She was - Ginny represented JKR's "happy ending" with her current husband and life, while Hermione represented her shit-life with her first husband.

Yes, he is the most realistic teenage characterization there...and that's the trouble.

If "Harry Potter" was an average high-school drama, or a soap set with that theme, there's a good chance he'd be very likeable to everyone.

But it isn't.

In a series where almost every character, secondary all the way to background in role, are unique or interesting in someway - being the average guy is like being the knife some fool brings to a gunfight.

And since Ron is supposed to be a secondary protagonist, one of the main characters...

You know.

Pretty much, though Neville would have taken up his own niche in Harry's life - this niche would have brought other things (in scope) to the table, like how Ron and the Weasleys did in canon.

Ron was pretty much the direct link into the Weasley family, as you said.

If Harry hadn't been friends with Ron, there'd have been no real contact with the family in general; no getting to know Ginny as a person (and therefore him just thinking her as another shyer Romilda Vane or other "groupie", sans Spiked Cauldrons); no getting to know the Twins outside of their general relationship to everyone else in Gryffindor, so no Joke Shop; Percy as being just the stuck-up prefect to Harry; Bill wouldn't have met Fleur at the Tournament, if canon events still followed that path, etc.

Ginny would most likely have died in the Chamber; Arthur would have most likely have died at the Ministry, too.

Hermione would still have been ostracised, perhaps being merely a friendly (or annoying) acquaintance to Harry like he is with the other Gryffindor girls, etc.

Or, at worst, become severely maimed or even killed by the troll in first year, if Ron was still being an atypical eleven year old twat.

This sort of situation would also allow for a great divergence branch in AU stories, too.

An older Harry being properly introduced to the Weasleys in a Grimmauld/Fifth Year scenario? It'd set a different relationship down, obviously.

Hermione developing a crush on Harry over the years, the acquaintance in her own House? Quite possible, if there was no real interaction with him beforehand.

Ginny and Harry pulling a reverse James and Lily, where Ginny stops being such a fangirl in her Fifth Year, and Harry takes note of the attractive (according to the books - not Bonnie Wright!) red-head?

Again, possible.

It's pretty much a sand-box, unless the author goes bat-shit insane and goes into radical A/U territory, like Malfoy being a secret hermaphrodite.

 

If Ron were a girl, few would hate him nearly as much. To be a likable male character you either need power or flair - Ron has neither. He's a middling nobody that we only slightly care about because for some reason he stands closer (in narrative proximity, anyway) to the hero than any other male person who stands above him.

For Ron to be well-liked by the community, he'd need some kind of charm, pizzazz, or outstanding skill. He's not very funny or witty. So failing that, he'd need some interesting power or trait - but he doesn't.

But, that would all be fine if he had breasts and a vagina. Then he's just sort of a wallflower. So long as he's not a fat/ugly girl, being female next to the lead, he'd enjoy some amount of positive popularity.

It's the curse of being male - you need to stand out. You can't be average or you'll always be compared to 'that other guy'. Ron is nothing we probably want to read about as a reader. He's not a bad person, but it's hard to care about him in spite of all the good things he does. And whenever he's taking up the limelight, it's only ever in the shadow of the hero, so I think some readers resent that, "Harry should get all the attention, who cares about this guy?"

Do I have it down right? Maybe I'm gendertyping a bit much, there are some truly average female characters that just get ignored by fandoms, but they're almost never the subject of animosity like male characters.

 

IIRC when I was reading the books I was always amused and laughed at the Weasley twins lines the most. I think the number 2 was actually Ron. He had some decent pot-shot lines that were amusing. (At least I remember it that way, not totally sure.) It's like Luna said; he says funny things but he can be kind of mean. Which is actually totally true of most people with with wit and sarcasm, they can be quite mean about it in their quest for humor.

 

No, Pettigrew was rather pathetic. But Ron could have had much more impact as a betrayer. If Ron had turned traitor on the other two he would have joined Benedict Arnold and Judas Iscariot on the list of most hated turncoats.

I'm talking about fanfiction, not canon. I was lamenting that Ron is bashed so badly and so frequently by fanfic authors that having Ron as a turncoat wouldn't have much of an impact. It should be a shocking change, but it isn't.

Ron has the best reasons to turn to the Death Eaters, it would be much more believable than Hermione doing the same. Ron could give his family, his pureblood family, protection from retribution. His jealousy and history of turning against Harry would play into it.

Hermione is the better choice for an antagonist after Voldemort is defeated. Her hubris would make her vulnerable to a fall. But she would be far less believable as a traitor.

 

For some reason I feel like I'd like Ron even less as a girl. 'She' wouldn't fit the group as well and I think his more annoying traits would seem worse if he was female.

 

he looks like macklemore

 

Ron and Hermione have children and are happily married according to the last book.

 

I think Jorm means the Book 1 Hermione?

 

Yeah, but that doesn't really justify all the hate towards Ron. There are people who call Ron a coward for caring about his family more than his friends. :facepalm

 

He's referring to a specific quote, where J.K. said something to the effect of having dated someone like Ron. They were better as friends and she "found her Harry," or some such.

 

If you ever needed proof that you needed to suspend disbelief and be able to waive your hand and write things off as magic to read Harry Potter, look no further than this line.

 

I think a lot of the hate comes from "fanon" in its various sources particularly the films. The movies tended to reduce Rons role a lot and certainly put Harry and Hermione at the center of the action. PoA was the worst for this, most of book!Rons best lines are given to her, and shipped pretty heavily, especially since Emma Watson turned out to be a very beautiful woman.

In the books Harry gets in about as many fights with Hermione as he does with Ron.

 

Beautiful - except for when she had short hair.

 

And it'd be better still if he was actually Harry's spy & trump card all along.
...that is, if we can make it believable that he was able to fool fuckin' Voldemort hisself.

 

My feelings toward whom?

 

I think Ron is just the average guy, but definitely a Gryffindore. He isn't particularly smart, or loyal, or ambitious, but he has his moments where he does something brave. He isn't the bravest character, but he definitely is brave. He's basically a regular, not extraordinary person, whose brave enough to fight anyway.