Recently, I was reminiscing about old shows I used to love to watch. Victorious immediately came to mind, especially since the recent uprising of support for hating Tori Vega. I personally don’t have a vendetta against Tori, so it got me thinking about how I would rank the charcters from Victorious.
Which brings us to this list…
- Andre
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We absolutely stan an unproblematic king. Andre deserved so much better than what the show gave him. He was incredibly selfless and one of the most talented people on the show. In “Beggin’ on Your Knees” Andre missed his grandfather’s birthday to help Tori write a song to get back at a guy who had been using her. He was consistently helping other people write amazing songs, and he brought a lot of hilarious moments to the show. I only wish that his character had gotten the bigger spotlight that it deserved.
- Jade
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Jade is iconic. She is insanely talented, and she is unapologetically herself. She is such a strong character, and her unique style is incredible. She also receives more character development than most of the other characters. In the pilot episode, Jade is extremely cruel to Tori. She pours coffee on her head and does everything she can to make her absolutely miserable. Slowly, Jade goes from cruel to being generally a bit cold, and eventually, she becomes someone that Tori considers her friend rather than her enemy. In some episodes, the audience gets to see that there is more to her character and that she does have a softer side. A lot of the characters in Victorious were very stagnant, but Jade developed over time and was a multidimensional character.
- Tori
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Recently, Tori has been getting a lot of hate. People feel like she isn’t the most talented singer in the group, that she is annoying, and causes lots of problems for the group. I disagree. Is she the best character on the show? No. Is she the most talented? Also no, but they go to a music arts high school, so all of them are supposed to be talented. Her character isn’t any more annoying than Cat, and she is certainly less annoying than Trina. She does cause problems for the group, but that’s her job as the main character. If she didn’t cause problems for the group, there would be nothing to watch. Tori is always willing to help out her friends, and she gave us some iconic musical moments in the show like in “Freak the Freak Out.” In that episode, Tori disguises herself to help Jade and Cat get revenge on two mean rich girls. She takes off the disguise mid performance and wins the challenge for her friends. Overall, I think while Tori does have her flaws, she doesn’t deserve the hate she’s been getting.
- Beck
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The way I feel about Beck is very similar to the way I feel about Cat. I think he is a pretty average character whose main role is to be the “hot” guy. However, I think he definitely stood out more than Cat. I can think of specific instances where his character was given a little bit more substance. In the episode “Beck Falls for Tori,” Tori is terrified of doing a stunt for an acting job she landed. Beck decides to take her place and do the stunt for her. Beck is a really nice guy, but I feel like his character could have benefited from some deeper development.
- Cat
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When I think about Cat, I don’t really have anything positive or negative come to mind. There aren’t any episodes that I immediately think of that highlight any aspect of her character. She was sweet, but her character lacked substance. Her role in the show was to add in random comedic effect, and that was about it. Her singing was obviously incredible, but she was an overall average character.
- Trina
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I will be forever grateful for the musical masterpiece that was “Chicago.” However, if you set that one moment aside, Trina was so annoying. In the episode “The Birthweek Song,” Tori decides to write and sing her a song which is a really sweet and personal gift. Trina was extremely ungrateful, and she goes on to sell the song to buy herself a “real” gift which just shows how selfish and materialistic she is. Then, in the episode “Ice Cream for Ke$ha,” Trina uses a note from childhood to force Tori into doing everything she asks for an entire month. She is more cruel and unrelenting than normal sibling teasing, and it further shows her poor character. Despite being (at times) an entertaining character, Trina’s selfishness and her tendency to be annoying puts her towards the bottom of this list.
- Robbie
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If you’ve watched the show, I’m sure you’re not surprised to see Robbie at the bottom of this list. When you get down to it, he was really creepy and rude. In one episode, he was even spotted peering into Tori’s house from her porch. He was also a ventriloquist, so every rude or misogynistic comment that came out of Rex was actually coming from Robbie. Not to mention, in the episode “Who Did it to Trina?” Trina’s harness breaks, and she was close to being extremely injured. It’s revealed at the end of the episode that Rex was the one who sabotaged the harness after Trina punched him in the face. However, Rex is literally a puppet which means it was Robbie who was seeking revenge. Altogether, I find that pretty concerning, and it puts Robbie in last place.
It’s crazy to think about Victorious airing 10 years ago! While I certainly like some characters more than others, the show and all of these characters hold a special place in my heart.