Kincaiding...

Okay, so Betacandy and Ragnell have both posted about the "Kincaid Effect".

Basically, to sum up the post, the "Kincaid Effect" refers to a female character that starts off cool but then has her characterization change rapidly to accomodate a male character and his storyline. This includes unlikely romance. (The name refers to Jill Hennessey's character on Law and Order).

I was trying to think of examples of the Kincaid Effect in comics, and honestly, I'm gratified to realize that I find them very hard to recollect. The closest I can think of is possibly (in my opinion) Storm and Black Panther or when Babs and Dick get together. And even then, those cases are pretty mild as Storm and Babs are still pretty awesome. In general I tend to enjoy comic book romances for however long they last.

I can think of an example of a reverse "Kincaid Effect" though. At least for me. I'd imagine it'd be a "Kincaid Effect" for anyone who liked the character already. That's Kitty Pryde in Warren Ellis's Excalibur. I'll be honest, the last time I liked Kitty Pryde I was eight years old, and mostly just liked her name.

I've posted before my dislike for the character and her l33t hacker/ninja/ballerina/dragon-holding/genius chess player/whateverness. I'm not gonna get into it again. I know lots of folks like the character for a lot of perfectly good reasons, but she annoys the crap out of me.

In Excalibur...she didn't. Well, initially she did. But sometime around the middle of the series, she changed for me. I wasn't sure what it is, but she was suddenly being written in a way that I actually liked. The l33t ninja/child prodigy elements were toned down. The story focused on her as a genius hacker who was smart and a good fighter, but didn't seem gratuitous about it.

Even more interestingly to me, she was, for the first time that I could remember, being portrayed as an actual adult rather than teenage jailbait. And the cause of this was pretty obvious. The adjustment to her portrayal came about coincidently around the time that a new mutant, an ex Black Air operative with a snarky sense of humor and a smoking habit.

There's no way Kitty as she was originally characterized would be compatible with Pete Wisdom as a couple. For one thing, the age difference wouldn't work. For another, Pete was the sort of character to want his lover to be an equal partner, one who could fight back and bicker and had a will/mind of her own. Kitty-as-she-was may have been precocious but she was much too young.

It really is a "Kincaid Effect". Kitty's entire personality changed and she ended up dating a guy she'd probably never have considered before. However for me, it was a really really GOOD effect. I liked Kitty-as-an-adult. I liked her personality and wit. I liked her relationship, and I was always annoyed with the manner in which it ended. (I knew it wouldn't last, but I'd have liked the breakup to fit their characterizations more).

Now she's back to normal though, which makes me sad that this wasn't a Kincaid Effect that stuck.