More often than not, the lead characters on our favorite shows are made to be likable, or at least tolerable. There are outliers to that norm, but even those are few and far between.
Then, of course, there are those characters who make you want to throw a brick at your screen even if that wasn’t the intention with which the character was created.
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It might be for a variety of reasons but most of the time it’s because the writers unwittingly went overboard with the schtick they built the character around, and so, Instead of the charming character we were supposed to get, we end up with an insufferable caricature that sometimes never grows past his character flaws.
We have picked 21 of the top leads who annoyed us most of the time they were onscreen. Read on to find out who they are!
Kiera Cameron (Continuum)
Maybe being a selfish jerk is a prerequisite to becoming a cop in 2077, we’ll never know, and prioritizing self-interest isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, watching Kiera do it times without number at the expense of those who have routinely placed her well-being above theirs was infuriating.
Ross Geller (Friends)
Ross was a giant man-child who would whine about everything the second he doesn’t get what he wants. Plus, he continually tried to sabotage Rachel’s relationships with other guys. Not that she was any better, but at least she showed a tiny bit of improvement over the years.
Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory)
You most likely know that Sheldon has a genius-level intellect, and it is probably because of the number of times he has brought it up in conversation, which is pretty much every other episode. He is also condescending and totally devoid of empathy.
President Trump (Our Cartoon President)
Listening to that annoying voice is enough to send most people over the edge, but if that doesn’t do it for you, then you’ll be happy to know that the antics he gets up to will make you want to throw yourself onto a busy highway.
Star (Star)
They make a point of letting us know that the characters on this show are humans like us — warts and all. Except for Star, who is mostly about warts and little of everything else. Getting her sister out of Otis’ house was the only good thing she has done that counted, and she has continued to coast on the goodwill that action bought her, but for how much longer?
Lucious Lyon (Empire)
To list Lucious’ traits that make him the worst parent, husband, and friend is not possible without having to dedicate a whole page for that. He was supposed to be in the anti-hero mold — which is a very fine line to walk. But along the line, he just turned into an utterly repulsive character whose chance at any form of redemption has long passed.
Danny Rand (Iron Fist)
Shortly after abandoning K’un-Lun to fight The Hand in New York, it didn’t take Danny long to lose the Zen-monk facade and turn into an insufferable caricature of a character. He mellowed out a bit in the second season, thanks to the influence of Luke Cage, but that was too little, too late.
Piper Chapman (Orange is The New Black)
It seems the only reason Piper was in this show was to serve as a gateway to the other much better characters. Entitled and arrogant: two words you normally wouldn’t associate with an incarcerated person, but that is precisely what she is.
Prince Liam Henstridge (The Royals)
Robert coming back to claim the throne when he did raised a lot of red flags. Thankfully, Liam was quick to spot them. The only problem is he allowed his paranoia to turn him into a looney prophet of doom who only looked more like a crazy person the more he talked. He was right all along, but still.
Guinevere Beck (YOU)
Dating an obsessive, murdering stalker is a character flaw unto itself, yet somehow Beck manages to make us hate her more than we do her circle of lying, cheating friends. Now, if only someone could scupper that book deal she got, it’ll be the ultimate move from our dear friend, karma.
Bill Compton (True Blood)
It didn’t take long for everyone, except Sookie, to realize Bill didn’t have that many attractive traits. He also allowed Sookie to get injured so he could feed her his blood which helped him monitor her better. Everyday control freaks don’t hold a candle to this man.
Elizabeth Keen (The Blacklist)
Without Red to keep things interesting The Blacklist wouldn’t have survived for as long as it has. Liz has the uncanny ability to suck the air out of every room she walks into which would’ve undoubtedly asphyxiated this show long before its time.
Marnie Michaels (Girls)
All the girls on Girls have their fair share of problems, but you can usually see the heart and good intentions behind their otherwise flawed choices. But not Marnie who repeatedly falls into the same destructive cycle without ever learning from her mistakes.
Korra (Avatar: The Legend Of Korra)
Korra wasn’t that unlikeable but watching her get beaten repeatedly by villains that aren’t worthy to touch a hair on her head made for some hard viewing. Sure, she was at a disadvantage for some of the battles but, for the most part, she was just not good enough.
Archie Andrews (Riverdale)
Evil characters populate the small town of Riverdale, but those guys don’t draw the same degree of ire that Archie does. That is saying something for a guy whose best friend is the leader of the local gang.
Meredith Grey (Grey’s Anatomy)
Meredith has been around for a long time, and if things work out the way we expect them to, she’ll be around for a while longer. With that said, it doesn’t mean we enjoy seeing her on our screens that much. She is pompous, self-centered and cries over EVERY. SINGLE. THING. Get a hold of yourself, Meredith!
Floyd Mooney (White Famous)
Floyd was positioned as a wise-cracking comedian-cum-actor who turned out to be completely unfunny and not one bit the woke black dude he was supposed to be.
Amanda Bloom (Kyle XY)
The literal girl next door who shared a mutual attraction with Kyle of house Trager. That is until she turned into the jealous girlfriend who solved her paranoia by falling into the arms of a serial cheater.
Robin Scherbatsky (How I Met Your Mother)
Robin is terrifyingly fickle and a total commitment-phobe. Not to mention her overly violent hobbies which should’ve been a warning sign to Ted and everyone else who has come before him.
Jack and Kate (Lost)
Jack had his moments of badassery, and so did Kate, but the total number of times Kate has made everything worse just by being there is pretty high. Then after everyone managed to get off that god-forsaken island, Jack went door to door to implore everyone to go back. Who the heck would agree to go back?!
Morgan Reznick (The Good Doctor)
Dr. Reznik is the worst. She is presumptuous and thinks everything is a competition — including being empathetic to patients at her place of work. That is a skill you either have or you don’t, and Morgan clearly doesn’t.
