Are you familiar with the phrase, “Make it shine?” The hit Nickelodeon show “Victorious” attracted popularity in the early 2010s due to its engaging plots and relatable characters. The latter proved to be especially important as children fantasized about becoming these up-and-coming Hollywood stars.
Each character fulfilled a standard archetype: Jade West as the scary emo, Cat Valentine as the bubbly chick, Beck Oliver as the brooding stud, Robbie Shapiro as the gawky nerd, Andre Harris as the logical guy who gets asked to support everyone on their side quests and Trina Vega as the conceited older sister. Finally, Tori Vega — the character whom the show is named after — is the generic protagonist that kids are supposed to picture themselves as.
Tori Vega (Victoria Justice, “Zoey 101”) was obviously cast to fit the ideal of a conventionally attractive teenage girl. Her slim figure, warm smile and high cheekbones (mentioned as a running gag throughout the show) are stereotypical of a pretty main character. The showrunners wanted her to embody a notorious “y/n” spirit.
Thus, to make her personality suitable for all starstruck preteens to relate to, she has no personality at all. Shy, quiet kids can’t identify with a loud, rambunctious character and vice versa. Furthermore, she doesn’t have particularly interesting dialogue or character development.
The official NickRewind YouTube account posted the video, “Tori Vega’s Most SAVAGE Moments and Comebacks in Victorious!” with a countdown of her supposed savagery. Number one is just a performance of a song, but number two displays how Tori’s alleged allure relies on the characters around her.
In a drama exercise where Tori and Jade must have a dialogue with sentences that start with the first letter in alphabetical order, the pair starts hurling insults back and forth. Eventually, Jade breaks the pattern and lets out a frustrating scream. The tension was already building from the quarreling, but viewers only felt the culmination of this hostility from Jade’s provocative reaction. This does not demonstrate Tori’s ferociousness; instead, more focus is given to Jade. Tori Vega was manufactured to be a boring, malleable identity, only made interesting by the wacky circumstances and even wackier characters around her.
Besides being plain and overly dependent on the characters around her, Tori is a nuisance to watch. When I casually searched “Tori Vega annoying” on YouTube, I was greeted with tons of videos racking up millions of views each. Even NickRewind posted an eight-minute video entitled “Tori Vega Being a Bad Friend for 9 Minutes Straight.”
One of the most viewed YouTube compilations, “tori vega being entitled and annoying for 2 minutes and 43 seconds” by kobe c, is a classic example of why fans hated Tori. The video starts with a clip of Jade confronting Tori because she decided to plan a school formal (lamely called “prome,” — get it? It’s prom with an “e” — an irrational reason to hate Tori, but still valid) at the same time as Jade’s performance. Jade had been rehearsing for this performance before the idea of “prome” even entered Tori’s mind. However, when Jade tells Tori to cancel her event, calling it “prom” out of spite, Tori only responds to correct it to “prome.”
In another instance, Tori tries to keep the attention of a music executive and begins playing part of a song that Andre wrote, only to pass it off as her own. The video cuts to a clip of her calling it “our song” to emphasize her glorious betrayal.
Anyone would criticize Tori based on these actions. She was self-centered, careless and insensitive. But most importantly, she just wasn’t funny.
Flaws are built into the very fiber of every supporting character. But each of their flaws has humorous implications. When Jade or Trina do something unethical, there is a sense of personality and stimulation. Jade bullying Tori always involves clever insults, and Trina’s crazy actions and self-indulgent behavior are ridiculous enough to induce a chuckle. These attitudes are acknowledged as wrong but still appear more forgivable when the classic laugh track kicks in. Meanwhile, Tori continuously performs morally questionable actions without any comic relief, defeating the very purpose of a sitcom.
Additionally, it is universally acknowledged that Tori Vega was not the most talented of the cast. Ariana Grande, who starred as Cat Valentine, became a much more successful pop star, with two GRAMMY wins along with being named Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2018. In a school designed to breed talent and charisma, Tori’s moderate performances further highlight her mundane personality. When I see how much more amazing the other cast members are, I wonder why the show was centered around Tori in the first place.
In fact, my all-time favorite performance was Jade and Cat’s legendary duet, “Give It Up!” Not only did they stun fans with their flawless technique and incredible range, their chemistry and on-stage charisma was unmatched. Tori has a sweet voice, but she could never belt out the riffs or generate the sassy stage presence that Jade and Cat do.
Maybe Tori would be more likable if she was another passing side character. It’s a travesty that she doesn’t exude “main character energy” when the entire show is named after her. Without any particular quirks for audiences to latch onto, every bothersome detail becomes accentuated. By trying to make her appeal to everyone, she ends up shrinking into a sorry shell of a protagonist.
Similarly, tarot cards and astrological signs try to include bits and pieces of every personality to cover as many people as possible. This strategy, regardless of medium, never works. The biggest mistake that went into the creation of Tori Vega was the lack of anything entertaining at her core. Her friends, teachers and external circumstances are entertaining, but anyone would be bored to death (and possibly offended, or is that just me?) if placed in a room with her alone.
Daily Arts Contributor Tara Wasik can be reached at tarawas@umich.edu.