Throughout DeviantArt, there are several groups or followings that go against various characters. In one of my main fandoms, they're commonly Sally, Amy, and Shadow for reasons I desire not to explain. As a result, fans of those respective characters respond by joining groups designed to "protect" the character. In other words, responding to the anti-groups by providing reasons of their own and then showcasing stuff that either promotes or either criticizes or attack logic of the anti-character groups.

Disliking a character is perfectly acceptable, and not everyone likes every character. I, for one, love every character in this show, but off-fandom, there are characters I legitimately despise. One of them is the Haou/Supreme King in Yu-Gi-Oh GX. I hate him because unlike King Sombra, he's an awful all-around character (both in concept and execution). He attempts to be a sympathetic character because he's evil to survive the Dark World and does it by being monotone and cold, but that's not a good villain make. The Haou is extremely flat with little to no conviction, and he's extremely unsympathetic. Besides the Ancient Egypt flashback in the two-part duel between Jaden/Juudai and Yubel, there has been no good reason for the Haou to turn evil, and as a villain, the Haou has literally no depth of character.

But just because I despise a character doesn't give me the justification to start an anti-character group nor join one. What makes anti-character groups bad is how they tend to be passively drama-happy. The drama isn't in your face. It's submissive and hidden; it can create drama without will. The drama-happiness there is what results in these groups "protecting"/"defending" the character from its detractors.

But those groups, however, are just as bad, and the sad part of that is the fact that they don't know it. Protect-character groups are a response to the drama, and in fact, they tend to amplify the drama themselves. Just like anti-character followings, they passively create friction where they shouldn't. Sometimes, protect-character groups amplify such a group of very minimal detractors, making the dislike bigger than it truly is.

Princess Sally has had an equal amount of likers and detractors. I like Sally, but that's not enough for me to want to join ridiculous protect-Sally clubs nor find them justified.

Shadow has a massive following because he's cool, calm, moody, a deep thinker, frustrated, impatient, fast, intelligent, and thoughtful. There are hate clubs of Shadow that are rich in their distaste for him, but despite the passionate dislike for him and even more passionate admiration for him, protect-Shadow clubs aren't needed, either.

And this fanbase has one example: Princess Celestia.

Princess Celestia is said by some to be pretty disliked here, and the reason is the popular fanons of her like Trollestia, Molestia, and Tyrant!Celestia/Tyrantia. Because they're very popular, there's a perception that Celestia isn't a well-liked character; as a result, stamps, groups, and journals "defend" or "protect" the character.

Contrary to what some think, Princess Celestia is extremely well-liked and is a very beloved character in this fandom. She may not be in the top five or top ten all the time, but she's highly respected, honored, and commemorated. Throughout my time in this fandom, I've seen only six people say they outright dislike her. I, for one, love Luna AND Celestia. But because of the more popular fanon perceptions of her, she's viewed as widely disliked, which is nothing more than accentuated unnecessity.

And why is her "hate" amplified? Four reasons:

1. Celestia, as said before, has many fanons that are just as well-liked or a tad more. But because her fanons are well-liked doesn't mean they dislike Celestia's canon personality or outright hate her. I'm a big fan of Tyrant!Celestia because there's a lot of room of what could work for her. Celestia is beloved, but what about when she was younger, when personalities tend to go through changes and development, especially after sealing Night Mare Moon? In other words, maybe growing pains and even bigger sense of responsibility with difficulty to adjust them right away? In fact, most of the people who follow or like these fanon depictions of Celestia LIKE her canon depiction, too.
   
2. The New Lunar Republic vs. Celestial Empire. This is nothing more than a parody of common Western political parties. Just because someone associates playfully with a party doesn't mean they like one character and hate the other.
   
3. Because Luna is liked more. When Luna has a bigger following, there begins the perception that Celestia isn't liked at all, when it's false. I like Celestia a little more than Luna, but Luna deserves the big following it has.
   
4. Because Celestia currently doesn't have the depth both Luna and Cadance have, and as a Celestia fan, that's understandable.
    
   We've seen so much of Princess Luna: confidence, playful, proud, concerned, doubtful, but still trying to get accustomed to the modernized world of Equestria — Back when Celestia and Luna co-ruled the country, it was a much more primitive world technologically. It isn't the case anymore with movies, TV theaters, switchable lights, and video games.
    
   Cadance also has had some significant character development in both Canterlot Wedding and Crystal Empire: caring, kind, weak in strength, extremely patient, desperate, determined, and stubborn. She has a multitude of strengths and flaws that make her a likeable character.
    
   Celestia hasn't had an episode where her character is extremely explored; take a look at some of the wish lists — A Celestia episode (either secondary or co-primary with Luna) was one of them. With Scootaloo finally getting more screentime, Celestia is the last prominent protagonist to not have significant spotlight, and characters rise in "most-favorite" lists because of character explorations. She's sweet, kind, confident, loyal, intelligent, protective, skilled, wise, and patient. But we don't really know much about her besides this. She's an extremely likeable character in personality, but there needs to be more of her characterization. An episode featuring her and exploring Celestia's character, backstory, relationship with the other characters, and everyday life besides leading and raising the sun would shed so much more needed depth (psychological strengths and flaws) for her.
   

If you want to shed more of a positive light on characters, show it through posts about her. Kyronea wrote several OPs exploring the Mane Six and what their strengths and faults are. Do craft that promote the character or add more depth in them like fanfic, fanart, comics, music, etc. Lullaby for a Princess is an excellent song exploring what Celestia may feel in battling Night Mare Moon and sealing Luna in the Moon. Join character groups or followings that promote the character rather than waste your time by joining groups "protect" or "defend" the character. Only join a "protect-character" group if there is extreme justification, not out of impulse, and REALLY research before doing so. Group(s) and content "protecting" or "defending" Celestia, for one, are downright unnecessary, have no solid justification, waste valuable time, and merely promote the miniscule "hate" she has.