# Characters you had to warm up to... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040 "2014-08-07T15:26:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/1 "2014-08-07T15:26:09Z")
I’m talking about characters you may have disliked or even hated at first but then grew to like. My submission: Chloe from 24. God! she was so annoying when first introduced, but man I grew to love that woman. I think . [THIS](http://www.24spoilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2005/04/MachineGun-ChloeOBrian-24Season4.jpg) was my turning point. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/2 "2014-08-07T15:33:08Z")
Zoe from Firefly, the over-the-top tough chick thing is so incredibly cliche. I liked Wash right away and that saw me to liking Zoe eventually. River never bothered me though, I guess ‘government experiment’ is just something I accepted from the start like space travel and deranged mutant psychopaths. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/3 "2014-08-07T15:36:35Z")
I think it wasn’t until last season that I started caring at all about what happened to Peggy Olson on Mad Men. Who, I know, is everyone else’s sacred cow so I don’t know exactly what made me sour on her from the start but I always just tolerated her as a plot mechanic and cared very little for her as a character. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/4 "2014-08-07T16:56:01Z")
Chloe is a good call. I hated Christopher on the Sopranos at first, but he soon became one of my favorite characters. I still hated him as a person, but he was such a great character for creating conflict and driving the plot forward. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/5 "2014-08-07T17:08:55Z")
Jane on _Coupling_; I just found the character incredibly annoying, until the episode with the truth snake. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/6 "2014-08-07T17:09:54Z")
Phil on Modern Family. He used to annoy me and now he’s the best of the bunch. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/7 "2014-08-07T17:16:18Z")
Al Swearengen on Deadwood. Started as a Eeeeeviiiil bad guy, then they showed his layers and human side. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/8 "2014-08-07T17:32:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Al Swearengen on Deadwood. Started as a Eeeeeviiiil bad guy, then they showed his layers and human side. That’s a good one. At first, I thought the other saloon owner (I forget his name) was the lesser of two evils. Boy was I ever wrong about that! Plus Swearengen had some of the best quotes of all time. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/9 "2014-08-07T17:40:38Z")
Jaime Lannister. Quite a coup considering what he did in episode 1. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/10 "2014-08-07T17:55:37Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Phil on Modern Family. He used to annoy me and now he’s the best of the bunch. I don’t agree with “best of the bunch” but I don’t dislike him as much as I did. I think what won me over was his book of “Phil-osophy” that he gave Haley when she went off to college. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/11 "2014-08-07T18:42:14Z")
To me, this is what practically defined the show Misfits. First there was Nathan. God I hated him SO much when the show started; by the end his selfishness was hilarious. I couldn’t stand Rudy’s Character when he first started; and by the end, I really like him too. Kelly… same as above. I loved it when she became a ‘Rocket Scientist’ and it turned out to be a pretty much useless power. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/12 "2014-08-07T18:47:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Dung Beetle > Phil on Modern Family. He used to annoy me and now he’s the best of the bunch. Cam used to bug me. Now I’m quite found of him. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/13 "2014-08-07T20:22:11Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Jaime Lannister. Quite a coup considering what he did in episode 1. That’s a good one- thing is, even once you’ve warmed up to him, you know he’s still liable to do something unforgivably evil eventually. Martin doesn’t often LET us root for anyone, or embrace anybody as a hero… and if he does, that hero probably doesn’t have long to live! ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/14 "2014-08-07T20:37:51Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > Kelly… same as above. I loved it when she became a ‘Rocket Scientist’ and it turned out to be a pretty much useless power. “‘Ma fookin’ rocket scientist, ya?” ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/15 "2014-08-07T21:08:45Z")
I never could quite warm up to Skyler’s sister on _Breaking Bad_ but did appreciate the good acting job. Same basic thing with Walt, Jr. On _Mad Men_ most of the cast are just annoying to me, and if it weren’t for Christina I would have quit watching altogether. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/16 "2014-08-08T00:58:33Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > Phil on Modern Family. He used to annoy me and now he’s the best of the bunch. Me toooooo! I only started watching when USA picked it up for syndication, but I got to watch a lot of episodes in a short time period (hello, it’s USA ;)). I couldn’t STAND Phil at first. Oh. My. God. He was irritating and maddening and he annoyed me and pissed me off. But somehow, over time I began to find him less annoying, and then somehow endearing. I love Phil now. At some event where they had the MF cast and creators talk about the show for a panel discussion, Ty Burrell actually described Phil the same way. I don’t have the exact quote, but he said how Phil starts off as well-meaning but goofy and makes things worse when he tries to help, so he’s SO aggravating. But as time goes by, he wears you down like an overexcited puppy and you love him. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/17 "2014-08-08T01:01:11Z")
Shaun Spencer on Psych. I almost stopped watching because the lead was so obnoxious. Either they toned it down or I grew used to it. StG ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/18 "2014-08-08T01:38:11Z")
Morgan in _Chuck_. I just loathed him to start with. As the series moved in, I still loathed him … but in an affectionate way. If that makes sense! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/19 "2014-08-08T02:43:44Z")
Rygel on Farscape began as “the puppet character” and ended up being a really great, fully realized character. It’s obvious they planned that the whole time, but I wasn’t sure what to make of him at first. Londo Mollari on Babylon 5 also started as “the intense selfish one” and oddly enough, the worse he got as a person, the more we warmed up to him and realized the pressure he was under. I wasn’t a huge fan of Donna Noble on Doctor Who, but she really stood her ground and impressed me as a character as she went on. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040/20 "2014-08-08T02:49:02Z")
> [@MacSpon](#): > > Morgan in _Chuck_. I just loathed him to start with. > As the series moved in, I still loathed him … but in an affectionate way. If that makes sense! 🙂 Just the one I was thinking of. He was almost annoying enough for me to drop the show, but I persevered, and grew to kind of like him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-you-had-to-warm-up-to/695040.md?page=2)