Protagonists you just can't stand.

[Meinos Kaen]

Aaaaaah, finally, a place where I can let go of my hatred!

I'll pass over the overly beaten horse of the worst sister and human being ever Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII and another person already explained pretty much why block of wood Connor is dumb and oh so boring, and yes, damn Square to hell for forcing Vaan on us.

Anyway, another protagonist that I hate with all my soul... Well, the most recent one is probably the latest installation of Superman. The Man of Steel.

Spoiler

Passing over the various faults of the movie, am I the only who finds it hypocritical that he was all like 'AAAAAAARGH!' for what he had to do to Zod at the end of the movie while not even twenty minutes before he KILLED HIS ENTIRE RACE?! THAT'S CALLED FREAKING GENOCIDE! Your father wanted you to be THE BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE, not play god and decide that your entire race had to DIE! The Man of Steel is a NAZI!

 

[AustinN]

Batman. To give you an idea, the last version of Batman that I liked was from the 90's era animated series. It was a balanced, nuanced take on the character - smart, tough, and dangerous, but still quite beatable and prone to making the occasional mistake. It captured the enjoyable parts of the character and left the "I'M THE !@#$%%^&$ BATMAN!" stupidity in the trash bin where it belonged. We've had too much Batman, and he doesn't need to be the most special of all the special kids anymore.

I'm not sure what you're referring to then since most incarnations post animated series are infact like that.
If you enjoyed the animated series you should probably try Arkham. They have a pretty great Batman, especially Arkham Origins.

Yes, Arkham Origins, the Batman incarnation who beat up Deathstroke the Terminator in a fist fight... as a rookie. Well played sir. This was a classic case of God-Bat. Deathstroke is faster, stronger, quicker thinking, and A BETTER FIGHTER, than Bruce Wayne's normal human body can deal with. Animated series Batman was fantastic, Arkham City/Asylum was great, and his current Justice League incarnation is solid. Arkham Origins... just another $&#^#@*# Batman.

And what about all the shit Bane did to him? Batsuit or not, Batmans organs should've been soup by the end of that game.

 

[waj9876]

This. This ***** right here.

Spoiler

I don't even think my own hatred of her is justified, but I still hate her.

 

[Movitz]

Brad Pitt as Achilles in Troy.

When I think of the Illiad, I remember a childrens bok version of it, which hade some of the most awesome artistry I've ever seen. Huge armies, brave heroes, immortal gods, a city meeting its doom.

Even if I didn't understand much of the story in my younger days, it still inprinted the grand scale of the story on me. And Achilles to me was a rage-filled, proud, vengeful one-man army. Everything that one ought to aspire to as a man.

Now, enter the movie Troy. How best to describe Brad Pitt's take on the ancient hero?

Fucking.Indiffirent.

Through all of the movie, it's like he's this premodern hipster to whom everything is ironic or doesn't matter. He doesn't seem to believe in anything, really. He does not fight because he cares about his fellow greeks, and he certainly does not fight for Agamemnon. Now, the stated reason is that he fight 'cause he wants to be remembered ages afterwards and make an even greater name for himself, but even that he never appears invested in, it's just something he does. Hell, midmovie he's planning to abandon the war with his troops, and only rejoins it 'cause his cousin got killed in battle.

He's just this boring blond guy who for some reason (probably a giant middle finger from the gods) is excellent at battle but doesn't seem to take any pride or seanse of fulfilment from it, which makes the character almost sleep inducing.

 

[Movitz]

Katie and Micah in Paranormal Activity 1.

Micah is a clinically retarded asshole and Katie is a *****. I shouldn't spoil anything, so if you have the ability to sit through a standard's movie length of below-the-barrel scriptwriting, then you'll know how I feel about these two characters.

I really liked the first film, but I totally agree with you that Micah was a stupid prick. Katie was more.. average, I guess? I mean, I can understand someone being bitchy and a bit pissy, being chased by some unholy spirit hellbent on claiming you.

Or maybe I just really liked her beewbs, and didn't remember that much else of her from the movie.

 

[AustinN]

Katie and Micah in Paranormal Activity 1.

Micah is a clinically retarded asshole and Katie is a *****. I shouldn't spoil anything, so if you have the ability to sit through a standard's movie length of below-the-barrel scriptwriting, then you'll know how I feel about these two characters.

Ah, Micah. Allow me to quote a friend of mine in regards to Micah.

"Yeah like it's one thing to not do what you're told, it's another to do the opposite of it, every single time. He wasn't useless, he was negative productive."

 

[Haunted Serenity]

Tyrael from Diablo series, least favourite by far. He is the Angel of Justice and saves the world. Then because he is insulted by Imperius he runs away to the mortal realm where he can't see the obvious super evil(rolls eyes plot)that Diablo has formed for the THIRD time and then after all is said and done he is elevated back to the council but as the Angel of Wisdom? My Barbarian face palmed so hard his face exploded.

Follow up with Ichigo from Bleach. Not terrible but just annoying. Never freaking learns maybe you should use some other tactic then charge headfirst, get ass whooped then saved/healed/trained by friends and then charge headfirst to victory.

 

[Fraught]

Uhh...I don't have any super specific examples, but a lot of what I hate has been mentioned in this thread. I like some personality in a character, but I absolutely cannot stand, like...oblivious extravagance? Any personality trait that goes hand-in-hand with the character's obliviousness actually really, really pisses me off. I might sound like a pretentious douche for saying this, but I can't help it.

Surprisingly, I don't really hate the kind of characters OP mentioned, the over-powered wish fulfilment characters. I like to root for them, and to some degree, insert myself into them. It makes me feel good sometimes (even though the fallout from irritating choices on their part is sometimes a harsher hit because of it), instead of making me hate them.

I can find enjoyment in every type of character that can exist without plot-twisting obliviousness (and by that I mean characters who negatively affect a plot directly because of their obliviousness).

*snip*

You don't think that about the protagonist from Persona 4 though, right?

Any guy that'll act as my avatar in allowing me to romance Yukiko is great in my book. Plus, grey is totally my style.

 

[greatcheezer2021]

i hate Ender Wiggin.
i hated that book so much, i hated his stupid character, his stupid decisions, his overly stupid compassion, and whining. i burned that book. humanity would be so much better off without him.

on the other hand, i admire shinji ikari. but Ender Wiggin? if i ever saw him, i'd tear his eyes out. i would not let him live.

 

[Fredvdp]

Vaan from Final Fantasy XII

There is no good reason why he is the protagonist. In fact, there's barely a good reason why he's even there with the party at all (same for Penelo - she's only there cause Vaan is). So him apparently being the main character is just plain madness.

He's not the main character. He's the focalizer. The focalizer is the person through whom the story is told. Usually this character is crucial to the storyline, but very rarely, he or she isn't.

Compare it to the droids in the original Star Wars trilogy. We keep following them arround since the first movie and see the galactic conflict through their perspective. Even after R2 fullfilled his purpose by handing over the Death Star plans, part of the story is told through his eyes, even if he's become almost irrelevant to the story. That's also why the droids split up in Empire, so we can follow multiple stories at the same time. FF12 tells the story of Ashe, Basche and Balthier. They are the main characters. Vaan is there to offer the player an outsider's perspective of these storylines.

That doesn't mean you have to like it, though. Your opinion is definitely valid, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter since this gets brought up quite commonly.

 

[lord canti]

Every shouty and annoying shounen protagonist ever. Basically anybody that resembles Natsu from Fairy Tail.

I fucking hate that guy.

I like this series and I STILL fucking hate that guy.

Fuck him, fuck all other like him.

I mean do Shonen writers just have like a list of stupid annoying characteristics they have to give their lead characters before they're allowed to publish?

"Must be stupid, accomplish all of his goals through the power of some retarded moral lesson (usually friendship) we're going to repeat again and again and again and again and again..."

Why is NATSU a universal template?

Agreed. The series is good (though the official manga translation tries way too hard to give aJapanese feel to a world that isn't meant to feel Japanese), but Natsu gets on my nerves pretty often.

I mean I get the dramatic force of a character gaining the will to solve the current problem by realizing some important moral lesson about why their actions are right or thinking about how others believe in him.

But why is it always the SAME FUCKING LESSON?

friendship friendship friendship friendship friendship

And the most annoying thing is that he has such a fucking awesome back story (fucker was raised by a dragon! to be a dragonslayer and kill other dragons, that shit be intense yo!) but the author still makes him an unlikable twat.

I mean twice in the series now he's managed to defeat someone using tactics instead of BULLSHIT (gasp) but both times it was immediately revealed to be an accident right afterwards. WHY? Why can't he do something interesting?

I honestly like Gajeel the most out of the dragon slayers, at least he feels like he's an actual fucking human being and not some annoying mockery of a character archetype.

My favorite moment in the entire series was when he collapsed in front of Gildarts after he got his ass wooped. Gildarts being a good example of a character who's basically OP but still human, can be defeated, and perfectly understands his limitations, with actual repercussions for his power since he's dangerous to be around. He seems confident, instead of Natsu who seems arrogant.

yeah Natsu is every main shonen character ever with very little character. Then again every character in that series is a one hit wonder mary sue with little to know character development.

OT: While she is not the protagonist by any means I absolutely hate Hinata Hyuuga. Not because I dislike her character but because of her stupid obsessed fan boys.

 

[Gunner 51]

Oooh, I think I got a few...

Firstly, is the douche-tacular yet strangely bland Jason Brody from FarCry 3. I know the guy has had his brothers killed, but when you managed to rescue your friends and they all tell you to leave with them - do so. Going after Vaas was understandable, but then going after Hoyt (as big an arsehole as he was) was just going way too far. Given how Citra and the Rakyat had been filling his head with drugs and rubbish - I'd wager Jason was *this* close to being as insane and blood-thirsty as Vaas.

Secondly, I'd have to say Sam Fisher from Splinter Cell: Blacklist. While he's still the same curmudgeonly Sam Fisher as he should be. But the new voice actor is so flat and is practically phoning it in. Give me Michael Ironside any day, his growls shown personality.

But a character type that irks me is the kind of protagonist who I call "The Mac Taylor." A character with a bland personality, who is either really stoic or facially expressionly who is supposedly physically tough as old boots. Who in addition nearly always an authority figure or some sort of Space Marine. This character type just smacks of lazy writing and oddly insulting to my intelligence. (Not that I have much intelligence to start with.)

 

[IndieGinge]

i hate Ender Wiggin.
i hated that book so much, i hated his stupid character, his stupid decisions, his overly stupid compassion, and whining. i burned that book. humanity would be so much better off without him.

on the other hand, i admire shinji ikari. but Ender Wiggin? if i ever saw him, i'd tear his eyes out. i would not let him live.

Admiring Shinji? That's a first. I don't really have any problems with him, I certainly don't get the hate, I mean, growing up with a massive asshole of a dad in post-apocalypticia while undergoing puberty ON TOP of being forced into serving as a child soldier while essentially the entire cast is perfectly willing to make your life hell if not actively trying to at all times would make anyone totally down all the time. People go, "You should be awesome, you have an awesome robot" and leave out the part where he always gets hurt in the damn thing, and can feel the pain that it suffers. I don't think many of us would handle getting stabbed by an eldritch abomination while your only halfway kind caretaker is yelling at you to stop being such a pussy at the age of 13 very well is all. /endrant.

Anyways, care to share why you admire him? I just feel bad for the guy. Also, I'm really surprised that you hate Ender so much, since he seems to be Shinji with just a bit of Stu-ified intelligence.

On to who I hate? Not a lot, but as a rule of thumb, a character that is not either intentionally 2D or totally 3D will at least irritate me.

However, I think over the years I've come to loathe Drizzt Do'Urden of R.A. Salvatore's soulless cash cow. The character, while a bit of a contrived Sue, used to have a bit of depth to him, and also was accompanied by solid popcorn writing, but I think after his origin trilogy, things just went way the fuck downhill. He's gone from being unrealistically awesome, to just plain unrealistic, especially in the new series. Apparently he needed to be more "gritty" so now a 200 year old man who has lost hundreds of friends before is now an upset and angry teen because a bearded one finally kicked the bucket? And he has a girlfriend/fuckbuddy, Dhalia, who was obviously written with the intent to be sympathetic but edgy, and is instead written as a self absorbed *****. NOT TO MENTION that an actually interesting protagonist of his own series, Artemis Entreri, is turned into a one dimensional douche around Drizzt. I mean, Artemis IS a douche, but at least he's a douche with some intriguing characteristics, a bit of heart, and observable character development. But once he sees those lavender eyes, taut muscles and ebon skin he gets a raging hate boner and forgets everything that makes him not suck. On top of this, he's part of a stupid, Stupid, STUPID fucking "love triangle" with Drizzt and Dhalia in the latest book I've read, because Drizzt is now apparently as good at romance and basic human interaction as a child raised by Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami and the physical manifestation of schizophrenia. Because for some reason, he's also all "wise and introspective" one day, and is threatening to cut people who don't really deserve it because they looked at him funny the next. His "wisdom" is also garden variety common sense at best, and pointlessly spelling out the subtext of the story at worst.

And my final grievance is, despite his almost constant downward spiral after the first two trilogies, Drizzt still seems to be more popular than an actually interesting and fairly well written character who was very much like him, except having had all but the obligatory levels of Sueness that most all high fantasy protagonists tend to possess removed, Liriel Baenre. I mean, I'm glad that Elaine Cunningham didn't try and milk the girl's life to death, but goddamn, that girl is essentially the only dark elf in the Forgotten Realms who isn't a complete tosser or as badly written as Drizzt and Jarlaxle (another, though much less severe, one of Salvatore's abominations)

Okay, so maybe I'm a bit hateful after all.

Ooh, final note, somebody mentioned Camus and Mersault, and that Mersault is indicative of how Camus thought the world was/should be. I don't think that's quite fair, as I'd certainly not call Mersault a protagonist, considering that shit just happens to him. Also, considering some of Camus' other writing, namely the "Myth of Sisyphus" and "The Plague", I don't think that Mersault is a good example of Camus' own ideas on how we should live. The man seems to be more like a thought experiment than a character per-se, namely he seems to represent the idea of someone who has internalized the inherent nihilism of the world. Camus himself seemed to advocate that one should care, live, and try to be in spite of that nihilism. That the narrative seems to actually care about the characters who get shat on, like the women and mistreated Arabs (is that term actually racist? Sorry if it is, I'm not sure) doesn't particularly paint Mersault's own indifference in a very good light either.

 

[Illesdan]

Going off the beaten path, down to the novel section. You see, there's this potentially great writer named Simon R. Green, whose descriptive landscapes and narratives are as eloquent as they are depraved, but there is something that just bugs the living shit out of me every time I read one of his novels...

It's that guy.

You know the guy. He's smart, tall, dark-haired and ruggedly good-looking. Quick-witted, sharp-tongued, has loyal friends (though God only knows why; he nearly kills them in, like, EVERY NOVEL), gets into crazy no-win scenarios only to be 'Duex ex machina'ed' out of them. Takes more damage than a Frank Miller novel and still just goes plugging away like its a normal day at the office...

And the sad part is? 'That Guy' is in damned near ALL of the author's works. This author is so in love with HIMSELF that he's fantasy-inserted himself into his fiction. Its so damned obvious it gets painful to read at times. As a writer and as an artist, I cannot stand by without calling out this wish-fulfilling, overly macho and sadist bastard of an author.

 

[Theminimanx]

Itou Makoto from the School Days visual novel. It is possible to play the VN without him being a complete indecisive prick, but only just. Most options you can pick make me want to punch the guy. For instance:

Spoiler

You see your classmate and friend raping your ex-girlfriend. Do you

a) walk away?

b) watch?

c) get off on it while fingering another classmate(while your current girlfriend is waiting for you to eat lunch with her)?

d) be a halfway decent human being and stop your ex from being raped?

Oh, I'm sorry, that last one wasn't a choice. My bad.

WHAT?! THAT'S A THING YOU CAN DO?! That. Unbelievable. Bastard!
I mean, I can sort of see only the first two being options if he's just a weak-willed character, but c? That's not being weak-willed, that's just being a disgusting, irredeemable excuse for a human being!

Ugh.
Anyway, as for personal examples of hatred, the obvious choice if every harem protagonist ever. But I'd also like to declare my hatred for Geralt from the Witcher. Why can't this guy just realise that this world is full of pricks, and simply leave. There's no good reason for him to stick around.
Note: I only played the first 2 chapters of Witcher 1, and only the intro of Witcher 2, before I got sick of it, so I may have an incomplete picture.

 

[chinangel]

I want to love Claymore, I really do. A manga about females who are obscenely strong and kill monsters, while dressed in semi-realistic armor (hey i'll take what I can get) sounds awesome!

I picked up the anime, eager to see what i'd get.

Raki.

Fucking...Raki.

The only thing this waste of genetics manages to do throughout the whole series is whine and cry.

Even when he decides to become strong and trains up and goes ready to face the bad guys after his big power up, training sequence.

Gets his ass kicked. Cries. Whines. STFU.

Raki is the biggest pain in the ass main character I have ever seen.

 

[Scyimgeour]

I find this a pretty difficult question really, because while some main characters are terrible people I do find them interesting and I want to keep watching/playing. Walter White is a prime example, he goes from goofy idiot to despicable human being but I sure as hell want to keep following his exploits.

But of course there are main characters that are just grating to watch, good or evil.

- Plenty of anime/manga main characters. From the way too upbeat shounen characters like Naruto to the angsty teens like Neon Genesis Evangelion's Shinji.

- Star Trek: Enterprise's Captain Archer. Mostly in the first season, he's not absolutely awful but just a bit dull and, in my opinion, not captain-y enough. Doesn't hold up against Janeway and Picard. He does improve, luckily.

- Citizen Kane's Kane. Just an incredibly uninteresting capitalist with a tragic backstory. Hence why I didn't like the film as it's a character piece.

- Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles. Which is funny because it's one of my favourite novel series of all time, and my favourite fantasy novel. Hell, I don't even dislike Kvothe all the time, far from it actually. But sometimes he's just a little too aware of his awesomeness. Yes, I suppose that's part of his character development, seeing as how he is as an innkeeper. But sometimes it just gets irritating.

- Kratos in God of War 3. Named already, but I do think that his douchebaggery is fitting in the first two games. After that though he simply becomes an overly-violent, boring asshole.

- Detective Hart from True Detectives is slowly starting to creep into this position. The show is absolutely amazing and has been going on for only a few episodes, but I'm starting to get a little annoyed by Hart.

OT: Cheap shot, but Sansa Stark in the ASOIAF books (haven't watched the series yet), especially the first one. My god, talk about pathetic and naive >.<

Ohhhh are you in for a surprise. She turns into a BAMF, in her own way, later on. In a way she'll be the strongest survivor of them all, it was especially visible in the show.

 

[Scyimgeour]

 

[Cowabungaa]

I find this a pretty difficult question really, because while some main characters are terrible people I do find them interesting and I want to keep watching/playing. Walter White is a prime example, he goes from goofy idiot to despicable human being but I sure as hell want to keep following his exploits.

But of course there are main characters that are just grating to watch, good or evil.

- Plenty of anime/manga main characters. From the way too upbeat shounen characters like Naruto to the angsty teens like Neon Genesis Evangelion's Shinji.

- Star Trek: Enterprise's Captain Archer. Mostly in the first season, he's not absolutely awful but just a bit dull and, in my opinion, not captain-y enough. Doesn't hold up against Janeway and Picard. He does improve, luckily.

- Citizen Kane's Kane. Just an incredibly uninteresting capitalist with a tragic backstory. Hence why I didn't like the film as it's a character piece.

- Kvothe from the Kingkiller Chronicles. Which is funny because it's one of my favourite novel series of all time, and my favourite fantasy novel. Hell, I don't even dislike Kvothe all the time, far from it actually. But sometimes he's just a little too aware of his awesomeness. Yes, I suppose that's part of his character development, seeing as how he is as an innkeeper. But sometimes it just gets irritating.

- Kratos in God of War 3. Named already, but I do think that his douchebaggery is fitting in the first two games. After that though he simply becomes an overly-violent, boring asshole.

- Detective Hart from True Detectives is slowly starting to creep into this position. The show is absolutely amazing and has been going on for only a few episodes, but I'm starting to get a little annoyed by Hart. Still subject to change though.