User blog:AustinDR/Character Retrospect: Luan

And now, the last eldest sister to discuss. Luan Loud. Luan is the fourth eldest child of the Loud family whose roommate is Luna. Everyone knows about her. We know that she's an aspiring comedian with a pendant for telling bad puns, and how she has her own business. I don't mean to sound rather blunt, but I don't feel the need to completely go into her personality as it's pretty obvious. She's goofy, energetic, mischievous, bubbly, etc. So, we all have a basic idea of what her overall personality is. Now, by my list of who I considered my favorite of the Loud sisters, she scores around #5. Now, I know that many fans of the Loud House hate this particular character for reasons I'll get into later, but my overall opinion of her is mixed. I don't necessarily care for her, but I also don't necessarily hate her. If anything, I just tend to get mildly annoyed by her bad jokes. Some of the jokes are funny, don't get me wrong, but other times, I nearly want to rip my hair out. Take "Suite and Sour." Part of the reason as to why I found the episode average is partially because of Luan. She just says bad pun after bad pun that it started to get on my nerves. It was to the point that I wanted to scream at my TV saying "Shut up, Luan!" So for the most part, I just find Luan annoying.

Now for the big one: "April Fools' Rules!" Now before you shoot me, I have to admit that I didn't hate this episode. I found the episode okay for the most part, but I do agree with the issues that other fans have for this episode. Simply put, Luan is an outright psychopath in this episode who terrorizes her family every April Fools' Day, leaving chaos and destruction in her path. I mean, this episode was legitimately terrifying as I felt that Luan was unhinged in this episode. It's as though she bottles up all of her mischief, letting it simmer until April Fools' Day rears its ugly head, then she becomes a complete, demented, psycho who has absolutely no qualms with harming her own family in the name of comedy. I mean, she could give the Joker and Discord a run for their money. Just good god....I was deathly afraid of this episode. It's as though the Loud House suddenly became a horror show. What's worse is that despite all of the pain and devastation she had caused, she gets away with everything. Sure, she gets a pie in the face, but that's why giving a criminal a smack on the wrist. She is never made to pay for making her family petrified with fear, but what I hate the most about this is that Luan never considers that her pranks could be deathly dangerous. She never once thinks that she could seriously hurt or maim her loved ones; if anything, she'd probably laugh it off as a joke. That is all that I can say on "April Fools' Rules!" I'm going to sit in my happy place and try to forget about Psycho!Luan.

If anything, while that was Luan's worst episode, I found that she has a few moments where she can be genuinely benevolent, or at least easy to get along with. For instance, in "Funny Business," while Lincoln does end up stealing Luan's thunder, she still helps him out with a birthday party he was hired to entertain. I also liked "Ties that Bind" in which she was going to accompany her sisters to demand that they reconsider kicking Lincoln out. Granted, it was all a misunderstanding, but it just goes to show how deeply the she cares for Linc. Additionally, as much as I am terrified of Psycho!Luan, I have to admit that she is a mad genius when it comes to setting up her schemes. I'd think even the Joker would be impressed by the level of thought she puts into her pranks. Yeah, I wish that they were toned down to a zenith, but I digress.

Overall, Luan is a mixed bag for me. On the one hand, I find her annoying and she tends to get too invested in her pranks, but I also found myself chuckling at a few of her jokes, even though they are really bad. With all that being said, she more than earns the #5 spot on my list.