Your soap character "type"

[DRW50]

I was watching a little of a PC episode AddieCate uploaded, and I was reminded of one of my main "types" with soap characters.

I don't mean attraction or desire in a physical sense, I mean a certain type of character/actor you find yourself rooting for from show to show.

One of mine, for a fair amount of years, was the blonde lost little girl type, scheming and tough, yet also very vulnerable and fragile. See: Courtney on PC, Cali Timmons' Paulina on AW, Delia on RH, Olivia on AW, and, on the slightly tougher side of the spectrum, Anne Heche's Vicky (AW), SJB's Carly (GH). On the more comedic side of the spectrum, Y&R's Leanna.

[NothinButAttitude]

Mine has to be the blond vixen from the wrong side of the tracks that wants to do good but can't--the constant screw up (i.e. B&B's Brooke, AW's Vicky, DAYS Sami (pre-07), & ATWT's Carly & Lisa)

IMO, some people may refer to them as "mary sue" type characters but I like some of them too (i.e. GL's Michelle, SB's Vanessa & Meg, & GH's Georgie)

And of course the street urchin that has attitude and pizazz that can't be denied (i.e. Y&R Dru)

Or the misunderstood psychos (i.e. GL's Annie, Y&R/B&B Sheila, & SB's Virginia)

[Angela]

The dark-haired anti-heroines with parental issues who look for affection to fill that gaping hole (no pun intended, I think) in all the wrong places:

Read: Skye, AMC; Kendall, AMC

Bad (strong-willed) girls with a good vulnerable side are probably my favorite types of characters.

I do also like some (a lot of) heroines but its usually not for as long a term as I like the anti-heroine characters with all those issues.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

Downtrodden characters who are always the underdog, and normally have an underlying psychological problem because they are haunted by their past.

[Mr. Vixen]

Vixens, vixens, vixens.

[NothinButAttitude]

Sure these tropes will come up. . .

The classic blond haired heroine that is always in peril and happens to be a part of a supercouple or two. . . (i.e. Laura & Lulu, GH/Reva, Beth, & Harley, GL/ Eden & Kelly, SB/Kayla & Kim, DAYS/Alice, Vicky (JB version), & Paulina (JE version), AW/ Nina & Dixie, AMC/Nikki, Ashley, & Cricket, YR).

The poor little rich kid with MANY issues (i.e Phillip, GL/JR, AMC/Lily, ATWT/Dinah, GL/Lizzie, GL)

The haughty, upper crest b*tch (i.e. GL's Vanessa, Alexandra {sometimes}, & India/Stephanie, SEARCH/Phoebe & Enid, AMC/ATWT's Lucinda/AW's Iris/EON's Geraldine)

Vixen turned heroine (i.e. GL's Nola & Reva/ATWT's Carly, Lisa, Barbara/B&B's Brooke)

The "stable" boy (i.e. ATWT's Holden & Y&R's Cole)

[ReddFoxx]

Super crazy types (like Sheila Carter). Also, the JR/Alexis/Abby type villains.

[jfung79]

I tend to like all soap "types" except for pure evil villains, leading man macho heroes with no emotions, and characters played by actors who ad lib a lot. Other than that, I can root for everyone.

I especially am drawn to young men who are well-intentioned and nice but still trying to find their way in the world (not "bad boy hunks" though - liked the Ben Jorgensen version on Chris of ATWT, hated Paul Korver's), since they remind me of myself, and complicated older women who are strong but with dysfunctional histories like Holly on GL, Donna on AW, and Barbara on ATWT.

I also tend to like the bland "good girls" better than most viewers. I never had a problem with Marissa on AMC.

[All My Shadows]

I love the rough, smoky ladies who were hurt constantly in their younger years (half the time, their own fault) but mellowed out and wised up as they got older. ATWT's Kim, EE's Pat, Y&R's Katherine.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Anti-heroines who constantly screw up, even if they mean to do the right thing, and strong-willed women who can kick ass on a moment's notice.

[Cheap21]

Bad....Ass....Bitch

[ellabelle]

I like the anti-heroines with issues - AMC's Erica, Kendall (played by SMG), Skye, Babe until everyone on the canvas but Erica was talking about how great she was

I like the not-all-evil bad boys like AMC's David Hayward, Adam Chandler and even to some extent Zach Slater (I just don't like him with AM's Kendall)

I like the strong women who can show an emotional side like AMC/GH's Anna Devane

I like the domineering men who can have a gentle side when its warranted like AMC's Dimitri or Adam.

I really dislike the 'good girl' who can do no wrong like AMC's original good girl Tara Martin or AMC's Maria Santos Gray.

I also dislike the hero good guy who gets away with everything and can do no wrong like Ryan Lavery or Jeremy Hunter from AMC. I tolerate Tad Martin of recent years because of MEK's humor and charisma, and I miss the Tad the Cad he used to be.

In other words, I tend to root for the characters most other people hate.

[DaytimeFan]

The classic rich bitch, most of whom we know by one name: Alexis, Katherine, Jill, Kate, Donna, Iris, Dorian, Ivy...

And then the 'sly bastard': David Hayward, Brad Carlton, Dex Dexter

[quartermainefan]

I like the ruthless billionaire head of the family, like Palmer Cortlandt, Adam Chandler, Asa Buchanan, Jock Ewing, Edward Quartermaine

[jam6242]

I've liked a variety of character types but the characters I seem to like the best are the women who are considered bad, troubled, imperfect, etc. but have a vulnerability to them that makes me understand why they behave the way they do even when I don't like the behavior itself, (e.g., Julie, Kimberly, Renee, Anna, & Nicole-Days; Rita, Nola, & India-Guiding Light; Iris & Robin Strasser's Rachel-Another World; Laurie-Y&R; Angelique-Dark Shadows, etc.). Of course, I've enjoyed many of the heroines I've watched too but, again, usually only when they're not perfect, e.g. not the most beautiful, are insecure, have psychological issues, are quirky, etc. (Alice-Another World; Betsy-ATWT; Leslie & Traci-Y&R, etc.). I'm not sure that I have a particular type for the male characters, although I usually do prefer brains and charm over brawn and, once more, some imperfections. In sum, I suppose my "type" are just characters who are human but flawed (like real people). As for the outright villainous characters, I like them best when they are the antagonists and not the protagonists for the story.