Protagonists you just can't stand.

Therumancer

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Elfgore said:
I tired my best to let go hating Kirito, but I just have to say this in his defense. Almost EVERY shounen protagonist is like this. OP, always pulls a victory out of his ass, has multiple attractive women loving him for no real reason. He just embodies it perfectly.

Rito from the Love-Ru. He is the most pathetic excuse of a person ever. How he ever got multiple women to fall in love with him is beyond me. He is completely useless in any situation and just lets his many girlfriends take care of him.

My most hated protagonist of all time. Ichika from Infinite Stratos. He is the most dense person, no. The most dense thing that exists on earth. Seven girls have feelings for him, and at several times making it painfully obvious. Every time he just goes "huh?" and gets a dumb look on his face. This picture describes the show perfectly.


Edit: Picture should be fixed.

Well, Anime has it's own set of really obvious tropes. It was fresh when it was first becoming popular in the US because they weren't so well known, but now that Anime has been around so long they have become as painful and annoying as anything else. To be honest the tropes you mention such as the "hot blooded" prodigy hero that pulls off amazing victory after amazing victory, or the classic harem anime set up, are actually pretty cool when you first see them. Once you've seen a dozen variations on what amounts to the same exact schtick it gets old. Especially when it becomes abundantly clear that the quality of the writing varies heavily and some people just don't get what made a given trope work to begin with. I haven't seen the series you mention (I haven't followed Anime like I used to, in part because of burn out) but it sounds like "Infinite Stratos" is trying to be a Tenchi Muyo ripoff, like a lot of harem animes, without quite getting the formula right. Yes, Tenchi was dense to an extent (in all versions) but it should also be noted that the girls in question were all psychotic super-beings, every single one of them was absolutely bug nuts in their own way, and most of them seemingly tried to kill him at least once, the point kind of being that all fanboy comments aside, you'd probably wind up "friend zoning" most of them too. It's also noteworthy that in a lot of the various versions of that story he does eventually hook up with someone, and it's generally not one of the crazy
girls who follow him around, which is intentional. Then again I supposed I have a soft spot for the various incarnations of Tenchi simply because it was the first anime of it's particular sub-genere I saw.

I will also say that one of the things I do like about the somewhat arrogant "hot blood" hero that you seem to be talking about is that it seems outside of that particular sub-genere almost everyone is either totally driven by duty, or some kind of angst-ridden reluctant hero going "noes! I just want to be normal", something which applies to fiction outside of anime as well. For me at least it can be kind of refreshing to see a good guy going out and being the hero, getting into it, and having fun doing it. When it's done well (which is not always the case) there is a certain appeal to a hero you know is going to save the day, and sort of seeing him as a harbinger of justice, rather than some kind of eternal underdog who just barely scrapes by and suffers for doing the right thing.... which works too, but it gets old. But then again I'm one of those people who will also defend old school Superman, and the appeal of the comfort factor in knowing that Superman is the one thing you can always rely on, when he shows up he is going to save the day, and remain himself after doing it. Given how messed up the real world is, sometimes it's nice to have a hero who is just a plain out hero, and not himself messed up (so to speak). That's also why I've been critical of the last couple of attempts at Superman movies (and some of the comic reboot attempts) as to me they sort of missed the point of the character by trying to turn him into those other angsty guys he's the anti-thesis of. If Superman loses, or winds up grappling with angst, guilt, and wondering which way his moral compass should be pointing, your doing it wrong, he gets boring after a while and has to be taken in doses, but that's how it is with a lot of things. I see the whole "Hot Blood" shonen thing as a variation on that, sometimes it's nice to see a really vile villain just flat out getting pounded despite all of his hype and established credentials. :)
 

Elfgore

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Therumancer said:
Infinite Stratos doesn't get the excuse that Tenchi Muyo gets. None of the girls have psychological issues. They are normal girls with giant mech suits. They are all perfect examples of a what society would view as a perfect wife. Maybe he is ignoring their advances on purpose so he doesn't have to break all of their hearts but one. Besides the action, the LN and the anime its self is poorly written so there is no excuse.

On your second point, The hero we are talking of is not really hot blooded except a few parts when emotions get the best of him. Other than that he is usually very controlled and calm. The problem is now in modern anime, is that OP heroes have become the norm. I can't think of one series I have seen recently, in which the hero is the underdog fighting for survival. I do agree, sometimes you want to see that villain get the everliving shit kicked out of him. (The hero in question did this at the end of the series.) But anime tropes are constantly changing. Now it's either OP hero Shounen or romantic comedy set in a highschool to get a good rating.
 

The Squid King

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Easy target and already mentioned but I really hate Kratos, he seriously has no redeeming features. Not only is he horrifically violent but he is also somehow completely bland. I don't know how psychopathy and revenge fantasies in fiction can be bland but Kratos is proof that it is possible.
 

angryfish

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Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach is a very easy choice. I really liked the first 60 or so episodes of the show, and enjoyed the manga for a little while after that, but it took a horrible downwards spiral after that and to me Ichigo was the personification of the drivel that the series turned into.

Not only did he very quickly become a boring invincle hero, he got there by doing absolutely nothing. He just gets new strength as the plot demands, with almost zero work on his part, easily beating people who have trained for literally thousands of years. The worst moment I remember is when he's fighting Grimmjow in Hueco Mundo for the second time, and he's more or less holding together but not managing to do any damage in retaliation, and then Inoue shouts at him and he remembers that actually he wanted to win and not lose and suddenly he's strong enough to catch a head on attack bare handed and basically cut Grimmjow in half.

Then there was the final time that he fought Ulquiorra, and after his superpowered hollow form virtually destroyed Ulquiorra, Ichigo asks him to do the same damage back to him because "That's not me" and "It won't be even unless we're in the same state". Let's not forget that before Ichigo transformed into a hollow he couldn't put a scratch on Ulquiorra and had just had a head-sized hole blown in his chest with no effort whatsoever. And Ulquiorra's main power is regeneration of body parts, which Ichigo doesn't have (without transforming into an unthinking and uncontrollable monster anyway). And even ignoring both of those facts, this isn't a sporting competition, the whole reason he's there is to rescue his friend that Ulquiorra kidnapped, which he's going to find seriously hard to do if he's missing an arm and a leg (and y'know, dead, because he's nowhere near as strong as Ulquiorra at this point when not in hollow form).

I'm gonna stop there before I start going off topic with all the other things I hate about the show, but those are the ones that came to my mind first.
 

Fleetfiend

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Vaan from FFXII. Also Tidus from FFX, but at least he has some interesting inner dialogue, and even though he can be a dumb jock, I feel like he's realistic.

And, though it's not a game, the main character from Inuyasha. I HATE HER and it made me lose interest in the show.
 

Diablo1099_v1legacy

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Tanthius said:
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.
Urg, that entire fight didn't sit right with me.
Granted, I know it's a Boss fight and the player has to win in order to beat the game, fair enough, but Deathstroke should NOT have been the first assassin to been beaten.

I know they had Joker and Bane, but giving them the spotlight didn't mean that they had to shat on DS.

OT: Lars from Tekken 6's Campaign.
Nothing against the character himself or how he acts, just more his existence.
When watching him though the Campaign, I kept getting the vibe that he was more like a fan made Original Character (Leader of a Rebel Army, Long Lost son of Heihachi, Cute robot GF, amnesia) then a proper Tekken Character.
I know in Fighting Games, the Plot is just there for the sake of being there half the time, but still...
 

Eamar

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TallanKhan said:
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.
I just started watching the TV series and... yeah. It really doesn't help that she's clearly older than in the books, not just in terms of how they've deliberately aged up all the kids (which I think seems to work overall), but because the actress is plainly older than the character. She just seems like a bit of an idiot.
 

BOOM headshot65

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Elfgore said:
My most hated protagonist of all time. Ichika from Infinite Stratos. He is the most dense person, no. The most dense thing that exists on earth. Seven girls have feelings for him, and at several times making it painfully obvious. Every time he just goes "huh?" and gets a dumb look on his face. This picture describes the show perfectly.


Edit: Picture should be fixed.
Well, I can usually give charcters like that a pass because, well.......that was me. My girlfriend flat out told me "I love you" in 9th grade, and I was just like, "Oh, ok? *stick head back in book on Vietnam War*". Of course she moved that summer, and that is when the lightbulb finally klicked on and I was like, "Wait......SHE WHAT?!?!?!" and then I spent the next 2 years trying to find her to tell her I felt the same. And now I will *hopefully be* proposing to her next year, still just as dense as ever. Good times, good times.

OT: There are basically no protagonist I hate, and it takes a lot to get me there. But a recent game has managed to do just that. From GTA 5:

Trever......
F***ING......
Philips......

I am NOT asking for the characters of GTA to be saints. Your playing as a criminal in a world made up of strawmen and satire. No one is clean. But Trever is a MONSTER, and I got *THIS* close to chosing the ending where you kill him, but I let him live so I could do any possible after game missions. But outside of missions, I rarely played as him other than to do the arms trafficing missions out of the rural airfield you can buy for him. And the things he does, He deserved the brutal death he gets if you kill him. I would do it and for ONCE in a game not feel anything when I kill someone. Killing him is no different than putting down a rabid dog in my eyes. But I keep him alive for after game playing, and nothing else.
 

marche45

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The Wykydtron said:
*Pokes head in*

Hello? Should I start going on about the main character in Persona 3 again or have we gotten really bored of that already? Fuck it.

So I really should copy paste one of my many speeches on this guy so I don't have to rewrite the same stuff over and over again. Basically he's an unlikable **** no matter how nice you try to make him be and every single aspect of the game unintentionally reinforces this negative image I have of him and I really tried to like him. The rest of SEES don't even act like he's more than an acquaintance even later on in the game, everyone else is having character development and Persona evolutions then there's just your lazy fucking arse just sitting in his room doing nothing in the meantime, you're forced to go out with half the female population of the school just to max your S Links and I could go on. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if he just quit the whole "saving the world" thing halfway through because he couldn't be bothered anymore, he doesn't seem invested in anything SEES does.

No, stop I know what you're going to say "oh he's like super apathetic because of a traumatic past and so he can't make friends your argument is invalid lol" then I have to say then why is a guy with such apathy ingrained into his character in a fucking Persona game? You know, the one centred around friendship?

Honestly after playing SMT Devil Survivor I can say I would find him infinitely more enjoyable to play if he was in SMT proper instead.
In his defense,going out with every girl is something the game itself forces you to do.
Also SEES themselves don't seem to intermingle.I mean besides Junpei,nobody really talks to more than 2-3 people.For instance,i don't recall akihiko and yukari talking to each other much,or mitsuru and ken.
Also i would disagree about the game being centered around friendship.Sure,its a major component but more than anything the series has always been about Jungian psychology and this one was centered around death.The social links(while arguably important) wasn't the focus of the games message.

As for the thread:I would have to say the protagonist of Accel world.
Alot of protagonist share his terrible qualities,but he is probably a shining example of why i hate most shounen.
 

TallanKhan

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Eamar said:
TallanKhan said:
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.
I just started watching the TV series and... yeah. It really doesn't help that she's clearly older than in the books, not just in terms of how they've deliberately aged up all the kids (which I think seems to work overall), but because the actress is plainly older than the character. She just seems like a bit of an idiot.
You're right there. It didn't occur to me before but i think that is part of the reason the character grates on me so much more on screen. She doesn't just come accorss as a spoilt child, but rather as a spoilt teenager acting like a child.

I do agree overall they got it right with the ages of the kids. I suspect to a degree it was a deliberate decision made to support the "one series per year" business model. Otherwise after 5/6 series some of the younger actors might have run into trouble trying to play their respective characters.
 

Cybylt

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Astal said:
Luke Fon Fucking Fabre. Okay so I love Tales of the Abyss and all the Tales of... series games and I have 100%ed ToA a total of 8 times.
This whiny, vindictive, self-centered man-child should be purged. I realize why he's such a massive douche (he's technically 7 years old) but that does not excuse blowing up an entire city full of people and then refusing to take responsibility of any sort for your own actions.
Oddly enough, I disliked most of the cast for that particular point. If anyone deemed it important enough to share anything they knew, that whole situation could have been avoided. Also it could have been avoided if that dumb pope kid didn't unlock the door to what's basically a magical self destruct button for a tectonic plate.

Luke didn't know his mentor, the only person to ever show him any sign of consideration whatsoever throughout the plot up to that point, was the bad guy except on the word of people who have personal vendettas against him, or are enemies of Luke's country. And when asked why? No explanation, just "trust us, he's the bad guy," and never giving anything to really back it up when they were holding onto info that fucking backed it up!

Every god damned character in the protagonist party was complicit with the destruction of that town, and they lay all the blame on the (person with the mental faculties of a) child.

I guess Guy didn't know anything but he's the only one, really.

His actions were walking into a room he was politely asked to walk into. Tear knew what would happen because she knew about resonance but never actually explained it to him, Jade knew exactly what Luke was but just let the whole thing go along for... just because. Ion, and by extension Anise, were completely aware of Van's plans and the way to accomplish said plans, had the means to stop them simply by not complying with opening the door, AND HE OPENS THE DOOR. Ion is the most responsible any of that shit but wont acknowledge any responsibility because his musical chairs bible told him that's what he was supposed to do. That little fuck deserved being killed.

Ion was the real villain all along, by being the pope of a super shitty fatalistic religion.


The Wykydtron said:
*Pokes head in*

snip

A friend and I were talking about differences between 3 and 4 and... yeah, but for all of SEES with a couple exceptions. While in the stuff that takes place after 3 mentions how everyone in SEES are these lifelong pals or whatever, that never came across at all in the game itself. Aside from Mitsuru and Akihiko everyone seemed to hang out with each other because they were obligated to, not because they would in any other circumstance and don't really try to get to know each other or becomes friends throughout the game.

Hell if Ultimax is any indication, they basically dropped contact with Junpei all together afterwards because he's not a part of their new pseudo-military thing. Obligation is still the only thing really keeping them together.
 

maninahat

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Revy from Black Lagoon. The show in general is so try-hard when it comes to coolness, it somehow sucks all the fun out of akimbo guns, hot pants and the word fuck. Throw in some pedestrian nihilism and a five cents tragic back story, and you end up with a particularly obnoxious character with a whole show practically devoted to her.
 

DjinnFor

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Eamar said:
Nah, she's still too lacking in agency for my taste.
That's because Martin ensures character survival rate is inversely proportional to their agency. Sansa getting more agency just means she dies quicker. Martin clearly intends to keep her alive to the end of the series, the way things are going.
 

FrankatronX

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Neal Caffrey from White Collar. I HATE that guy. I utterly loath him.

"Oh hi I'm just your way above average intelligence, super model good looking, suave priceless art thief who just so happens to have mastered every art medium you've ever heard of and speaks any language you want. Did I mention I pooped out the Sun this morning?"

Ugh It's revolting and rediculous. It's not even that I hate the idea of the perfect protagonist who is just so awesome he Flash Gordon's / MacGuyver's his way out of anything but it's not even facing up to what it is. The character is a god made flesh not unlike John Carter or Conan and yet stands in total denial of the pandering's it makes to its SO FICKLE AUDIENCE IF THEY WERE TO GIVE HIM ANYTHING SO OUTRAGIOUS AS TO RESEMBLE A HUMAN QUALITY THE FRAGILE IMMERSION OF THEIR WONDERMAN FANTASY WOULD SHATTER SO HARD THEY WOULD MURDER THEIR SPOUSES IN THEIR BEDS FOR THE CRIME OF HAVING FLAWS!

Okay that's a bit of a rant. I tend to get emotional but it's only because my girlfriend calls him "Perfect" a lot and fawns over his stupid perfect fedora wearing, blue-eyed, PERFECT HAIRED head. I am a bit worried about the unreasonable expectations this may give young impressionable people though.

Now that's out of my system I will think hard about the importance I place on televised programs.
 

Padwolf

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Anastasia Rose Steele from 50 Shades of Grey. The most self centered, insecure, weak, stupid, dumb, incredibly stupid, pathetic woman I've ever read in my life. Just god damn.

The main character from Catherine, Vincent Brooks. Or as I tend to call him "Mr babbling idiot" He is incapable of stringing more than two words together it seems. His inability to talk also enrages me.

Kaim from Lost Odyssey annoyed me for a very long time. At this point in life I was tired of "mr tall, dark, brooding, silent" so when Kaim comes along and doesn't say a word I thought "yeah... screw this game." But I found out it got better, he had a reason to be so angsty. Just damn, don't whack me with the angst right at the start.

I don't know if it counts, but Chie from Persona 4. Gods she is the reason I turned the game off and haven't gone back. She is one of the most loud and annoying characters I have ever seen and I don't know why people find her so adorable. She is a pain in the ass and after an hour and a half of the game I just couldn't take it anymore.
 

greatcheezer2021

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IndieGinge said:
greatcheezer2021 said:
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.
to be honest, i really like evangelion. it had alot of cool ideas. lots of visualization. lots of things you could see happening. lots of color with meaning. a show that felt human.

i read enders game as a kid. the same time i first encountered NGE. i never burned any books besides this one. the ones i didnt care for i donated at least. but i could never suspend my disbelief. i could never forgive ender, or his shitty siblings or shitty commanders. or author. i dont hate the author but i hate his character. i dont like the evangelion remakes. but there is something about evangelion that pleases me. the vision, i suppose if anything. if i were to tell you why i admire shinji, i'd have to write a very taxing essay. and id have to re-read a book just to burn it again. and buy all the other copies just to burn them. i guarantee it.
 

the December King

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Zontar said:
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.
Actually, I loved Attack on Titan ( now on Netflix Canada), but Mikasa rubbed me the wrong way the whole time. I think that's just my preference for martial characters to be male ( I know, I'm a pig or something you hate), but I think it had more to do with her being a super strong and skilled warrior for no apparent reason (at least in the context of the animated series). It could also be that I don't really have a lot of experience with this sort of anime, as I've been told this is a common story arc( male hero is entitled, overly passionate and generally unskilled at the beginning, support girl is super-skilled but somehow flawed, second support is really smart but usually physically inept?)
 

Someone Depressing

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Mario, Master Cheif, Gordon Freeman, Final Fantasy (all of them), any protagonist from most visual novels about dating (obscure his/her face! Great, now the hentai will be even MORE erotic!), Sailor Moon, Japanese media has an irritating habit of making the main character's as bland as possible (particuarly in the furry community, oddly; a visual novel that I'm playing right now, Morenatsu, uses this so much that it's irritating as fuck. There's a character there; maybe even a pretty good one, but instead they go with "durr only furries will play this game make them use their purryfergonia") among many other kinds, such as the Orindary High School student, which is also annoyingly constant, the male tsundere in the Takahashi Couple, and Ash Ketchum.

Too many to list.
 

Eclectic Dreck

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There are many but, most recently, I'd have to include the entire cast of Chuck. I think the hatred stems largely from the fact that, in order for the shows events to kick off and then escalate, every episode required that someone be monumentally stupid.
 

Mistilteinn

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Connor from Assassin's Creed III, hands down. I mean, there are certainly other protagonists I dislike, but damn does this guy get on my nerves. He's got no personality outside of "REVEEEEEENGE!" and "Annnnngst!" Yes, it's justified because you got screwed over, but how about cracking a joke once in a while? Maybe laughing? No? Perhaps some legitimate character flaws? None there, I guess. Oh! How about a goddamn character arc, or is that too tough for ya? It is, huh? Well screw you Connor.

Look, I could go on about the myriad reasons why I dislike Assassin's Creed III, but I'll just say that when a side-character is introduced early in the game (Connor's friend, though I doubt he has the emotional capacity to make friends) and he is a more well-developed character with his 5 minutes of screentime compared to the main character over 40 hours, you are doing something wrong!