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[TacticalFox88]

No matter what medium, show, or whatever, it's always the side characters that are beloved and talked about. Sure main characters like say, Harry from HP, Aang from ATLA, Kenshin from RK, Luke from Star Wars to give an example, may have a sizable or even large fan base, but they are still overshadowed by characters that are not even important in the grand scheme of things to the overall plot in terms of popularity.

Why is this? Why do we not 'like' our main heroes as much as we do the supporting cast in general?

It's something that's both baffling, yet fascinating to me.

 

[Weiss]

Less time to get sick of them.

 

[rottingcore]

Seems like you're generalizing a bit.. can't think of a single secondary character i prefer over a primary character.

 

[Forkball]

Main characters are vanilla to appeal to everyone while side characters appeal to a niche.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

Side characters are usually given more prominant personality quirks to compensate for their lack of story agency, while a main character tends to wax and wane because of character development

Hence why Han Solo is cool from the beginning and Luke isn't until ROTJ

 

[Currygan]

Because heroes need to be pristine, thus without personality

 

[Messofanego]

The protagonist is usually the straight man making sense of a crazy world which can get boring, hence the side characters can stick out.

 

[EulaCapra]

Because the main characters are usually the leader-types who have to make the hard and unpopular choices.

 

[GK86]

Because in real life, we are all side characters.

 

[Steamlord]

Because Hermione is the only character in the HP series with a brain.

 

[Zeyphersan]

Protagonist is too popular, people don't like popular things

Real answer: side-characters get less screen-time, so there's more time for A) them to work what time they have, and B) the audience to latch onto something they like about them as that "thing", versus a main character who will PRESUMABLY be almost as complex as a real person, and thus not have a distilled "thing"

 

[Aaron-Lagann]

Because heroes need to be pristine, thus without personality

They don't need to be, they just very commonly are, which is very unfortunate.

 

[Escape Goat]

You really failed to make an argument backed up with examples.

But we see less of supporting characters which means we they're not as complex as main characters. There's no time to explore their failings or weaknesses.

 

[Shanks D Zoro]

Main characters tend to be too dull and other righteous. They are aimed at pleasing everyone and being likeable. Side characters tend to have their own personality and I feel I can relate to them more.

I know this is a generalisation, but it is what I feel a lot of the time.

 

[Zen_Arcade]

They intentionally do it so you'll remember more characters. You're going to be following the protagonist throughout the whole story, there can be lulls in that characters development, and there are usually times when that characters story needs to be padded out to move the story along or the focus needs to be taken off of that character. If there is a character who isn't going to be around as much, you make sure that character steals the scenes that they're in.

 

[Smellycat]

Writers/creators tend to take more risks with side kicks because the lead actors usually have to appeal to everyone, so they end up being lame compared to the side characters. This is especially true in franchises, because the lead actor usually stays the same, but the side kicks can be changed from movie to movie.

 

[……forgetit]

Sometimes the heroes are pristine, while side characters can be me more interesting.

 

[Snuggles]

Sometimes they're more colorful than the main perspective characters. Also being less developed or explained to the viewer/reader can make them more intriguing or mysterious.

 

[Escape Goat]

Main characters tend to be too dull and other righteous. They are aimed at pleasing everyone and being likeable. Side characters tend to have their own personality and I feel I can relate to them more.

I know this is a generalisation, but it is what I feel a lot of the time.

I think you got it backwards. Supporting characters don't get the screen time to develop personalities so they're usually one dimensional and act as a foil or contrast to the main character.

 

[Poodlestrike]

There's 2 main factors: protagonists have a more rigidly defined role, which sometimes limits their character growth, and secondary characters have more of them left up to the imagination.

 

[Deft Beck]

There's 2 main factors: protagonists have a more rigidly defined role, which sometimes limits their character growth, and secondary characters have more of them left up to the imagination.

This is how I approach character development.

 

[danm999]

This is an awfully vague assertion backed up by an extremely small sample size. I might say this is true for some films or television but I can think of plenty of examples where it isn't.

Off the top of my head, film series like Indiana Jones, James Bond, Rocky and Iron Man are ones where the main character is, on the whole, more popular than any side character.

 

[sn00zer]

Most mains are blank slate avatars with cool clothes to play through