History AlternativeCharacterInterpretation / AnimeAndManga

* ''Manga/BlackButler's'' Alois Trancy: [[CuteAndPsycho psychotically mood-swingy]] EnfantTerrible who [[WoundedGazelleGambit deliberately engineers]] his innocent moments just to [[StalkerWithACrush get at Ciel]], or [[IJustWantToHaveFriends love-starved]] [[TheWoobie punching bag]] who simply [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil snapped from his]] DarkAndTroubledPast and is being [[TheManBehindTheMan manipulated]] by his [[DragonInChief butler]]? (To be honest, [[DracoInLeatherPants fangirls would love him]] [[JerkassWoobie either way]]...)

** Does Konata suffer from the same illness as her mom? Is her [[CatSmile mouth]] a deformity?

* ''AlternateCharacterInterpretation/AttackOnTitan''

** In-story, Ed and Roy discuss what kind of person Scar is. Roy thinks that Scar is a traumatised veteran with a well-justified chip on his shoulder doing exactly what Roy would be doing if their places were switched. Ed counters that he thinks Scar is just a bully who masks his pain with violence, underbuilding his standpoint with the fact that Scar was perfectly willing to kill him for being a State Alchemist in spite of not having even been born when the Ishvalan War broke out.

* ''Manga/HappySugarLife'': Does Satou truly love Shio, or does she love her primarily because she was still confused on what love was. Shio herself questions Satou on this, taking offense that Satou told her that she needed her to simply smile for her.

* ''AlternativeCharacterInterpretation/AttackOnTitan''

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has a few examples:
** Is Endeavor a hero that simply let his own envy get the better of him? Or is he just as bad as any of the other villains in the series?
** Bakugo's reaction to finding out about Endeavor's actions. Was he just horrified at what he learned on the surface about Todoroki's home life? Or was he horrified at the possibility of becoming like Endeavor with his own desire for being number 1? Or is it a combination of both?
** Is Shigaraki a sociopathic manchild with dangerous ambitions, or is he someone with a tragic past who was saved and exploited by a villain trying to find a successor? [[TakeAThirdOption Or is he BOTH at this point?]]
** Whether [[spoiler:All For One's]] relationship with Shigaraki is genuine or just manipulative (or even both) is still debated. TheReveal in Chapter 92 [[spoiler:that Shigaraki is in fact the grandson of All Might's mentor]] doesn't help matters. Also, in-universe, All Might still wonders [[spoiler:if All For One gave his younger brother a power-storing Quirk either out of pity or to make him submit to his will.]]
** How does Midoriya feel about Bakugo? Some interpret it as if he doesn't hold a grudge towards his former bully, but doesn't really like him. Others perceive their relationship as Midoriya hating Bakugo wholeheartedly but respecting him enough to control that hatred. The biggest camp, however, seems to believe that Midoriya still sees Bakugo as the friend he used to be during their childhood years, and wants to foster a healthier relationship between the two of them in the present. More cynical viewers/readers believe that Midoriya is suffering from a form of StockholmSyndrome, given how it sometimes seems like he excuses Bakugo's actions.
** How does Midoriya really feel about Uraraka? In the beginning, he seemed to be a bit of a CovertPervert, given his tendency to blow any positive interactions with her out of proportion, as young boys do. As the series goes on, his feelings for her are rarely mentioned explicitly, while the narrative focused much more on her developing feelings for him(which she attempts to [[LoveIsAWeakness put aside for now]] and enjoy their [[JustFriends friendship]]). On the other hand, the two tend to blush around each other, and he still gets flustered around her (like when she called his cellphone and when she went into his dorm room), while their classmates, [[ShipperOnDeck Mina]] especially, seem to have picked up on their [[ShipTease chemistry]] and how well the two support each other.
** Bakugo refusing to let Midoriya rescue him during the Forest Training Camp Arc. Was that Bakugo prioritizing his ego even in such a dire situation and refusing his rival's help or was it him realizing that Midoriya would probably die in the process and trying to stop him from doing it?
** Fuyumi's actions in the Pro Hero Arc: Has she fully forgiven Endeavor for the way he treated his family or is she just not dealing with her own feelings as a desperate attempt to put everyone together in the family she so desires? Or maybe even a combination of both?
** Mitsuki hitting her son in the head: is it just a gag and the only way she can make her hot-headed son listen to her or a sign of abuse and the reason why Bakugo is so angry and prone to violence in the first place? Bakugo claims that using violence to keep people in line was "how (he) was raised," which might lend credence to the idea that Mitsuki's discipline methods rubbed off on him, although it is possible that Mitsuki only used corporeal punishment when Bakugo started getting out of control.
** Did Quirk counseling really drive Toga to insanity, or was her killing birds at a young age a sign of existing sociopathy?
** How much of Shoto's story about his father [[UnreliableExpositor is reliable]]? He says that Endeavor only married his mother for her Quirk and to produce offspring, but some calculations imply that he was as young as 19-21 when his first son was born. Was he already obsessed with overcoming All Might so early on his life and career(as he says, he became the #2 Hero at 20, and realized he couldn't surpass All Might) or did he marry and have his first kid out of love and desire to start a family, only later having this desire twisted? Is Shoto telling a reliable story about his family, or is his grudge against his father coloring that story, especially considering that his oldest brother would be anywhere from 9-12 when Shoto was just born? ''Two Heroes'' reveals that All Might spent his early hero years in America. Assuming they're the same age, this means Endeavor probably didn't actually compete against All Might until at least his first two children were born.
** Was Best Jeanist's mentoring of Bakugo an attempt to correct the flaws in a talented but troubled young hero, or was he simply pushing his values on Bakugo? Or perhaps some combination of the two?
** When you consider that Aizawa [[spoiler:re-enrolled the students he expelled]], what does that say about his claim that he'd have expelled both the students who went to save Bakugo and the students who didn't do anything about the first group if not for [[spoiler:All Might's retirement]]? Did he honestly mean it, or was this another rational deception to get the students to behave themselves and apply themselves to their studies in order to become model heroes?
** It's up to reader interpretation of just how much of [[spoiler:Shirakumo]] is left in [[spoiler:Kurogiri]].
** [[spoiler:After Eri accidentally killed her father, her mother disowned her, called her a cursed child, and gave her up to the yakuza. However, the Season 4 ending shows that Eri's childhood before the incident was a happy and, seemingly, loving one, even including an image of a baby Eri being held tenderly by her mother. Although it doesn't excuse her actions, could Eri's mother disowning her have been a MomentOfWeakness, similar to the incident in Todoroki's childhood when his mother burned him despite being a loving parent before?]]
** Was a young Gentle's ill-fated attempt to help the falling worker more motivated by a desire to be a hero or to get attention? More specifically, there's his decision in the manga to use his Quirk to create a trampoline to reach the man, rather than to cushion his fall. Was that a mistake made in the heat of the moment, not to mention possibly due to inexperience with his Quirk, or was it because Gentle wanted to be seen saving the man? It's worth noting that in the anime, he tries to cushion the man's fall, but the outcome remains the same.

* An in universe example in ''Manga/SkipBeat'': Kyouko is cast as the villain in a remake of a late 80's drama. The character is a [[RichBitch Rich]] BitchInSheepsClothing who has a huge resentment towards the heroine and uses a facial scar she got from an accident where both were involved to emotionally blackmailing her. The original actress interpreted the character as a apparently timid girl who was not ashamed of use the WoundedGazelleGambit near constantly, using PeekABangs to conceal her [[GoodScarsEvilScars Evil Scars]]. Kyouko instead plays the character as a bitter, resentful teen in perpetual PassiveAggressiveKombat mode, openly showing her scar and having a more "in your face" attitude. Kyouko's justification is that, while the original interpretation was valid and all, she couldn't see the daughter of a rich family spotting such a big facial scar: if you had get such damage twenty years ago you should have had to live with it, but nowdays you can get a plastic surgeon to erase or minimize it. Since the scar blackmailing is fundamental to the character and the plot, Kyouko decided to play her as the [[MagnificentBastard kind of person that would have kept such a scar in purpose]].

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Is Madoka just being nice to make up for her self esteem issues? Is Sayaka a naive fool, or a noble victim? Is Mami a selfish loner masquerading as a hero of justice? Does Kyoko have the right idea about the magical girl world? How much of kyubey's claims can be trusted? Then there's Homura, probably the worst culprit, and interpretations of her have only increased since Rebellion...