Why does everyone hate Starlow?

Did you really have to bump this thread just to complain again?

But, just for staying on topic: Starlow's always mean to Luigi, and she's bossy, so that's why she gets a lot of hate. She was written better in Brothership, so that's good!
 
Sparks said:
Did you really have to bump this thread just to complain again?

But, just for staying on topic: Starlow's always mean to Luigi, and she's bossy, so that's why she gets a lot of hate. She was written better in Brothership, so that's good!
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Luigi's just doing his best, and honestly, he is the bravest and has a big heart. Starlow just doesn't understand that.
 
Starlow is nowhere NEAR on the obnoxious level of Kersti.

That said, I do think she's an ass to Luigi. A lot of people cite that she apologizes in BIS, but like, she only does that after Luigi is so hurt that Mario has to step in and stand up for him. She respects Mario, it's only his intervention that makes her apologize which is why I didn't feel it was sincere. Especially since she continues to be mean spirited to him in the next two games. The lore reason for the Luiginary abilities in DT is that Starlow is so pissed at Luigi that she attacks his face. She has no idea she's helping Mario in the dream world, on her end she is literally just taking out all her frustration on Luigi.

But by far the biggest offender is that one scene in Paper Jam where she goes out of her way to describe the misery of captured Toads in elaborate detail after seeing how much the idea upsets Luigi, describes them calling out for his help, then hits him with the "thankfully that's not realistic, they'd want Mario's help, not yours". She's only "nice" to Luigi when he's alone and she knows he's their only hope. Even then it feels like she's trying too hard to butter him up, none of it feels sincere after how she talks to him earlier.

Brothership dialed it back thankfully, and as a result she is much more likable in that game than in the previous ones. I know that Luigi being the butt of a joke is a recurring thing in these games, but in most other instances it's just someone getting his name wrong or not remembering him, which usually just makes him faceplant or something. Starlow drives it in hard and keeps going after she sees he's upset. The only other character to act like that in the series is the Star Gate.
 
I'd have to defend the Star Gate here, it's just being a massive troll and it wants to see how the characters react upon making Luigi cry (also it's fun as hell to tease Luigi). What matters in the end is that it eventually apologized for its words, had the Aurora Block crush Luigi, and it told him that he's capable of improvement (mentioned that his heart is like a gemstone, multi-faceted and beautiful, but it needs polishing in parts) and it got let through. Initially it said very cruel things but people tend to ignore the part after it reconciled.

I don't think Starlow ever sincerely apologized.
 
Probably an example of where I think a new character overstayed their welcome and really doesn't have much business being in later games.

Aside from that, she's unpleasant in some games I guess, but as I get older and read what kids have to say about a children's video game character from 2013, it's really hard for me to express or relate to a strong opinion for most Mario characters these days (much less deeming one an, I quote, "Unpleasent[sic] WENCH"). I mean sure I love a couple, I like a couple. I hate two. But vast majority of them are not particularly remarkable.
 
This topic is timely in that I was wondering if Starlow is still considered the pariah of the Mario & Luigi community after three games with her (based on what others who play would vouch for, Starlow is handled best in Bowser's Inside Story. That's why I excluded this game, meaning the three games are specifically Dream Team, Paper Jam, and Brothership as of now).

But then again I am really not into this community to relate to the dislike for the character to really evaluate on if it's justified, especially since there were two other Mario & Luigi games released since this topic's creation (or four, if you count the remakes).

Thank you for reading.
 
The fact that Starlow went from partner of the week to just a series regular intrigues me... I personally think Dream Team and Brothership handled her role pretty well: One involved her joining; another she teams up with Peach as this is game changer considering how overused she is in the 2010s titles. Paper Jam on the other hand plays this off as if Starlow is just THE guide, but that's enough worm cans here. I do see Starlow making yet another supporting role for a new Mario & Luigi game. As long as it's handled well, it's alright.
 
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