(I don't know if it was discussed before.)

We all hate Ginny and Hermione.
Most of us dislike Dumbledore (at last his manipulative!Dumbledore), the crying Cho, a jealous Ron.
We don't like a lot of canon mistakes in charakters, but...

WHY DON'T WE HATE HARRY?

Because he has his name in the titel?
Because we could write him better and let him grow up and be a man?

 

Because he is the main character of a series that majority of us here have a mild obsession with.

 

Because after the 5th book he could realisticly go in almost any direction.

Dark, light, Indy, Commander of a DA army anything was possible with him.

Other characters have a far more defined role.

 

Oh, well, I hate Harry. Or rather I hate some Harrys, i.e. Harry, who was crying after hitting Draco with Sectumsempra.

I hate quite a few of "Harry <3 Ginny 4ewa" Harrys. You know, the kind who's addressing Ginny as 'Mrs. Potter' and who doesn't slap her when she is commanding him. I also hate Harry who turns suicidal and starts to / wrists. Or these Harrys suddenly going goffik or speaking in numbers.

In fact I hate Harry way more often than I like him. I assume most people here second that.

Further I wouldn't say I hate Ginny per se. For instance I like Ginny's scene in Tinn's "Reach the Open Space."

 

Well, Dark Minion is quite right about a lot of the fanfiction versions of Harry. All those he listed are hateable and are in fact the reason why DLP exists, it seems to me.

I do not hate Harry in cannon basically because he is the protagonist--I'm not supposed to hate him. He is the one who must fight and survive and be nobel but flawed and love and be loved; his trials and tribulations, his success or failure... these things are what this series center around.

Without him, there ain't no book.

 

Harry's not just another cog in the machine. It's not JKR's Wizarding World and the Half-Blood Prince. It's kind of a given that fans of Harry Potter fanfiction--on a Harry Potter fanfiction forum--are going to like the clear and distinct protagonist to the story. Now there are definitely portrayals of Harry we can hate and despise. Even those from JKR.

And there are some people who "hate" Harry Potter. But most of those are Snape-loving, Draco-loving, slash-loving, ignorant, emo, stuck-up, friendless abortions gone wrong. And they're entitled to be confused. I mean have an opinion.

The point is, this is Harry Potter fandom. The rules are different for Harry Potter than they are for everyone else.

 

Like nonjon pointed out, there are many instances where I've hated JKR's Harry. She gave glimpses of a character that could have been amazing, both magically and beyond. She kept him realistic with his flaws, but for the most part she made him sharp, smart, and courageous.

Then she kind of fucked it all up.

That's about the point I started hating Canon!Harry.

It's difficult to 'hate' Harry as a character because he's not just the protagonist, but because whenever we write Harry we're so easily able to inject a part of ourselves into his character.

If there's one thing JKR succeeded in it was designing a character that many people can relate to on so many levels. (Whether it be his personality, which comprises courage and strength or his slight bit of ignorance and naivety construed by his age. Or the way his life leads on a lot of certain issues, such as growing up, taking responsibility, and the awkwardness that comes with discovering the opposite has a HappyStick or LoveChannel) That's why we see so many different types of Harry stories. Dark!Harry, Indie!Harry, Romantic!Harry, etc. Even the Pussy!Harry or DumbledoresMan!Harry. He's as versatile character as they come and the fact that you have so many of these types of stories is a testament to that.

When approached with 'HP realism' and a bit of effort, Harry can become anything in a story and it would actually fit. If someone took him and turned him into a Dark Lord, then we could read that easily so long as it's good. If someone turned him into Dumbledore's right hand man and the two worked together against Voldemort, then we'd read that if it was good.

What we hate is not Harry himself, but his flaws. And that's why you see so many Indie!Harry stories. But that's a double-edged sword. Because of his flaws, it renders him to most versatile character to use in a story.

It's more a Love-Hate relationship than just a Hate one.

 

I really don't see how we can hate Harry, his actions yes but himself, no. After all it is Harry Potter and the.... That implies that there will be a dude named Harry that will be the main character of the story. If the author did their job right, they will be able to make you believe in that person, no matter the stupid actions they may take.

And also to get to the main point of my post

You can have a shit baby abortion

 

Its our job as fanfic authors to take the Harry we all know and love (i.e. the one from OoTP) and make him even better. HPB was a menace on the Harry Potter community and I think it should be ostracized, but that's just my opinion. Harry himself, as in the character, has so much potential that their is no possible way to truly hate him. Even HPB, for all its horrors, has atleast a bit of potential for Potterverse authors.

 

Harry Potter and the....

How can we hate the guy the series revolve on? We wouldn't been having this discussion if Harry Potter wasn't a good character that drew us to want more; fanfiction.

 

Why should we hate Harry? Not that there is nothing worth disliking about him, but you're making it sound as if hating Harry is a must. For the record, I don't hate Hermione or Ginny, either, although I dislike the latter because she is a flat character.

 

Oh God Damn it, now I've got "Don't Worry, Hate Harry" going through my head. Bah!

Side Note: Why hate Harry when you can hate the incompetant moron beside him?

Aekiel