Update - Nominations are now closed but the nominating and ranking polls are open until 11 am on June 16. Link
With the SpoilerTV Awards announced, it’s time to start the 2023 Character Cup. Woooo hooo! This is my favorite part of the summer hiatus and I hope you’ll join me, cheering on your favorite characters and talking TV. Well-written, well-acted characters can transport us to new worlds, inspire us with new experiences, and help us understand new perspectives, coming alive until we care about them almost like real people. The Character Cup highlights and honors all those characters. So reflect back on those characters you just can’t forget, from those whose shows have long ended to those still on the air. It’s nomination time!
Note - I cannot stress enough how important the nomination phase is for your favorite characters to get into the Cup. Some years it takes as few as 3-5 nominations to get in, so talk the nomination stage up to others and, of course, let us know who your nominations and honorable mentions are in the comments below. Don’t forget to read the nominating rules so all yours count. Best wishes to all of your favorites and let the contest begin!
The Character Cup works similarly to the Episode and Series Competitions. 64 characters compete head-to-head, with the winner advancing to the next round until only one is left. If you haven't participated before, it's simply a way to show your favorite characters some love and pass the time until the fall season starts. There's nothing serious about it, so please, enjoy.
To include more fandoms, each show can only be represented by 1 character and only 1 character per actor. Also, once a character wins the Character Cup, they are retired and cannot be a part of future Cups. This ensures a new victor each year.
The Character Cup also has 3 added optional features. There is a prediction contest where you can predict the winners. A mini-contest runs concurrent with the Cup at the end so more people can stay involved. Previous mini-contests included Favorite Opening Credits, Pilot, Vehicle, Villain, Theme Song, One-Season Show, Finale, and TV Animal. Suggestions for other mini-contest topics are greatly appreciated!
My favorite addition though is TV Talk. 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 topic suggestions, please nominate them. I can't wait to talk TV with you.
1. Only 1 submission per person. If you submit multiple nomination forms, ALL of your submissions will be removed. Only nominations with both the character AND the TV show will be counted. Please use the character's first and last name if you can (not the actor's name). If a character is always called by their nickname, that works too.
2. You have to nominate 3-4 TV characters on the same nomination form. Any more or less will invalidate ALL of your nominations. They can be shows currently airing, those long ended, and everything in between. Only TV characters from scripted, English-language shows or non-English language shows covered by SpoilerTV are eligible.
3. Nominating more than 1 character from the same show or more than 1 character per actor will invalidate ALL of your nominations.
4. Please do NOT nominate Jack Shephard (LOST), Dean Winchester or Castiel (Supernatural), Root or Sameen Shaw (Person of Interest), Alex Danvers (Supergirl), Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer), Lexa (The 100), Malcolm Bright (Prodigal Son), Scylla Ramshorn (Motherland: Fort Salem) or Temo Lopez (Mi marido tiene más familia). These characters are already past winners and therefore are ineligible.
5. Nominations will close around noon CST on June 15.
6. Questions? Ask in the comments below.
Tentative Schedule:
Nominations - close around noon CST on June 15
Nominating/ranking polls - June 15 or 16 for less than 24 hours
Prediction contest - begins June 16 and ends June 18
Character Cup - begins June 18 or 19 and ends before July 1
Note - I cannot stress enough how important the nomination phase is for your favorite characters to get into the Cup. Some years it takes as few as 3-5 nominations to get in, so talk the nomination stage up to others and, of course, let us know who your nominations and honorable mentions are in the comments below. Don’t forget to read the nominating rules so all yours count. Best wishes to all of your favorites and let the contest begin!
SHOWS ALREADY IN: The following shows are 99.999% guaranteed to be in the Cup due to the nominations so far: 911, 911: Lonestar, Animal Kingdom, Arrow, Bones, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Cobra Kai, The Company You Keep, Criminal Minds, CSI: Vegas, Dexter, Fire Country, The Flash, The Good Doctor, Law & Order, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Law & Order: SVU, Magnum PI, Manifest, Mayans MC, NCIS, NCIS: Hawai'i, Nancy Drew, The Office, Orphan Black, The Rookie, Sleepy Hollow, Sons of Anarchy, Station 19, Stranger Things, This Is Us, Walker: Independence, and Yellowstone. The actors Tyler Hoechlin and Jared Padalecki are also guaranteed in, but the character they will represent is up in the air.
BUBBLE SHOWS: The following shows are on the bubble for getting into the Cup: The 100, Agents of SHIELD, The Big Bang Theory, Big Sky, Blue Bloods, Chicago Med, The Equalizer, The Expanse, FBI: Most Wanted, Friends, Ghosts, Gotham Knights, Grey's Anatomy, Heels, Jessica Jones, The Legend of Vox Machina, Legends of Tomorrow, Leverage, Loki, The Mandalorian, A Million Little Things, Ms. Marvel, NCIS: Los Angeles, New Amsterdam, Night Court, Outer Banks, Shadow and Bone, Shadowhunters, Succession, SWAT, Ted Lasso, Teen Wolf, Twin Peaks, The Walking Dead, Warrior Nun, Will Trent, The Winchesters, The Witcher, Wynonna Earp, and The X-Files.
What’s the Same:
The Character Cup works similarly to the Episode and Series Competitions. 64 characters compete head-to-head, with the winner advancing to the next round until only one is left. If you haven't participated before, it's simply a way to show your favorite characters some love and pass the time until the fall season starts. There's nothing serious about it, so please, enjoy.
What’s Different:
To include more fandoms, each show can only be represented by 1 character and only 1 character per actor. Also, once a character wins the Character Cup, they are retired and cannot be a part of future Cups. This ensures a new victor each year.
The Character Cup also has 3 added optional features. There is a prediction contest where you can predict the winners. A mini-contest runs concurrent with the Cup at the end so more people can stay involved. Previous mini-contests included Favorite Opening Credits, Pilot, Vehicle, Villain, Theme Song, One-Season Show, Finale, and TV Animal. Suggestions for other mini-contest topics are greatly appreciated!
My favorite addition though is TV Talk. 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 topic suggestions, please nominate them. I can't wait to talk TV with you.
Rules: PLEASE READ
1. Only 1 submission per person. If you submit multiple nomination forms, ALL of your submissions will be removed. Only nominations with both the character AND the TV show will be counted. Please use the character's first and last name if you can (not the actor's name). If a character is always called by their nickname, that works too.
2. You have to nominate 3-4 TV characters on the same nomination form. Any more or less will invalidate ALL of your nominations. They can be shows currently airing, those long ended, and everything in between. Only TV characters from scripted, English-language shows or non-English language shows covered by SpoilerTV are eligible.
3. Nominating more than 1 character from the same show or more than 1 character per actor will invalidate ALL of your nominations.
4. Please do NOT nominate Jack Shephard (LOST), Dean Winchester or Castiel (Supernatural), Root or Sameen Shaw (Person of Interest), Alex Danvers (Supergirl), Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer), Lexa (The 100), Malcolm Bright (Prodigal Son), Scylla Ramshorn (Motherland: Fort Salem) or Temo Lopez (Mi marido tiene más familia). These characters are already past winners and therefore are ineligible.
5. Nominations will close around noon CST on June 15.
6. Questions? Ask in the comments below.
Tentative Schedule:
Nominations - close around noon CST on June 15
Nominating/ranking polls - June 15 or 16 for less than 24 hours
Prediction contest - begins June 16 and ends June 18
Character Cup - begins June 18 or 19 and ends before July 1
