bri-marie ^You make it sound as if James just up and decided to save Severus from this random thing that was about to happen. The prank that Sirius [i]and[/i] James tried to play would have gotten Severus killed has James not changed his mind last minute. If James was such a "good" guy, that prank never would have happened. And there really isn't any use using "what-if's." What if James and co hadn't bullied Severus to begin with? Would Severus have become a Death Eater? No one knows - just like no one knows if Severus would have stayed with the Death Eaters if Lily hadn't been threatened.

Priscilita22 ^ I understand what you are saying, and I don't think we are trying to say that James never did anything wrong, of course he did. But so did Snape. I think Poseidon was annoyed by the fact that the comment above him implies that James has done nothing right, or no good things ever in his life... And I think that's just ridiculous. I think that comments could only really be applied to Voldemort... James, just as Poseidon said, and as I have tried to point out in my article, did many things throughout his life that were good, I mean do people really think that if he hadn't changed Lily would have fallen in love with him? Would have chosen him to start a family with? Of course not. James is a hero as well because he joined the Order of the Phoenix in order to fight for what was right, to defend "good", he DIED and GAVE HIS LIFE for that reason, he did MANY admirable things, and I think just focusing on the mistakes he made when he was a kid is REALLY unfair, and if we just focused on all the character's mistakes and just say that they did "nothing good" then we would hate everyone, because there is not a single character that hasn't made mistakes in the books (or in real life for that matter) and that is the beauty of it... Realizing that Snape and James both made mistakes, but they both made up for their mistakes, they both changed and they both became heroes in the wizarding world because they BOTH helped in bringing Voldemort down. And also I think it's silly to imply that Severus became who he became because James and his friends' bullied him. I mean every experience a person goes through adds up to the person they become, of course, but one experience doesn't define who you are. Neville was bullied by Snape, by Malfoy, by Crabbe AND by Goyle A LOT throughout the books, but nobody hates them, and Neville never showed any sign of joining Voldemort like Snape did. So the only thing I'm trying to point out is that I think the hate for James is really unfair, because he was, just like a Snape, a person who made mistakes but made up for his mistakes, changed and eventually became a hero... Everyone is entitled to their opinions, I mean if someone doesn't like James it's fine, not everyone is going to like him, but what I think is unfair is commenting about him as if he was this evil guy, the reason for all that went wrong in Snape's life, an evil person who never "did anything good", which is what some people are saying and could not be further away from reality because every single member of the Order considers James a hero, so why should we judge him?

bri-marie I'm not saying James never did anything right. My comment was about Posiedon's comment implying that Jame's actions were purely out of the goodness of his heart. Poseidon had said "if it hadn't been for Lily, Severus wouldn't have joined the Order." My point was exactly what you said - using 'what-if's' in an argument is silly. No one knows how the characters (be they James, Harry, Severus, Dumbledore) would have turned out had these life changing events not happened or happened differently. It's just as silly to imply that Severus wouldn't have become a good guy if Lily hadn't died as it is to imply that Severus wouldn't have become a Death Eater at all if he'd been allowed to consider Hogwarts his sanctuary. Not trying to start a fight, but there [i]are[/i] people who hate Malfoy and/or Crabbe and/ore Goyle [i]because[/i] of the way they treated the people around them. I'd also like to point out that I've yet to come across a person who blames everything that happened to Sev solely on James. Just saying. The whole thing about this is that it's an opinion. People will have them. They'll have different ones, they'll have ones that change, and ones that conflict with other opinions they have. And that's perfectly acceptable.

Priscilita22 People can dislike James if they want to, anyone can have their opinion and that's fine. But the majority of people, at least here on Fanpop, bash on James for the bullying while if you go to most picks and comments there is always a HUGE majority loving Snape even though we was also a bully, and LOVING Malfoy who was ALSO a bully. I'm not saying some people don't like them... Of course some people don't. It's just what I see and what I read here, that while [i]*the majority*[/i] is saying they "lost all respect for James", and that he was rude, and so on, every pick and every comment clearly shows how much [i]*most*[/i] people LOVE Snape and NEVER judge him for what he did wrong, same with Malfoy. There is a [u]HUGE[/u] amount of people who love Malfoy, and I mean HUGE (even JK said so) and also never judge him for his actions. So all I'm trying to point out is for us to be fair. We are obviously all entitled to our own opinions, of course, but I can't help but notice that a lot of comments in regards to this James Potter vs. Severus Snape debate are really hypocritical and contradict themselves, which is what I wrote about... That's it. =D

Poseidon3 Exactly, thank you for writing this.

nene72 Both characters did heroic acts and both made many mistakes - there is no denying that. What makes most people like Snape while at the same time lose respect for James is the comparison between their respective backgroungs and the reasons for their actions. The way Rowling wrote the books James comes across as the spoilt kid who for the fun of it kicks the stray dog and then uses the excuse that it bit him back to further torment it. It probably doesn't help that there is a lot less written about James than Snape and that there seems to be more negative than positive stuff written about James as well. There is also no hypocrisy in looking at the reason behind 2 people's identical actions and then deciding that one person is worse than the other. Example a battered wife who one day wakes up and kills her husband will get more sympathy than a wife who wakes up one day and kills her husband because she thinks it would be fun.

MCRTS I agree with your article. I have a question of my own, though. If James hadn't bullied Snape as a child, would Snape still have bullied his students? I think he would have. Because he was unloved and unhappy in his own childhood home. He cried in the corner when his mother was being beaten up by his abusive father. I think Snape never got past that, was never really healed from the abuse. If he had gotten help, maybe he wouldn't have been such a bitter adult. The bullying and the loss of Lily to James just escalated his problems. Why I say it's the abuse that caused it? Because we all know why Snape picks on Harry: he's James and Lily's son. However, he also picked on Neville, even more so than Harry. I think he's projecting, Snape did to Neville what Snape Sr. did to him all those years ago. Neville (in the earlier books), timid, talentless and bumbling, so he's an easy target for all Snape's hurt.

bri-marie @Pricilita: But isn't there more to bullying than just the bullying part? You're comment about Draco reminds me of LifesGood's article about how you can't hate James but love Draco. I've said this here, but I'm going to reiterate it: motivations are key (in Draco's case, so is back ground). Draco grew up watching his father get his way through bullying with no negative consequences. He grew up listening to his father preach about pure-blood supremacy and what a disgrace blood-traitors (like the Weasley's) are. He, literally, parrots his fathers words multiple times. Severus grew up around abuse, around a man who constantly put him down (most likely through physically violent means). Where was this for James? If you're going to say it's hypocritical, you might want to make sure the characters have more in common than "They were bullies." It'd be hypocritical to say "I don't like Draco because he's a bully, but I like Severus" than it would be to say "I don't like James because he's a bully, but I like Severus." There's simply too many differentiating factors.

AlmostGenius First off, awesome article, completely agree 100%. Secondly, just because Severus comes from a broken home and James doesn't it does NOT give us the right to think that Severus had more of a right to bully than James. Think about it this way: James is a only child and a rich kid that was more than likely taught to think that he could get anything he wants. James probably sees nothing wrong with bullying because he was raised to be spoiled. The important thing is James grew up despite his background and he became the hero that we know who saved Harry and tried to save Lily by holding off Voldemort. Lily had to see he changed too or she never would have gone out with him or married him. Remus and Sirius tell us he changes and deflates his head straight-out. Can't we just trust them? (Be nice with comments on this comment, I'm just 13.)

Jokes_on-You This is to AlmostGenius: I'm sorry, but we can't just trust Remus and Sirius about James "deflating" his head seeing as the fact the they are both bias against Severus even though Remus tries not to be. Even as an adult Severus and Sirius can't get over their hate for each other, so anything Sirius says about Harry's dad concerning Severus is extremely bias and said to put James in a better light. Now, on to my own opinions. I think that one of the main reasons I hate James so much, is because he is horrible. He bullies students for fun and to "get the girls". When it comes to Severus, he hazes and tortures the boy for being a Slytherin, having an interest in the Dark Arts, and because he and Lily were good friends and James was jealous. People can argue that James was just a kid when he was bullying Severus and so that makes things less bad, but it doesn't. Severus never even had the chance to protect himself from James and Sirius. They would disarm him before he even had a chance to get out his wand before they would humiliate and bully him. Sure, Severus becomes a bully to students as he's the Potions Master, but what people don't seem to get is that is very much a part of his cover as a spy as anything else. Yeah, he probably went overboard with his methods. Was he ONLY trying to do his job? No, he most likely genuinely hated some of his students (Ron, Harry, Hermione, etc.) But as an ex-Death Eater, with the chance of the Dark Lord coming back, as well as being a spy and surrounded by loyal Death Eaters (outside of Hogwarts), he couldn't very well be all nice and lovey dovey to everyone and then still be able to be a spy when the Dark Lord did come back. And another thing, despite all of the talk of "house unity" pretty much everyone (professors included) were bias against Slytherin. They needed someone like Severus who could try to even out the score a little. I know that people most likely don't agree with a lot of what I said, but that's what I think. And if I remember correctly, there is an exact quote that shows exactly how shallow and unjustified James' hate to Severus is: "'Leave him alone,' Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. 'What's he ever done to you?' 'Well,' said James, appearing to deliberate the point, 'it's more the fact that he EXISTS, if you know what I mean...'" Yeah, that just screams someone who's side you'd want to be on in this debate. *sarcasm*

Lilyluci07 Severus Snape is a great and true hero i love him and that will never change and I dont care if he is evil or good I Idolize Severus

pumpkinqueen I agree with Jokes_on-You.

MAraUDerEtte Uhm, I don't agree with Jokes_on-you. Want to know why? 1: Lily wouldnt have married a bully- she stopped being friends with Snape for calling her a MUDBLOOD, doubt she would marry a bully. I trust Lily. 2: Remus Lupin is a good man, and shouldnt be blamed. He wanted friends, he was made fun of for what he was. I bet you wouldnt stand up to James either, and Sirius said Remus was the only one who could make him and James feel guilt. DONT BLAME HIM. 3: for that I trust his better judgement. Remus is right, clearly, James deflated his head. 4: try me. I recall Snape saying, "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy." Want to know the significance? IT STARTED THE WHOLE RIVALRY! You dare use quotes against me? Well, this is the whole quote that got James and Sirius upset. SNAPE STARTED THE WHOLE THING. 5: If James was such a ass, would the OOTP and Dumbledore and everyone love him? I mean, really! I don't think Dumbledore would tell Harry he was great if James was an idiot. 6: FINALLY, Everyone makes mistakes. HE WAS A TEENAGER! 15!!! I believe we've ALL made mistakes, and thats what makes us human. So, I made this as quick as possible. Snape and James are both awesome, I just am saying, James joined the order and gave his life, while Snape joined Voldemort and killed Dumbledore to (did)help... I loved the fact James was a bully, adds more to how Harrys dad wasnt perfect. Well, James died a hero, so dont dare say he didnt. 7: Sirius (whom I also love) seemed to influence the bullying, he bullied Snape to, and came from a harsh background... Well, we certainly don't hear much of Andromeda bullying someone... It seems as though Sirius chose to be like that, and maybe James wanted to stay friends with Sirius, so, bullied Snape. James Potter was a good man, and I tried to sum this up fast. This article is correct! Good job! And nice picture of Snape :P

Bubblesnuffer ^ Actually MAraUDerEtte your fourth point is wrong, and yes I dare use quotes against you. ;) Severus was not the one to start the fight,it was james. When Snape insulted James and Serius by saying that only people who would “rather be brawny than brainy” would want to be in Griffindor it was only a retaliation to when James said he “would rather leave” school than be a Slytherin. We know from Snape’s previous flashbacks that he had wanted to be a Slytherin very much, so James’s small (but rude) remarks were very offensive to him. I myself believe that James ended up changing for the better, JK Rowling made that VERY clear by having Remus, Serius, Dumbledore, and many others speak fondly of his good deeds in his adult life. The author wouldn’t mention them so much if they weren’t significant. However the book did mention that although James got over his ego, he was never able to get over his hatred for Snape… Which obviously, means that the two men hated one other until their deaths. Remus had said that“Snape was a special case” for James, and whether this hatred was justified or not will never truly be determined because we will never know about this story James’s perspective.

maniks I think its simply a matter of a person's legacy. How are they remembered after they've died. J K Rowling made great attempts to showcase the best and worst of Snape and Dumbledore lives, and their stories are pretty much well presented to the reader in great detail. As for James Potter however, all the we've heard are third-person accounts and a few anecdotes. We're told that he and Sirius were well-liked at school, talented, popular and the 'best-in-their-year' (according to Lupin). We're told that James and Sirius were also troublemakers, (according to Hagrid), and that they were arrogant, jerks and bullies (according to Lily). The only other facts we know are that James Potter was a good Quidditch player and that he hated the Dark Arts. We know that after school Lily and James got married, they joined the Order of the Phoenix, and ultimately died at the hands of Voldemort. No other account of James' deeds are presented to us besides the above. If that is all there is, with regards to James Potter, then It is quite fair to say that apart from being 'Harry Potter's father', one can argue that James Potter has no other special place in Wizarding History. Had James Potter not been Harry Potter's father, then perhaps he would have been a fairly-known Wizard, famous for being a popular school Qudditch player and simply a member of the Order of the Phoenix who was murdered by Voldemort. On his own personal merit however, it is unlikely that James Potter would be warranted a place on the back of a Chocolate Frog Card. (Charlie Weasley was also a famous school Qudditch player, Hestier Jones was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and Bertha Jorkins was also personally murdered by Voldemort.) Now lets compare James Potter's legacy to that of Severus Snape (and Albus Dumbledore). It is a fact that BOTH Snape and Dumbledore had been fascinated in the Dark Arts at some point in the lives. Dumbledore himself was in league with Grindlewald for a short period of time and even considered ruling over muggles for 'The Greater Good'. However, none of this affects the ultimate legacy of Dumbledore because the number of great, historical and positive things he did thereafter far outweighed whatsoever he might have momentarily thought of doing as a teenager. Snape, though he had a more prolonged relationship with the Dark Arts than Dumbledore, we still know that he never murdered anyone (besides Dumbledore) nor tortured anyone like the other Death Eaters. In fact, apart from providing one piece of intelligence regarding the Prophecy to Voldemort, we don't even know what crime(s) did Snape even commit as a Death Eater, if any. Nonetheless, unlike James Potter, Snape and Dumbledore both have earned their place in Wizarding History. Both of them were Headmasters of Hogwarts at times of turmoil, both of them played a key and fundamental part in the effort to bring down Voldemort, and both of them actually saved Harry Potter's life on more than one occasion. In fact for Snape, it was even more difficult because he had to do all of this undercover, under the pretence of being evil, and despite being hated by the entire Wizarding world until the very end. Therefore, if you consider all of the above, and then consider what we are asked to believe. Do we really have to accept that James Potter is a greater person than Snape just because Harry Potter tells us so? Yes, James Potter deserves a kind legacy, but Snape and Dumbledore deserve not a less greater legacy. Perhaps it is the difference between the fact that James Potter's greatness is 'shoved' down our throats by Harry Potter and Hagrid, forcing us to believe it. Whereas Snape and Dumbledore's deeds are not forced upon us, their stories are simply there for us to read and for us to judge their greatness for ourselves.

kittysparkle For my I would guess my answer is personal, Snape is a character who reminds me of myself (at least in his childhood/ teenaged sense. Snape is the studious, gawky, unattractive kid who comes from a dysfunctional family, he has an abusive dad, and probably grows up on the poverty line. (description of appearance, being dejected, greasy, thin and in old poorly fitting clothes.) He is that innocent child, crushed at home, yet hoping somehow he will come into his own when he goes to Hogwarts. However, he is like so many kids, a product of his upbringing, and his miserable circumstance follows him to school, the "kick me" emblem etched firmly on his forehead for all to see. Its that tale of childhood innocence lost, we cannot condone his bitterness, or his cruel tongue, but at the same time we pity him, and in my own case, see the child I once was. Most the things he is tormented for are things out of his control, and its sad. Conversely, James Potter is the jock, the popular, sporty kid with a gaggle of friends and a need to place himself in centre by drawing attention to someone else's weakness. He reminds me of the popular girls I would hide in the school library from, who tormented me because my clothes came from a charity shop and I didn't have nice hair/fashionable stuff etc. When I read about James, I see my tormentors, the people who when I see on facebook and notice they have become morbidly obese/or some misfortune has befallen them, I feel silently glad. In that sense Snape is me, I am bitter, just like him, but I keep my mouth shut. Snape is also a desperately sad character. He obviously doesn't really understand how to have normal relationships because he has been unloved and neglected. The one person he ever truly loved probably never even realized, and to make things worse he feel desperately responsible for her death. The fact she married the man who made his life hell is also deeply distressing for him, and explains (though doesn't justify) his disgusting behavior towards Harry. I just cannot identify with James at all emotionally, he is everything I am not, and he is also the people who hated me in that school environment. We all like an underdog, and a lot of HP fans are those studious quiet book reading types, not the brash, jockish species. It seems hardly surprising to me that many people love Snapes character even if he is a complete dick to small children. I agree in terms of damage inflicted, James is probably less guilty than Snape by far. (Who knows what Snapey did whilst a deatheater) and as far as we know, Snape is James's only real victim. I just feel that Snape is 10 times more developed , more realistic and much more easy to sympathize with. James as a character lacks enough diamention for readers to care about him much beyond the bullying of Snape.

OpenMindedWoman I have always had a huge problem with the whole James Potter is bad and Severus Snape is good because he sacrificed his life for Harry. Severus Snape I'm sorry people, but Snape being portrayed in the movies by Alan Rickman—and I do like him, as he plays a really great bad guy—does not make him a likable character. Snape always has been, and always will be a selfish, misanthropic, evil git, regardless of what he does at the end of the story. He helps Harry grudgingly and makes his life hell whenever he gets the chance—he can't get past the whole James angle to see Harry as a person, and in doing so, treats him like garbage. He does end up fighting for the right side, and for that you have to commend him, but you don't name your children after a git who made your life miserable, simply because he was "brave." For the longest time, my opinion of Snape was that he felt friendship and later possessiveness for Lily, but was the kind of person who could only ever love one person—Snape. Recently I had a discussion with my sister and she pointed out that he doesn't even seem to like himself very much, let alone have the ability to love anyone else. To make him into a sympathetic character, he almost has to be deconstructed and rebuilt from the ground up—otherwise, it's just too unbelievable. I can think of a few instances where this was done (The Real Us by Seel'vor comes to mind), but for the most part, I prefer him to be an antagonist and to keep the reader guessing whose side he's really on. Copied and pasted it from my fanfic profile. To the people that like to make it seem Severus Snape was a victim and the Marauders bullies! Here is my stance on that: It bothers me that people make Snape out to be an innocent victim and turned out the way he did because of the Marauders. When it shows in his own memories that he was a bully before he went to school. With him hurting Petunia and even in the very first memory of him saying she was nothing but a muggle so she didn't matter. Even in the worst memory he showed he was using a dark spell he had already invented when he cut James's face. He just wasn't as strong as Harry or didn't use as much power since he knew what it did and wasn't facing an unforgivable like Harry was. Plus if he had hit James neck instead of face he could have killed him. Also everybody felt bad for him because he was turned upside down showing his underwear, but as he invented that spell himself it is obvious that he had used it on others before and probably the Marauders as how else would they have learned it. Also forgive me, but why wasn't the guy wearing pants under his robes? That is just sick. Also what about when Lily commented about what his friends did to Mary McDonald and he thought it was just a bit of fun. Yeah maybe the Marauders played humiliating pranks but they didn't actually hurt people. Also the Willow incident, where Sirius sent him down as the story says to meet his death. I am sure that wasn't true because even though he told him, why would he expect Snape to really go, after all who does what a known enemy tells them too. If the Marauders were so bad, why would Snape listen to Sirius in the first place, that just shows he was an idiot. The Marauder's weren't bad, Snape most likely did something to the Marauders that made him, their prime target. The Marauders accepted Remus and became animagi for him. What did Snape do? Nothing. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it's Snape that always instigates Sirius, which proves to me that Sirius grew out of it. Sirius only commented back when Snape said something to him especially when it was how he was an 'unfit' godfather to Harry. Plus the fact the Marauders might have been bullies in school like everyone thinks, but evidently they outgrew that or why else would Lily, who hated bullying, marry James and name Sirius godfather to Harry? They did things at school while they were kids, but Snape bullied his students for the rest of his life no matter what. He became a Death Eater and only stopped(which I always felt he was playing both ends against the middle actually) because Voldy was going after Lily. He didn't care about Lily's husband and child and point blank said so, and only said to protect them too, because Dumbles made him feel guilty. But what if Voldy had decided Neville was the threat, since he supposedly loved Lily(again I don't buy it, because he would never treat the son she loved so much she sacrificed herself for the way he did if he really loved her or cared about her opinion) that means he wouldn't have said anything and the Longbottoms would have been attacked. Plus just because somebody was bullied does not mean they have to turn into bullies and Death Eaters(murderers, which he admitted he did when talking about his soul in the Prince's Tales with Dumbles)Harry didn't. He was abused, bullied and targeted but he never treated everybody like scum. I also was bullied in school, bu that didn't turn me into a bully. So Snape became a murdering bullying git, but he can be forgiven, but the Marauders who acted stupid as kids and bullied somebody they considered an enemy were suppose to be terrible people even though they always fought on the good side. People forgive the manipulative old fool Dumbles when he wanted to take over the muggles with the worst wizard before Voldemort and he caused the death of his sister because he was resentful for being the head of the family, but lets make the Marauder responsible for Snape being like he was. He called the girl he was suppose to love the worse name in the magical world because he was embarrassed. That is not love trust me. I feel there was more to James and Sirius bullying Severus; there had to be a reason. And let's be honest, I highly doubt in the afterlife Lily would forgive Snape for treating Harry like utter crap. If she couldn't forgive him after he went to apologize to her outside the Gryffindor Common Room for calling her a Mudblood...what makes you think she is ever going to forgive Snape for treating Harry the way he did? The son, James and her, gave their lives for? I had another problem with J.K.R with the way she wrote James and Lily. How JKR portrayed James and Lily: ...Here is my problem with how JKR makes James and Lily. I sort of also see that all of the men characters all seem to be really weak and flawed, while the women (Hermione, Ginny, Molly, Narcissa) are all strong and have barely any flaws. Whenever she brings in Lily's character, she always appears semi-godlike, even in her teenage years, when all we ever hear about is James being an arrogant brat, though I think you would have to be one hell of an honorable man to give up your life for your wife and son. I also noticed JKR stressed on Alice more than Frank. I always thought that a man(James) who would die for his son and wife; though originally arrogant, would have some ulterior motive for bullying someone. I hate how she made Snape seem like he sacrificed a lot more than James did just to protect Harry...which I don't think he did...I mean yeah he was brave and all betraying Voldemort but that was it, he didn't do it for anyone but himself and his obsession with Lily...Then she makes James out to be a jerk and doesn't really redeem him...She tends to do that to the guys. She did the same with Frank and Alice. Remember when Harry visited the ward on St.Mungo's? Harry only notices Alice, but not Frank. And Augusta and Neville pay attention to Alice. Never to Frank. And she does the same to the Prewett twins. She mentions Gideon more than Fabian. Personally, I felt she stressed on the whole mother's love thing too much and should have focused on the love of both parents. For me, it is not about the gender, it is about the individual who cares and loves you. And quite frankly, I highly doubt James and Lily were the only ones who sacrificed their lives for the child.

LoverorHaterff I love James Potter, probably because I understand him better than most people. Severus Snape has never been one of my all time favorites and he never will be. I understand better than most though. I have been bullied and I have been a bully so I know exactly what is going through their minds. I was a bully first, just like James. My life was fine, great in fact. I had everything I wanted. Maybe I wasn't as popular as James, but fairly so. But still, I made a mistake. I bullied.... and I don't even remember why, now. I was stupid. So stupid, and young. Does this make me worthy of your hate? You barely know me. How can you say you hate me when you know nearly nothing of how I am? Here: I am younger than 25, I have one brother, two dogs and I love writing. Now you know almost as much about me as you do about James. So, tell me. Do you hate me? How can you possibly hate me when you barely know anything about me? This applies to James too. Just because of one stupid mistake he made when he was younger, you hate him. How is that fair?

josetorres I've always fallen in the Snape camp as far as James vs Snape goes..... Jmes is just a bully, and while Snape was never perfect, he was always attacked 4 on 1..... James almost got him killed for Christ sakes.... James mighthave outgrown his whole "bully phase" but the damage he provoqued on others didnt disappeared .... Am I glad he turned his life around and made something of himself ..yes.... Do i think he was an asshole that made Snape evil with his treatment of him , yes......Id like to see James try to Bully Snape now..... Snape will kill him before breaking a sweat ......

semexx I used to think the same, but upon reflection I lost this blind hero worship for Snape. The scene where he died was just so dramatic! That's my excuse for temporary stupidity. Yes, Snape is a hero, but he's selfish, too. He did this for Lily and not Harry. He hated Harry, bullied him and acted worse than James did. Yes, James bullied Snape. Cause he is a spoiled pureblood and used to getting what he wants, in this case Lily. So what? It was bad that's true, but a teacher, an adult, bullying a student, behaving so childishly, immature and sadistic is not something one can excuse with a bad childhood. Yes, a horrible childhood can do this to people, but it's no excuse. And what about Harry, he had a terrible childhood too and nobody who cared about him, but unlike Snape he is not a bully.

lililc at first i did worshiped Snape but growing up helps and i realize that James did more good than bad, and Snape didn't loved anyone who wasn't Lily and maybe Dumbledore,he was willing to let Harry die if he could have Lily for himself. Thanks for making this article,i was hoping someone to make something like this.

jadoocool Both James and Snape had demon in there past but in my opinion what set's James apart Snape as good person is that James died fighting for good and saving his family and due to Snape's selfish need for a favor from his master he knowingly condemned a death of an unborn child and he went to Albus Dumbledore after he found that it is Lily who is the mother he had no care for the child or his father he is only worried about Lily .and what is the most funny part is no fans is seeing from this side of picture and that ask what did Lily see in James (love and compassion for life)

elsafan1010 I always thought of James as a jerk. Snape did some mistakes in the past. He actually was pretty a good guy, the only thing that made him bad was the "Mudblood" democracy. And plus, he had really good reasons to hate on Gryffindor or its students, Lily was placed there and he saw his best friend and crush slip into James's hands. Later on, James bullied him all the time. And when Snape became a good guy nobody really appreciated it. James changed and became a nice guy, plus he raced Harry and married Lily. But just because he was placed in Gryffindor, married Lily and is Harry's father doesn't change the fact that he was a bully.

LowriLorenza89 I think there are 2 main factors in fans preferring Snape to James: 1. Final impressions. While the first things we learn about James is that he was a hero and that he died trying to save his wife and son, we later learn that he'd been a bully as a teenager. Snape is a bully and a potential villain when first introduced and we only learn of his true allegiances right at the end. It's a huge twist which really makes an impact and sticks in the memory. The last impression we get of a character sometimes forms the overall impression. 2. What fans can relate to. Most people have experienced being bullied or know someone who has. Being or knowing the victim of murder, torture and other such crimes the Death Eaters committed is a lot rarer. We don't know anything Snape did as a Death Eater during the first war, other than reporting the prophecy he overheard, but it's unbelievable that he wouldn't have done anything of this sort.

LowriLorenza89 ^^ "the only thing that made him bad was the "Mudblood" incident" - being a Death Eater? Only changing sides because of Lily's death, not caring for her pain and grief if she survived but still lost her son and husband, not caring for the potential death of anyone else? Bullying students like Neville?