Depending on the Writer: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

'''Grant Morrison:''' No, ''I'm'' a vegetarian. ''[[Lampshade Hanging|You'll]]'' [[Lampshade Hanging|be whatever you're written to be]].|''[[Animal Man]]'', "Deus Ex Machina", [[Grant Morrison]]'s last issue as writer}}

 

** None of this compares to Victor Von Doom. Dr. Doom is swung back and forth from being a baby-eating psycho, to practically being an [[Anti-Villain]] more noble and courageous then Reed Richards, and everything in between. In particular, the way he runs his country comes under fire from this- does he make it a complete utopia with happy, contented citizens, or is it just a facade the citizens put on because Doom will kill anyone who disagrees, and Doom himself only cares for them as a master would care for his pet? [[Armed with Canon|Writers almost always wind up disagreeing with one another about Doom's correct portrayal and declare stories they don't approve of to have been Doombots instead.]]

*** Just going to note that "baby-eating psycho" isn't an exaggeration of how some writers view him. Here's Mark Waid's take on the character:

*** Dr. Doom gets an additional layer about running his own country. Does he truly care about his citizens? Does he act the monarch just for arrogant sense of self-entitlement, and to gain access to the resources of an entire nation and diplomatic immunity? Are the people of Latveria genuinely happy under his rule? Is Latveria a police state where no public display of malcontent is allowed?

* In most ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' adaptations, Raphael is portrayed as a brooding loner who frequently breaks from the group and fights with his brothers -- particularly Leonardo, who has a much more commanding presence as a leader. In others, like the original Fred Wolf animated series, Raphael is a good-natured albeit sarcastic jokester while Leonardo seems more toned down and unofficial in his leadership role. Michaelangelo and Donatello remain constant for the most part.

*** "All Good Things..." doesn't really fit into either because while he is playing Judge and Jury to all humanity, he is also {{spoiler|actually trying to help Picard, without the other Q actually knowing about it}}

* This is one of the biggest complaints about Alexis on ''[[Ugly Betty]]''. Alexis was a shadowy [[Big Bad]] figure for the first half of season one. Then she had a [[Heel Face Turn]] while retaining her aggressive, competitive personality. From then, it was on. The writers just couldn't decide if she was a good guy or a bad guy. This got so bad that Rebecca Romijn - the actor who plays Alexis - decided to quit the show. Romijn has said that

*** Note it didn't quite happen this way. Alexis was [[Put on a Bus]], but did not return in a recurring capacity and, in fact, was never seen again. (Interestingly, this was around the time Rebecca Romijn became pregnant - [[Real Life Writes the Plot|something it would have been impossible to write into the show]] what with her character being a ''male-to-female transsexual''.)

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'' the Doctor's moral standard varies for better or worse depending on the current writing staff. Partly justified when the change happens between regenerations; at the end of the first Tenth Doctor episode, he gives a speech about how each time he changes he becomes a different type of doctor in personality terms as well.

** Leela was a particularly bad example. When first introduced she was relatively uncivilised but in fact highly intelligent (she is shown as abandoning all superstition when the Doctor explains science to her and in ''The Talons of Weng-Chiang'', caught on the nature of the villain almost as quickly as the doctor). Come ''The Invisible Enemy'' and she's described as 'all instinct and emotion'.

** Matthew Waterhouse complained about Adric being written like this, particularly ''Four to Doomsday''. From that story's notes (quoting Doctor Who Magazine):

* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'': Dean can either be a [[The Brainless Beauty|complete bimbo]], a [[Genius Ditz]] or very clever depending on who writes him.

* Done to a frustrating degree in the last two seasons of ''[[Dawson's Creek]]''. Take your pick from the supporting cast: Charlie, CJ, Eddie, or Natasha will happily go back and forth between being kind, sweet and understanding and complete jerks.

* In ''[[The Simpsons]]'', Bart can be the most popular kid in school by a huge margin, have Milhouse as his only friend or anywhere in between depending on what best suits the story, though one episode did show that [[Hand Wave|popularity can change rapidly]] as he went from the former to the latter after crying when hit with some mud. Similarly, while they eventually settled on her being Buddhist, there was a time when Lisa could switch between a hard-nosed skeptic, Flanders v2.0, or a New Ager at the whim of the writing staff.

** This kind of writing was lampshaded by Homer once:

** Nelson Muntz varies in character over a very broad spectrum. In some episodes, he's an insidious bully to Bart and the other kids at the school and he has no real friends. In other episodes, he is Bart's second best friend. In most episodes, he's just the brat who goes, "Haw haw!"

** Professor Frink can either be a legitimate, well-respected scientist or an lunatic crackpot nobody listens to.

* Depending on who's writing, the titular character of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' goes from being [[The Fool|sweet and stupid]] to being [[Jerkass|aggressive and possibly violently insane]]. He also can go from being very stupid and somewhat childish but with some common sense to being [[Keet|worse than a hyperactive five-year-old on a sugar rush]]. Just as often, his [[Platonic Life Partners|friend]] Sandy goes from being a genius obviously in her right mind, but somewhat crazy, to being such an idiot she must have invented all her fabulous machines by accident. She can also either be a scientist or a jock.

** This is even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in one episode, regarding Patrick's stupidity.

'''Patrick:''' It varies. }}

** Mr. Krabs can, in any given episode, be a true [[Benevolent Boss]], a money-obsessed [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]], and anything in between the two. For example, in the epsiode ''Pickles'', Mr. Krabs orders Spongebob to take some time off to get his act together after a humiliating encounter with a critical customer. Krabs even goes to help Spongebob rehabilitate himself. Yet, in ''Hooky'', when Squidward informs Krabs that Spongebob takes a break to play with the hooks, Krabs first thinks he misheard Squidward, and then explodes in a fit of rage.

* Every character in ''[[Sixteen|6teen]]'' changes depending on the writer. In one episode, they'll make witty pop culture references and act their age, if not older, and then act like eight-years-olds the next episode, complete with five straight minutes of fart jokes.

* Stan's attitude towards his family in ''[[American Dad]]'' varies from "A [[Jerkass]] because he doesn't understand what he's doing wrong, and tries to fix it when he finds out" to "[[Manipulative Bastard]] who's so callous that he'll often putting them through some horrible [[Xanatos Gambit]] for some incredibly trivial/stupid reason".

** His attitude towards his family is dependent on who he's interacting with at the time: Hayley is either daddy's wayward grownup daughter who he tries to keep on the right (his) path, or the displaced trouble child he simply gives up on because they have nothing in common. Steve is both his school-stud son who has hidden geek qualities (in his mind's eye), and simply a shake of the head as too where he went wrong raising that boy. Francine is possibly his air-headed house wife who is slightly clueless as to what goes on in front of her, or his air-headed house wife who's rager past is contained by the suburban shell around her.

** Roger's [[Jerkass]] attitude can shift anywhere between a [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] that ultimately cares about his adoptive family or an [[Faux Affably Evil]] [[Psychopathic Manchild]] that crosses [[Moral Event Horizon]] repeatedly [[Played for Laughs|for laughs]].