Least Favourite character in WOT?

[chongjasmine]

Who is your least favourite character in WOT?
Mine is Padan Fain.
I simply dislike him.
To me, he is so disgusting.
My second least favourite character is Loial.
Sometimes, I do not know what purpose he serves in the whole series.
He is so timid, and always reading book, and he isn't a human.
I also dislikes all non human characters.

 

[Talysia]

I think my least favourite characters have to be Elaida, Galina, Sevanna, Masema and a couple of the Seafolk Windfinders. I'm sure there are a couple of other Aes Sedai that I could add to that list, too, although they aren't major characters, as well as Nicola and Areina.

It's funny, but when I last read through the series (end of last year/start of this year), I found that my opinions on various characters had changed - particularly Galad and Faile. As the series has progressed, their personalities seem to have changed a bit, and I find that I like them now. Now that Gawyn has dropped his "Al' Thor must die!" thing and settled for being Egwene's Warder, he seems a little better, so I can't quite add him to my least favourite character list any more.

As for Loial, I rather like him, but it might be because I'm a bookworm, too. It may be that we see his true purpose in A Memory of Light - I'd love to see him convincing the other Ogier to join the rest of the world in fighting the Shadow, rather than just leaving them to it. The Ogier haven't had a lot of presence in the last two books, so I'm hoping that gets rectified in the last one.

 

[HighWiredSith]

I find Egewene absolutely intolerable and her character the least believable of the lot. It hardly seems fair that RJ spent five very long books describing in intricate detail Rand's reluctance and refusal to succumb to his destiny as The Dragon Reborn. Double that for Perrin who's natural leadership and strength saved The Two Rivers yet if I read how he "Just wants to be a simple blacksmith" one more time I am going to take a hammer to my own head...or Matt who, thanks to a bit of prophetic trickery, is destined to be the greatest military mind of all time just wants to run away and play dice. Then you have Lan and his refusal to be the king that he is. Meanwhile Egwene is very literally thrust into the Amyrlin Seat and seems to act of this is role to which she's entitled without ever having a second thought.

Bottom line - Egwene.

 

[littlebird]

I agree with HighWiredSith. Egwene is my least favourite character, which is made all the worse because so much of the books are devoted to her.

 

[digs]

chongjasmine, do you dislike Padan Fain because you feel he is poorly written or just because his character is so disgusting? I actually feel he's one of the most interesting characters. He's a fairly obvious echo of Gollum from LotR, but he still feels refreshing in the context of WoT. Actually, he and a bunch of other bad dudes like him (a few of the Forsaken, some Darkfriends, Shaidar Haran, Luc/Isam/Slayer/whatever) are, I think, some of the highlights of the whole series.

I'd agree with Talysia about Elaida, Galina, et al - any of those haughty, powerful, no-nonsense women who think they own the world (and there are a lot of them in the series). Cadsuane really annoys me too, mainly because I feel like she could have been really cool, but she just turned to out to be the archetypal Aes Sedai, albeit older, better at channeling and with a bunch of awesome ter'angreal (that part I like).

 

[Jake Reynolds]

As a matter of fact, many years and many books later, I don't really like any of them. They're all too busy being haughty, lovestruck, slighted or sexist to sit down and plan how to save the world. In my opinion, they're all grossly over-simplified caricatures, and though I will read it to the end it is only because I want resolution for all the time I have put in.

 

[chongjasmine]

chongjasmine, do you dislike Padan Fain because you feel he is poorly written or just because his character is so disgusting? I actually feel he's one of the most interesting characters. He's a fairly obvious echo of Gollum from LotR, but he still feels refreshing in the context of WoT. Actually, he and a bunch of other bad dudes like him (a few of the Forsaken, some Darkfriends, Shaidar Haran, Luc/Isam/Slayer/whatever) are, I think, some of the highlights of the whole series.

I'd agree with Talysia about Elaida, Galina, et al - any of those haughty, powerful, no-nonsense women who think they own the world (and there are a lot of them in the series). Cadsuane really annoys me too, mainly because I feel like she could have been really cool, but she just turned to out to be the archetypal Aes Sedai, albeit older, better at channeling and with a bunch of awesome ter'angreal (that part I like).

I don't think Fain is badly written. I think he is well-written. I dislike him because of his character. I find him very evil and manipulative. And I do not like his obsession with Rand, and the way he behaves.

 

[Sho Pi]

I think that Sanderson saved a lot of characters in the last book, so they are no longer on my "stop acting like an idiot, for **** sake" list. Obviously, Gawayn and Egwene are prime examples of this and Elaida is neutralised, at least for now.

 

[Northoceanbeach]

Another for Egwene. Way too much time spent on her. The only parts I wanted to skim were her, Elaine and Avienda.
SPOILER
More time should have been given to developing lanfear more. Or moiraine.

I didn't like padan fain. I felt if they were going to throw him into the end like they should have developed him more nor really not thrown him in after the last battle at all

 

[HoopyFrood]

I think my least favourite characters have to be Elaida, Galina, Sevanna, Masema and a couple of the Seafolk Windfinders. I'm sure there are a couple of other Aes Sedai that I could add to that list, too, although they aren't major characters, as well as Nicola and Areina.

There's a character called Nicola? Awesome! Also like that's it's an interesting enough name to be considered a Wheel of Time one

Hmm, characters I hate, at this point, just going through book five...Definitely Padan Fain, for being so slimy but also for just being too...villain. Giggling to himself and all his other silly ways just make me laugh at him more than fear him.

Gawyn for his part during the fall of the Tower. He dropped right off my nice list.

The woman who was Egwene's sul'dam. The first character I properly felt hate for.

Elaida, of course.

There are characters that when I turn the page and see it's their POV, I sometimes groan (like Padan Fain, or any of the Whitecloaks) but even some of these I end up enjoying by the end of the section. Like I had a Morgase section the other day which I thought I wouldn't particularly care about but was much more into by the end.

 

[ragtagblues]

For almost the whole series I couldn't stand Egwene, I just found her intolerable and would power read through her sections to get them over and done with. However in the last 3 books Egwene is involved in some of the best parts of the entire series and I did start to come round a bit.

If not Egwene than it has to be Nynaeve, not because I disliked her character because I actually liked a lot of things about her. I just think RJ portrayed her really badly.

 

[barrett1987]

The women in the series. Elyana? Nynaeve and Egewene? They are by far the three most annoying characters. Just annoying and stupid.
The old aes saedai that shows up after moraine has gone is again another annoying one, luckily tam gets to put her in her place towards the end.

 

[Tecdavid]

I never found Egwene as annoying as Nyneave, and now I'm on Book 12, I consider Egwene to be one of the better characters. The way she stands up against the Tower Aes Sedai and berates Elaida is actually rather commendable.
Currently, I think my least favourite is Gawyn. His rather unfounded hate against Rand is starting to get annoying.
I tend not consider many villains my "least favourites" at all, because they're supposed to be unlikeable. Masema was particularly irritating, though.

 

[chongjasmine]

I never found Egwene as annoying as Nyneave, and now I'm on Book 12, I consider Egwene to be one of the better characters. The way she stands up against the Tower Aes Sedai and berates Elaida is actually rather commendable.
Currently, I think my least favourite is Gawyn. His rather unfounded hate against Rand is starting to get annoying.
I tend not consider many villains my "least favourites" at all, because they're supposed to be unlikeable. Masema was particularly irritating, though.

I rather like Egwene, too. Can't understand why many people dislike her.
I change my opinion of Loial. I rather like him, now.