Does your age have an affect on which characters you like best?

[theotherwoman]

Hello all!

I was adding comments to the story of Lucius being in the SFChronicle's list of Sexiest Men Who Were Never Alive and there was a comment about the people who said Lucius was attractive likely all being in the same age group. This sentiment was an echo of feelings in the threads to do with 'Why Aren't Ron/Harry More People's Favourites?', saying that it seemed that people of a certain age group (in this case, younger HP fans) seemed to favor Harry, Ron or Hermione, while older fans choose the side characters, like Sirius or Lupin.

So my question came down to what do you think? Does your age affect your choice in favourite characters? And if age does affect who you choose, what would you say are the age groups that tend to select certain characters? Ie, Younger fans favoring the Trio, Older teens favoring Sirius/Lupin/James etc.

(For the record, at 19, I like Snape, Lucius, Lupin and Luna)

[RinkyDink]

For me I don't think age makes any difference. Ron and the Twins are my favorite characters and I am 33. I actually am pretty fond of all the Weasley's. In terms of girls I think they go with the characters they find a connection with or find to be sexy. That I believe has alot to do with so many younger girls also liking Snape. Alan Rickman makes Snape seem sexy in the movies and younger and older alike are attracted to him.

[Nearlyheadless]

I dont think Age matter at all, it is a matter of personality far more then age. I've seen a lot of younger people liking the same characters as older ones. I notice alot of girls liking Sirius(sexyness probably) but also Lupin(cuteness probably) so I think your sex matters more then your age but still not significant seeing I like but Sirius and Lupin as a guy.

[Huffley_love]

I don't think age really matters. I'm 16 and my favorite characters (in order) are: George, Fred, Sirius, Dubmledore, Luna, Ron, Lupin, and Tonks. So I've got a mix of both groups you talked about.

[The_Pensive]

Nope, not at all. Personally, the twins rock for me. I like how they're powerful wizrds and yet humorous (reminiscent of dumbledore). I also like hermione since I have a sort of connection with her. I can see how younger people might like harry more, though, because there takes a certain level of maturity to really get into the "grittier" characters, or the side characters, for that matter. Snape, in particular, since we are given the perspective that he is a horrible person.

[Kaneha]

I'm 15 (just turned it ^^), and my favourite characters are Lupin, Tonks, and Cedric.
I think there is something with age, but more with personality which is somewhat effected by age, and a person's favourite characters.
A lot of girls my age really like Sirius, because they go more for looks and the sort of "bad" personality. I personally have little tolerance for Sirius and find my self the exception to a lot of the sterotypes about favourite characters. Sure Lupin, Cedric and Tonks are popular characters to like, but I find my reasons for liking them are different (Lupin and Cedric, at least, not Tonks so much) I think Lupin's really kind, and am very interested in the werewolf aspect of him, something my friends who like him seem to ignore completely. Tonks I found myself liking because she was a female auror. My liking grew for her in the 6th book as we saw a different side of her character. Cedric I admired for his fairness, first during the match in the 3rd book, then through out the tournament in the 4th book; rather than for how "awesome/powerful" he was or how good looking the actor was.
I think people my age often don't look to deep into their favourite characters, or they try to pick ones without huge flaws. For example, one of my favourite characters is Percy because I feel, in a very weird, twisted way, that I can actually identify with him (oh boy, that's not a good sign!). One of the reasons I like Percy is because of his flaws. It makes the character more interesting.
I think here on COS there's going to be more abnormalities because we're all pretty big HP fans, not just someone who watches the movies (where they'll base things more on looks) or has read the books just once or twice.

[Spritey]

I think sometimes it does. However, it may (again) depend on what sites you visit. Immeritus (Sirius fansite; winner of JKR's fansite award) seems to have less younger people, last I checked, for example, and LJ seems to be have more people over 30. Although for me, there's no pattern that I've noticed. I like Lupin, Luna, Dumbledore, Harry and Neville, and as far as I can see, they're more based on what I like in a person than how old I am.*

*But maybe what I like in a person is based on how old I am... ooh. Paradoxical.

[lotr_faramir]

i think age definately has to do with who you like, i am 15 and have to say lupin is my favorite, sirius is cool too tho. I mean if you are nine years old, you just think oh, its harry potter he is the hero, hes the main character, i love him, or the other stars of the movies and books. but when you are older you can actually consider the character of people and form new ideas from them

edit: no offense to 9 year olds....

[RinkyDink]

Originally Posted by lotr_faramir

edit: no offense to 9 year olds....

It tells the age difference actually to see that so many people don't have Harry as their favorite character. In alot of cases with stories the main character is usually the favorite. It's nice to see so much variety.

[owlpostgirl]

I don't think age is a factor in favoritism. It's more about personality: I'm 21 and my favorite is Lupin, with Ron and Sirius as close seconds; I also like Snape, Harry and Luna.

I think age is more of a factor when it comes to 'who do you have a crush on' or 'Who you relate to'. Much as I love Ron, I don't feel particularly comfortable openly oggling over him - at least in the earlier books. And I think it's easier to relate to characters closer in my age - the older adult characters (DD, Miverva, Moody, etc) I don't think much on because I don't really connect with them.

[Spirit]

I'm sixteen and my favorite character is Albus Dumbledore.

So no, I don't think age matters much. I think it's mostly just personality.

[__Bellatrix__]

I don't think age matters i'm 14 my favorite characters in order Bellatrix, Snape, Lucius, Narcissa, Hermione, dumbledore So no I really do not think it matters at all.

[Leslie33]

Yes my age DOES affect who my Favourite Characters are. I'm 35 and my FAVOURITE Character as you may know is Severus Snape. I relate to him and the fact he was singled out and Bullied makes me identify with him. I also like his surliness and the fact he can obtain control over a classroom by whispering. Alan Rickman makes him really sexy. He adds a sex appeal to him. The way he moves and talks speaks volumes. I also love Fred and George Weasley--they are so funny. I love how they add mischief WITHOUT bringing others down. Okay, so they do tease Ron and Harry--but it's all in fun. It's not done to make them feel small or worthless.

My other favourite Adult Character is Remus Lupin. He's a really cool character, fun to be around, but is honest with people. He is a voice of reason in times of tension. Hagrid is another favourite beause he's so innocent. He's innocent in that he's still a kid himself and also has a wise mind--when Harry is down and stuff.

Okay, I just realized I posted two replies here. My bad, I deleted the first one.

[__Bellatrix__]

Leslie33 I don't think Snape is 35. he is a cool character though but Bellatrix is my favorite.

[shmcminn]

I would say it does. I'm 14 and I'm just starting to not like the cleche characters(Ron, Harry, Hermione) and now I think that Lupin is a very interesting character, along with Severus and Albus.

[__Bellatrix__]

14 is nowhere near Albus' age so age does not matter for you either.

[RinkyDink]

Originally Posted by __Bellatrix__

Leslie33 I don't think Snape is 35. he is a cool character though but Bellatrix is my favorite.

Actually the time frame in the book would make Snape around 35. He went to school with James and Lily which would make him about what their ages would be. They had Harry when they were 23 so add 11 years to that when Harry started at Hogwarts and you have 34. Lexicon gives Snapes birth year in 1958 or 1959. The books are taking place in the early 90's. Hope that helps.

[katyscarlett]

I think it does to a certain extent, I mean I'm 29 and feel positively icky at the thought of being all fangirly over Harry or Ron, coz to me they're just babies who I completely adore. I like Hermione but to me she's like a favourite cousin or something, actually that's really how I think of all the younger characters in the books.

Now Sirius and Remus, they're a completely different matter entirely

[YellowRose]

Originally Posted by RinkyDink

Actually the time frame in the book would make Snape around 35. He went to school with James and Lily which would make him about what their ages would be. They had Harry when they were 23 so add 11 years to that when Harry started at Hogwarts and you have 34. Lexicon gives Snapes birth year in 1958 or 1959. The books are taking place in the early 90's. Hope that helps.

That's just what I was about to say..Snape is roughly 35 at the time of Harry starting at Hogwarts.

[lurvmedespair]

I wouldn't have said it really matters. My two favourite characters are Sirius and Remus; on the other hand I also adore Ron. Dumbledore I also have a soft spot for, and Snape is one of my favourite characters because of his character - he's so intruiging. I like all different characters of all different ages for all different reasons. Age doesn't have to factor in who you like.

Now if you'll all just let me go back to my Time Turner search so I can go back to the Marauder era and therefore be of suitable age to date Remus ...