Fanlore:Featured Article Archives/2019: Week 24
Character Bashing occurs when fans are hostile to a particular character and express their dislike through fanfiction, icons, and other fan activities. Any character may be bashed, from the hero to the new addition to a recurring character.
Bashing may be done in fanfic by depicting the character as a terrible person, such as making them extremely dogmatic or cruel when dealing with the author's woobie, sometimes to the point of being physically abusive; or having them otherwise fulfill the potentially OOC role of the villain. The bashed character may also be subjected to blackly comedic deathfics, derogatory nicknames and epithets, and other expressions of hate. Discussion of character-bashing frequently straddles the line between wank and unfunnybusiness, as deep emotional attachment to characters is a core element of fanning, and many fans will take offense at what they see as undeserved bashing.