5 TV characters we all love to hate
You get them in just about every book, movie, or TV show – characters you just love to hate. They’re usually, but not always, the bad guy who is just as clever, if not more so, than the hero of the piece, and despite them causing you and your beloved characters frustration and heartache, you know the storyworld would be a worse place without them. Here then are the television characters we just love to hate.
1. Cersei Lannister – Game of Thrones
In a show where allegiances are fluid and it’s often difficult to remember who is on whose side and why, it’s somewhat refreshing to have Cersei around. From the very first episode, Cersei proudly wore her colours for just about everyone to see. As we wait for the final season, many viewers are confident that Cersei must die to make up for all the evil she has done. But we don’t want it to happen too soon, because where’s the fun in that?
2. Pete Campbell – Mad Men
You know when you meet someone so smarmy and full-of-themselves that you instantly recoil? That’s Pete Campbell. He’s one of the characters on this list who isn’t evil, but is definitely one of Mad Men’s least liked characters.
3. Thomas Barrow – Downton Abbey
Thomas is so easy to dislike because he just doesn’t care about any of the other people living in Downton. This footman who aspires to the position of valet stirs up trouble throughout the household, making us shake our fists at the television screen. However, he has moments that break our hearts, as we remember he’s a gay man living in a time when society didn’t even have a word for his sexual orientation, let alone the capacity to accept it.
4. Ross Gellar – Friends
Take a poll of 100 Friends fans, and it’s highly likely that a large majority of them will rank Ross as their least favourite character. It’s not that Ross is inherently a bad guy, but he can just be such an entitled jerk sometimes. His best redeeming feature – Rachel.
5. Negan – The Walking Dead
In a world overrun by zombies, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the undead would be the most hated villains of The Walking Dead. But this show isn’t so much about zombies as it is about humanity, and watching people cling to it. When Negan came along, swinging his deadly bat and killing beloved characters to assert his authority, things changed for the show’s heroes, and we’re not sure what the show would be without him now.
Honourable mentions to: Joffrey Baratheon, Ramsay Bolton – Game of Thrones; O’Brien – Downton Abbey; Jim Moriarty – Sherlock
Which is your favourite television character you love to hate? Let us know in the comments below.