Intended Audience Reaction

The reaction from the audience we suspect the author intended. We can't really know whether it was intended. It may have been, or it may have been that the author was aiming for something completely different and just missed. We can occasionally get a quote in an interview confirming, or at least claiming, that a specific audience reaction was intended, but usually this term is only useful for fans talking to fans.

As a general rule, only refer to something as an Intended Audience Reaction on a work's main page (as opposed to its YMMV page) if it is backed up by Word of God (preferably with a citation).

To provide a concrete example, normally, the audience hating a character is unintended by the author. But sometimes, because writers want to achieve Emotional Torque, they create a character who hits known markers for a hated character, in order to (pick one):


 * 1) Not hurt what sympathy the audience may have with his killer,
 * 2) Make his eventual redemption feel more complete,
 * 3) Make it more obvious to the audience understand why other characters dislike him,
 * 4) Achieve some other artistic effect.

When the Intended Audience Reaction to the ending of a work and the actual audience reaction to it are wildly different (and the audience is reacting negatively), it is a Fandom Gank.