So hang on. Let me carry out this brief little thought exercise.
There’s a character you love, to the point where you consider yourself a big fan of them. Like all fans, you want to share and acknowledge all the good things they’ve been in. Also like all fans, you want your favorite character to continue receiving good things. Fans are fans for a reason, after all. How can a fan call him or herself a fan if they don’t want the best for their favorite character?
Keeping that in mind. Another fan enters the picture. This other fan loves the character so much, they feel the character isn’t in nearly enough. This other fan thinks your favorite character deserves more and better, that they need more video game appearances, more comic book panel time, a role in a film, more merchandise, and so on. They want the character, your favorite character, to have more representation, ideally on par with other popular characters. And they provide facts of just how little your favorite character has historically received as proof that she deserves more than she’s been getting.
As a fan, what is your natural reaction? Is it to agree and say the character you both love should get more, because she’s great and deserves it? Is it to say the character has more than enough already, implying she doesn’t deserve more? As a fan, when someone wants to push for your favorite character to gain more opportunities than she’s been given in the past, how likely are you to think “Nah, she doesn’t need any more love or respect from anyone, she has enough”?
Personally, I have never seen this happen.
The closest I’ve come to a fan saying they don’t want their favorite character to get more use and exposure than they already have has been when they believe the company has done something to ruin the character. But even then, even in those cases, it’s never a case of not wanting the character to get love and attention. It was always a matter of which depiction they support, and the one they like is the one they want people to love and respect.
Everywhere else, no matter where I’ve gone and looked, fans always, ALWAYS want more. Doesn’t matter if the character is a bit player who showed up once 10 years ago or a corporate giant slapped on every surface. Fans always want more.
salarta 