Protagonists you just can't stand.

Dalisclock

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RufusMcLaser said:
I don't care for angsty, obsessed main characters in general; I've quit on more than one show (Yukikaze, for instance) because I hadn't the slightest interest in what happened.

That being the case, my vote for absolute least favorite protagonist goes to Holden Caulfield.
You beat me to it. I hate you now. :)

It took me three tries to read Catcher in the Rye. The first time I quit after the first page, the second time I quit after the first chapter and only after the third try did I finish the book. Mostly because I wanted to see if anything every actually happens. And my answer was: Nope, nothing ever happens.

Because the entire book is about Holden Caulfield being a whiny little *****. His whining is so annoying and so repellent which is the sole reason it was hard for me to finish the book.

I've been told that's the point, but it doesn't make it any less annoying. At least Shinji has a really good Freudian excuse for his whineness, and can occasionally be likable. And if nothing else, at least there's giant robot/monster battles, vague conspiracies and obstuse religious metaphors to distract from Shinjis whining. Cather has nothing but Holden whining.
 

AD-Stu

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Gerald (I know, I know, it's Geralt... whatever) from The Witcher video game (haven't read the book). Just couldn't stand him, didn't care if he and his friends never got their magic juice box or whatever it was back, I just found him completely dull. And I couldn't for the life of me work out why all the girls in the game wanted to sleep with him.

Obviously there's Anakin in Star Wars Episode II and III too. That might be the fault of the actor or the writer more so than the character but still, it's there.

Dalisclock said:
RufusMcLaser said:
That being the case, my vote for absolute least favorite protagonist goes to Holden Caulfield.
You beat me to it. I hate you now. :)

It took me three tries to read Catcher in the Rye. The first time I quit after the first page, the second time I quit after the first chapter and only after the third try did I finish the book. Mostly because I wanted to see if anything every actually happens. And my answer was: Nope, nothing ever happens.

Because the entire book is about Holden Caulfield being a whiny little *****. His whining is so annoying and so repellent which is the sole reason it was hard for me to finish the book.
Thanks gawd, I'm not alone - exactly how I felt about him too. Only reason I finished it was because it wasn't all that long, and I'd been told it was a classic...
 

DeltaEdge

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Hm, it's rare that I actually genuinely dislike a protagonist, as they pretty much need to be complete jerks without a reason for me to find them unacceptable, and since that can be a show-ruiner, I tend to only watch shows for the most part with protagonists that I like.

I guess I'd have to say that I really dislike morally half-hearted protagonists, like in an action series per say, the protagonist sees the antagonist killing some random person, and they're just like "nooo, don't kill him, killing is bad and stuff", and doesn't really justify his opinion by anything other than that it makes him uncomfortable. It particularly bothers be when they have a serious objective and they have a party surrounding them for one reason or another and are risking their lives for their goals, but then the protagonist is still squeamish about killing people and lets them live. It bothers me so much, because with these guys, it's not about mercy or real compassion, they're just scared to do it, even when they know what's at stake, and they jeopardize everyone's safety by being hesitant or outright unwilling to do what they need to do. It's basically icing to the cake(of hate) when they tell someone not to do something, like say, go out for revenge after seeing a friend be hurt/killed, but then go around and do the exact same thing as soon as the same happens to them. Never will I want to strangle a character more than in this kind of situation.

This also extends to any other half-hearted morality that a character might have that they are unable to shake despite participating in an activity that they KNOW will test their resolve on the matter. And although I rarely see these characters as main characters, protagonists that are overly self-righteously bitchy/condescending and without any proper justification really get my goat as well.

Edit: Oh, and as for examples, I can't think of any protagonists that fit into the second category offhand, but as for the first, the one's that immediately spring to mind are the MCs from Valvrave the Liberator and Devil Survivor 2 The Animation(not the game).
 

00slash00

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Walt and Jesse and...well pretty much every character in Breaking Bad aside from Mike, Gus, and Saul. Everyone kept saying that as the show went on, it became harder to root for Walt. I always assumed it was because of horrible things he does but I've found it hard to root for him just because of what an asshole he is. He never really became likeable (as far as I know. I'm still waiting for Netflix to add the final 8 episodes). The other characters just occasionally become more annoying than him.

Hope, from Final Fantasy 13. I loved that game. One of my top 3 favorite Final Fantasy games. But Hope annoyed me so much. for a good chunk of the first quarter of the game I just refused to heal him because seeing him get taken out made me feel better.

Joel, from The Last of Us. Like Walt, I just found him to be too much of an asshole. Ellie was absolutely the only thing I liked about the game and
I got really excited when I thought he had died, and then really bummed when I discovered I had to keep putting up with him
 

Doc Gnosis

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A while back I bought Record of Agarest War Zero, and over time I found myself with a deep loathing for the first main character. The guy lacks all depth and personality to the point that I refuse to refer to him by name. He's essentially a character from a harem show: inordinately dull, disproportionately charismatic, and unrealistically written as a person. If he had any personality or insight to him I'd forgive how inexplicable he is, but damn near nothing on his personality or history explains where he came from or how he is what he is. Compared to every other protagonist from the series, this character is the most bland and boring of the bunch; eclipsing Ladius and Weiss who both have little to no character, but had some data to make them understandable.

While we're on the subject of that game, I ultimately loathed Friedelinde but she didn't give me as much an ulcer as the main character. The major gripe I have with her is that despite her strong feelings for the main character, not only can she not speak her feelings to him, but she's more focused on pining for him and suffering that she can't go further with him out of a sense of doing so would be 'improper.' Her dilemma is the kind of crap from Victorian romance novels that I can't tolerate. And much like the main character above, we know nothing about Friedelinde's relationship to him, apart from her being head over heels and unable to spit it out, and takes it out on others.

Going to a different series - White Knight Chronicles - Leonard is an example on how not to make a young protagonist. He's ridiculously dumb, his crush/lust for another character comes only from one chance encounter and never developed, his actions do not help anyone - in fact he makes things worse for all parties - and he's not even an interesting character. Think of all the bile one can develop for Tidus from Final Fantasy X, then concentrate that with the lack of character development, and you then have Leonard..
 

Nigh Invulnerable

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Eamar said:
Extra-Ordinary said:
Black Widow from the movies. Had to make that specification because I have no idea what she's like in the comics.
Anyway.
I know she's supposed to be professional but she seems so cocky in her abilities, I absolutely can't stand her.
Wait, you think Black Widow is too cocky but you don't mention Iron Man? The very personification of cockiness and arrogance? (I totally love him for it by the way, not trying to say Iron Man's a bad character or anything.) Huh. That's... I mean, it's your opinion and all but... *confused* :p

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 >.<
Oh she's just as pathetic in the show for the first season or two. She starts to wise up a little by the third.

Most anime protagonists just annoy me. Either they're really cutesy and chibi (which tends to equate to dumb and yelling) or they're so "badass" that they're insufferable. Bleh.
 

tzimize

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TheRightToArmBears said:
JimB said:
I hate the growling badass. Like, Riddick (he was a little forgivable in Pitch Black for the "looks clear" joke, but otherwise, piss off). The invincible murderer who doesn't have or need any friends, who has no detectable flaws and is perfect within the field of murder, whom I am expected to emulate despite him not being a person.
I'm not really a fan of Riddick (at least in Chronicles of Riddick, not seen the new one) because Vin Diesel curiously manages to have absolutely no screen presence at all after Pitch Black. That goes for all the Fast & Furious films too, it's pretty odd how a guy his size with a voice his deep can manage it, but I imagine it's down to the fact that he can't act.

I don't really hate Tony Stark (movies, at least), but he can be quite grating. Specifically, I wanted to punch him in the face when he was being a douche to Captain America. Thor I don't mind- yes, he's a god, but he's pretty arrogant. But the Cap'? Fuck you man. That guy's got balls the size of those Leviathans and a heart of gold and I totally don't have a man-crush.
But...Cap is so....dull. He's like Superman without the cool superpower OR the interesting origin to set him apart from mankind...hes just a pretty strong guy...with a shield :|

I honestly dont know why this is even a character, if he was named anything other than Captain America he would be dust on the shelves sooooooooooooo fast. Also...his suit. Really? I havent read his comics origin story, but it made sense in the movie for it to be mostly a stupid recruiting prop. But an actual combat suit? Tony hits the nail on the head in Avengers: "Of the people in this room, which one is A - wearing a spangly outfit and B - not of use?"

OT:

Tidus. Ew. Awful.

Jim Raynor from Starcraft 2. WHINE WHINE WHINE *drink whiskey* WHINE WHINE. My god what an earful.
 

Gunner 51

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Dalisclock said:
Gunner 51 said:
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.
I think that was kind of the point. Jason was basically turning into Vaas at that point. In fact, the ending where you choose the island/Citra over your friends feels like the true ending, because it brings Jasons character arc to a pretty fitting conclusion. Oh, it's still depressing, but it does fit.
I see what you mean about the choosing the Rakyat over one's friends. I saw it on Youtube, and it is a pretty depressing ending. But I'll be damned if it doesn't fit either. :)
 

TheMigrantSoldier

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Kratos from God of War 2, specifically. Violent manchild mad that at everyone else for his own fault? Gee, what a guy.

And new Dante from DmC. He's a mean-spirited jerk who the game tries to make out as "the guy you're supposed to agree with". I eventually found Raiden from the MGS series tolerable but Dante, oh lord.

While I used to hate Persona 3's protagonist, I'm not sure what to say about him anymore. Only that I, by far, prefer his female counterpart.
 

Ml33tninja

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TheMigrantSoldier said:
Kratos from God of War 2, specifically. Violent manchild mad that at everyone else for his own fault? Gee, what a guy.

And new Dante from DmC. He's a mean-spirited jerk who the game tries to make out as "the guy you're supposed to agree with". I eventually found Raiden from the MGS series tolerable but Dante, oh lord.

While I used to hate Persona 3's protagonist, I'm not sure what to say about him anymore. Only that I, by far, prefer his female counterpart.
YES!! Kratos after GoW1 is a piece of garbage.Nothing likeable about him after the first game. IMO they dont even try to give him some type of personality.

I disagree with Dante he goes from a jerk to a likeable guy in less than 1/3 of the game. Hell original Dante is a prick for the most of the series(he a straight asshole for all of dmc3)

I dont dislike P3 main character because he would have to ACTUALLY have some type of personality. He is a blank sheet.

Lightning from the Final Fantasy series: I just don't see the appeal. I would choice Fang over Lighting any day.
 

marioandsonic

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Dalisclock said:
RufusMcLaser said:
I don't care for angsty, obsessed main characters in general; I've quit on more than one show (Yukikaze, for instance) because I hadn't the slightest interest in what happened.

That being the case, my vote for absolute least favorite protagonist goes to Holden Caulfield.
You beat me to it. I hate you now. :)

It took me three tries to read Catcher in the Rye. The first time I quit after the first page, the second time I quit after the first chapter and only after the third try did I finish the book. Mostly because I wanted to see if anything every actually happens. And my answer was: Nope, nothing ever happens.

Because the entire book is about Holden Caulfield being a whiny little *****. His whining is so annoying and so repellent which is the sole reason it was hard for me to finish the book.

I've been told that's the point, but it doesn't make it any less annoying. At least Shinji has a really good Freudian excuse for his whineness, and can occasionally be likable. And if nothing else, at least there's giant robot/monster battles, vague conspiracies and obstuse religious metaphors to distract from Shinjis whining. Cather has nothing but Holden whining.
I think the creator of XKCD said it best when he said he found himself agreeing with 90% of the book, but gets lost at "Therefore, be a huge asshole to everyone."
 

IndieGinge

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marioandsonic said:
I think the creator of XKCD said it best when he said he found himself agreeing with 90% of the book, but gets lost at "Therefore, be a huge asshole to everyone."
Unless I'm mistaken, that was actually addressing Ayn Rand and Objectivism as a whole, not Catcher in the Rye. Which would frankly make a lot more sense, considering that nothing in CiR seems to paint Holden as anything better than a sad, angsty teenager with mental issues.
 

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Markus Vaughan, from Trauma centre: new blood.

In a nutshell, this dingus accidentally creates a powerful pathogen when screwing around with bacteria and artificial blood. So what does he do? Destroy it? Of course not! Let it fall into the hands of your idiot friend who will infect himself with it then act surprised when he nearly dies. Again, he could have tried to fix things by trying to find a cure for this pathogen, but no. He moves far away and broods over it giving it time to fall into the hands of terrorists.

When asked about this by a secondary character, his response as to why he did this in the first place is is "lol I dunno". Everyone is then suddenly cool with being around the person WHO IS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THOUSANDS OF EXCRUTIATING DEATHS.
 

florzk

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*begin haterant
Eren from Attack on Titan. Actually, most of the cast of that show was pretty atrocious, though i'll admit that Jean(?) was at least passable, if only because i like a character with believable flaws. Pretty much every character (okay, MOST, not neccessarily all, in fairness; Armin for instance, was unique, I just didn't like him) is one generic, done-to-death character trope with a wierd face drawn on... but Eren is the worst. When you can literally write your main character out of ashow and replace him with a friendly version of his evil side and it makes for just as good if not BETTER of a story, then there may be a problem.

Also the Didact from Halo 4. Seriously, he exists only so that Chief can become the Chosen One (which totally derails the concept of his luck, a major aspect of Chief's character, but that's a different rant entirely).
*end haterant*
 

Karthek

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Everyone from Family Guy. The fact that the show has gone on this long is reason enough to despise it. It's like Bizarro Simpsons in that sense.

Any character played by Vince Vaughn. I'm sure he's a stand up guy in person, but on screen he has the charisma of a bag mayonnaise that's been left out in the sun a bit too long.

Also gotta chime in my agreement about Kratos being the literal worst. Motivation, attitude, the whole nine yards; the guy is a royal jerk.
 

TallanKhan

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Eamar said:
Extra-Ordinary said:
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 >.<
If anything in the GoT series she is worse, Sansa has acquired a really whiney quality on screen. I never warmed to her character in ASoIaF but at least felt a degree of sympathy for her, on screen Sansa I struggle to muster even that.

For me it?s Samus from Metroid: Other M. I'm not against characters being developed as time goes on, otherwise we end up in Mario territory, but the change to Samus in this game felt so regressive. I didn't like the choice to make her a voiced character but i respected it as an artistic decision, however, what was the point of giving the character a voice and then giving her nothing meaningful to say? They gave her a voice, and in the same stroke robbed her of any personality.
 

Zontar

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florzk said:
*begin haterant
Eren from Attack on Titan. Actually, most of the cast of that show was pretty atrocious, though i'll admit that Jean(?) was at least passable, if only because i like a character with believable flaws. Pretty much every character (okay, MOST, not neccessarily all, in fairness; Armin for instance, was unique, I just didn't like him) is one generic, done-to-death character trope with a wierd face drawn on... but Eren is the worst. When you can literally write your main character out of ashow and replace him with a friendly version of his evil side and it makes for just as good if not BETTER of a story, then there may be a problem.
Have to agree with you on Eren. To be honest, even though I knew he would be back, when he (*spoiler*) I was holding out hope that they would stick with it and have Armin or Jean become the new main characters. But no, he came back.
 

God's Clown

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Cloud from FF7 because he is absolutely worthless. Squall from FF8 because he is absolutely worthless. Both of them are massively inferior to the supporting cast. If you consider Vaan from FF12 the protagonist, then him as well.

As for a personal one, any game where I am forced to play a male character also counts. I hate playing as male characters, so they all suck.
 

Roxor

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SKBPinkie said:
Adam Jensen from Deus Ex: HR.

But that's only because of his voice. Everyone around him sounds fine (except for that one awful racial stereotype - you know the one), but he sounds like a car engine trying desperately to make a coherent sound. It completely destroys immersion to hear a dude who sounds like he's got level 30 throat cancer.
JC Denton from the original Deus Ex sounds pretty similar. I don't really mind either of them, though. The characters I hate tend to be ones with really high voices that make my ears hurt. Fortunately, I don't seem to own any games where the protagonist is such a character.
 

JemothSkarii

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game-lover said:
In defense of this... the reason for this is that he's basically has an extra advantage. He'd already played through a good portion of the game before the show started. Beta tester and all that. This means he knows just about every awesome secret that didn't just get added. Probably got a bunch of secret items and who knows what. At least that's my thoughts on the whole situation.

My answer: I've got lots. In anime form, there's that Shiro guy from Fate/Stay Night. I hate his guts. He's in the category of stupid men that try to be chivalrous but either for the wrong reasons or because stupidity. For God's sake, he's weaker than Saber! Weaker! She's supposed to be protecting him! But he keeps idiotically nearly getting his ass murdered. Trying to protect her as if he could be any more useless. GAAAAAHHHHH!

About half the characters I hate are in this category. Putting themselves at risk when they can't do shit except be walking burdens. A lot of heroines in these damn urban fantasy novels are this way.
Hmm, I know you said in anime form right, but have you read the VN? It goes deeper into why he does it. Hell, in some of the paths he basically becomes as strong as a Servant.

Lugbzurg said:
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121106233053/ub10fanfiction/pt-br/images/0/04/Tumblr_m0o2z4SBHW1qgssuio1_500.jpg

"Issei Hyoudou" is the sicko's name. He's from an animé called "Highschool DxD"; something else I very much despise. Realistically, he should have been met with massive criminal charges in no time at all, but that would get in the way of the fanbase's deplorable fantasies. He cares about nothing but curvy female figures. That's seriously his only motivation for anything and everything he does. I'm not making this up. His signature move is even disintegrating girls' clothes right off their backs. He even goes out groping his classmates on a regular basis. He's got sex on the brain so bad that he even seems to make actual sex offenders look tame in comparison. Oh, and of course there's that Gary-Stew power of his from that dragon arm thing that has absolutely no given limit. Just boost, boost, boost an infinite amount of times.
I actually like Issei, like the other guy said, he's what a harem anime character should be like. The whole anime basically just becomes a parody of harem in the end, it just over exaggerates itself to a point it becomes hilarious and yet somehow amazing to watch at the same time. I was so hyped by the end of the second season because of it. It's like they managed to blend Harem and Action well into one. I usually HATE harem anime, I think it's the worst genre because I'm sick of clueless guys being smothered by several girls. I just don't like multiple love interests unless there's a decent love triangle going on.

OT:I hate the main character from Accel World. I'm not sure if it's because of his design or his personality but he just annoyed me to the point where I just couldn't keep watching 3/4's of the way through. I thought he'd have some growth as a character, maybe become less of a wuss and less whiny, but he just keeps on going holy shit.