Creator's Pet/Film

• Alice from the Resident Evil movie series is, to say the least, not universally popular amongst fans of the games, but she is the absolute darling of writer/producer/director Paul W. S. Anderson-- in a rather literal sense, seeing as he is married to the actress who plays her. She is often accused of being overpowered and stealing the spotlight from the games' characters. The phrase "Alice is back" was used to promote Resident Evil: Afterlife, as if to rub it in the faces of those who would prefer she weren't in the movie at all.
• Mater has constantly been pushed as the face of Cars, becoming the linchpin of the plot of the sequel, getting the most screentime. One of the biggest complaints about Cars 2 was the fact that he got the most screentime. Definitely not helped by the fact that he's voiced by Larry the Cable Guy.
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Skids and Mudflap were the most unanimously hated characters, but Michael Bay admitted to liking them. Sort of subverted due to them suffering Chuck Cunningham Syndrome in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, even having their death scene cut.