In movies and television, there are always characters that the viewers hate. Most of the time, they are villainous characters meant to be evil, but sometimes, the hated characters are the ones that are on the protagonist’s side or maybe even the main character. This list is all the characters that made the movie or show worse by their involvement and why they may annoy some audience members.
The first character on the list is Caillou. Caillou is the main character from the children’s show named after him, where he’s a typical toddler going through life while learning and exploring things. What makes him so annoying is that he throws a crying tantrum whenever anything doesn’t go his way. This usually results in his parents giving him whatever he wants, with no consequence for his actions. Many people blame his parents for not teaching him his manners.
Dolores Umbridge from the “Harry Potter” universe is the second on the list. Umbridge first appeared in “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” where she was a teacher at Hogwarts during Harry Potter’s fifth year. During her time as a teacher, she micromanaged both students and faculty, tortured children, and attempted murder through magic. Her most famous scene that portrays her cruel punishment was when Harry got in trouble and was sent to talk to her. She made him write “children must not tell lies” with a pen using no ink, and after writing the phrase, the pen started to painfully scar the words into Harry’s hand, causing him immense pain. This was seen as a large overstep of a punishment for what Harry did.
Iris West is the wife of Barry Allen from “The Flash” show on The CW Network. She started as a friend and sister-like character to Barry in his backstory before he got his superspeed. Barry’s secret romantic feelings for Iris were established early on and became a regular storyline for the show during the first season. They eventually got together during the second season and married in the third. The problem with her emerged as the show declined in quality around season five. She represented the bad writing in the show, with her character’s depth getting worse over time. Many people think her character never listens to other characters’ suggestions and opinions. She is hated for many smaller reasons throughout the show’s fanbase, with a popular one being her cringy scripted lines, beginning when she says “We are the Flash” to Barry.
Jar Jar Binks, from the “Star Wars” movie, “The Phantom Menace,” was an outcast from his swamps on the planet Naboo, who met the Jedi masters and fought by their side before turning to politics on the planet Coruscant. He was introduced for comic relief, with his clumsy nature and strange way of speaking being a common trope within the movie. It did not pan out well, with his goofy humor style being a large shift in tone from the serious movies that came before it. When the movie originally came out, hardcore fans expected much more than it delivered since it was the first movie from the series in 23 years, and people were anticipating a well-made prequel. The tone has shifted since then, with Jar Jar becoming a popular meme character.
In the immensely popular show “Breaking Bad,” Skylar White is the wife of Walter, the main character. Walter is a high-school chemistry teacher who turns into a drug cook and slowly goes further and further into madness over the course of the show. Many people dislike Skylar because she is unsupportive towards his business for much of the show. However, others argue that she reacts how any regular wife would when she finds out about his involvement in the drug industry. Skylar is also shown multiple times secretly smoking cigarettes during her pregnancy with her daughter, which is frowned upon by many people.
The movie “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” follows Charlie Bucket on his tour of the chocolate maker Willy Wonka’s factory after finding a ticket in a chocolate bar. Grandpa Joe, along with Charlie’s other grandparents, was bedridden for decades, causing Charlie to go poor while taking care of his grandparents. As soon as he learns about Charlie’s ticket, he dances and sings around the room. This is seemingly because he was energized by the excitement of getting a trip to the chocolate factory, although that seems very unlikely. The song he sings repeatedly says he has the golden ticket, although it was Charlie’s ticket and he was just a guest. Later, at the factory, Willy Wonka explicitly states that the group should not drink the ‘Fizzy Lifting Drink,’ as they would float in the air. After Wonka leaves, Grandpa Joe suggests to Charlie that they try the drink, although Wonka had told them not to. This soon resulted in both Charlie and Grandpa Joe almost flying into a fan and getting close to injuring them. This shows Grandpa Joe’s self-centeredness with other people.
The next most annoying character is Jerry, the mouse. “Tom and Jerry” is a typical slapstick cartoon show. It features Tom, a cat who gets hurt time and time again trying to capture Jerry, a mouse who is forever running from Tom. Although Jerry is portrayed as the hero, trying not to get eaten, many people empathize with Tom’s perspective when watching the show. Jerry can be seen as smug because often, when he traps and hurts Tom, he makes a high-pitched, annoying laugh and points at Tom, seeming to make fun of him. Although he runs from Tom, Jerry usually goes over the top to hurt him.
In the Lord of the Rings universe, Denethor was the Steward of Gondor and had two sons, Boromir and Faramir. He favored the eldest, Boromir because he believed that he would take his place ruling over Gondor after Denethor passed. This made Faramir feel neglected by his father, and he constantly had to try to prove his worth. After Boromir died in battle, Denethor went crazy because of his grief and made poor decisions for his city. He refused to help Rohan in their time of need. When Gondor was attacked by the Orc Army, he retreated and acted cowardly during the battle, ignoring the rightful king of Gondor’s suggestions. He also said that he wished Faramir had died instead of Boromir. Many people do not see why Denethor neglected Faramir because he and Boromir were good people and would have made exceptional stewards.
There are many annoying characters in the South Korean show “Squid Game” but Seon-nyeo, or player 044, from season two, is arguably the worst. She had worked as a shaman before the games, losing much money and entering the contest to pay off her debt. She often uses her ability to speak to spirits when talking to people and playing the games, guiding her on what to do. She is hated because she acts better than everyone else in the games, although they were all there because they had debt. She acted very arrogant and selfish, breaking alliances with people during the games and only winning through luck. Many people do not like that she behaves superior to others in the games and that she indirectly causes a large fight that eliminates many of the players.
All throughout different forms of fiction, there will always be characters present that commonly aggravate the viewership. Many characters could be added to the list, but audiences’ opinions may vary greatly on who is considered the most annoying character in fiction.
