hi! this is my paste dedicated to tyler rambling. make yourself comfortable (popcorn helps). in this paste, i’ll be sharing my rant about tyler’s character along with my personal thoughts and opinions. some parts might come across unclear since i’m running on little sleep. p.s. why is there barely any good tyler fanart? nearly every piece of fanart i come across of him is just with wednesday. #boring
personally, i feel neutral toward tyler’s character, yet at the same time, i find myself disliking him. he doesn’t make much sense to me or maybe i’m overanalyzing. he starts off as this café loner ‘nice guy,’ suddenly becomes wednesday’s boyfriend for a brief moment, and then out of nowhere he’s revealed as a serial-killing hyde. he’s irritating as a villain but also, he's kind of not.
so, why don’t i really see him as a true villain? because his entire life has been marked by abuse and manipulation. he grew up without the presence of a mother who could genuinely care for him or provide him with proper nurture, and that lack of stability left him vulnerable. instead of being guided toward something better, he was exploited and used as a tool for others’ agendas. it feels less like he chose the path of a villain and more like he was pushed into it, shaped by circumstances beyond his control.
tyler’s character is frustrating because he sits in this strange middle ground, he’s not entirely innocent, yet he’s not a convincing villain either. his actions are undeniably harmful, but the foundation of who he is has been built on trauma, neglect, and the influence of forces greater than himself. he’s more of a pawn than a mastermind, someone whose choices are clouded by pain, manipulation, and the lack of genuine love or stability in his life.
this is why i struggle with him: on one hand, i can empathize with the suffering he’s endured, but on the other hand, it doesn’t excuse what he’s done. he’s written as if he’s supposed to be this terrifying, threatening antagonist, but the cracks in his backstory reveal someone tragic, broken, and arguably more pitiable than fearsome. instead of being a compelling villain, he comes off more like a lost character trying to live up to a role that was forced upon him.
tyler also doesn’t have much depth outside of his trauma. he’s defined almost entirely by what’s been done to him, not by who he is as a person. the café-boy persona in season one hinted at something more genuine. a lonely, awkward teenager trying to connect with someone who finally noticed him. but that potential is overshadowed the moment his darker side is revealed. the ‘nice guy’ turned monster twist could’ve been powerful if it had been developed with more nuance, but instead it comes across as inconsistent and rushed. then there’s his relationship with wednesday. their dynamic never felt natural, it always seemed forced, like the writers wanted to insert a romance just for the sake of drama. his brief time as her love interest adds little to his character arc and honestly makes his eventual reveal as the hyde even more jarring. rather than adding complexity, it highlights how uneven his character truly is. ultimately, tyler feels like wasted potential. he could’ve been a tragic figure with layers of depth, someone we could both fear and sympathize with. instead, he lands in this awkward space where he’s not compelling enough to root for, but not fleshed-out enough to hate fully either. his abuse and manipulation explain a lot, but they don’t excuse everything and the show never really makes a strong stance on where he falls. is he a victim, a villain, or both? that blurred line could’ve been interesting, but instead it just makes him feel inconsistent and underwhelming.
on a personal level, i actually relate to tyler quite a bit, and he could have easily been one of my favorite characters if things hadn’t played out the way they did. if his character had been given more depth, stronger development, and a different direction than what the show gave us, he might have been far more compelling. in another life, or some alternate universe, i could even imagine tyler and wednesday being decent friends. but as of right now? no, i don’t want it to happen, and i don’t want to see it. platonic wyler maybe, just maybe, still iffy but romantic wyler? absolutely not. the writers clearly forced wyler in this new season. wednesday and tyler were clearly on the verge of genuinely killing each other, and knowing wednesday’s personality and character, i honestly think she would have killed him in the final episode rather than saving him. i also think he would’ve been long gone by episode 6, she looked like she was ready to throw him toward the bomb, which would have ultimately killed him. but i feel like the writers just forced wednesday not to. they’ve been making her do things this season that don’t really align with her character.
do i think tyler should have returned in this new season? no, absolutely not. i think he should’ve stayed in the mental asylum with minimal interaction or screen time. did it provide more insight into his backstory and character? i guess so. but i don’t understand why they randomly decided to give him a character arc now, as if that could erase everything he’s done. he’s done things beyond forgiveness. that said, i’m glad he’s at least getting help. i hope he gets barely any screen time in season 3, and i hope wyler isn’t actually endgame. i like to headcanon tyler as aroace, and i really hope they don’t reintroduce romance in season 3. he genuinely needs to focus on himself, on controlling his emotions and his hyde persona, and, honestly, stop killing people for fun. anyway, as i was saying, i really hope they don’t bring tyler back at all. it makes no sense to fully bring him back and give him so much screen time again. there’s no point in his return unless the goal is to force a heterosexual relationship. i can tolerate brief appearances, like showing him getting help and working on himself but that’s it. i don’t want him as a villain again, and honestly, i just don’t want him back at all.