Overrated characters: who and why? - Page 2

How is Yudhishtira overrated? I loathe the dude, but without him, there is no MBh. He is the protag, like it or not.

Same for Suyodhana. Without him, there is no MBh.

Even Panchali, Arjuna, and Krishna are not as important as the above two

I don't think Yudhishtir or Duryodhan are overrated as part of Mahabharata, they are the base of the events that could have happened in Mahabharata, neither was a great warrior and none is said to be so. Since Yudhishtir was from the protagonist side his good qualities-- Dharmaparayan, Love and respect for all, supportive attitude etc. has been highlighted more and his wrongs -- human staking, victim card playing etc. has been passed on(still referenced), similarly since Duryodhan was the antagonist his negative qualities (do I need to list them!) have been highlighted and positive qualities, (dedicated friendship, self respect, fighting for right, etc) has been passed on although still referenced that is not overrating but simply the way of history/story telling. You can not tell that a bad person won, or a good person lost since that would give a wrong message aside as it is said history is written by the winners by their perspective.

Coming to other characters

Karna is definitely being over glorified as some tragic hero and great man in bad company, though we all know he was not either. In fact even without this glorification, he remains one of the most important parts of Mahabharata, something which ironically Karna fans disagree too

Shakuni has been made the mastermind behind all the Duryodhan's doings which he certainly wasn't

Uppandavas have been highlighted as the next generation Pandavas, which they certainly weren't. They were mediocre warriors not in the range of Abhimanyu Ghatochkat Vrihsena or even Iravan and Babhruwahan. Also their existence/absence in the story doesn't affect anything much

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.

Even I'd say Shakuni is most overrated. He's literally perceived as the vengeful mastermind bringing the downfall of the Kurus by manipulating and poisoning the Kauravas.

In texts he wasn't anything more than Duryodhana's accomplice.

Shakuni - Almost everyone has stated the reasons. I have heard modern writers say that he is as good a strategist and politician as KRISHNA! Utter rubbish - his contribution in everything is overrated. As per my knowledge, he didn't do much apart from simply being the mastermind in the dice game. A good dice player if we remove the magic bit. Apart from that, I don't get what's so special.

Karna - I don't think I have to elaborate much but he gets way too much love for what he did. I do accept that to a certain extent, he did suffer however that doesn't make him any likeable. He did very little to gain so much love. People consider him Mahabharat's best character, particularly in Bengal but everywhere else too. Thanks to our Rabi Thakur.

Originally posted by: HearMeRoar

How is Yudhishtira overrated? I loathe the dude, but without him, there is no MBh. He is the protag, like it or not.

Same for Suyodhana. Without him, there is no MBh.

Even Panchali, Arjuna, and Krishna are not as important as the above two

Overrated means given more credit than necessary. I mean I can say Harry Potter (the guy) is overrated as he is so loved (JUST AN EG, not an opinion). Doesn't change his importance.

BTW, Yudhishthir and Duryodhan are very important but Krishna is the most important imo. 😛