43 Awful TV Main Characters People Can't Stand

by Hannah MarderBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffI'm a Senior Staff Writer based in New York City, where I've been covering classic BuzzFeed-style content since 2020.

A bit ago, Reddit user Falcon-Takanashi asked, "Which fictional 'good guys' are absolutely insufferable and why?" And honestly...I kinda hate some of these guys, too. Read on to see which characters people are sick of seeing on their screens.

We also used answers from the BuzzFeed Community.

1.

"Ellie from The Last of Us. She doesn't listen when Joel tells her to do something. She makes decisions like a two-year-old, and she cusses like a sailor. They gave her character a hot and cold personality. One minute, she’s loyal, sweet, and compassionate. Next, she's torturing someone and not feeling bad about it. She's a hot mess who's not at all likable. They should have kept Joel and killed her off."

HBO / Via youtube.com

—truthmatters

2.

"Charlie Cale from Poker Face. The character was fine in the first season, an underdog on the run. In Season 2, she is turning into Nancy Botwin from Weeds — having a basic, normal conversation with a stranger, then just loudly calling them a liar or screaming bullshit. In real life, you get away from people like that ASAP."

Peacock / Via youtube.com

—oddmeat507

"The newest episode was unbearable. She has the new sidekick, who is equally horrible. I almost turned it off. I love Method Man, but it kind of feels like they are scraping the bottom of the barrel with cameos now. I felt annoyed the entire episode, and why wasn't Buscemi in it! The episode with Melanie Lynsky and John Cho was amazing!!!"

—princesscansuelabananahammock

"It breaks my heart to agree with you, but I do. I adored Natasha Lyonne in Russian Doll, perhaps the most meta and creative show ever. And the first season of Poker Face was also wildly creative, but this season, she's all twitches and grimaces, and her character is too...studied and not spontaneous anymore. I stopped watching and felt guilty about it, but it wasn't fun."

—nyc4ever

3.

"Emily from Emily in Paris."

Netflix / Via youtube.com

—u/alfienoakes

"So true. She's such an insufferable asshole."

—u/Just-Like-My-Opinion

"IRL people like Emily are why Parisians HATE Americans."

—u/LovelyLilac73

"Emily is probably the most Mary Sue character I have ever seen. I hate that trope so much, but the show is so absurd it's my guilty pleasure, and I can't stop watching it. I like her coworkers a lot better than I like her. Especially Luc; he is hilarious."

—Naraniel

4.

"Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. The way he romanticizes everything is cute until you realize that he's actually the problem in 80% of the situations."

CBS

—u/des3rtFOX

"Ted in HIMYM was basically Joe from the show You, without all the killing. He was so desperate to find the 'one' but was so picky and judgmental towards all the women he dated. Then, after a billion seasons, we met the 'mother' for 2.5 seconds before she died, and he ended up with Robin. I wish I could get all the time back I spent watching that show!"

—quinnkp425kp

5.

And..."Lily from How I Met Your Mother really needs to be on this list. She was the WORST!!! We had to continuously stop watching the show because she was so bad. We would keep trying to get through it, but it was so hard with her."

CBS

—boringking348

"Definitely. Always meddling in everyone's lives because she thinks she knows best, Marshall was too good for her and the only likable one in the show."

—j4bd133df2

6.

"Rick Grimes was absolutely unbearable after Season 4 of The Walking Dead. Sending him off into the sunset was the best thing the show did."

AMC / Via youtube.com

—u/themug_wump

7.

"Buck from 911. I just stopped watching it because he is such a dingbat tool. Just keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over. No character growth or development."

Richard Foreman Jr. / Fox / Courtesy: Everett Collection

—bougiesquirrel13

8.

"Molly from Mike & Molly. She spends six seasons whining about wanting a baby, while a) she and her husband live in her mother's house with her mother, sister, and mom's boyfriend/husband, b) she is thousands of dollars in debt, but continues to buy expensive shoes and purses, c) she quits her teaching job without a plan, leaving Mike to be the sole breadwinner d) she doesn't let her lack of a job interfere with her purchase of expensive shoes and purses, e) she sells a book she wrote, doesn't use the check to pay down their debts, or work toward a place of their own, but decides to buy a 'muscle car.' She is a dumb, whiny, bullying brat and never actually learns her lesson."

CBS

—elissadec

9.

"I truly lost respect for Olivia Benson when she doubled down on her hunch that Billy Porter's character was accused of child sexual abuse/assault. Rollins was the only person who thought he didn't do this. In the last 74 seconds of 'Dissonant Voices' (Season 15 Episode 7), she is like, 'Those kids were not coached,' and Rollins tells