Fictional Characters That I Hate

Court did a list of Ten Fictional Characters that she hates, and to be truthful, I liked the idea so well that I am suspending Friday Friends for a week to share my list! Some will be the same as Court's. I can't help it... Hope it doesn't look like I am copying!

1. Briony from Atonement by Ian McEwan: I consider Ian McEwan a hit-or-miss author for me. While I actually didn't hate this book, I hated Briony. I know that she is supposed to be an author, and is even supposedly writing this book, but I couldn't stand her! She is spoiled and sheltered, but really she is just jealous. It's hard to put into words, really. Have you ever read a book and hated the character, but can't really put your finger on why? That's been my problem with her for years. I had hoped the movie would help me figure it out, but it didn't. I still despise her and can't seem to say why!

2. Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen: Anyone that knows me knows that I am not a huge fan of romance novels. Apparently, not even classic ones. Can someone please explain to me what is so wonderful about Mr. Darcy? He's rude, obnoxious, and condescending! He treats Elizabeth with nothing but scorn, and yet she loves him in the end? Obviously men are not perfect even in the 'real world', but that doesn't mean I want to wind up marrying a guy that looks down on me at every chance. I know, so in the minority here. Please don't kill me. We will just accept that romance novels are not my thing and move on, okay?

3. Duddy Kravitz from The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz by Mordecai Richler: This is one I have in common with Court. That makes me happy, because I sometimes feel like I am in the minority! Anyway, Duddy is a character that will do anything for money. That is his character. I hated him from the very first page of the book until the very last page. He has a dream, yes, but nothing else matters. It got very tired, very fast.

4. Bridget Jones from Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding: Very annoying character. I know she is supposed to represent the struggles of most women, but it didn't really work well for me. I actually found her pretty flakey and I have no patience for characters of that nature.

5. Lancelot and Guinevere from various Arthurian Stories: I know. This is called my candy... I love Arthurian retellings, but I hate these two. Like Court, it is impossible to think about one without thinking about the other. I mean, do either of them have brains? Some retellings try and give them one, but generally they are just pathetic. It is not a romantic story at all, if you think about it, it is just two people cheating on Arthur. If Arthurian legends are true, I would hate to think that these idiots were the reason that an entire empire was destroyed because they are so not worth it!

6. Lyra from The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman: I read this book a few years ago, so she is not as fresh in my mind as she used to be, but I actually had a huge problem with her character. I read this book thinking I was going to love it, because it really is right up my alley, but I couldn't love her and it lead to me getting more and more annoyed with the book. There were more problems, too. It's another case of not being able to my finger exactly on it, though. I have that problem a lot, it seems. Probably because it was a few years ago now.

7. Bella from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: Hands down, Bella is probably the most annoying character in fiction ever! She is dependant on a vampire to the point where when he goes away she purposely injures herself in order to hear his voice in her head! That's just disturbing. She has no backbone, lets Edward dominate her, and... I really could go on and on. I didn't mind her in the first book because I thought she would grow with the series, but she really did not at all!

8. Anita Blake from the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton: I don't know what this woman was thinking! Anita starts out being this badass character with morals. I loved her in the beginning, but then, she essentially turned into a slut that would sleep with any creature that caught her fancy. The books became more about me being disgusted with her bedroom scenes and less interested in the story. Why did she have to ruin a great character? It just makes me sad...

9. Beatrice Lacey from Wideacre by Philippa Gregory: You know, I used to like Gregory, but then I read this book and it destroyed her for me forever! (Well, that and I actually didn't like anything else I tried afterwards...) This book is so disturbing! I know that women had no power in history, but Gregory takes this to a whole new level. There is incest, to start with. I mean, to sleep with your brother just because you are in love with the land? This book and character disturbed me on so many levels. Needless to say, never read the sequels.

10. Meggie from Inkheart by Cornelia Funke: I have issues with children main characters. They can destroy a book for me if they are not written very well. I never found Meggie was written all that well, and that might be why I still haven't read the two sequels to this book. Another series that I thought I was going to love and didn't. Meggie is just hard on my head. She loves book, yes, but she was not likeable. I didn't feel for her at all and really could careless what happened to her in the course of the book. The movie didn't improve things for me.

Okay, so there is my hastily thrown together list of Ten Fictional Characters That I Hate. There are many more where that came from, but I have to go finish laundry and find the kitchen. So, what about you? What are your least favourite characters? I could do lists a few times and probably not run out... The problem is that I get less vocal as time goes on because the bad characters have been erased from my mind and been taken over by characters that I love. I think I might do a list like that next.