Henry IV/YMMV

• Alternate Character Interpretation - Is Falstaff some kind of canny Magnificent Bastard who tests Hal, and is eventually surpassed, or just an old fat drunkard who represents the worst excesses of Hal's youth -- who is eventually outgrown?
• Ensemble Darkhorse - Falstaff. To the point that Orson Welles made a whole movie about him, and eventually Queen Elizabeth herself requested a play just about Falstaff -- The Merry Wives of Windsor.
• Fanon Discontinuity - Hal's first soliloquy, "I know you all", explains how he's not really a fun-loving rascal--he's just pretending to be one to make it more dramatic when he decides to get serious. A lot of the commentary on the play begins by carefully explaining why he doesn't really mean what he's saying.
  • Of course, if you don't ignore the soliloquy Hal gives, then he's easily the best chessmaster in Shakespeare.
• Large Ham - It's nearly contractually required to play Falstaff this way.