woobification

English

Etymology

woobie +‎ -fication

Noun

woobification

1. (fandom slang) The act or process of turning a character into a woobie.
   • 2006, Afşar Yegin, "Fan-textual Television: Narrative Structure, Virtuality and Fandom in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Veronica Mars", thesis submitted to Istanbul Bilgi University, page 110:

     That is, the woobification of Logan is a successful narrative process only because the text can reasonable^[sic] depend on and, consequently manipulate, a fannish investment in itself; […]

   • 2007, Catherine Tosenberger, "Potterotics: Harry Potter Fanfiction On The Internet", dissertation submitted to the University of Florida, page 100:

     “Good” characters are also prone to woobification, if they are presented in canon as sympathetically angst-ridden and tormented: this class of woobie includes Remus, Sirius, Fox Mulder (X-Files) and Dean Winchester (Supernatural).

   • 2014 January 27, Shannon Wang, “Techer^[sic] reflects on motivation of Tumblr users”, in The California Tech, California Institute of Technology, page 4:

     For those unfamiliar with fanfiction, it means self-insertion and fantasy fulfillment through the woobification of a main character.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:woobification.

See also

• babygirlification (romanticisation of morally ambiguous male characters)