Summer is in the swing of things so that means it is time for the 2016 Character Cup. Nominations will remain open until Sunday at 3 pm CST. Nominating polls will come immediately after if necessary and then people will have 3 days to create their brackets if they want to compete in the prediction contest. (Don't worry if you're not sure what these are. Information about them will come after nominations close.) If you haven't participated in the Character Cup on SpoilerTV before, it's basically a fun contest to pass the hiatus. There's nothing serious about it. People nominate their favorite characters (male and female, current and/or ended) and the top 64 characters go head-to-head to choose a favorite. Let me stress that this contest has NOTHING to do with the "best" character, which is subjective, or the best acted character, also subjective, or most influential character, you guessed it - still subjective. It is simply a way to show your favorite characters some love and pass the time until the fall season starts. So think back on all those great TV shows you've watched in the past or are watching now. Who are your favorites?
While the Character Cup works the same way as other SpoilerTV summer contests, there are some differences. The biggest is that each show can be represented by only 1 character. This allows more shows to be represented and more people to participate. If a show has a number of characters who are close in nominations, then I will hold a nominating poll so that the fandom can choose their champion. You can also only nominate 1 character from a show. If you nominate more than 1 character from a show, then all your nominations for that show will be invalid. So think carefully about which character you think best represents your favorite shows.
Another change is that unlike the Favorite Show Contest, once a character wins this competition they are retired. That means that LOST's Jack Shephard, Supernatural's Dean Winchester and Castiel, and Person of Interest's Root cannot run again. This keeps people from grousing that the same people win all the time. For me though, the best difference is the TV Talk Topic. Each day there is a new TV topic to discuss so even if you don't have anyone to vote for that day, you can still be part of the conversation. If you have any great TV Talk topics, please add them to the nomination form. Last year we had several great discussions including one about how TV is different around the world. That one was a real eye opener.
Nomination Rules (PLEASE READ):
1. Only 1 Submission per person. If you submit multiple times ALL your submissions will be removed.
2. You can nominate up to 2 males and 2 females but they must be on the same nomination form. They can be from shows currently airing or those long ended and everything in between. Only characters from scripted shows are eligible though.
3. Nominating more than 1 character from the same show will invalidate ALL your nominations for that show. Please make sure that ALL the characters you nominate are from different shows. Only 1 character per show can get into the contest so please nominate from a variety of shows.
4. Only nominations with both the character AND the TV show will be included. Also please use the character's full name if you can. While I watch a lot of shows, I don't watch everything. I had no idea that Daenerys Targaryen and Khaleesi were the same person. If a character is always called by their nickname, that will work too.
5. Please do NOT nominate Jack Shephard (LOST), Dean Winchester (Supernatural), Castiel (Supernatural), or Root (Person of Interest). These characters are already past winners and therefore cannot run again. Any nominations for them will not be counted.
6. While this is only the nominating stage, it's a great idea to talk up your character in the comments section. Last year we had several characters that people wished they had nominated but forgot about. This is especially true for shows that are not currently airing.
7. Nominations end Sunday at 3 pm CST. Nominating polls will begin almost immediately after nominations end and will last about 24 hours.
8. Questions? Ask in the comments below.
