*snickers* Well, if you want to like him, than you should, of course, be able to.

 

Personally I don't like him...the reasons why have alreay been stated by others. When you take personal bias out of the equation...i see him as a broken man. I men his friend left him before they died...remember sirius thought he was the spy before james and lilly died,this mean james might have thought the same thing. When two out of four of your best friends distance themselves from you for some unknown reason...you'd feel kinda down too. Then one dies with his wife...another get sent to azkaban for being a "spy" and killing the last of your friend. After that you get to teach the kid of your friend,who just happenes to look like you friend, and find out that wormtail is alive as well as the bad guy while sirius is the good guy. from there most evil man, who caused half of your problems, comes back from death. On top off all that you have to worry about turning into wolfy and killing random people. Far too many emotions running into each other to leave him anything but broken. You could say he had time to deal with most of the emotions but to me he doesn't seem like a guy who can deal with his emotions easily. Don't get me wrong, I don't like lupin, but this is how i see him.

 

Boiled down, Remus just isn't a strong character. Studying personalities is a bit of a hobby, and you do sometimes get real life versions of Remus. He isn't evil or particularly mean, he's just weak. He doesn't seem to want attention, which would be one reason to disappear. For another, he wants to aviod displeasing people. So, he makes a kind and well-liked teacher, but not a very good longterm mentor or father figure.
Rowling put him in as a plot device, and then forgot about him.

 

Why does Tonks like him? Maybe she's weak too, although leaving your family like Andromeda did took HUGE balls. Eh, toughness could have skipped a generation.

 

I think that to Tonks, Remus = Cute Puppy, and Tonks = Likes Beasty, if you know what I mean.

 

No, Tonks likes him because she's strong and he's weak. For one thing, relationships don't tend to last that well if both people have as much character and personality as she does - they argue way too much. For another thing, some girls like a pet project, someone to "heal", or "take care of". Apparently Tonks is one. Thirdly, some females (not me) find a character like his somewhat endearing. He will always be sweet and polite to her, and will agree with her 99% of the time. In turn, he will assuredly be eternally grateful and always feel undeserving. I guess it works.

*shrugs*
Best reasons I could come up with.

 

The one whos going to dominate that relationship will be tonks....i don't see lupin being strong enough...I mean the man is far too desprite for human touch..

 

I have a crazy theory
Dumbledore forces him to take a ubreakable vow as a graitude for taking him into Hogwarts and Lupin has to obey him.
He didnt visit Harry because Dumbledore ordered him so and the vow forces him. Also the Patronus was taught at his orders.
I know crazy theory.

 

Actually, that's a pretty good theory for any manipulative!Dumbledore story. Hell, that vow could be the only reason he didn't end up in Azkaban or with a brain damage like the Longbottoms did...

Same thing could be said about Hagrid - the only reason he's not in Azkaban is coz Dumbledore saved his arse and gave him job.

 

:twisted: :idea: I expect Harry to grieve for Lupin just as much as he did for Black. :twisted: :idea:

--bornagainpenguin

 

Who's to say that he wasn't actually a spy? He may not have known of wormtail's betrayls but I doubt that Voldemort was going to tell anyone that they were his backup plan, now was he?

--bornagainpenguin (who expects just this type of 'twist' when JKR writes the next book and isn't it lovely how well it dovetails with the suspicious way Tonks was behaving in Book Six? Or the idea that in Book Six Dumbledore was already dead and it was Peter for ghu only knows why? Withered hand anyone?)

 

i agree with everyone wondering where remus was in the pre-hogwarts years for harry.

however, within the hogwarts years, i put it down to a) jk's writing style and b) harry's perspective that doesn't fit remus into the story.

heck, after POA, how often did we even see Sirius? and yet all the fanfics have Sirius some super-daddy-replacement that harry HAS to grieve for forever and ever.

if jk's writing (or lack of) of sirius and/or remus is extracted from harry's perspective - then at least that aspect of HBP with harry not grieving long or much for sirius is valid.

i mean, even neville and luna were largely written out of HBP's pheromone-fest.

but in general...unlike the subtheme of most fanfics...i just don't see harry growing close to any adult figure. he for sure hasn't in canon so far...and all the precedents we've already talked about surrounding remus (never checking up on him, etc.) probably definitely excludes him from such closeness.

oh, for the original question - i don't like remus.

 

I agree with Syn. I think it all comes down to JK's writing style...she has plot holes, but they generally relate to small issues that get covered up by bigger ones.

For instance, the whole 'why did Remus not check up on Harry' bit, or why Hagrid never recieved a full pardon, apology and reparations for spending time in Azkaban TWICE. Of course, these are minor things that get overwhelmed in the reader's mind by the more important parts of the plot.

In answer to the thread question though...i think he can be a good character, but according to canon, i see him as a failure. Apart from never checking on Harry, he plays a minute role in his life at Hogwarts...didn't bother to meet him until he was in third year. Sure, he taught Harry well, but that's where it stops. The only other times we see him in canon, he is just another character serving a small role.

I'd say that the only big deal with him in canon is the part where he stops Harry from running after Sirius and into the veil, and even at that point, he seems sort of detached, maybe because of shock.

Sometimes, like in Scorpion Sorceror, his part is written well, giving him a minor but appreciable role rather than in the fics where he suddenly becomes Harry's 'godfather' or new father figure out of nowhere.

Going by the manipulative!Dumbledore idea, though, i would give a lot of credit to Schnitzel's theory about the Unbreakable Vow.

 

There are a load of valid points in this and I have to say I agree but that doesn't mean I don't like Lupin, I mean the way JK has written him he is meant to be pitied and loved and she wrote it well enough that that is exactly how I feel. *shrugs*

 

Agreed.
Despite the lack of writing that includes Lupin, it is still easy to see him as a 'good guy' rather than a person who neglected Harry.

Still, i find it odd that he has NO mention before the third book, not even to say that he encountered Harry once at Primary School or anything. Even in the third book, it takes a long time for him to actually inform Harry that he was a good friend of his parents, and it is quite hard to tell just how close he was to them until the scene in the shrieking shack.

 

You see him an insane amount for the fact that he's the most wanted convict in the world.

In GoF multiple times, OOTP several times, not including his death at the end. His relationship with Harry is easily understandable. Lupin's apperance in PoA, then his brief glimpse later, is not.