Basically all of the characters from Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta series… I don’t think I have ever read of a more thoroughly unlikable crew. Top spot goes to niece Lucy, however. The series really started going off the rails when she became a prime character.
The Bird from Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken. Not a fictional character, although I’m not sure if that’s a prerequisite for the thread. For the shit he put Louis through, he deserves to live the rest of his life in agonizing misery.
Oh, if we can go non-fiction, then definitely sign me up for every major character in Conspiracy of Fools.
It’s easy to hate the villains, people should talk about non-villains.
In the 90’s, I started the Nynaeve Hater’s club (nHc) on a Wheel of Time DikuMud. She is by far the most irritating character in the entire series. Elaine comes close to taking the crown by being Super Kidnap Girl but stops just before it becomes annoying.
I hate everyone in twilight too. I was trying to summarize the story to a friend and i could feel my ears turning red in embarrassment:
“So there’s this vampire that doesn’t drink blood and turns sparkly in the daylight. Sparkly? You know, like a rhinestone hairpin. Anyway, he falls in love with this girl because she smells really good. Why are you laughing? No, he doesn’t drink her blood, he only drinks blood from bears. What’s so funny? Then, there’s a werewolf boy who likes to take off his shirt…”
She’s the one that deliberately triggered the main character’s phobias, just to win a corporate power struggle, right? She’s the worst…
Most stories sound ridiculous if you described the plot without a lot of context.
Twilight is unusual in that the more context you add, the more ridiculous it gets.
Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I like animals, but I’d cheerfully beat this seagull to death.
By the sixth Harry Potter book I was sick of Ron, and would loved to have kicked his ass by the time he stormed off in book 7.
The other seagulls did. He got better.
Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest has my vote right next to Annie Wilkes from Misery.
I don’t know what exactly it is about Lucy, but you’re absolutely correct, and I am not by any means a violent person.
Benton drives me nuts too. And Scarpetta herself can be annoying as all get out. But Lucy is the one who really, REALLY sets my teeth on edge.
Men should not inflict physical violence on women, but sometimes, oh the temptation… I feel very hostile to Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone (sp.?), for the opposite reason. Kinsey is so bloody smug and pleased with herself and convinced that she’s perfect in all ways – I struggled through a couple of the “Alphabet Mysteries”, and then could stand no more of the self-satisfied biddy, and renounced the series. I like V.I. a great deal better, just because – largely owing to her stubbornness and penchant for bad decisions – her life is pretty much of a disaster.
Theon Greyjoy. Until Martin went medieval on his ass, and now I just feel sorry for him again.
It’s funny, I ALMOST posted Theon too, but…man…or rather…no longer a man :eek:
Ashley Wilkes, for me. All through the book, GWTW, he just wants to service Scarlett, and, per Rhett, doesn’t have the gumption to do it, but, keeps toying with her. He talks to Scarlett about how miserable Rhett is, and that he *defiles *her (her own husband, mind you!). Then, he has the balls to prate on about his love of ‘honor’. Bitch.
Agreed. I’ll also throw in everyone in the Belgariad except, I think, a guy they pulled out of the water onto the deck of the ship. He is my favorite character in the series, by virtue of having not lived long enough to annoy me.
Another vote for Holden Caulfield here. Whiny little shit needs a good kicking.
I’ve seen a bunch of characters that I’d agree need to suffer a serious smackdown, but thus far I haven’t seen two that are either at or near the top of my own personal list:
Hector Sambianco from the Unincorporated series by the Kollin brothers.
Zhaspahr Clyntahn from the Safehold series by David Weber.
i wish no ill will to any real human person.
But every woman in every novel who stands around waiting for some man to come rescue her (even metaphorically) deserves to have her butt kicked. And I don’t care if it’s a classic novel either (I’m looking at you Anna Karenina)
Never thought about savaging a character but she is one who deserves to be bastinado’d, racked, hung, and D&Q’d.
Staying with Gibson, how about Julie Dean from ‘Neuromancer’?
Nope. I have what I sometimes call the Balrog Threshold. At a certain point I stop caring about the plot or consistency and just want to unleash a Balrog on the character. Just have a flaming monster crash through the wall and go after them with a fire whip.