me to warm to Odo than it did for Kira. I originally saw Kira as a Ro wannabe with a bad attitude, but it didn't take long for the writers to distiguish her as a character in her own right. With Odo, it felt like the writers weren't sure what to do with the character. But even when they did seem to get a handle on his persona, I was kind of lukewarm towards him. For some reason, it was his interaction with Quark that really fleshed out the character and made me appreciate him.

 

Tasha Yar, I had trouble imagining her as a security chief, the actress had very little muscular development, compare Denise Crosby to a photo of a modern day female Marine or female police officer to see what I mean. But she grew on me, especially after I started writing stories on what could have been if she had lived, like maybe if she had been assigned to DS9 instead of Worf.

 

I didn't like Eddington at first, I thought he was just the replacement starfleet sent to take over Odo's post....

Course later on which I just finished watching the last ep with him in it...I find he's pretty cool for a "Bad Guy."