The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper is a complex character – some fans love him, others can't stand him. His prequel series hasn't done much to salvage the situation with the latter either.

In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon is essentially a big baby, and everyone around him largely chooses to enable him because he is too annoying to deal with. The adult version of the character has repeatedly hinted at how bad his childhood was, so viewers and his friends alike have frequently made excuses for his behavior.

Sheldon was supposedly bullied in school (he seems to have exaggerated this to some extent), his father was an abusive drunk (in reality, he enjoyed the occasional beer and wouldn't hurt a fly), and as a boy, he had no one to turn to with his unique issues and experiences (again, not true, as he had a lot of adults and peers to get advice from).

Young Sheldon was created to further explore the character and show audiences how bad Sheldon really had it to become who he became. The thing is, the prequel series is a family sitcom, so the writers had to make it more lighthearted and tone down the drama. As a result, the show completely misses the mark and makes Sheldon even less relatable than before, as Reddit users brilliantly pointed out.

Ever since his childhood, the Nobel Prize winner-to-be has always thought that he knows everything (and if not everything, at least better than everyone else). He doesn't listen to his family or peers – he even ignores the people he claims to hold in high regard, like Doctor Sturgis.

Sheldon has had plenty of time to learn all the social cues and become a decent human being. He just decided not to do any of it. So whatever sympathy the fandom might have for him loses all value because Sheldon has truly brought it all on himself.

Still, both The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon are well-written and meaningful shows and should simply be considered as standalone stories. That way, no one would have any mixed feelings about Sheldon Cooper.

Do you like Sheldon as a character?

Source: Reddit