# Characters that ruin a work for you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195 "2012-09-19T17:45:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/21 "2012-09-19T20:26:57Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > All the female characters on **NewsRoom**. Holy cow, how could I have forgotten about **Maggie**?!? ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/22 "2012-09-19T20:44:13Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I watched exactly one and one half episodes of Dexter. I have enough annoying people in my life that I have to listen to; I saw no point in adding Dexter’s sister to the mix. I’m not sure whether the character is horribly written or whether Jennifer Carpenter is a horrible actress but wow is she awful. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/23 "2012-09-19T20:56:04Z")
One of the reasons I stopped watching Six Feet Under was the fact that I found Billy whiny and crazy and annoying and totally unbearable. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/24 "2012-09-19T20:56:36Z")
For anime, I can’t stand the trope of having a comic relief character whose sole shtick is bursting in, screaming loud, waving arms, screaming loud, and, ha ha isn’t this funny…screaming loud! _Planetes_ was unwatchable for me, and I hated the _Ranma 1/2_ episodes with the surfer dude. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/25 "2012-09-19T21:03:00Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > **Abby** on _NCIS_: She’s cute as a button, but sanctimonious, helpless, and judgmental…and the goth thing has gone on for waaaaay too long. The cutesy thing is wearing thin. She is 43 years old. Just a couple seasons ago they mentioned the character was in her late 20s. I would have done a spit take if I was drinking something. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/26 "2012-09-19T21:09:43Z")
I wouldn’t say ruined, exactly, but I am always tempted to skip over anything having to do with Grawp in the Harry Potter novels. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/27 "2012-09-19T21:35:03Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Ross in _Friends_. Okay, the spineless, whiney, droopyfaced schmuck gets _cue angel music_ Rachel? I’m outta here. I’m the reverse: Rachel annoys the shit out of me! It’s combination of Ross dumping a compatible woman for Rachel, and Jennifer Anniston bitching about Brad “trading up”. ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/28 "2012-09-19T21:58:16Z")
Yahweh, _The Holy Bible_. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/29 "2012-09-19T22:01:52Z")
> [@Docta\_G](#): > > Yahweh, _The Holy Bible_. If you want to discuss the Bible, start a thread in Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/30 "2012-09-19T22:01:59Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > One of the reasons I stopped watching Six Feet Under was the fact that I found Billy whiny and crazy and annoying and totally unbearable. Same here. I think I even started a thread about how much this character drove me crazy. ([Found it. Similarly themed thread to this one.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=570543)) Then my wife bought me the DVD set for Christmas. I plowed my way through the Billy scenes to learn that Crazy Billy largely disappears for the rest of the show, except for a 3-4 episode arc where he gets it on with Claire and, yes, stops taking his meds. ---
**Author:** ![DZedNConfused](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dzednconfused/32/15991_2.png) [@DZedNConfused](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DZedNConfused)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/31 "2012-09-19T23:42:49Z")
Ramses Emerson in Elizabeth Peters’ Amelia Peabody Series. He is annoying, pedantic, smug a know it all and he’s EIGHT years old! I bogged down forever after book 4 because of him. Thankfully he wasn’t as bad in Book five. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/32 "2012-09-20T11:59:12Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > The kid in _Shane_. Specifically, his voice. Oh Jebus, how I want to silence him forever. > > Seriously, I will never own this marvelous movie because I refuse to have that voice in my house. Bwhaaaa… Brandon deWilde. I found him almost as annoying in **Hud** but, admittedly, it was for traits that actually made him a perfect fit for the character. Had you mellowed on him by then? Just curious, would you own **Hud**? I’m not real crazy about him but in his short life he was right in the middle of two absolutely awesome flicks. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/33 "2012-09-20T12:31:24Z")
Ruby Rhod in _The Fifth Element_. Yeah, he was _supposed_ to be an annoying guy - he succeeded _too well_. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/34 "2012-09-20T12:37:20Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Ruby Rhod in _The Fifth Element_. Yeah, he was _supposed_ to be an annoying guy - he succeeded _too well_. I love the movie now, but oh man, that character just ruined it for me the first time around. I’ll nominate damned near every character in _Lost_. When I realized after the first season that I didn’t care if any of them lived or died - or frankly, was leaning toward a preference for “died” - I stopped watching. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/35 "2012-09-20T12:55:20Z")
Dora in _David Copperfield_. The book keeps referring to her as being “impractical.” I’m sorry, but Dora is mentally challenged and has the intellect of a 6-year-old. That’s not a character flaw, but she should not have been allowed to marry David. It becomes clear in the book (at least today it does; maybe it didn’t in 1850), but it angers me so much I really can’t read the book, and I’m a Dickens lover. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/36 "2012-09-20T13:01:30Z")
I second Lori from The Walking Dead and Maggie from Newsroom. ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/37 "2012-09-20T13:08:01Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Pistols at dawn. IF YOU MAKE IT THAT FAR. I know people, you know. I’ll be your second. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/38 "2012-09-20T13:09:53Z")
Can’t stand Gambit in the X-Men; any Gambit, any X-Men. Then again, last time I saw him he’d just discovered he was cooked from Summers stock, which I guess explains it: the whole family makes my hands itch, and not in a nice way. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/39 "2012-09-20T13:10:15Z")
It’s off the air now, and I wouldn’t say they ‘ruined’ it, but Lynette and Tom’s grown sons on Desperate Housewives irritated me. They sucked up valuable air time with their dumb sub-plots and they were just really plug-ugly doofuses, to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195/40 "2012-09-20T13:20:36Z")
> [@Mauvaise](#): > > I’ll be your second. No worries, I’ll recruit Skald, he’s always promised if I need it he’d send killer bees or some such. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-that-ruin-a-work-for-you/635195.md?page=3)