Me personally, I don't believe everything Craig McCracken said about Wander to be true. His own creator sees him as nothing more than a happy, over-the-top simpleton with flaws that don't stop him from being the goodiest good guy ever, and y'all know I can't agree with that.
Let's go over the points Craig made about Wander in the "Wander over Yonder" pitch Bible, and I'll explain my thoughts on each positive and negative trait that he assigns to him (just a note, I know creators have to simplify character traits to fit pitch bibles, but even outside of this bible, Craig never seems to have changed his views on Wander and wants us to see him as an idealized goody guy, someone we should all strive to be, not a person/character with serious character flaws who had to work behind the scenes to CHOOSE goodness)
"What you see if what you get!"? Nah. This is already contradicted both in the show and THE PILOT. Wander is one conniving, manipulative, sly, crafty, clever mf. Even Hater can tell. Wan often hides behind the "I'm just a stupid, harmless lil' guy :)" act, but you can see from his facial expressions alone that he's up to something. Not to mention Dave Thomas' comment about Wander being someone who often puts on a brave face to spare people's feelings. That's not called being genuine. He reminds me of Ralsei from Deltarune tbh. Another thing: Wander is a bad liar, but great at NOT talking about himself. That's why he can keep his own past at bay, but not keep other people's secrets
Always upbeat? Wander is actually mostly a pretty chill guy, not someone who's constantly on a sugar rush like Pinkie Pie. He also isn't someone "without a care in the world." In the show, we see him struggle to stay positive, grapple with suicidal ideation, give up on befriending Dominator after "The Greater Hater" and not try again until the last ep, go manic, get terrified, flinch at the reminder of his real name, attempt to run away from his inner child... you get the idea.
Highly imaginative? Yeah. But the thing is, Wander struggles not only with gray ares but also abstraction ("The Box"), and his imagination is on full display whenever he wants to help someone or get out of danger. In "The Void," his mind goes out of control because he doesn't want to leave the place where sadness doesn't have to be a thing. That's the thing. Whenever triggered in some way, Wan's mind will go all over the place, but when everything is calm, he's CALM. So, Wander's high imagination is his way of responding to situations happening around him, not a core part of who he believes he is, which is a helper. His idea of fun is literally to visit a museum featuring old candlesticks, not be hyper 24/7
Insanely curious? Yeah, but not to the extent Craig thinks. His curiosity is touched upon in "The Box," where he goes crazy bc he wants to know what's in the box so badly (OCD-coded, manic behavior present), and in "The Sky Guy," Wander keeps trying to intervene in the Bitties' lives because he believes in "The more you know, the more you grow" quote and wants them to live by it, too. He was curious about them, yeah, but mostly, Wander wanted to prove to himself that his philosophy was applicable in the Bitties' case as well.
Wander always strives to do the right and proper thing? Wander IS polite, kind, and enjoys pretending to be bad ("The Bad Guy"). He also endangers himself and Sylvia, endangers others for his ideas or to help Hater (who represents his hidden anger and insecurities), doesn't feel remorse for turning General McGuffin into a chicken leg, doesn't care about sentient Dombots dying (yeah, they're evil robots, but it was DOMINATOR who programmed them to be that way and gave them sentience + most would call it OOC for such an empathetic character to be ok with anyone dying, even non-sentient beings), cheers because of Dominator's supposed death (we are talking bout a guy who according to Craig represents who we all could become like he's pure love/some biblical figure. Violence, let alone death, is never supposed to cross his mind, right...? Well, Wander USES weapons in the show and cheers at Dom potentially dying and is ok with her sentient army also collectively dying so yeah)... dude is selfish, reckless, impulsive, doesn't attach and does whatever he wants
Wander believes everyone is sincere like him? Nope. He simply chooses kindness over and over again because it became his core belief + he can't afford it to not be true. This belief can crack, though. Wander wants to give up on life in "The Good Deed," but "The Epic Quest of Unfathomable Difficulty!!" and "The Liar" too. If his beliefs are challenged, he's ready to drown himself in mud, accepts being executed WITH Sylvia even after he hears her sobbing how she doesn't want to die, wanted to sacrifice them both in "The Big Day" to make Hater happy, would have let himself, Sylvia and the bird family all die if it wasn't for Syl's plan because he thought things were hopeless... Wander's terrified expressions show that he knows what he's doing is dangerous but openly admits to Sylvia when he's about to try and befriend Dom: "I'm sorry, Syl (he knows he's endangering himself). But I gotta try." He tells Sylvia in "The Matchmaker" that, if they got too close to a Dombot, they'll get killed... yeah, Wander is aware of things
Fearless? No, he simply moves past the fear for the sake of kindness. I already mentioned the terrified faces, but Wander doesn't see the good in everything either. He said out loud "This place is amazing...ly horrible" ("The Buddies") and said about Planet Janet: "Guhh. There's gotta be somethin' nice to say about this cold, drab, dreary, and empty place. Hmm..."Though plain and simple, this cute little planet has tons of potential, with room to grow"!" Proof that Wander's choice to see good in things is A CHOICE, not someone that doesn't require effort
Very caring? Sure, but Hater's the only one who gets the amount of attention from Wander that Craig's talking about here. When Wander is in his "very caring" mode, he's not "very caring," but manic and/or obsessive
Will not put up with people being all bleh? He actually treats the Black Cube of Darkness with kindness (although he did forget to bring it a Christmas gift and everyone else, including villains, had gotten one). The Cube literally has depression and Wander felt sorry for it and tried to help it
Righteous? Yeah, Wander has a moral code... and he sticks by it even if it puts himself OR others in danger
Very funny? Yup, Wander's got natural charm! "The Fancy Party" proves it when he simply puts a spoon on his nonexistent nose and everyone laughs. Plus those big, obnoxious high-pitched laughs he lets out in "The Party Poopers" are contagious af
Impulsive, YEAH. But I don't like Craig's implication here that Wander's head isn't of much use. He's not stupid. His head works like that because there's too much in there, not too little, poor Wander can't NOT be distracted by something all the time. That's what happens when ADHD, his curious nature, and everything I've discussed about Wander's past and the way he copes all roll into one. And him taking things literally like in "The Box" and in "The Rider" could mean he's on the autism spectrum. I just noticed, but the way Wander talks is friendly, but also kinda... robotized? Like, take this line for example: "Excuse me, fine sir, but I came in here looking for a bottle of Thunder Blazz for my heat-stricken friend out there, but then, I held the door for a very long man while another man took all but the last bottle which was taken by the long man, then I tried to find a replacement but couldn't, can you please use your considerable expertise to help me find a similar beverage, that might be perfect for my parched pal?"
"Sylvia, I am honored you have chosen me to requisition this refreshment for you, I will not let you down!"
Sort of undisciplined? He DOES remember to write the entire "epic quest" down on his hand though! And has exact chores that he does every day. And has a consistent rule: enter a galaxy -> help and have fun -> reform villains he personally wants to reform -> leave and never come back
He can often be led astray by those who may take advantage of his trusting nature? In "The Hole Lutta Nuthin'" Hater tricks him that he wants to be a good guy now and how Sylvia hates him and always has (it's sad how quick Wander was to believe that he wasn't loved in the first place) and yeah, him trusting those words was naive, but Wander's seen stuff yet chooses kindness anyway. He's quick to believe in people over and over again even after anger, challenges, helplessness... that's not naive. That's brave.
He has a really hard time focusing one project at a time? He often gives up before he's really tried? Not really, according to all the things Wander's mastered that I mentioned. We actually see Wander hyperfocus and not find it hard to focus
Kind of stubborn: True! He's impatient and pouty, like Hater
Struggles with grayness? As explained in my previous posts, I think Wander never stopped struggling with gray areas and simply went from one extreme ("I must be the hero!") to another ("I must be the helper!") after the genocide of his people, the Star Nomads
Absent-minded? Yeah, sometimes. I'm always reminded of this scene from the pilot where Wan just wanders off and walks around in a circle, in his own world
Wdym he never truly mastered anything specific? He's mastered basically every musical instrument ever, is a great dancer and actor, sings beautifully, knows how to bake bread from scratch, how to make delicious breakfast while working with what he has got, how to knit fast, can do 200 push-ups and a ridiculous number of chores each morning...
Wander mostly isn't cranked up to 11. Whenever he isn't provoked, he's pretty calm
Important side notes: I do love & appreciate the message of "The Wanders" that if you love someone, how you should love all parts of them, but I also feel like it's unfair that Sylvia must keep worrying about her and Wander's safety because he constantly refuses to listen to her and just runs off into danger without thinking about himself or her feelings. It feels like the message of the ep is: "But being that way is a part of him, he doesn't have to change his behavior and improve as a friend, it's on Sylvia for not accepting him!" But the reason this part of Wander pisses Syl off isn't because she doesn't accept him for who he is, but because his actions are reckless, selfish (deep down) and dangerous
ALSO IN "THE END OF THE GALAXY" WHY DOES SYLVIA HAVE TO APOLOGIZE TO WANDER?! AFTER DOMINATOR FLEES THE GALAXY, AND HATER HELPS SAVE IT, SHE TELLS WANDER IN A GUILTY TONE OF VOICE: "WANDER, I AM SO SORRY FOR DOUBTING YOU, YOU WERE TOTALLY RIGHT"
WANDER SHOULD HAVE BEEN SCOLDED TO DEATH!!! DUDE RAN OFF ON HIS OWN AGAIN TO BEFRIEND A GENOCIDAL MANIAC (DOMINATOR), WITHOUT LETTING ANYONE KNOW, INCLUDING SYLVIA, WHO SPOTTED HIM ON DOM'S SHIP AND YELLED HOW WORRIED SHE WAS, AND DOMINATOR ALMOST KILLED SYLVIA WITH HER DRILL
IT ALL HAPPENED BECAUSE WANDER REFUSED TO LET KINDNESS GO THIS ONE TIME
I KNOW HE HAD GOOD INTENTIONS BUT HE COULD HAVE GOTTEN EVERYBODY KILLED, INCLUDING HIMSELF. NOT TO MENTION THAT HE ACCIDENTALLY TOLD DOMINATOR HIS FRIENDS' HIDING PLACE ON THAT SECLUDED PLANET
There's even a joke in "The Sky Guy" where Wander only said he would listen to Sylvia because her point rhymed. Spoiler: Wander DOESN'T end up listening to her and by the end of the episode, Sylvia has to sacrifice a magical mirror that could have saved countless lives from a dangerous psychopath known as Dominator so that a bunch of little creatures could be teleported and explore some other universe.
How about deal with Dominator first and THEN free the Bitties so they can explore THIS galaxy in peace instead of sending them away to a different dimension? Also, yeah, sending Dominator away would have saved the Yonder galaxy, but she'd have destroyed that other universe too. I guess everyone would have been fine with that cuz it wouldn't have been THEM getting destroyed. Sylvia actually contradicted this episode when she said in the last ep: "And let her do the same thing to another galaxy?! No way! This stops now!"
Wander literally said these exact words:
Sylvia: No. No knowin', no growin', or we'll be throwin' outta here, and Dominator will be blowin' our galaxy to bits!
Wander: Well, your point did rhyme, so okay.
Sylvia made another good point:
Sylvia: Buddy, I know, but we've got bigger problems than those small fries. If we don't stop Dominator, there may be no galaxy. Besides, aren't they better off not knowing about all the horrible stuff that's out there?
Seriously, the Bitties lived happy, comfortable lives, until Wander smashed their home on accident while trying to prove HIS OWN philosophy. Not every bad experience will get you to grow in a positive way. Some of them will make you permanently traumstized/change your entire worldview for the worse forever and you will struggle with these feelings your entire life. It isn't as simple as: "Every struggle will make you stronger!" The Bitties, in that dimension they were sent to, might have to deal with galactic overlords that could kill them. I would understand it more if the Bitties WANTED to explore the world but were trapped by Neckbeard, but it was WANDER who CHOSE FOR THEM. They didn't choose to abandon their previous lifestyle on their own. Unfair. Wander DOESN'T only present the positive path, he will also force people to follow it if he wants to
Tbh I think Wander needs consequences. I'm tired of the show excusing him and blaming Sylvia for caring about him like a best friend/sister/mom, of her trying to do the more pragmatic thing for the greater good and then being villainized bc it doesn't align with Wander's worldview
When Sylvia worries about him in "The Matchmaker," instead of Wander explaining to her that he simply wanted to send the letter to Dominator and not directly confront her, the conversation goes like:
Sylvia: Wander, sometimes you come up with crazy ideas that I would classify as, well, bad. But I only say that because I'm your best friend and I'm worried you get hurt. You see where I'm comin' from?
Wander: I sure do, Sylvia. But I have to ask you something, do you trust me?
Sylvia: Buddy, if you wanna get that letter to Dominator's ship, well... I'll be with you every step of the way.
Once again, Wander stays reckless, Sylvia stays loyal and nothing changes. Wander doesn't grow or apologize or try to be better. That can only mean that he doesn't take her fear seriously. Sylvia isn't some killjoy, she's a worried best friend/sister/mother figure. She may not understand Wander's zaniness cuz she's so pragmatic, but she wouldn't scold him for being zany if he didn't put himself and others in danger while being that way
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