Fictional characters you utterly loathe

Cafe Society
1

In any work of fiction, there are bound to be characters that just rub you the wrong way. And there are characters you love to hate. And, sometimes, there are characters that make you feel like slipping on some brass knuckles, grabbing the bastard by the throat, and pummeling their skull with blows until your fist comes away covered with brains.

OK, maybe that’s a little extreme. But, clearly, I’m talking about more than just mild dislike.

Note: This can apply to characters who were supposed to hated, or ones who weren’t, but just happen to get under your skin.

Anyway…my picks?

•“The Mayor”, Tom Goes to the Mayor
Nuff said.

•Haruka—FLCL Odd. Cute, even charismatic. And yet every moment I see her onscreen my knuckles clench white, and I taste the bile rising in my gorge.

•Lindsay Neagle, The Simpsons–You know, the woman who helped “design” Poochie, and Funzo? Who was a member of the MENSA branch that took over Springfield? Yeah.

•Robin from Batman Forever
Yeah, yeah, I know. That’s like saying you hate the Ebola virus because of the nausea. Moving on…

•Rachel Dawes in Batman Begins
Actually, I think this movie was the first time I ever watched Katie Holmes in anything for more than a few seconds. So maybe it’s her acting style, maybe it’s her voice. But I think it’s just the character’s irritating, holier-than-thou attitude. With a personality like that, she could tell you how it would be a bad idea to juggle rabid weasels, and it’d only make you want to do it more, just out of spite.

So…anyone else?

2

I’ve been watching the first two seasons of Oz (the HBO show from a few years back, set in a prison) and there are plenty of people to hate. Vile, venal, murderous, racist, selfish, manipulative, totally lacking in the qualities that make us human. Adebisi, Schillinger, Keller, O’Reily, the Governor, several of the guards.

Trouble is, except for the guards, the characters are so compelling that I end up sympathizing with the sonsabitches. They’re so much more interesting than the “nice” people. On TV anyway.

3

Just came from the FFX-2 thread, which has morphed into a General FF/Kingdom Hearts thread, so, this one has come to my mind…

Rinoa, Final Fantasy VIII - I can’t say anything nice about her at all. Not even that she’s good looking (she isn’t BAD looking, but nothing on either of the other girls), or is a useful character. She’s a whiney, manipulative bitch, with no redeeming qualities that I can see.

Squall’s little better. At least his jackassitude and dumbassery are funny sometimes, though.

4

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a powerful dislike for Scarlett O’Hara in the film version of GWTW. I guess we’re supposed to find Scarlett compelling and charming and saucy, but I just want to smack the bitch upside her pretty, empty li’l head.

5

Well, he may not be as well-known as some of the already mentioned examples, but I never liked Uriah Heep.

6

Rose, from Louisa May Alcott’s Rose in Bloom, the sequel to Eight Cousins.

Most of Alcott’s books are full of sanctimonious preaching, but you can swallow it in a book like Little Women. In Rose in Bloom, Rose (the main character), can be such a holier-than-thou, goody-goody, smug, pious little prig that sometimes you just despise her.

7

That’s who I was planning to mention, although I could cheerfully smack all the white characters in that movie after I was finished with Scarlett.

8

Have to second that. Though I’m not sure whether it was the character of Scarlett or Vivien Leigh who I couldn’t stand.

9

Jenny Fields from The World According to Garp. I hated her in the book. Glenn Close did such a good job of portraying her (IMHO) in the movie, I was glad to see her get iced. I also transferred my hate to Glenn Close for a while (like that makes any sense).

10

The stepfather in Bastard Out of Carolina is a loathsome bastard, but he was intended to be. I doubt anyone can read the book and wish Bone’s uncle with the shotgun would find him.

On the Road’s Dean Moriarty is a selfish, immature jackass who deserved a good bitchslap for abandoning his wives and kids.

Christopher Banks, in When We Were Orphans, is an English detective who goes to Shangai on the eve of WWII to find his parents, who were kidnapped decades before, and bitches that no one in the city will help him. Gee, who would think the Chinese soldiers would defend their city against the Japanese rather than help some random English guy who pops up and demands help finding people who anyone with half a brain would figure for dead?

11

Guy Gardner from various DC comics, especially Green Lantern related ones. I get the point of the character. He’s a hero, but still a complete and utter asshole. It’s just taht he’s too effectively portrayed as an ass to elict any response from me but rising bile.

12

Every single character in A.I. especially the whiney, little robo-kid.

13

Holden Caufield from Catcher in the Rye.

14

Galanna from The Hero and the Crown. If I were Aerin, I’d have done far worse to the little wench than just cut off her eyelashes.

Both the Eltons from Emma infuriate me, and they completely deserve each other.

15

Emma Bovary from Madame Bovary and Sue Bridehead from Jude the Obscure.

16

I’ll second that one.
Me, I’ve never liked Gambit.

17

It’s been years since I read the Hobbit, but I seem to remember that Bilbo came across a character that spoke in rhyme a lot. Can’t rememebr the details much, but I do remember being very disappointed with Tolkein for putting such a childish character in his book, especially after reading LOTR.

18

I see Uriah Heep as more creepy than loathable.

19

Blasphemy!!

20

I have read quite a bit of literature, but strangely enough, I can’t remember any character mustering my hatred more than Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter 5. Snape and the Malfoys were also irritating but by book 5 you were pretty much used to them, but Umbridge was in a league of her own, especially in what she managed to get away with.