Fandom culture is considered to be new, but really it’s been around for a long time, from book clubs to film fanatics but now fandom culture is louder because we can all come together online. Sometimes language and concepts from fandoms make their way into the mainstream: the Comfort Character is one of these things.

What is a ‘Comfort Character’?

Comfort characters are chosen for many different reasons. Whether they represent the best of humans or they feel fallible and realistic reassuring people about their own humanity. The Comfort Character, is a fictional character that helps someone feel grounded The real world can fall short of our expectations, fictional worlds and people especially ones we’re already familiar with, can meet that expectation and reassure us. So it might be a comfort show, film or a specific character, that restores our faith in humanity, or restores some faith in ourselves that we can be better. A connection with a fictional character doesn’t always have to have such depth, or even conscious depth. But that character or their story is something that reassures and comforts the viewer.

How is that different to a favourite character?

Favourite characters are more common. It might be your favourite character in that specific show, it might be your favourite in the franchise, but their character and story might not top everything you’ve ever seen. Or you might like them because they’re interesting or challenging to watch. A comfort character typically is something far more familiar and a character that supports the viewer’s own experiences or personal struggles. Favourite characters can lean towards characteristics that you admire, comfort characters are who you might identify with or would feel better to be around.

A common comfort character is Uncle Iroh from Nickelodeon show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. He has a wisdom and gentle nature after a much darker past, cares for his nephew who has been cast out and loves him even when he’s lashing out. Iroh also takes care of other characters that he comes across who aren’t aligned with his family or the fire nation. The comfort in this is that you find that reassuring, wish you had their wisdom and care in real life or see a part of yourself in them or their story. It’s a ‘safety’ character. Ultimately, we all want to be loved unconditionally and live optimistically – that’s what the comfort characters help us do.

Psychology of a Comfort Character

Storytelling has always been powerful, it’s a way that art makes change to the world around us. Media can be powerful, inspirational and more relatable and reliable than what we may experience everyday even if it is filled with fantasy. You can choose how deep or shallow your relationship is with these characters.

We live in a fast paced world, with a lot of uncertainty, comfort characters offer familiarity and stability and that’s why it’s common for people to re-watch the same shows or reread the same books – already knowing the characters and the ending, reduces a lot of anxiety for people. Empathy connects us to each other and to stories, connecting with a fictional character’s story is easier than real life. Fiction gives you a well-rounded version of the character’s experience with a wealth of information to make your judgement on. Real people are unreliable narrators, omitting parts of a story that might change your response. Behind a fan with comfort characters is usually a deeply empathetic person with an analytical mind.

In one article, Jared DeLaTorre describes how the viewer may see “noticeable traces of a character in themselves, they start to realize how much they want to change for the better just their their ‘comfort character’ would grow.”. This reminded me of watching Gilmore Girls (2000) as a teenager and wanting the close mother-daughter relationship that Lorelai and Rory had. I didn’t realize while watching those early seasons of Gilmore Girls, I was becoming closer with my mum and less of a reactive teenager. Characters can encourage us and show us a way to change for the better.

Are Comfort Characters And Fan Culture New?

The classification is. Finding comfort in fiction and feeling attached to a character is not new. It’s how humans have always existed. Storytelling is as old as we are. With access to so many narratives, stories and characters now, people’s comfort media and fan culture is more prevalent than ever.

In the 18th Century there was fan fiction and fan art about the notable works at the time. Something about the literature of this time inspired people to write their own reinterpretations. What this era of literature created was characters who could be real – not fantastical heroes of the romantic era – but ordinary people. Including the “reformed rake” becoming the best husband, and the untold story of the sailor’s wife abandoned at home. Deeply investing in fictional characters and their stories is nothing new we just see more of it with online communities.

Para-social relationships

You might’ve seen the phrase ‘para-social relationships’ chucked about without any context. Para-social relationships are a “one-sided relationship between media consumers and some aspect of the media, whether a celebrity or a character” and the viewer continues and relies on this person/character for connection and confidence when they’ve never really interacted. This can be where the lines get blurred between a dedicated fan and the crazy fan stereotype. With film and television having characters represented by real people (actors), we can forget that there’s a real person behind it. Being emotionally reliant on a character and thus the celebrity portraying them can bring out the worst parts of fan culture. Including fans making threats, forcing people to come out, stalking and inappropriate sexualisation especially around child actors. Reminder that this is a small minority without fandoms.

Most recently, I saw this in regards to Walker Scobell who plays the titular character Percy Jackson in Disney+’s TV adaptation of the beloved book series. Scobell took to Instagram Stories to tell fans to stop sending threats to teenage girls his age, who live in the same general area as him, to deter them from going to prom with him. Many fans have a para-social relationship with the fictional character Percy Jackson. I feel like I grew up with him through my teenage years and into the Heroes of Olympus series as I aged too – but the TV actor is not and does not have the same relationships as the character. This is when the one-sided relationship can go too far; what is real and what is fictional becomes blurred for some viewers. Behavior like this has been defended claiming them as a comfort character and the fan wanting to protect them. But as established that not what a comfort character is and not how the psychology of them works.

Conclusion

In the majority, fans want to support the shows, films, actors and books that they love. For some the lines of a one-sided relationship become fuzzy but that is not what having a comfort character is. Comfort characters are a safe space of reliability and stability. Media academic phrases like ‘Comfort Characters’ can get misused online, a minority of fans use terminology as a way of defending bad behavior and give fan culture it’s negative connotations. The phenomenon of comfort characters come from how stories have an impact on their audiences: in this case, it’s an escape from reality and unpredictability.

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