Most hated characters in fiction?

[LegendZilla]

shinji ikari and Asuka Langley: the whiny, poorly developed, infuriating result of a perpetual teenage edgelord *technically the whole show in a nutshell with kaiju on the side but since were only pointing out characters*

Hideaki Anno actually based Shinji on himself and his struggles with depression.

And to be fair, most of his whining is about being forcibly conscripted to fight a war.

You could at least have him go through an arc where he learns to man up.

[godjacob]

Craig from Re-Animated. The absolute worst example of a "friend" portrayed I have ever seen.

[master_of_monsters]

shinji ikari and Asuka Langley: the whiny, poorly developed, infuriating result of a perpetual teenage edgelord *technically the whole show in a nutshell with kaiju on the side but since were only pointing out characters*

Hideaki Anno actually based Shinji on himself and his struggles with depression.

And to be fair, most of his whining is about being forcibly conscripted to fight a war.

You could at least have him go through an arc where he learns to man up.

^this so much

[Manuelito Canelito]

shinji ikari and Asuka Langley: the whiny, poorly developed, infuriating result of a perpetual teenage edgelord *technically the whole show in a nutshell with kaiju on the side but since were only pointing out characters*

Hideaki Anno actually based Shinji on himself and his struggles with depression.

And to be fair, most of his whining is about being forcibly conscripted to fight a war.

You could at least have him go through an arc where he learns to man up.

Ah yes, because tales of child soldiers always end up with the childs manning up, eh?

Dude, he's a 14 year old child whom right up until that point his biggest worry would have been the next test's score, and now has to fight against eldritch abominations that can melt mountains and scramble your brain and with his only weapons being a couple guns and if he loses, all of humanity dies.

Oh, and he receives absolutely no support beyond other people that are as damaged mentally as he is, and as such, can't do much for him.

And all of that is without taking into account his previous psychological issues.

How can you expect for him to end up?

[Gigantis]

Godzooky: Single-handidly almost took me you of the entire Hanna Barbera Godzilla show just be being a sheer annoyance.

Robin (2003): Look i'm sorry but i can never find a way to feel even the slightest way to even remotely like him. He's just so poorly done as a character and no episode revolved around him is interesting.

Broly (DBZ): KAKAROT KAKAROT KAKAROT CAROOT BOY oh shut up!

Pretty much everyone in Family Guy: Not the type of guy who thinks horrible people makes good comedy so i always just end up ignoring this show. Especially hate Herbert. Lord..

Lighting Mcqueen and Mater: I hate Cars in general and it started with these two idiots. One's a loudmouth who got better too little too late, and the other's terrible comedy relief.

King Sombra (MLP FIM): Honestly the weakest antagonist in the entire show. While almost everyone other villain has something remotely interesting about them, Sombra's just.... the bad guy. With a crystal motif.

[Jetty_Jags]

Hideaki Anno actually based Shinji on himself and his struggles with depression.

And to be fair, most of his whining is about being forcibly conscripted to fight a war.

You could at least have him go through an arc where he learns to man up.

^this so much

I hate the argument that if you dislike blank its because you don't understand it, but if you thought Shinji doesn't have a character arc, and think he needed to man up, you missed the entire point of the show (which to be fair isn't what the show immediately sells itself as). His arch wasn't to become an action hero, it was to learn to value himself, realize that building connections with other people is worthwhile despite being vulnerable while doing so. He has an arch, and a fairly defined one, its just that its to fix his hedgehog dilemma, and learn to love himself.

On a tangent if you want to see a more aggressive Shinji watch the rebuilds, which actually do explore that route.

[JAGzilla]

King Sombra (MLP FIM): Honestly the weakest antagonist in the entire show. While almost everyone other villain has something remotely interesting about them, Sombra's just.... the bad guy. With a crystal motif.

It's been years since I've seen it, but I'm in the apparent minority that really liked the Crystal Empire two-parter. Now, to be fair, that was mostly because of its handling of Twilight, the rest of the Mane Six (they were actually given something to do), and Spike. Shining Armor's sacrifice scene was pretty great, too, probably the best thing the show ever did with him. Anyway, I actually liked that Sombra wasn't another big personality like Discord or Queen Chrysalis, because they tend to dominate their episodes and overshadow the protagonists, or at least take up a ton of valuable screentime. Sombra was more of an obstacle to overcome than a proper character, and he filled that role adequately, allowing the focus to stay on the heroes. And for what he was, he at least had a fairly cool design (in cloud form) and there was a good aura of fear and menace around him. The crystal ponies were too afraid of his memory to even talk about him, as I recall. That was handled pretty well.

It's also got to be said that his defeat was about as hardcore as anything that show ever did. There wasn't any turning him to stone, or curing him with Friendship, or any of that... they just straight up fucking vaporized him. With a weapon powered by love, yes, but still. Meghan McCarthy even confirmed that he was actually dead.

[Gigantis]

It's also got to be said that his defeat was about as hardcore as anything that show ever did. There wasn't any turning him to stone, or curing him with Friendship, or any of that... they just straight up skreeonking vaporized him. With a weapon powered by love, yes, but still. Meghan McCarthy even confirmed that he was actually dead.

I mean, i guess that wasn't really enough to stop him since he suffered it twice via Season 9 premier. Still the other villains have really good backstories, motivations or both. Then there's Sombra who just wants to takeover, and the comics aren't canon so he has no backstory.

[goji89]

Hideaki Anno actually based Shinji on himself and his struggles with depression.

And to be fair, most of his whining is about being forcibly conscripted to fight a war.

You could at least have him go through an arc where he learns to man up.

Ah yes, because tales of child soldiers always end up with the childs manning up, eh?

Dude, he's a 14 year old child whom right up until that point his biggest worry would have been the next test's score, and now has to fight against eldritch abominations that can melt mountains and scramble your brain and with his only weapons being a couple guns and if he loses, all of humanity dies.

Oh, and he receives absolutely no support beyond other people that are as damaged mentally as he is, and as such, can't do much for him.

And all of that is without taking into account his previous psychological issues.

How can you expect for him to end up?

It's a God damn anime series....can we stop with this "if he we're real" crap? Yes, it's the authors intention to make him weak and vulnerable and not a super heroe but damn if through out the damn series he is a whiny child that gets on your nerves. At some point you'd want him to make an effort to help and not depend on others so damn much. I hate this character but love it for what it does, take the heroe and make him useless. It's weird but let's not make it like it's probable for anyone. At least show a bit of fucking backbone. I some point even children learn to fight back.

[_JNavs_]

Some children even like to fight back against impossible odds. That's why there's always school fights.

[goji89]

I mean damn..... fight back even if your against a damn wall. What? Just get killed without even a pushback of some fucking sorts. If you're gonna die anyways then at least go down swinging in a huge fucking mech.

[JAGzilla]

I mean, i guess that wasn't really enough to stop him since he suffered it twice via Season 9 premier. Still the other villains have really good backstories, motivations or both. Then there's Sombra who just wants to takeover, and the comics aren't canon so he has no backstory.

I haven't seen Season 9 yet (what's taking so long, Netflix?!) so I can't comment on what happens there. (Don't tell me the details, I'm a spoilerphobe)

Also, wasn't Tirek pretty much just a generic bad guy, too? Again, been a minute since I've seen his episodes, but I remember him just being a big scary goon grabbing power because power. Do we just give him a pass because he looks like Satan and had a ridiculous DBZ fight scene?

[Manuelito Canelito]

Some children even like to fight back against impossible odds. That's why there's always school fights.

Yeah, and Shinji wasn't one of those kids.

Seriously people, are you really fucking expecting a 14 year old with already mental health problems, one who doesn't like conflict, to go and charge against enemies that can do this?

[Gigantis]

Also, wasn't Tirek pretty much just a generic bad guy, too? Again, been a minute since I've seen his episodes, but I remember him just being a big scary goon grabbing power because power. Do we just give him a pass because he looks like Satan and had a ridiculous DBZ fight scene?

At last he had an interesting backstory and even came back showing that he was still planning. Sombra's backstory was just that he fought the Royal Sisters once upon a time so they could take back the Crystal Empire and he was locked away in the Arctic, then he came back cuz he was A N G E R Y.

[Jetty_Jags]

I’ll be honest while I understand that Shinji comes off as annoying, I’m so confused by how much he really gets under people’s skin. A part of his character is supposed to invoke that reaction sure, but asking for him to be a completely different character is nonsense, because at its heart the shows a character study. That’s like saying, “I hate the character Frankenstein in Mary S. novel Frankenstein. Why doesn’t he just man up and take responsibility for his actions? Why doesn’t he go out and try to murder the monster every time he kills someone, instead of getting sick and moping around? Can’t he just grow a backbone?” Sure I guess his character could be written that way, but then the entire purpose of the story would be different. This is not like changing Jack Sparrow to be slightly less quipy, it’s literally asking for an entirely different work.

[Mac Daddy MM]

I’ll be honest while I understand that Shinji comes off as annoying, I’m so confused by how much he really gets under people’s skin. A part of his character is supposed to invoke that reaction sure, but asking for him to be a completely different character is nonsense, because at its heart the shows a character study. That’s like saying, “I hate the character Frankenstein in Mary S. novel Frankenstein. Why doesn’t he just man up and take responsibility for his actions? Why doesn’t he go out and try to murder the monster every time he kills someone, instead of getting sick and moping around? Can’t he just grow a backbone?” Sure I guess his character could be written that way, but then the entire purpose of the story would be different. This is not like changing Jack Sparrow to be slightly less quipy, it’s literally asking for an entirely different work.

So what you're saying is that its okay for Shinji too be a pathetic human being because he was written to be a pathetic human being to begin with?

Yeah, Shinji ranks pretty far up there for me when it comes to my most hated fictional characters.

I know a lot of people say Kylo Ren is one of the better parts of the sequel trilogy, but I really can't stand the guy. He's one of those bad guys I just 100% hate, and not in a good way. His intro scenes were so good, but as soon as he takes the mask off and he becomes the angsty teen with uncle issues, he just becomes horri-bad.

[master_of_monsters]

I’ll be honest while I understand that Shinji comes off as annoying, I’m so confused by how much he really gets under people’s skin. A part of his character is supposed to invoke that reaction sure, but asking for him to be a completely different character is nonsense, because at its heart the shows a character study. That’s like saying, “I hate the character Frankenstein in Mary S. novel Frankenstein. Why doesn’t he just man up and take responsibility for his actions? Why doesn’t he go out and try to murder the monster every time he kills someone, instead of getting sick and moping around? Can’t he just grow a backbone?” Sure I guess his character could be written that way, but then the entire purpose of the story would be different. This is not like changing Jack Sparrow to be slightly less quipy, it’s literally asking for an entirely different work.

So what you're saying is that its okay for Shinji too be a pathetic human being because he was written to be a pathetic human being to begin with?

Yeah, Shinji ranks pretty far up there for me when it comes to my most hated fictional characters.

I know a lot of people say Kylo Ren is one of the better parts of the sequel trilogy, but I really can't stand the guy. He's one of those bad guys I just 100% hate, and not in a good way. His intro scenes were so good, but as soon as he takes the mask off and he becomes the angsty teen with uncle issues, he just becomes horri-bad.

I also have the same problem with Amuro Ray in the first gundam series, he starts off not wanting to fight and even goes awol in the middle of battle but he at least grows some balls and looks beyond himself, I mean literally millions are dying or have already died.

[Jetty_Jags]

So what you're saying is that its okay for Shinji too be a pathetic human being because he was written to be a pathetic human being to begin with?

When the whole purpose of the story is about a character overcoming their mental burdens to open up, take the risk of being vulnerable and realizing that running away is a harmful coping strategy, there needs to be a character who for large parts of the story is suffering from their mental burdens, is actively not being vulnerable, and runs away a lot. In many ways this is antithetical to the majority of protagonists throughout literature, which is why I understand that he comes off as being annoying, these are not desirable or charming human qualities (that is the point). Whether people personally enjoy this or not is perfectly fine and subject to individual opinions, but asking questions like, "You could at least have him go through an arc where he learns to man up." (I know Mac Daddy MM wasn't the one who said this I'm using it as an example), implying that its the least the creators could do, or that its merely an aesthetic change, misunderstands the whole intent of Eva. The Angels, Nerve, Evas, Jet Jaguar homage etc are all a medium for conveying this message, and the resolutions to these problems are really only secondary to the character's development, specifically the development of Shinji learning how to deal with his mental baggage. Sure there's nothing stopping someone from asking these questions. But in my mind its like someone watching The Sound of Music, and saying, "Ugh I really found how the characters randomly break out to song and dance in the middle of situations where people would never act that way to be so un-immersive, the least the could do is remove these parts and let their actions tell the story." Regardless of liking musicals or not, the Sound of Music was meant to be a musical, and asking for it to not tell its story through musical numbers is essentially asking for it to be an entirely different work of art all together. I perfectly understand not liking Shinji as a character, I perfectly understand not liking Eva being a character drama disguised as a mecha show, but asking for the show to change this quality about him (even in a hypothetical retrospective manner), is asking for the show to entirely change its identity and focus, and I just find that silly.

[JAGzilla]

Sombra's backstory was just that he fought the Royal Sisters once upon a time so they could take back the Crystal Empire and he was locked away in the Arctic, then he came back cuz he was A N G E R Y.

Sure, he's certainly not the most interesting villain MLP ever had. Off the top of my head, he probably is the weakest of the Big Bads, character-wise. Again, though, I don't know if it's really fair to compare him to the others. I didn't get the impression that he was meant to be an important character in his own right like the other Big Bads. The story was centered on Twilight overcoming the challenge of saving the Crystal Empire, not about Twilight facing off against King Sombra. The story only required him to be an obstacle, a thing to be beaten so Twilight's character arc could progress. He could've been some generic non-sentient cloud of dark magic or something and fulfilled the same purpose, the writers just decided to give him a face and minimal personality for the sake of making him moderately interesting, but he was never intended to be the next Discord.

[Gigantis]

The story was centered on Twilight overcoming the challenge of saving the Crystal Empire, not about Twilight facing off against King Sombra. The story only required him to be an obstacle, a thing to be beaten so Twilight's character arc could progress.

So why not just let the main plot be about Twilight having to find the Crystal Heart and make the crystal ponies happy again?! Sombra doesn't even need to exist in order to make the Season 3 premiere anything good, but then they did it because it was almost status quo at that point that "every Season premier needs a bad guy."