Which Snape is your favourite?

[Hermione Malfoy]

As far as I am concerned there are SEVERAL Snape's out there:

First of all there is CANON Snape. He's the one Jo writes and he's the one that everyone has differing views of. Some of the characters I feel genuinely like him. Like Albus and Hermione; and possibly Lily. He's the one that you either love to hate or hate to love. The Snape where you don't know what side he's on.

Then there is MOVIE Snape; the Snape played so deliciously by Alan Rickman; the guy that possibly is the reason why he's so damn popular in fanfiction. Even Jo blames Alan for a lot of us liking Snape, but I liked him BEFORE Alan played the role; in fact Alan playing the role just upped the anti for me.

Then there is FANNON Snape. The Snape that is either Angsty, Evil, and Perverted. Or the Snape that is grumpy old soul that is actually quite nice once you break through the barriers. And then there is completely soppy Snape that will buy his partner (whatever you ship!) chocolates and flowers and quotes poetry.

I personally prefer a bit of ALL the Snape's but I guess my most favourite Snape is the one that Jo herself writes.

What is your favourite Snape?

[Guest Madapple]

Tempting as it is to choose just one, did I say tempting? Difficult, it is difficult.

These many years later, after discovering the books, seeing the movies, discovering fanfiction and my evolving role in that world, I find it very difficult to separate the roles.

AR plays the role so well, that in canon or fanon, whenever there's Snape dialogue, I hear it in those velvet tones. I cannot separate the character from him anymore, and really I don't want to.

Snape, in the books, as JKR says herself was a gift of a character, his complexity in loyalties, motives and interactions makes him a good one to, as you said Hermione, " love to hate" or "hate to love."

After much wind, hence this post, I would have to say the book and Rickman Snapes are my favorite.

Fanon follows depending on the plot and skill of the author.

[NightScribe]

I agree with Madapple that Rickman has defined that role, made it his own, and I think he's done a pretty good job of bringing Jo's character to life. I'm still adamant in my belief that a lot of what we're "told" in the novels about Snape is filtered through the eyes of Harry, not exactly objective. But I digress. I enjoy both novel and film versions; I think I'm with Mad on this, I can't, and don't want, to separate the two.

As to fanon....I'm not big on the usual ships/pairings (I've mentioned this before somewhere) and the over-the-top gothic/emo angsty Snape isn't my cup of tea, nor is the adorable, awww producing WAFFy. If anything, I'd lean towards a touch of evil. Of course, I'm totally biased, having written my share of Snape fics. I tend to prefer (and write) him basically decent, though flawed; something of a loner, he's a man quietly dealing with the mistakes of his past. The epitome of "still waters run deep."

[polywolly]

Do I have to answer? Isn't it common knowledge now?

Rickman Snape, 100%. When Rickman was cast as Snape, I had to see the movies. The movies led me to the books. I'm a Rickman fan first, Potter fan second. Damn Die Hard movie...

In my head, Canon Snape and Fanon Snape are portrayed by Alan, body and voice, no matter the characterization. I can't separate them. Like Madapple and NightScribe, I don't want to.

[EveKnight75]

I'm not obsessed with Rickman anywhere near the point the fan-club here is, but he's got his appeal factor.

To start off, I am not a fan of fanon Snape for sure. If anything, fanon reduces and degrades his character by attempting to change him into something he's not just to make him more palatable to the audience.

Damn fanbrats! Don't you get that Snape is appealing just the way he is? These people are the ones who find Rickman hot but don't like book-Snape. If I want to delve deeper and risk being erroneous, I'd say that thanks to the movies they see Snape in a more positive light because the camera has a way of filtering Harry's bias but they can't reconcile the two versions in their head so they try to replace Snape with Rickman in the book and to do that they have to apply Rickman's genial qualities to Snape in a way that doesn't fit right.

If a fan manages to keep Snape in character and writes him without tainting it with the bias of a Gryffindor, it's canon and everyone likes him. Not that hard a concept to grasp.

That being said, I can't decide between Rickman and book-Snape either. There's an issue in that Rickman is attractive where Snape is supposed to be repulsive. Once you get past that point, it's hard to imagine anyone else playing Snape as effectively as Rickman does.

Rickman manages to play Snape to the letter, which is one of the very reasons JK had ever approved him in the first place. Shockingly enough, I have managed to separate the versions of Snape in my head. I don't see Rickman when reading, but I can't relate to Harry despite the fact that he's the protagonist, effectively shielding me from the bias blinds. Rickman just manages to reinforce the objective vision of Snape.

So in the end, you can chalk me up as another one who can't decide between Rickman and Snape but knows for sure that fanon is not an option. For me, the problem is that even though I can separate the actor from the character 100%, the two play off each other too well for me to prefer one over another.