Lyra Belacqua, aka Lyra Silvertongue, actually. 
Aside from being pedantic, I’m here to nominate Scarlett Johansen’s character from Lost in Translation. Seriously, she’s supposed to be so bright but she can’t find anything interesting about being in a foreign country at all? Tired l/r-confusion jokes at the expense of the natives are the best she can do?
Yum-O!
To this day, I still can’t watch Curb Your Enthusiasm without wanting to leap through the screen to thump Larry David with a large blunt object.
Apparently he’s supposed to be a hapless shmuck that the viewer ends up liking despite his constant whining neurotic jackass behaviour… or so says my ex-BF (whose questionable taste in television was one of many factors that contributed to our breakup). However, I’ve yet to find a single redeeming quality in his character.
I haven’t watched a ton of Curb, Alouette, but I thought Larry’s character was supposed to be a whiny, petty dickhead and the comedy comes from what a dick he is. I never got the sense he was supposed to be a well-meaning bumbler. He’s an asshole, and in fact he often gets what’s coming to him.
Erkel used to make me want to kick in the TV.
2nd on Anakin Skywalker, there was nothing remotely likeable about him (to me) in episodes 1-3. Padme too, although she was a bit more likeable in ep. 1.
2nd on Kirsten Dunst’s MJ too, although I actually don’t like Peter either (or anyone in those movies, really). Same for S. Johansen’s Lost in Translation girl.
Was anyone in Closer supposed to be likeable (without going into discussion about anyone’s looks)? If so I nominate them.
I’d happily drop the whole of Torchwood into that volcano. Except Ianto and Tosh are so wet, they’d probably put the damn thing out … so what then would we do with smug Jack, thick-as-a-brick Gwen, and (especially) that slimy self-satisfied scum-sucking date rapist Owen?
I must admit, I did not read the entire thread but I became a little bit confused about the use of the word “tool” to describe these people. Who are these people being willingly used by? What makes the term “tool” applicable to them. I’m not saying these characters are likable, but I feel that the term “tool” is not being used properly.
The one I really disagree with is House. That guy is anything but a tool. Sure he’s dislikable, but if anything he’s always fighting his own fight. Nobody is using that guy anywhere, because he wouldn’t tolerate it for a second. Who is using Mary Jane? She seems to be working very hard for herself despite being whiney.
Perhaps I missed something later in the thread though.
The word ‘tool’ is also synonymous with ‘jerk / prick / arse / generally unlikeable person’ in slang. It can be a catchall term for people like Mary Jane (or Scarlett Johansenn’s character in Lost in Translation, or Larry David, and so on).
Tool = penis = dick = someone I don’t like.
Ashely Wilkes in Gone with the Wind.
WTF was up with Scarlett adoring this milquetoast?
She was totally unlikeable too. I could see Rhett wanting her because she was hot, but what a bitch. I was so glad when he left her… but we were supposed to be glad, right? We weren’t supposed to like her, were we?
I also agree with Paul Atreides from Dune. Once you read God Emperor, and realize what his son went through to undo his cowardly cop-out decisions, you really want to kick his ass across the space-time continuum. Turns out to be a complete asshole once you have all the facts.
LOL! There was a billboard campaign for our Lottery featuring David Schwimmer. All I could think was that he had already won the Lottery by being one of the several untalented and unlikeable characters on Friends.
I think we have glossed over the “Everybody Loves Raymond” characters too quickly. I really, really can’t stand that bunch. I do not love Raymond; I don’t even feel any sympathy for him when his wife cuts his balls off and shows him their dripping, still beating carcasses every show. And his mother - killed, cut into small pieces, and ground up and fed to stray dogs. His dad - eh. He can live. His brother - just institutionalize the oversized bastard already.
I dunno, I think the word ‘tool’ is much more specific than someone you just don’t like. As per the Urban Dictionary:
tool, N ; One who lacks the mental capacity to know he is being used. A fool. A cretin. Characterized by low intelligence and/or self-steem.
whups
I’ll add that I think Lyra is SUPPOSED to be kind of a brat. She’s manipulative and vicious to the people she doesn’t like, and if she is trying to help someone, she will be as mean as she needs to be in order to do it.
I detest almost every single “Disney Princess” to date. They’re supposed to be these sweet-hearted girls whom you root for and sympathize with and who are allegedly supposed to be good “role models” for little girls, but they’re all whiny and helpless. Especially Cinderella–Lord, I want to kill her! I suppose Jasmine is OK, but she still annoys the heck out of me.
If only Lilo were a princess! Pickle-jar voodoo, bad sci-fi movies, and Elvis sound like the perfect hobbies for little girls to get into. 
Belacqua was her *slave * name. Silvertongue’s the name she chose for herself.
I mean, really. You think she was better off striving for the love and approval of Lord Asriel or of Iorek Byrnison?
As I mentioned in the OP, they pretty much define the category. Debra’s the only one with any redeeming characteristics, and that’s that she’s got nice legs.
I think Zach Braff is cute, I liked Scrubs until recently, and Garden State is one of my favorite movies.
That said, I came in here to mention the entire cast of this movie, which is The Last Kiss. I hated Braff’s character. He was a whiny, annoying, selfish, incredibly wimpy asshole. Rachel Blison isn’t cute enough to give her character a pass for being a mean, stupid person. I couldn’t for the life of me see the spark that was supposed to exist between these two. All of Braff’s friends were immature idiots, I hated every single one of those obnoxious pigs.
Jacinda Barrett’s Jenna was mildly likeable, but only because she was in sympathetic circumstances.