Well, since I did a list of my favorite literary characters, I thought I'd do one of the characters that annoyed/pissed me off. As a side note, this list doesn't count the books from authors I really hate (Austen/Bronte/Meyers, etc). Also: Just because a certain book or author is on this list, doesn't mean I don't like said book or author...just the characters in them. These are in no particular order.
- Grima Wormtonge: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien
Grima is one of those guys who I wouldn't say made me mad or annoyed, I just never liked him at all. He betrays his fellow humans to an Istari and to Sauron, perverting King Theoden's mind to bring his nation to ruin. Plus he has the nerves to flirt with Eowyn in front of Eomer. What an idiot...
- Zaphod Beeblebrox: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Zaphod definitely annoys me, in the book as well as the movie. Yes, he has some funny lines here and there, but he's a complete moron, self-seeking jerk. He has the attention span of a goldfish (which is about 15 seconds), sometimes even less so.
- Nynaeve al'Meara: The Wheel of Time series, Robert Jordan
Nynaeve bugs the hell out of me. She's definitely my least favorite character. Now, in general, I don't dislike feminists, but Nynaeve is one of those extreme ones that really piss me off. Her actions, her temper, and ego really get to me. Both Elayne and Egwene are like this to a certain extent, but nowhere near Nynaeve. Plus, they have other redeeming qualities...Nynaeve (at least so far) has none.
- Dolores Umbridge: The Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling
As much as I hate Nynaeve, Professor Umbridge is one of the few fictional characters I've gotten really mad at, to the point where I have to stop reading and cool off. I really wanted her dead. Besides the fact that she reminds me of my high school Economics teacher, she's evil to the core and she's sneaky about it (at first anyway).
- Captain Ahab: Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Not much to say about Captain Ahab. Hated the book, hated his character. The above picture is from the movie version, where Ahab is played by Gregory Peck (who doesn't suck).
- Camaban: Stonehenge, Bernard Cornwell
Camaban is one of those characters that I did not like at all. It wasn't because he was a badly developed character, or was given bad lines...he was just a good villain. Being a disliked character isn't always a bad thing; it is usually because their creators are really good authors. I feel the same way about Umbridge. I hate her as a character, but I love the books and the author. Bernard Cornwell is one of my favorite authors, and he did a great job making a character that would really get under your skin, like a good villain should.
- Kaspar, Duke of Olasko: Conclave of Shadows trilogy, Raymond E. Feist
Kaspar on the other hand is not a great character, at least in my opinion. I love the first two books in this trilogy ("Talon of the Silver Hawk" & "King of Foxes"), but this one took one of my least liked characters from the previous books and gave him his own, random, book at the end of the trilogy. Feist took the focus off of Talwin (who was the MC for books 1 & 2, and who I really liked) and shifted it to Kaspar for book 3. It didn't seem very well thought out to me.
- Darken Rahl: The Sword of Truth series, Terry Goodkind
Terry Goodkind is one of the very few authors I have come across that can write 800-900+ page books and still keep my interest all the way through. Darken Rahl is a very good villain, and Goodkind gives him the traits a good villain should have. A good author (especially in fantasy lit.) should make you hate and/or fear their villain(s). I definitely hated Darken Rahl. Well done, Mr. Goodkind!
- Anyone from The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Plain and simple: I hated this book. I had to read it for my 11th grade English class. I liked "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Crucible" more than this book. Not my cup o' tea at all.
When it comes down to it, most of these characters are not necessarily bad, they are in reality, well written antagonists/villains/etc. If I happen to dislike the villain of a story, I feel like the author did their job correctly (at least in this aspect, not always for the book as a whole).
Ended up here after googling "Nynaeve moron" =)
ReplyDeleteReading WoT at the moment and that bitch is annoying the hell out of me.
With the popularity of the series I figured there'd be alot of reactions to her out there, but I have to say there's less than I expected considering the level of her stupidity.
She's been close to ruining the entire series for me a few times since I can't muster up the suspension of disbelief required to imagine other characters taking her seriously for even 2 seconds with the level of retardation her character brings.
Cheers