Character types you hate - any media

[the December King]

Single fighters beating up droves of larger, trained attackers. Usually, this is an average-sized man defeating many larger men in hand to hand combat, but can often be a woman as well, to emphasize the difference (though the attackers are almost invariably ALWAYS men), but in any case, my original urge to root for the 'weaker' party or the 'underdog' is almost always instantly shut down, because it's a movie and they are the protagonist, and will likely NOT be soundly thrashed (like they realistically would be).

Usually this character is a Mary Sue and is awesome at everything.

...

As you can see, I don't like action/fighting movies all that much.

 

[Erttheking]

The ass-kicking female that meets a man and instantly stops kicking ass just so she can be saved by said man.

I had very real worries for Tauriel after Peter Jackson shoehorned in that painful "this elf falls in love with a dwarf really fast" romance angle, that she would get in deep with orcs only to be rescued by Kili, so I was pleasantly surprised when she continued to save him. It's an incredibly stupid plot twist that insults the audience because they think we don't believe anyone can fall in love without the woman being saved by the man, and it just horribly undermines the characterization of the female.

It's a way to say, "We've got a strong female character" while still using the same lazy ass tropes that can, at worst, be called sexist.

Basically a Faux Action Girl. A woman who is made out to be a total asskicker, but has to be saved by a man.

Double points of hated if in universe she's supposed to be more skilled than the man.

 

[Eddie the head]

None, I think.

Any character type can be enjoyable if done well. Ryan Gosling is a quiet, non-emotive guy in Drive, and I love him. Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a quiet, non-emotive guy in Godzilla, and I fucking dispise him (and the movie). Joel is a grizzled angry man with a tragic past in The Last of Us, and I think he's terrific. Kratos is a grizzled angry man with a tragic past in God of War, and... well, you know.

However, the smart-mouthed kid can generally fuck right off.

I would agree with this for the most part. If you do something well I don't much care if it's a trope, or a character archetype.

 

[Ambitiousmould]

Basically the people Jesse Eisenberg plays. I hated his character in The Social Network, in Now You See Me, in Zombieland and that one episode of Modern Family. I think I was meant to sort of be on his side throughout Zombieland, but he just seemed like a self-sorry prick. Same in the other three, except he was also a narcissistic prick to boot. Then again I might be meant to hate him there. If so, good job Mr. Eisenberg, you play your characters well.

I just hope he isn't like that in real life because if he is I imagine every single person he meets hates him. If not then he does an exceptional job at those three characters.

Also Claptrap. Fuck me I hate that character. "That funny little robot" my arse. I found having swine flu to be funnier.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Single fighters beating up droves of larger, trained attackers. Usually, this is an average-sized man defeating many larger men in hand to hand combat, but can often be a woman as well, to emphasize the difference (though the attackers are almost invariably ALWAYS men), but in any case, my original urge to root for the 'weaker' party or the 'underdog' is almost always instantly shut down, because it's a movie and they are the protagonist, and will likely NOT be soundly thrashed (like they realistically would be).

Usually this character is a Mary Sue and is awesome at everything.

...

As you can see, I don't like action/fighting movies all that much.

Depends which action movies you're watching. Ninja Scroll starts off with the hero taking out three goons without breaking a sweat, yet he gets his ass kicked by the first two main baddies he comes across (twice by the second one), and achieves victory only due to interference from others.

Action and fight scenes need to have somekind of struggle, otherwise it's not fun to watch. Watching The Raid, for instance, and seeing one dude take out entire hallway filled with goons like it's nothing is just boring.

 

[K12]

Helpless children who whine all the time but have absolutely no personality of their own.

It's especially annoying when these characters act as if they are about 5 years younger than they really are. You get 12 year olds saying things like "Mummy, make the bad man go away".

 

[Lilani]

It's not really a "character type," but it's a plot device that's often used to create conflict between characters and it really bugs the shit out of me: the liar revealed. The story where, whether by accident or necessity, the protagonist has lied about something and at the most crucial moment the people they have lied to discover the lie, feel betrayed, hate the protagonist, and then the protagonist has to do something to earn their trust again and prove they were trying to do the right thing.

It bothers me because you can see it coming a mile away, you know how it's going to end, and it just makes whatever direction the character development was taking and bottlenecks it down the same path a million other stories have gone. It kind of makes all other character development irrelevant because no matter what you've established before everyone ends up slipping into those predetermined molds: Protagonist feels bad, other characters feel betrayed and angry and make stupid decisions because emotions, protagonist saves the day, other characters forgive protagonist and learn to trust again, everybody is happy. It's just soooo boring, and makes me give up on seeing any more character development once they set up the lie.

 

[Legomaniac91_v1legacy]

The one type of character that irritates me is the character that doesn't grow. Here are a few example to better understand my meaning.

The main 3 from Evangelion. I 'm not gonna bring out the beaten horse of complaints against them (Shinji is a whimp! Askua is a *****! Rei has no personality!). The main reason these three get on my nerves is that they're still like that at the end of the series! In the hands of a decent writer, they could have had points in the story where the realize that their attitudes aren't working and they need to change. Shinji could get in the goddamn robot when he needs too (even if its for a petty reason like "you guys are going to yell at me anyway, so I'll just get in to save you the trouble"), someone could call Askua out for her arrogant attitude and it sticks that she needs to learn humility, and Rei could find something that she's passionate about to make her want to be more than just and expendable clone.

Ash Ketchum. I was going to put Goku here, but most of his problems come from the fact that he only kept on as protagonist due to editorial mandate (Toriyama apparently wanted make Gohan the protagonist after the Cell saga). There isn't really an excuse for why Ash is still the protagonist of the Pokemon anime. I know in Japan Pokemon is still seen as a kid's game, but that doesn't mean that Ash should still be a kid. The best way to switch him out would be for him to actually win one of the Pokemon League tournaments at the end each series. By winning the tournament, Ash would fulfill his dream of becoming the best (in one region, but it still counts). He could maybe move back to Kanto for a while and do something like help Professor Oak or run a trainer school. This leaves the opportunity for a new protagonist to take the reigns like, oh, I don't know, one of the player characters from the games! If they do want to bring back Ash, they could have him become a few years older (say 14-16) and have him be the Brock for the new group. Sort of like what the did with Tommy Oliver in Power Rangers: Dino Thunder.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Mary Sues suck, I guess. Or whatever character Kirito from Sword Art Online is. Or that might be bad writing. Probably both.

Marry Sue's are bad writing so it probably is both. Couldn't say a whole lot about that anime though since I was only able to get through one and a half episodes. Definitely agree though, they're just boring characters in general.

I also dislike characters who are massive assholes to everyone they meet for pretty much no reason. People aren't like that in real life. Some guy you just met is never going to start talking down to you in a public place. It's incredibly contrived and is usually only there so that we can have some kind of revelation scene where we learn about the asshole's painful backstory. Then, they suddenly become nice because our hero totally understand them and so they team up and become the best of buds.

 

[Lil devils x_v1legacy]

I hate the portrayal of female characters as being "feisty little dolls" or showing females to have high pitched voices, or to be portrayed as overly emotional as is common in anime. It is like fingernails on a chalkboard every time I see this. Women are not " cute little dolls when angry that go "ARRRGH!!" and become overly emotional and I find it terribly insulting to suggest such as they do.
The whole " your so cute/sexy when you are angry" nonsense just irritates the crap out of me.

 

[the December King]

Single fighters beating up droves of larger, trained attackers. Usually, this is an average-sized man defeating many larger men in hand to hand combat, but can often be a woman as well, to emphasize the difference (though the attackers are almost invariably ALWAYS men), but in any case, my original urge to root for the 'weaker' party or the 'underdog' is almost always instantly shut down, because it's a movie and they are the protagonist, and will likely NOT be soundly thrashed (like they realistically would be).

Usually this character is a Mary Sue and is awesome at everything.

...

As you can see, I don't like action/fighting movies all that much.

Depends which action movies you're watching. Ninja Scroll starts off with the hero taking out three goons without breaking a sweat, yet he gets his ass kicked by the first two main baddies he comes across (twice by the second one), and achieves victory only due to interference from others.

Action and fight scenes need to have some kind of struggle, otherwise it's not fun to watch. Watching The Raid, for instance, and seeing one dude take out entire hallway filled with goons like it's nothing is just boring.

A good point- I guess I was referring to characters that often end up in poorly written stories that irritate me. If the struggle, or the challenge, is emphasized, then I can reasonably enjoy a fight. But characters that simply aren't in any danger in a combat scene are utterly obnoxious. A good example for me was the latest Nazi Zombie flick on Netflix, Outpost:Rise of The Spetznaz, in which a musclebound russian beats the shit out of a german bunker full of soldiers, zombies and scientists. By the second chokehold/necksnap takedown I realized that it wasn't a horror movie anymore, but an action movie, and the protagonist was not in any danger.

EDIT: It's a little personal guide of my own for certain horror movies: If the protagonist can/does kill an antagonist/assailant with their bare hands, I usually am no longer worried about the protagonist, and thus it is no longer a horror movie for me.

The Raid was just audacious- the choreography was amazing, but the story is about as bland as it gets (and I realize that that is in part in order to stuff it with action scenes), and again, realism feels like it flew out the door.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Any kid that doesn't behave his age. They should be running around babbling platitudes, not teaching adults the true meaning of whatever like they're Jesus at the temple.

 

[FurinKazanNZ]

The naggy wife. Skyler in Breaking Bad could've been so much more interesting and less annoying without changing too much. It's honestly kind of sexist, and I've never seen it done in a way that adds anything to the show.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

Deadweight. People who have no particular set of skills or information yet insist on participating in dangerous expeditions. Even worse when their presence is accepted or even requested by the ones pulling all the weight.

Why did Hammond approach Malcolm in The Lost World: Jurassic Park? Especially when Malcolm explicitly states he has absolutely no interest in positively contributing. What purpose did he serve apart from driving a car? Why did his daughter come along as well?

Why did the Tamers permit Kazu and Kenta to come along when they had no knowledge and no partner? Even Jeri had Leomon at that point.

 

[sidewinder fang]

Haven't seen my pet peeve on here just yet. Villains who will gleefully do all sorts of horrible things to people and then cry like bitches when they get their just desserts, I can't stand those guys, just watching them go from gleeful sadists to sniveling brown nosing weasels makes my blood boil.

Possibly the best example is Handsome Jack from borderlands 2, who throughout the game gleefully explains how he's going to kill you and all your friends in all sorts of horrible ways, and all the people he has killed in horrible ways and (minor spoilers) when you actually do kill someone close to him suddenly he's crying like a little *****, begging and pleading and everything.

I think in the end its because I have a conscience that won't allow me to kick someone when they're down like that, even if they'll happily do it to me once they're up again, and its particularly pronounced in video games when I'm in direct control of the kicking.

 

[CharrHearted]

Im so glad none of my personal amateur novel characters are like this... well not the ones that don't deserve it and do get themselves brutally axed dead for being moronic dumbasses. Purposely made a character that is so clichely unlikeable, all "omg, i'm strong, i'm amazing, look at my beautiful hair and omg i'm the best, arrogance, cliche tropes, I'm so good, blah blah blah" just so I could have my family and friends who read it happily jump in joy when said character has his chest ripped open in the blink of an eye later on and brutally and with great detail ripped apart because his arrogance got the best of him when one of my villains who doesn't wait an eternity to kill off a character completely gibs him as soon as he gets the chance. It felt good writing that... XD

 

[florzk]

I firmly believe that no trope is inherently bad, as anything can be done well. However, generally speaking, I tend to hate:

-The emotionless badass. Guh. Why even have that character? If they exist simply to kill the shit the rest of the party can't, and the writer couldn't be arsed to actually write a character with a PERSONALITY, its just lazy writing. I almost hate it more when you get characters like this with one defining characteristic: that they will protect the ones they care about blah blah blah. Attack on titan had some of my most hated examples of both types: levi and mikasa.
-the dense protagonist. (LOOKING AT YOU INFINITE STRATOS) the main character who remains PAINFULLY unaware of the affections of his love interest(s)
-The tsundere, in agreement with Hades above.
-the idiot protagonist. you know, the guy with the amazing hidden power and who is destined to save the world, but can't think beyond a third grade level. You see this alot with child protagonists.
-The one that screws it up for everyone. Think Vegeta for this one: the guy who is so obsessed with something (their ideology, etc.) that they will throw logic out the window just to get what they want. (e.g. the guy that lets the villain power up to maximum just to have a good fight)

As I said at the beginning, anything can be done well. I can think of examples of each of these archetypes that I actually do enjoy, but the majority of them are just painful to me.

 

[verdant monkai]

A few really tick me off.

Violent support character girls who always have a problem with the funny/entertaining male characters, they also spend a lot of time hitting male characters, just because they work on a boys don't hit girls mentality.
Sakura from Naruto being a good example.

Spoiler

*****

Butch women who spend almost all of their dialogue questioning questioning male characters of their masculinity, they are obsessed with it. They have lines like "Whats the matter "Ladies", "Have you got any balls or what?" too scared?" You weren't born with a penis love get over it, the fact you can aim a gun and take a punch on the jaw is lovley dear but please stop talking about balls all the time. Vasquez from Aliens is a good example of this.

Spoiler

Girly men in anime who the girls all swoon after. They usually have lipstick and long nails. I know this is a Japanese thing but seriously I don't understand. Its like a load of guys getting excited over a burly, hairy armed, beard sporting woman. Just why? are all anime girls lesbians? It confuses me.

Boring military meatheads who blindly follow orders.

 

[PainInTheAssInternet]

Haven't seen my pet peeve on here just yet. Villains who will gleefully do all sorts of horrible things to people and then cry like bitches when they get their just desserts, I can't stand those guys, just watching them go from gleeful sadists to sniveling brown nosing weasels makes my blood boil.

Possibly the best example is Handsome Jack from borderlands 2, who throughout the game gleefully explains how he's going to kill you and all your friends in all sorts of horrible ways, and all the people he has killed in horrible ways and (minor spoilers) when you actually do kill someone close to him suddenly he's crying like a little *****, begging and pleading and everything.

I think in the end its because I have a conscience that won't allow me to kick someone when they're down like that, even if they'll happily do it to me once they're up again, and its particularly pronounced in video games when I'm in direct control of the kicking.

I'm not sure if I agree with this one. I think it can be done really well.

As a recent example, I used to watch a show called The Mentalist. Fun little show that had a subplot over the series that played out like Sherlock vs Moriarty. In this case, Moriarty had killed Sherlock's family after Sherlock insulted him on international television. When the mask is taken off, the subject of Sherlock's obsession is revealed to be nothing more than a snivelling coward who had bought into his own delusion. I like it because it makes sense to me that someone who spent all their time hidden would be scared when brought out into the light. It's also a pretty good anti-climax; Sherlock's family really did die for nothing.

This was widely criticized because, like Sherlock, the audience had built up Moriarty in their minds to be some super genius who would pose a serious threat when confronted.

Yet isn't that exactly Dexter's fear and what Harry taught him to avoid? Isn't he typically regarded as a great character?

EDIT:
The manner in which Moriarty died is also quite fitting.

Spoiler

watch?v=xEBFK9koVW4

He doesn't go out in some majestic and poetic blaze of glory taking his nemesis with him. His followers aren't around to save him. He has his voice taken from him literally and metaphorically. His legacy is a non-issue for Sherlock who merely wants to enact revenge on behalf of a personal grudge. Moriarty dies alone, scared and unwitnessed.

 

[Fox12]

Anything can be done well if the writing is good. I don't think there's a single archetype that's impossible to do well. Every time I think of someone I hate, it's just because they're badly written.

I am tired of the girl who is descended from an ancient civilization, and has a sacred artifact handed down to her through the generations. Extra points if she has amnesia. Not because it's actually bad, but because it's cliche. I loved aerith and sheeta, but it can only be done so many times.

I'm also tired of the robot who learns what it means to be human. This, too, can be done well, but it rarely is. The character is usually monotone and shows no personality. Extra points if "emotions are illogical." No, they're not, they're a construct of evolution. Why can't we have a robot who has emotions? I liked aegis as a character, but man, she didn't get interesting until the end of the game, when she was allowed to show emotion and act like a person.