Whom Do You Think Are Literatures Most Unlikable Fictional Characters

[BAYLOR]

On Human Bondage Mildred was mean spirited, nasty, manipulative and utterly loathsome person. She didn't have any redeeming qualities, at all. It amazes me that Phillip Carey found her so desirable even allowed her to treat him badly the way she did. Of course Phillip Carey was no angel.

 

[paranoid marvin]

O'Brien was a manipulative ,despicable monster. I didn't like him from the beginning.

But isn't that what Winston became when he wished Julia to be tortured instead of himself? And once he had been broken, and given up the one thing he truly loved, to what depths would he sink? That doesn't make him a bad person.

But as I said , it's all a matter of opinion!


Also may be the fact that the first version I saw (rather than read) was Richard Burton playing O'Brien so his is the face I see when I think of O'Brien. As I love his work, that may be swaying me!

 

[JoanDrake]

The Warden from Shawshank Redemption. Not just a hypocrite but a vicious and cruel one.

Eddard Stark. His rank stupidity masked as honor managed to destroy him, his kingdom and his innocent family. How in hell he ever managed to become a King in the world he was in is a greater testament to the ineffectiveness of heredity as a selection tool for rulers than anything I could think of.

 

[kythe]

But isn't that what Winston became when he wished Julia to be tortured instead of himself? And once he had been broken, and given up the one thing he truly loved, to what depths would he sink? That doesn't make him a bad person.

But as I said , it's all a matter of opinion!

Also may be the fact that the first version I saw (rather than read) was Richard Burton playing O'Brien so his is the face I see when I think of O'Brien. As I love his work, that may be swaying me!

I agree with Baylor.

When Winston was broken, he became an unemployed alcoholic. He was no longer monitored intensely because they knew they had nothing to worry about with him, but he was completely ruined as a person.

O'Brien was a personification of the dystopian system itself. He lived in a nice house, whenever he wanted to he could turn off the tv with the 24-hour monitoring which also spewed rhetoric. It wasn't necessary for him because he didn't need to be brainwashed - he created the rhetoric given to others. He even said he wrote that book by "Goldstein" which was used as an outlet to people's hate for resistance. He is at the top, and responsible for maintaining order in society as it is.

 

[Gramm838]

The central character, Ringil Eskiath, of Richard Morgan's 'The Cold Commands' series.

Trying to put modern gay sexuality into a fantasy novel may have sounded like a good idea, but I'm afraid it just seemed to be done for shock value and I found that it completely spoilt the book for me, and his character was completely unbelievable and unlikeable.

This was such a shame as Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs series is about the best hard action SF I've ever read, and if he released another one it would be top of my shopping list.

 

[Mouse]

I didn't mind him on the first read about ten years ago, but when I tried to re-read them recently I came to despise his self-congratulatory, let-me-buy-you-a-drink-while-I-tell-you-this-great-story up-his-own-arseness. One trembles with dread to imagine the kind of dating ad he would write.

Yep. When a character's so perfect he grows his own eyeballs back, you know it's time for the book to be shoved out in the box in the garage and left to die.

 

[Sle'eze]

I'd say Ramsay Bolton. I think we have yet to see the worst of him. He is completely de-subjectifying people around him.

 

[hitmouse]

Ooo, ooo, yes, Steerpike, I'd forgotten all about him!

Hmmm Steerpike.

Definitely becomes evil and warped, but doesn't start out as anything more than an inadvertent and secret revolutionary against a stuffy and inflexible system. Not very nice at all, but has internal logic, and is a fascinating character.

The most dislikeable chacter in Gormenghast is the awful Irma Prunesquallor. Steerpike does not come close.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Steerpike is so driven he's almost admirable! Although I agree, Irma is horrible.

 

[Toby Frost]

Irma is ghastly, but she's also a rather sad, stupid person, and doesn't actually seem to be malicious (although she's snobbish and obnoxious). Steerpike is violent and power-hungry: I agree that he starts off rather sympathetic, but ends up purely working for himself. And Irma is mocked by pretty much everyone. I think someone like Irma could survive quite well in a society run by Steerpike, but he'd probably get bored and kill her after a while.

But I suspect that this is what makes good villains in general. They're not just cartoon monsters doing the worst thing the writer can think of ("Hoho! I will eat live puppies while raping ten virgins in front of the Pope!") but actually make a bit of sense as people.

 

[Vertigo]

Yes that's exactly why I 'like' Steerpike as a character to not like! He starts off sympathetic but then by perfectly logical sequences of events (or at least as logical as they get in Gormenghast) he becomes a malicious altogether nasty bit of stuff but still believably so. For me to not like a character they have to be not just nasty but totally believably so, in such a way that I feel they have become who they are by their own choices.

 

[BAYLOR]

Yes that's exactly why I 'like' Steerpike as a character to not like! He starts off sympathetic but then by perfectly logical sequences of events (or at least as logical as they get in Gormenghast) he becomes a malicious altogether nasty bit of stuff but still believably so. For me to not like a character they have to be not just nasty but totally believably so, in such a way that I feel they have become who they are by their own choices.

Considering what a truly dreadful place Gormenghast was , I can understand why he become what he did.

 

[BAYLOR]

The Murdstones brother and sister in David Copperfield what a pair of wretches they were.

 

[farntfar]

Most of the gods in classical mythology (and Terry Pratchett) are nasty spiteful characters who turn you into stars or spiders or something, just because you are better at knitting or have a nicer apple or screw your husband (or some other trivial matter).

 

[Stephen Palmer]

The fascinating thing about Steerpike is how he slowly comes to believe his own hype. He becomes a politician, in effect.

 

[Toby Frost]

I agree. His motives make sense - at least to him, and because the character is so well-portrayed, the reader can understand them too. I thought it was a real shame that the BBC adaptation made him into a sort of sparkly vampire boy.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Mmm… must watch that again. I have the video! It's been 14 years…

 

[BAYLOR]

Mr. Thomas Gradgrind In Dickes book Hard Times teach the kids facts and nothing else. A very callous and arrogant man.

 

[BAYLOR]

Moll Flanders , I hated the book and I especially hated her.

 

[Michael Colton]

For me, Elizabeth Bennet is the instant answer.