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My top Ten Least Favorite Characters!


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The Suburban Snob



Joined: 19 Oct 2012
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:46 am Reply with quote
It’s very rare for me to actually hate an anime character. Even the ones I find truly despicable can earn my forgiveness by having the right kind of impact on their respective stories... Presenting compelling twists, furthering the development of other characters, or even having a really awesome comeuppance visited upon them. Hell, ion some cases, I hate the entire cast of an anime so much that I don’t even know why I hate any of them as individuals... Like in Ragnarok the Animation. But for this list, i’ve managed to bring together ten characters that I not only hate as individuals, but that I fully understand my hatred for. And here is that list.
Spoilers ahead.

10: Brigadier General Basque Grande, Fullmetal Alchemist

We’re starting things off with my least favorite character from my most favorite series. While Grande is certainly an irredeemable douche nozzle, I mainly hate him for the effect he had on the story. His role in the original anime was expanded from bantha fodder to writers’ convenience, and not a very good one. The Nina Tucker reveal is one of the few moments that I feel FMA dropped the ball on, and his part in it is irritatingly obvious. He hounds Shou Tucker about his assessment, which is completely unnecessary, and almost makes Shou look sympathetic. He abducts Shou and Nina in the aftermath, and although he seemed to present a strong threat, Ed’s interference is never addressed, nor is his covering up of the scandal. I realise that a lot of my hatred for him stems from weak writing, but what can you do? I still hate him. Thank god Scar still gets to give him a first hand look at his brain on drugs.

9: Princess Dhianella, Heroic Age


It took me a while to piece together why I would have such serious hatred for such a bland, unambitiously written character. What I eventually came up with is that I hate the things that are implied about her in the story. As the only Royalty on board, she had to have some say in the hiring process of the ship’s crew, which means she forgot to ask her applicants some very important questions... “Do you have a backstory?” “Do you have a unique or interesting personality?” “Do you mind being filmed in the shower?” Oh yes, that’s right, she films her crew members in the shower. Granted, the one time we se her do this, the crew members are showering clothed... Because that’s how you get paint off of you, I guess... But the necessity of showering/bathing nude is literally the first thing anybody learns about hygiene. Even if I’m to believe she’s NOT filming crew members while they soap up their naughty bits, the camera is still there... Which is creepy.

8: Sumire Takahana, Venus Versus virus


While Venus Versus Virus is a bland, unoriginal series, it’s ultimately this wishy-washy, inconsistent character that makes me hate it. But her personality, while annoying, isn’t what I hate most about her. See, if I have to scream at a character while they’re on screen, I’m probably not going top like them very much. And half the time that Sumire spends on-screen, I can’t stop telling her to shut the fudge up. She is one of the biggest exposition dumps I’ve ever seen, and whether she’s talking or voice-overing, she’s crapping out useless dialogue all over what could have been at least a passable show. “I already know that... I don’t need to know that... I’m not stupid... Shut up... Put the eye=patch girl back on screen... For god’s sake, shut up!”

7: Azusa Suma, Master of Martial Hearts

This isn’t going to be a long entry, as I haven’t seen this putrid excuse for a show in at least eight months, but I particularly remember this character standing out, and not in a good way. She’s a teacher in a fighting tournament, but she doesn’t want to be in it, so she calls out complicated scientific terms before each of her attacks, so her opponent will be able to block. Like, O2 means two right punches. If that sounds stupid and overly-complicated, trust me, it’s worse than you’re thinking. And the most infuriating thing about her is that she’s voiced by Luci Christian. One of the best voice actors in the business. Hearing her waste her talents on a role like this makes me hate the character all the more.

6: Ryo Akiyama, Digimon Tamers.

The word ‘Mary-Sue’ is thrown around a lot these days, and very rarely by people who understand it. I’m talking to you, SAO haters. But if there’s one franchise that‘s had it’s fare share of actual Mary-Sues, it’s Digimon. Most of them I can forgive, like Kari, who wasn’t in a very good show to begin with, and had a decent role in the story. I can’t say either of those things about the character of Ryo from Tamers. Not only is he a character from the best season in the franchise, but he was absolutely unnecessary to the story. He popped in out of nowhere, to tease the video game fans, gave the cast a p[lace to sleep, got overtly fawned over by two other characters because of “how awesome and wonderful he is,” and then just disappeared. He has no character arc, and no development, and yet he’s the fourth and final tamer to biomerge. The story would not have been any different without him in it.

5: The Maker, Angel Beats!

Hating Angel Beats is like hating a toddler... It may be really dumb and make no sense, but that’s simply how it is. You can’t fault a toddler for being a toddler any more than you can fault a tree for being a tree. But there’s one moment in the show, I alluded to it in my review, that actually feels like a punch in the face. After battling hordes of Shadow Demons, Yuri finally discovers the mysterious boy who’s been stealing computers and causing problems for everyone. What explanations does he give for this world? For the way it works? For the violent glitches? His answers range from “It was like this when I got here” to “The power of love.” The show had always been dumb, but this was the only time where it felt like the writers were snidely saying “Yeah, it’s dumb, but you’re the one wasting your time on it. What were you expecting, watching it this far in?”

4: Meiko Shimono, Hell girl

There’s a good reason that I didn’t put anybody from School Days on this list. They may be horrible people, but if they hadn’t committed their acts of douchebaggery, we’d have never been able to see that epic, satisfying ending. But it’s also possible for a horrible character to receive a punishment that’s not satisfying at all, compared to their crimes. To give you a brief run-down, Meiko Shimono killed both of her parents to get their inheritance money, and then killed her own infant so he couldn’t take it from her later. She buried the three bodies in her garden, and when she thought a couple of loose dogs may have accidentally uncovered the bodies, she kidnapped them, and forced their child owner into servitude. She killed the dogs, as well as drowning their puppies, and all she got in return was a trip to hell with a disfigured face and several little puppy demons to haunt her. Sounds awesome, I know, but she still deserved worse.

3: Ash Ketchum, Pokemon

You may agree or disagree with the entries on this list, but I think I don’t think I’ll hear much complaint on this one. Ash Ketchum is a whiny, useless little jock-itch, and he’s a terrible contender for either pokemon masterhood OR catching them all. In fifteen years, he’s only owned around fifty different pokemon! On top of that, he couldn’t figure out the GS ball, he never went back for Pidgeot, and he’s been ten years old for almost as long as Bart Simpson. This show would have been a lot better if Gary had been the main character... He catches a lot more pokemon, he earned two extra badges, he actually had some sort of character arc that we never got to see... Even when I was a kid, when he and Ash met up again at the beginning of Orange Islands, I wanted to switch perspectives over to him!
Anyway, my frustration with this charity case only got stronger as I got older, and that’s not something I can say about a lot of characters. I’m only putting him at number three because Pokemon was a huge part of my childhood, and if I dare give him a lower number, my nostalgia goggles will tighten and kill me.

2: Eneru, One Piece

Would you like Darth Vader if his lightsaber couldn’t cut through flesh? If, when he tried to cut Luke’s hand off, he just grazed it? Would you like Wolverine if his claws couldn’t cut through human flesh? I sure as hell wouldn’t. When a story tells me that I should be intimidated by a character, I want to know that they at least have the ability to kill someone. And Eneru, the god of Skypeia, is considered so intimidating that the entire civizilation is afraid to speak ill of him. Because when he shoots laser cannons down on you from the heavens, it can kill you, right?
Nope. no, no it can’t. He can burn through eight feet of stone floor, but the human body standing on top of that floor remains pretty much in one piece, in need of a little rest. The people he electrocutes directly need a bit MORe time to recover, and when he shoots a bolt into your brain? Eh, you’ll wake up with a minor headache.
I couldn’t stop yelling “Are you [expletive] kidding me?” at this guy, every single time one of his victims survived, but hey, I kept telling myself, at least he killed that old man. At least he’s done something remotely threatening.
Then it was revealed that the old man somehow survived, and I got so angry that I had to turn the show off for a few days to calm down.

1: Saya Kisaragi, Blood C


What’s worse than an ineffective, incompetent villain? Why, an ineffective, incompetent hero, of course! And they don’t get any more ineffective or incompetent than Saya, the latest incarnation of the Blood franchise hero, and she couldn’t possibly deserve the title less. Ignoring the obvious moes she panders to... Like meganekko, clumsy girl, and miko... as well as her ugly character design, she is so ridiculously incompetent that she made the show physically painful to watch. Throughout the entire series, she was only able to save one person’s life for more than five minutes, and yeah, that particular fight was pretty awesome. She can go through some kind of transformation to her much more capable former self, and she proves that she can do it right at the beginning of a fight... Unless of course her class is being devoured, in which case she’ll wait until only three of them are left to employ it.
I really wish I were making that last part up, because half way through the series, a giant monster attacks her full classroom. So what, does she evacuate the room, tell everyone to spread out and hide, jump out the window to fight it outside, transform, and save the day? No, she just sits there and lets everyone get slaughtered! God forbid a hero takes some initiative in saving innocent civilians! And despite the fact that her teacher is practically telegraphing the fact that she knows something about the attacks, Saya never asks. She never asks why her giant monster battles aren’t attracting more attention, either. For the love of God, I’d rather have Captain Hero try to save me then ever rely on her. This bitch couldn’t save a sandwich with a Ziploc bag.
I haven’t seen the movie, but with the impression the series left on me, I have no desire to change that.

Well, there you have it, my top ten least favorite characters. Agree? Disagree? want to make your list known? Please, do so!
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Bango



Joined: 06 Jul 2013
Posts: 1122
PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:22 pm Reply with quote
I found that all the characters I dislike are because they're just cardboard cutouts, or because they're annoying.
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Raftina



Joined: 15 Mar 2011
Posts: 3282
PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 12:41 pm Reply with quote
Two characters come to mind, though I've not quite had the time to make a comprehensive ordered list.

Shinn Asuka, Gundam SEED Destiny: a perpetually angry, aggressive, and highly stubborn child who is dismissive of any alternative views and who takes out his anger on unrelated parties. He has a large ego and is characterized by constant disrespect to his peers and even superiors. Having to watch a main character act like this is painful.

The backstory of having his family killed in an attack onhis homeland by giant robots is sympathetic, but his behavior more than destroyed any shred of symathy very fast.

Eren Jaeger, Attack on Titan: a perpetually angry, aggressive, and highly stubborn child who is dismissive of any alternative views and who takes out his anger on unrelated parties. He has a large ego and is characterized by constant disrespect to his peers and even superiors. Having to watch a main character act like this is painful.

The backstory of having his family killed in an attack onhis homeland by giants is sympathetic, but his behavior more than destroyed any shred of symathy very fast.
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Aylinn



Joined: 18 Nov 2006
Posts: 1684
PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:40 pm Reply with quote
I don't like characters that bore me. There is nothing worse than that. I can like unsympathetic characters/sons of a b****/whiners, etc. as long as I find them interesting to watch.
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Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:54 pm Reply with quote
The Suburban Snob wrote:


5: The Maker, Angel Beats!

Hating Angel Beats is like hating a toddler... It may be really dumb and make no sense, but that’s simply how it is. You can’t fault a toddler for being a toddler any more than you can fault a tree for being a tree. But there’s one moment in the show, I alluded to it in my review, that actually feels like a punch in the face. After battling hordes of Shadow Demons, Yuri finally discovers the mysterious boy who’s been stealing computers and causing problems for everyone. What explanations does he give for this world? For the way it works? For the violent glitches? His answers range from “It was like this when I got here” to “The power of love.” The show had always been dumb, but this was the only time where it felt like the writers were snidely saying “Yeah, it’s dumb, but you’re the one wasting your time on it. What were you expecting, watching it this far in?”


While I agree that the whole reveal of the maker was a total letdown, the show itself is definitely not dumb and nonsensical.
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The Suburban Snob



Joined: 19 Oct 2012
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:42 pm Reply with quote
In my review of the series, I went into a lot more detail about WHY I think it's dumb and nonsensical. It's a lengthy review, but if you're interested in reading it, you can find it here.

animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1754909
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Rhyono



Joined: 03 Dec 2011
Posts: 1039
PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:36 pm Reply with quote
The Suburban Snob wrote:

1: Saya Kisaragi, Blood C

I haven’t seen the movie, but with the impression the series left on me, I have no desire to change that.


She did lose her memory and was kind of mind controlled. She wasn't her real self during the anime, but she is in the movie. The movie was definitely better (and I mean the movie related to this series, not the original movie).
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Raftina



Joined: 15 Mar 2011
Posts: 3282
PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:51 pm Reply with quote
There was also the thing where she's just continuing the proud tradition Saya Otonashi set for Blood protagonists, so she gets a pass on being useless.

Appearing in an utterly stupid show, on the other hand...
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4137
PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 7:14 am Reply with quote
The Suburban Snob wrote:

9: Princess Dhianella, Heroic Age[/b]

It took me a while to piece together why I would have such serious hatred for such a bland, unambitiously written character. What I eventually came up with is that I hate the things that are implied about her in the story. As the only Royalty on board, she had to have some say in the hiring process of the ship’s crew, which means she forgot to ask her applicants some very important questions... “Do you have a backstory?” “Do you have a unique or interesting personality?” “Do you mind being filmed in the shower?” Oh yes, that’s right, she films her crew members in the shower. Granted, the one time we se her do this, the crew members are showering clothed... Because that’s how you get paint off of you, I guess... But the necessity of showering/bathing nude is literally the first thing anybody learns about hygiene. Even if I’m to believe she’s NOT filming crew members while they soap up their naughty bits, the camera is still there... Which is creepy.


I may be wrong about this but wasn't the camera more for keeping an eye on the guy who turned into a giant monster or did that not matter in your version?

Dhianella was more a priestess than a straight up princess and she was one of my favorites characters in that series. How much guts does it take to place all your faith on the guy who has an uncontrollable rage issue, trapped in the body of a guy who knows more about an ancient race of superaliens than human beings? The answer's beyond me because I'm not crazy enough to be an Argonaunt, you know, the guys crazy enough to follow the most powerful human being in existence with more blind faith than most religions get.
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The Suburban Snob



Joined: 19 Oct 2012
Posts: 9
PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:56 am Reply with quote
I admit that I saw the series about two years ago, but I don't recall that reason ever being established. That MAY have been the reason that she was spying on her Goku-clone friend, but when you're talking about a series where the main character digs a hole in the hull of the ship without causing an air breach, any line of logic is fair game.
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Raftina



Joined: 15 Mar 2011
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 10:22 am Reply with quote
I doubt she makes minute decisions about the ship--or any direct decisions at all, really. As Animegomaniac said, she's more of a priestess than a princess--a Delphi oracle whose vision guides the political executives who actually make the decisions, if you will.

I'd blame Mobeed for the camera.
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gingerninja666



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 8:50 pm Reply with quote
Vino from Baccano! is my most hated Anime character ever. Almost single handedly destroying my love of a series by the end.

Now, I'm very alone in this I'm sure, but I can't stand badasses. Not unless they're either straight up antagonistic or they're established as having some kind of reasonable limit. (not necessarily that they can't beat someone, but they need to put a significant amount of effort into doing so) Vino has NONE. Vino is invincible. He knows he's invincible, and he could take over the whole world if he wanted to in a few days. He doesn't have any superpowers. He's never struggled unless he's actively holding himself back, and he's not a true villain in the sense that he fights out of a sense of justice (even if it's kinda warped at times)

Now, the GREATEST issue for me is that this sort of character undermines the tension and the achievements of everyone else in whatever scene he appears in. Ladd and Goose had absolutely no chance of succeeding in their goals aboard the Flying Pussyfoot. They're rendered ineffective in the face of the train's indestructible guardian angel. And that rustles my jimmies more than I can put into words. I know he's insanely popular, and I know the author of the novels has said that he'll never have the focus in a series because of his sheer dominance. But I just don't see why a character like that needs to exist. Period. It frustrates me to near tears whenever I think of him.
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Animeking1108



Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:40 pm Reply with quote
The Suburban Snob wrote:
10: Brigadier General Basque Grande, Fullmetal Alchemist

We’re starting things off with my least favorite character from my most favorite series. While Grande is certainly an irredeemable douche nozzle, I mainly hate him for the effect he had on the story. His role in the original anime was expanded from bantha fodder to writers’ convenience, and not a very good one. The Nina Tucker reveal is one of the few moments that I feel FMA dropped the ball on, and his part in it is irritatingly obvious. He hounds Shou Tucker about his assessment, which is completely unnecessary, and almost makes Shou look sympathetic. He abducts Shou and Nina in the aftermath, and although he seemed to present a strong threat, Ed’s interference is never addressed, nor is his covering up of the scandal. I realise that a lot of my hatred for him stems from weak writing, but what can you do? I still hate him. Thank god Scar still gets to give him a first hand look at his brain on drugs.


Can't blame the writers for it though. It was early in the manga before Grande was given any character aside from being a redshirt. He was a lot more likable in the manga.

For me:

10. Fire Emblem- Tiger and Bunny- He's pretty every negative stereotype about gay people.

9. InuYasha- People call Kagome a bitch for constantly sitting him, but tell me you wouldn't do the same if you had to deal with him on a regular basis. He constantly complains about having to help people, he's a jerk to his friends, and he beats up small children. Not to mention that he's Ranma Saotome if he took 20 levels in jerkass. Then again, it's Rumiko Takahashi. Everything after "Ranma 1/2" has just been rehashing characters from that series.

8. Chichi- Dragon Ball- This woman is so selfish, that she puts Gohan's education over Goku's safety and the fate of the world. Yeah, way to show concern for your husband that's been dead for a year and then mangled by a giant monkey.

7. Sai- Naruto- Everyone calls Sakura useless, but name one useful thing this androgynous painter has done since his introduction? Want to know his character in just one sentence? "Hey, Naruto; do you have a penis?"

6. Kira Yamamoto- Gundam SEED- This video here sums him up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMFGaM5xa8U

5. Kon- Bleach- Every series needs its one-note pervert, unfortunately.

4. Brook- One Piece- Read Kon above. During Thriller Bark, he at least had a little depth. However, as the show progressed his only words seem to be 'panties' and 'skull joke.' Not to mention he serves no practical purpose to the Straw Hats. Nami navigates, Zoro is a fighter, Ussop invents and fires canons, Sanji cooks, Chopper heals, and Franky fixes the ship. Why does Luffy need a musician?

3. Kogoro Mouri- Detective Conan- Think Leorio Palidknight if you took away his admirable qualities. He has a giant ego and is a borderline child abuser.

Everyone- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya- I've ranted enough about Haruhi, but Kyon is an arrogant prick who doesn't help anybody when Haruhi harasses them (even before he spoiler[found out she was god]), Yuki bland copy of Rei Ayanami, Mikuru is a submissive little crybaby that won't carry a can of mace, and Itsuki stopped Kyon from hitting Haruhi the one time he grew a brain.

1. Holland Novaks- Eureka 7- Pretty much everyone except Renton and Eureka are unlikable not-so-nice-people, but Holland is the worst out of all of them. I hate his self-righteous attitude, his blatant pedophilia towards Eureka, and his tendency to blame Renton if the weather isn't nice outside. I hate how nobody calls this douchebag out whenever he assaults a kid half his age. He's also pretty damn useless. All he does is lounge in his swim trunks while his employees do all the work. He's a terrible leader, and it wouldn't surprise me if he would beat spoiler[his own children once Talho gave birth].[/i]
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Sohma_Curse



Joined: 07 Dec 2012
Posts: 512
Location: New York
PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:49 pm Reply with quote
Animeking1108 wrote:

Everyone- The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya- I've ranted enough about Haruhi, but Kyon is an arrogant prick who doesn't help anybody when Haruhi harasses them (even before he spoiler[found out she was god]), Yuki bland copy of Rei Ayanami, Mikuru is a submissive little crybaby that won't carry a can of mace, and Itsuki stopped Kyon from hitting Haruhi the one time he grew a brain.


Ughhhh, THANK YOU. I felt like I was the only person in the world who couldn't stand those characters (especially Haruhi).
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gingerninja666



Joined: 04 Jul 2013
Posts: 30
PostPosted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:53 pm Reply with quote
I found Yuki the most likeable. Though that might be because she showcases the least obnoxious characteristics
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