Rules: There may be spoilers for all seven books and 8 movies Each match will last for exactly 24 hours. Any votes after that point will not count. Discussion is encouraged but not required. Make sure all of your votes are obvious. I should know who you are voting for, basically don't bury your vote in the middle of a paragraph. No alt-voting. Ties will be replayed the next day with the rest of the matches. No vote-saves or rallying for specific characters. Telling people to vote is encouraged but don't tell them how to vote! Don't complain about the seeds, they were the result of a save-my. Because matches can overlap, results will be in this topic. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/61327435
Round One Results: (1)Harry James Potter defeats (16)Penelope Clearwater 19-3 (8)Peeves defeats (9)Blaise Zabini 14-7 (12)Augusta Longbottom defeats (5)Andromeda Tonks 12-10 (4)Bill Weasley defeats (13)Ted Tonks 19-3
Today's Matches: (1)Harry James Potter (8)Peeves
(12)Augusta Longbottom (4)Bill Weasley
-- Warning_Crazy Winner of Board 8 Big Brother! i may be running for senatorship (thanks nio) but i'm no SUPERNICEDOG
Don't think I need to explain the first one. As for the second, the eldest Weasley child Bill is easily among the most prominent "background characters", actually appearing in quite a few scenes, fighting in quite a few battles, and sustaining quite a few injuries from them. Augusta, though a remarkable matriarch for sure, only gets the two scenes (that I recall)- one at the hospital for Magical Maladies and the other just before the Battle of Hogwarts, a boggart cameo, and a few Howler letters. I feel like Mrs. Longbottom may get more mentions than Bill, but by virtue of actual concrete screentime, Bill is the clear winner here. But that's not the sole reason why I'm voting him. He's just a really cool, well-rounded character. While I may not agree with his taste in women, I can definitely respect his courage (demonstrated at the Battle of the Astronomy Tower), his intelligence and ability to lead (Prefect and Head Boy), and his loyalty to his family at all times (take a page, Percy).
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Arcanine: The best pokemon ever. Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.
The battle of the background family members. Gran was kinda mean to Neville, although it was nice that she later realized he kicked ass, but putting that much pressure on a young kid is not cool. Bill is cool (Harry says so himself), and he showed it in a few places - especially in book 7 when he helped out Ron after Ron ran away from Harry and Hermione, and then when he lets Harry & co stay there after escaping from the Malfoy place.
-- I made a living on time trial blowing myself off to cross the finish line at ludicrous speed. -transience
We've even seen this matchup in the books. Harry nearly always wins there, too.
(12)Augusta Longbottom (4)Bill Weasley
Well...I kind-of take issue with Bill. We are told he is "cool" but what actually makes him cool, or stand out at all? To me he's got like...one scene where he stands out as more than "token Weasly family extra"--which is where he tells Harry about Goblins behaving weird, and how it would be more dangerous to go back on a promise than to rob Gringotts.
All other Bill scenes he seems kind-of incidental. Like...even the scene where he's scarred up...really it's all just setup so that Fleur and Molly Weasly can have a confrontation--Bill doesn't actually do anything in that scene. And even Fleur/Molly fights there are partially just setup for the big Tonks and Lupin reveal.
Augusta, on the other hand, we are pretty well informed of what she thinks. Not only that, but she actually has character development. She goes from thinking Neville is a disgrace, not up to the standards of his parents, and gets angry at him when she finds out his friends don't know about his parents being in Saint Mungos (because while she feels he has no particular value, he should at least boast about the family members who do have value)....to being proud rather than angry at him for breaking his father's wand at the department of mysteries because he was "finally starting to live up to his parent's memories" to being openly boastful of her grandson by the battle of hogwarts.
And there's just a collection of good quotes around this woman.
"That Harry Potter's got more backbone than the whole Ministry of Magic put together!"
"It's high time your grandmother learned to be proud of the grandson she's got, rather than the one she thinks she ought to have."
"Well, your grandmother is used to losing family members to our cause.... Your death will not come as a great shock...."
"Thing was they bit off a bit more than they can chew with Gran. Little old witch living alone, they probably thought they didn't need to send anyone particularly powerful. Anyway, Dawlish is still in St. Mungo's and Gran's on the run."
"Take Charms and I shall drop Augusta a line reminding her that just because she failed her Charms O.W.L., the subject is not necessarily worthless."
Not to mention...a big part of the appeal of Bill to me is his appearance. Long hair that he refuses to cut, and a fang earring. He's got fashion sense. But Augusta has MORE fashion sense. Vulture hat. Vulture freaking hat. Mmmm, I should dress up as her for halloween sometime....
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision
In fact, come to think of it, I'm kind-of surprised to see Genesis buying into the "Bill is cool" thing, when Gen hates Ginny so much.
I mean, Ginny (we are informed) is the most popular girl in her year, very funny, and quite attractive. And it's not like we're shown anything that necessarily contradicts this, but it's not like I can quote any Ginny jokes off the top of my head, unless insulting Ron counts.
I mean, they could have shown Bill being cool on-screen; it's not like JKR doesn't know how to make a character incredibly badass. See, for instance:
'You seem to laboring under the delusion that I am going to 'come quietly'. I have no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course - but what a waste of time.'
But the reality is that Bill (like Ginny) isn't given this kind of attention. JKR decided that it wasn't really important to show us his personality traits, she can just tell us that he's "cool", put him in the background of a couple of scenes, and not do anything to explicitly contradict the described personality.
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Cats land on their feet. Toast lands peanut butter side down. A cat with toast strapped to its back will hover above the ground in a state of quantum indecision
I mean, they could have shown Bill being cool on-screen; it's not like JKR doesn't know how to make a character incredibly badass. See, for instance:
Bill's a minor character plain and simple. But I thought he earned the "cool" description when he stood by Ron in book 7. Bill knew Ron screwed up, Ron knew he screwed up, but Bill (and Fleur) took him in when he had nowhere else to go. That's what a brother should do. On the other hand Augusta was just mean to her grandson when he was a young kid... becoming proud of him later (when he actually was a badass) doesn't make up for that.
-- I made a living on time trial blowing myself off to cross the finish line at ludicrous speed. -transience
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When you've got a pretty-boy monkey on your back constantly calling you a puppet, you hardly want to seem like you're happy to be used. - DSakaCharanJ
metroid composite posted... In fact, come to think of it, I'm kind-of surprised to see Genesis buying into the "Bill is cool" thing, when Gen hates Ginny so much.
Maybe because she's from the female species?
I am a guy and I really like Ginny and absolutely don't care about Bill :-P
(4)Bill Weasley I like Augusta, but she made Neville's life pretty hard. She's pretty cool for an old lady -- but Bill is a Weasley. And he shows up for Harry at the tri-wizard tournament. I kind of like how Harry put it with BIll -- he's like Charlie and Percy mixed together almost. He's a cursebreaker, which is pretty cool. And he lets Harry, Ron, and Hermione stay at Shell Cottage during the second wizarding war. He seems to kind of know what's going on. Bill is also one of the 7 protectors -- and one of the only ones not to be an Auror. He was also a member of the Order of the phoenix, and fought against Greyback.
metroid composite posted... In fact, come to think of it, I'm kind-of surprised to see Genesis buying into the "Bill is cool" thing, when Gen hates Ginny so much.
I mean, Ginny...
To imply Bill is the male equivalent of Ginny is a bit harsh- especially to someone who regards first impressions as highly as I do. I've said it before and I'll say it again next Ginny match- the girl makes a terrible first impression. In case anyone hasn't caught on, I despise weak female characters- damsels in distress. Ginny does of course become competent later on, but her first real appearance is a pretty damning one, and truth be told she never quite recovered for me (it's so difficult to tell right). We might be informed later that Ginny becomes popular, attractive, and charmingly funny, but she is precisely none of these things in Chamber of Secrets. (Well maybe attractive, but if you're finding eleven year old girls attractive you should probably seek help).
First impression of Bill is Harry literally calling him cool and then describing his fashion sense- which is equally cool. Just prior to this, all we know about Bill is that he's the eldest Weasley, and was Head Boy and Prefect at Hogwarts. From this minor description you could compare him to Percy, which Harry did only to be shocked when Bill turned out to essentially be the anti-Percy. He's laid-back, cool-looking, and later proves to be very loyal to his family, whereas Perce is fussy, professional-looking, and later proves to be a fink. It's a funny contrast, given they have almost the exact same background up to this point, and let's face it: not being Older Percy earns Bill some cool points right there.
I mean, they could have shown Bill being cool on-screen; it's not like JKR doesn't know how to make a character incredibly badass...
To be fair though that is a line from Dumbledore, a character always in the spotlight of every Harry Potter book (OotP to a lesser extent than the others only because he was actively trying to distance himself from Harry). Rowling isn't the type to waste that sort of awesome moment on a background character unless she planned to kill him off like she did with so many of my favorite characters... >_>
He does have a couple of cool lines though. Here's one:
"Mum, no one at the bank gives a damn about how I dress as long as I bring home plenty of treasure." - said while wearing stylish dragonhide boots, long hair tied back in a ponytail, and one earring with "a horrible great fang on it". He obviously doesn't care about his appearance from a professional regard unlike his nagging mother, which makes him seem pretty cool.
But the reality is that Bill (like Ginny) isn't given this kind of attention. JKR decided that it wasn't really important to show us his personality traits...
For a character like Bill, you mostly have to let his actions speak for themselves. Let's examine some highlights of his:
He takes time off of his work to watch the World Quidditch Cup with his family. Sensing the civil unrest caused by the Death Eaters in the aftermath, he doesn't immediately return to his job in Egypt much unlike Charlie or Percy. He's the only Weasley child who comes to the Tri-Wizard Tournament to support Harry of his own volition, again taking time off of work to do so- Percy's there because of his job as is Charlie. And he allows Ron to stay with him and his new wife after he temporarily leaves his Horcrux-hunting companions. In true "cool older bro" fashion, he's kind enough to not tell his whereabouts to the other Weasleys, knowing they would probably be ashamed of his little brother for forsaking his friends. Not to mention what Cloud and Squall said in addition. He's just a pretty cool guy. Eh sticks by his friends and family and doesnt afraid of anything even werewolves.
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Arcanine: The best pokemon ever. Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.
Regarding Augusta, well... I'm not fond of her development. She reminds me of one of those overbearing pageant mothers trying to sculpt her daughter into something the girl never wanted to really be. She goes from chastising poor Neville at every turn for essentially not being Frank- something the boy couldn't help but be, to openly bragging about her grandson when he started exhibiting signs of being a great wizard like his parents which is... exactly what she wanted of him from the beginning. Meh. Like I said, I like the character, but her development? Not so much.
Also, I don't really regard quotes about a character as highly as quotes from said character, unless quotes about the character are the only thing I have to go on (a long-deceased character for example).
"It's high time your grandmother learned to be proud of the grandson she's got, rather than the one she thinks she ought to have."
"Take Charms and I shall drop Augusta a line reminding her that just because she failed her Charms O.W.L., the subject is not necessarily worthless."
See like these I'd attribute more to Minerva's awesomeness than Augusta's. If anything, quotes said about a character tend to be all the more damning if the character doesn't quite live up to her description. There's absolutely no denying that Augusta positively owns her second appearance (in which she marches right up to Harry, asks where her grandson is, and goes to assist him after she learns what she already knew: that he was fighting), but her first appearance isn't quite as strong in my opinion. In fact the only things I remember about her first appearance is her speaking highly of her son, speaking lowly of her grandson, and commanding Neville to throw away that gun wrapper his mother gave him. That last bit kind of made me resent her until her next appearance.
She's definitely not a bad character though. Just an austere one. I can see how she might come across as abrasive to some. Anyway, I'd understand if she won, but I prefer Bill.
metroid composite posted... Not to mention...a big part of the appeal of Bill to me is his appearance. Long hair that he refuses to cut, and a fang earring. He's got fashion sense. But Augusta has MORE fashion sense. Vulture hat. Vulture freaking hat. Mmmm, I should dress up as her for halloween sometime....
Oh come now. We can't say Augusta has the better fashion sense here. I mean Snape can't even pull her look off, and we all know Serverus oozes style from his every greasy pore.
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Arcanine: The best pokemon ever. Dewott: The cutest pokemon ever.