Whether it’s in a movie, TV show, or video game, a bad character can ruin whatever it’s in. Below are some of my least favorite characters for multiple reasons that make me cringe whenever I see them.
Yukio in The Wolverine (2013)
What an odd decision for this film. The laziest way to make a character stand out and ‘unique’ is to dye their hair a crazy color. The actress has a very distinct and unique look as it is, you didn’t need to give her awful bangs and Ronald McDonald-red hair. She sticks out like a goddamn sore thumb in this movie.
The Joker in Suicide Squad (2016)
The internet collectively cringed when they saw the first photos of Jared Leto’s Joker. The worst part of it was the ‘Damaged’ tattoo across his forehead– it’s as if the creators of suicide squad destroyed a layer of mystery and sincerity by creating the Joker in this way. His overtly pretty-boy look with cartoon green hair is a giant step back from Heath Ledger’s Joker performance. It’s a shame they couldn’t leave the Joker alone for a bit longer– Heath Ledger is the best joker to a lot of people, and will need time to pass for another (non-cartoon) joker to be accepted.
The Sand Snakes in Game of Thrones
The Sand Snakes were the first hint that the showrunners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, are not good character writers. Game of Thrones is huge on characters, so once the show started to get past the books, gaping differences began to appear. The Sand Snakes were insufferable in what they said, did, and even how they looked. Game of Thrones usually has you earn your spot in the show as a character– and these overtly sassy ladies felt like out-of-place intruders in our George R.R. Martin enriched world of backstory.
Ares in Wonder Woman (2017)
This is apparently Ares, the God of War. I know it’s supposed to be a shocker when it’s revealed that it’s him, but really? They chose the goofiest, wimpiest looking old dude to be Ares, the God of fucking War? What a miscast. The rest of the movie was great, except at the end where Ares and Wonder Woman started throwing 16-wheelers at each other in a “i’m more invincible than you” contest.
Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Dolores Umbridge was an insufferable character that made me hate the entire 5th Harry Potter movie. Completely bright pink outfit is a lazy way to make her stand out, and her completely illogical actions and dialogue made her a frustrating flat and 1-dimensional paper character that I wish would have just fucked off.
Zarya’s Emo Skin in Overwatch
Not much to say here, but this skin is so bad. She’s my favorite character, too, but jesus christ, Blizzard, Emo was out of style 1 year after it was born. Stop it.
Abby Sciuto from NCIS
Speaking of emo… this character is basically what old people thing ‘unique teens’ look like. Isn’t she like, 30 years old? I’m pretty sure spiky dog collars from Hot Topic isn’t a part of the dress code. I asked my dad why this character is in the show, he said “she’s unique!” Yeah, it’s lazy. At that point you might as well just throw in a stoner who hates homework to work in your crime lab.
TARS from Interstellar (2014)
Seriously? Spinning rectangles? The character was great, but the design was awful. It seemed stupid. So much advanced technology and the best we’ve got is this thing? It just seems wildly inefficient. It’s huge, has no way to hold things or press buttons, and if it’s moving you can’t see the screen. Seems like the worst possible thing to bring up into a space ship.
The Entire Cast of the Big Bang Theory
Look at these fucks. What are they all wearing? This is corporate’s idea of modern nerds. Look at that first guy from the left, what is that haircut? And those bright blue pants? Where the hell have you ever seen someone dress/look like this? Never. The character design is so tacky, classless, and lazy it drives me nuts– but I guess you can’t expect much from a multi-camera sitcom.
Credence from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
This sad guy and his awful haircut further ruined an already awful movie. Okay, we get it, you’re sad and tortured inside, great, but can you please stop getting that haircut? Maybe that haircut is the source of your problems? People probably see that haircut and run. Him and his dumb problems ended up being the main plot point at the end of the movie, but it all seemed rushed and contrived. Awful.
Admiral Holdo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
This character confuses me the most out of everything. First, the purple hair– lazy and annoying. Doesn’t fit in Star Wars. Besides that, why did she suddenly appear out of nowhere when Leia was unconscious? This high-ranking official with hair that stands out from everyone else was never noticed before? I honestly suspect that Carrie Fisher’s death caused this character– I think that maybe Leia was supposed to have the role of Admiral Holdo throughout the film, but they didn’t get a chance to film it. It explains why Admiral Holdo was such a hollow character who did nothing but follow Leia’s plans and even quoted Leia in a big character building moment. These lines and actions were meant for Leia– and it would have been better, but unfortunately I think Fisher’s death prevented that.
Oh, and why not just tell that pilot guy your plans? You seemed really bitchy and conniving for no reason at all. How many people died because of your ego?
Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)
“Hey, mind if I steal a main character for an idiotic, purposeless side mission? Thanks!” I blame the director more than anyone for Rose Tico. We spent so much time developing Finn and hinting a romance between Finn and Rey, only to rip him away from Star Wars and into some weird Space-casino Royale spin-off. They saved some space cows, failed their mission, and eventually Rosa even CRASHES into Finn’s spaceship to prevent him from doing something heroic? Why? Because she’s selfish and loves him, apparently, so she decided to potentially kill both herself and Finn by crashing into him. So smart– she’s lucky the director was has such a soft spot for this character or she’d be dead, and so would Finn.
Simon and River in Firefly
The show came to a grinding halt every time River had a meltdown. I know she was important, and was intregal to the giant underlying backbone of Firefly’s main plot point… But since we never got to see it truly unfold, she was just a purposeless annoyance uttering gibberish. Simon was also a little annoying because he didn’t really have any conflict or development of his own. He was flat. He was secondary to River. I could see him dying off in the 2nd or 3rd season because he really had nowhere to go. What’s he gonna do, turn on his mentally ill sister and kill her? Nope.
Skyler White in Breaking Bad
Skyler was awful. God, she was so annoying. And she cheated on Walter! For what!?! She always felt like an obstacle in what was a great show. Imagine if she was actually a little bit redeemable? A hint of love? I wouldn’t have chanted “kill your wife! kill your wife!” to Walter every time they had an argument, that’s for sure. I get that she was supposed to be difficult, but come on, give her a redeeming quality.
Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars Prequels
You had to see this one coming, right? Jar Jar Binks was the cherry on top for already terrible movies. He was very obviously put there as some sort of comic relief, or for kids… or something.
Just see how delusional George Lucas is about it:
