"If it wasn't for that guy/gal...!"

[Deltamon]

Ever had an entired storyline for a game/show/movie/etc. ruined for you, or at least part of the 'fun', because of one character? The character perhaps looks or acts ok, but there's something about him/her that just doesn't work in the story's favor in your eyes. Sometimes the character's philosophies or strategies for solving problems make you question both the writer as well as the rest of the folk who thought it a good idea.

Sometimes the character just irritates you to high heaven.

This isn't just another 'I hate this character' thread. This is more of a 'was this character/this take on the character really necesarry?' kind of thing. Post your examples, as well as ideas on how the character could have been improved on, if any.

I put Aladar from Disney's Dinosaur as an example. In this day and age where people are spoiled by things like Jurassic Park and Discovery Channel's Walking with Dinosaurs, we expect our dinos to act like, well, dinos.

Not pansy plant-eaters.

Aladar was nice. Too nice. I can't even explain it, either.

I didn't mind his friendship with the two old gals (Eema and the other gal whose name escapes me were among my favorite characters in the film. Url the doggy-Ankylosaurus was overkill, though. Luckly the fact he added nothing to the story helped in not getting it ruined by him. But anyway...) And...maybe it was the being raised by a family of Lemurs part, though I doubt it. The way he acted around the girl Iguanadon (name escapes me), perhaps...?

I think that's it. It was like seeing Simba's ancestor. It was practically the same character with scales! It was a note that worked once in TLK, but would not sound as well played again in another film. The character had so little personality he made Denver the Dinosaur seem like a Chuck Jones masterpiece (coincidentally I like Denver, but that's besides the point).


...dear me. I don't practice what I preach, Do I?

[Zoddman]

Cate Capshaw in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Indy had so many chances to knock her off, but didn't. Why, who knows? She was annoying, ugly, bi***y, ugh. :mad:

[Calhoun07]

I loved the TV series St Elsewhere but I hated hated hated hated hated hated Helen Hunt's character in that TV show. Her political agenda, her selfishness and total disregard for David Morse's feelings and convictions...she was a totally dispicable character and really ruined a good chunk of an other wise great series. I hated her character so much I cannot bring myself to watch any movies with Helen Hunt in them now.

[The Guard]

I almost stopped watching U N B R E A K A B L E because of that damn Joseph kid.

[Joe Wagner]

Jar Jar Binks - the greatest evil to never actually exist. I watched Episode 1 in theatres and was mezmorized by the greatness of the effects - even though I wanted to slap Jar Jar in the face. After I tried watching it again though on DVD I realized I couldn't make it very long before I did my patented Jar Jar immitation and hoped that my pleas of "Death by Darth Maul and Qui-Gon" would be answered - unfortunately no matter how many times I see the movie, he never dies. Definetly the biggest mistake any movie has ever seen.

-Joe!

[Calhoun07]

No matter how good a movie is supposed to be and no matter how much I think I want to see it, I will NEVER sit thru a movie with Julia Roberts in it. And this is rather hard for me, cuz I want to see Notting Hill because the talent behind that movie also have worked on other projects I greatly enjoyed and I would like to see Ocean's 11. Maybe if I started drinking heavilly and taking some hard drugs I could withstand having to see her in a movie, but for now, I cannot and will not watch anything with her in it. Why? I just find her the most annoying actress on the face of the earth is all!

[BourgeoisBuffoon]

Personally....I think that the many newer chars in the SIMPONS, like Lindsay and the guest stars, are uneeded. They simply just take up space, give cheap gags, or get annoying VERY quickly.

Perhaps the same can be said for Sweetie Bird on TTA. She....is....ANNOYING. She's mean, nasty, takes up space, acts like a brat...*keeps on rambling*

[Calico]

Dawn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The day that character gets killed off, I'm throwing a huge party.

[Blue Priestess]

Characters who single-handedly manage to reduce, if not ruin, your enjoyment of a move/TV show? I have two, both animated.

1.) Jessie Bannon in the 90s version of Jonny Quest. You couldn't win with her; either she was Supergirl & MacGuyver's love child or a damsel in distress. Maybe, if they had bothered to flesh her out instead of cribbing elements of Hadji & Jonny's personalities and shoving them in a female body, she could've been interesting. There's a few episodes of the 90s version that focus on her, which I avoid at all costs. Fortunately, these are few & far between.

2.) Princess Rozalyn from Xyber 9. Yes, time for the near-mandatory X9 reference. Rozalyn was just plain annoying. Maybe it was JUST so they could write catfights between her & Ana; maybe it was the fact that the voice actress had this annoying flakely "click" in her voice that irked me; maybe it was because she was poorly written, barely fleshed out, and designed to look too much like Jack to defer Luke-Leia references. But I REFUSE to watch the two episodes that dwell on her (except for that scene where her father smacks her to the floor--I laugh at that). Considering it's a ten-episode series, that's a pretty big chunk not to watch.

And here's a very special live action mention:

3.) Penny from "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" I loved this movie until she showed up. After that, I refuse to keep watching, because she is just so intensely aggravating. Why would anyone risk escaping from prison for her? She's concerned only with HER good social standing and HER possessions and finds it embarassing that her husband tries to escape just to be with her, not romantic. And I swear, I can't hear the word "bona fide" without thinking of her and twitching with repressed anger. (And what Calhoun said about Helen Hunt applies to Holly Hunt because of this. I never wanna see her in a movie or on TV again.)

Mela

[The Dark Knight]

Max on Batman Beyond.
I could go into the details but there's already an editorial on the World's Finest site that sums it up quite nicely.

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by Calhoun07
No matter how good a movie is supposed to be and no matter how much I think I want to see it, I will NEVER sit thru a movie with Julia Roberts in it. And this is rather hard for me, cuz I want to see Notting Hill because the talent behind that movie also have worked on other projects I greatly enjoyed and I would like to see Ocean's 11. Maybe if I started drinking heavilly and taking some hard drugs I could withstand having to see her in a movie, but for now, I cannot and will not watch anything with her in it. Why? I just find her the most annoying actress on the face of the earth is all!

Julia Robers is barely in O11, so you're actually pretty safe, there. I really don't like her either, and I liked O11 quite a bit.

Capt. Janeway in "Voyager." Oh, wait. Every character in "Voyager" was so annoying that they ruined the show for me. :rolleyes:

[James]

Originally posted by Zoddman
Cate Capshaw in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Indy had so many chances to knock her off, but didn't. Why, who knows? She was annoying, ugly, bi***y, ugh. :mad:


Yeah, Kate RUINED the film for me beyond belief. She was totally dreadful and uninspiring - probably closer to Lucas/Speilberg's wish for the 30's film damsel than the excellent Marion (Karen Allen) Ravenwood... not to my taste though...

[Stardust]

Kristy Swanson in Early Edition . She was Gary Hobson's (Kyle Chandler) love interest and she just totally ruined the season. Maybe that's why it got cancelled. =( I loved that show. The idea was great - Gary getting a love interest, but Swanson was so.........passive and......just a BAD actress for the role....she seemed moody and PMS-y all the time. Should've gotten another actress.

Mako (an asian actor) in any show. I don't know why, i just find him extremely annoying. Maybe it's the way he talks or how he's always portrayed as the all-knowing, wise old man.

Gretchen Egolf in Martial Law. Also ruined the show, maybe THAT'S why the show got cancelled, too. she was so.......didn't know how to act. she didn't act natural. her character was so stuck up and crying "pity me!" at the same time. it's always a bad move to take cute guys off the show, too. :p Louis Mandylor.....woooOooOoOooOo was HE sizzling!

[JustJack]

I knew it wouldn't take long for Jar Jar Binks & Max(BB) to be mentioned around here... ;)

I can't recall to many characters who've really gotten on my 'last nerve'.

[Zoddman]

Originally posted by SJJ



Yeah, Kate RUINED the film for me beyond belief. She was totally dreadful and uninspiring - probably closer to Lucas/Speilberg's wish for the 30's film damsel than the excellent Marion (Karen Allen) Ravenwood... not to my taste though... Thanks for backing up my opinion SJJ!

[Lonestarr]

Originally posted by Stardust
Mako (an asian actor) in any show. I don't know why, i just find him extremely annoying. Maybe it's the way he talks or how he's always portrayed as the all-knowing, wise old man.


Hey, that's the voice of Aku you're talkin 'bout, fool!

Here's my list of characters that ruin otherwise good shows:

Matt on Lizzie McGuire
Cotton Hill on King of the Hill
Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force

[Zoddman]

Yeah, Mako rules dude! :cool:

[The Game]

Jar Jar, but of course, that goes without saying.

-The Game

[Deltamon]

Y'know its funny. my mother as well as my aunt and cousins from my dad's side (not Dad himself, tho), have an unfathomable liking for the movie Pretty Woman . I've seen the film more times than I can count and still find it entertaining to this day. So you might say I somewhat respect Julia Roberts, at least for that.

Her performance in Ocean's 11 was weak , though. The proverbial weakest link in the film. The Chinese circus performer was more emotionally impacting! Gah!

[Stardust]

Originally posted by Lonestarr


Hey, that's the voice of Aku you're talkin 'bout, fool![/i]

i don't know specifically about voice overs, but on Martial Law, he didn't impress me that much. In fact, his character totally annoyed the crap out of me, I hate it when a character becomes too "all knowing" and everything, I have to admit, Chuck Norris' character on Walker, Texas Ranger annoys me sometimes because of how he's all half-indian and because of that background he has the sixth sense kind of thing. and he always takes the bad guys out. anyway, i digress. mako's character, Sammo's teacher, was completely written wrong. a visitor from another country, Sammo's nemesis comes to kill him so Sammo tries to protect him. INSTEAD, MAKO GETS HIMSELF KILLED anyway, after all these warnings to STAY AWAY FROM THE LAW, STOP HANDLING IT ON YOUR OWN. oh the writers/producers, SOMEONE ruined the character.

He had a guest star role on Walker, Texas Ranger, too, and his character in that episode irked me, too. i saw him in a martial arts movie, but i couldn't bear to watch it because of my tainted perception of him from Martial Law.

~*~*~*~*~*~

ok ok samurai jack just came on and i heard "...something something AKU....." and all right, he's pretty good in the voice acting thing. but seeing him on tv....i will forever see him as Sammo's master that got in the way.

[Lonestarr]

To be honest with you, my earlier post was an offshoot of "Characters you'd like to beat up". I've got one now, though.

Now, I don't necessarily hate this character, but I hate the direction that the writers of "Hey Arnold!" took with her:

Helga G. Pataki

She goes through life with an abnormally large chip on her shoulder; always hurling insults and making threats. Yet, at the same time, she has a crush on (read: is obsessed with) Arnold, and she has managed to keep this from just about everyone.

Here's where my beef originates from: our man Arnold is usually the main focus of these insults. What's more, the writers possess the stones to suggest that the two will end up together in the long run (see "Best Man", "Girl Trouble" and the Valentine's Day episode). How the hell can she hope to be happy with the guy when she berates him as if it were an involuntary reflex?

Perhaps her myriad problems stem from her troubled homelife; Lord knows that the non-attention provided by her windbag father and lethargic mother couldn't have helped matters. Or maybe she felt pressured to replicate her practically-perfect-in-every-way older sister. Nah, it's lazy writing, no question. 'Tis a pity that she doesn't give up the ghost and realize that Brainy is her dream man. (They make such a cute couple.)

The girl is a bonafide nut-job, and we, the audience, are supposed to sympathize with her? Yeah, right! I would suggest that she seek professional help, but even that tried-and-true method proved futile ("Helga on the Couch"). As I see it, institutionalization is the next logical step. (I'm loath to use the term 'schizophraniac' - to borrow from Daffy Duck - but if the strait-jacket fits...)

Unfortunately, the writers can't go back and fix these mistakes, as the show stopped production some time ago. I doubt that the forthcoming movie will solve the dilemma of just what's wrong with Helga.

It would've been nice if the writers had figured out just who Helga was supposed to be; instead of simply choosing between 'little girl lost' and 'raving lunatic', they (foolishly) decided to have it both ways.

Other characters I can't stand on this show: her dad Big Bob Pataki, bullies Wolfgang and Ludwig (get it?) and classmate Sid. As far as I'm concerned, these characters are worthless.

Feedback and responses are greatly appreciated.

[BrendaBat]

No matter how good a movie is supposed to be and no matter how much I think I want to see it, I will NEVER sit thru a movie with Julia Roberts in it. And this is rather hard for me, cuz I want to see Notting Hill because the talent behind that movie also have worked on other projects I greatly enjoyed and I would like to see Ocean's 11. Maybe if I started drinking heavilly and taking some hard drugs I could withstand having to see her in a movie, but for now, I cannot and will not watch anything with her in it. Why? I just find her the most annoying actress on the face of the earth is all!
Watch the origional Ocean's 11 (the one with Frank Sinatra) the origional is ALWAYS better than the re-make

[RegulaOne]

Few characters that runed shows for me.


Cartoons:

Pokemon

Tracey sketchit from pokemon, once i got one glimse of that fat ugly mutha****a. I sat through the episodes that had him. He was as irritating. He didnt do ****. He snorted and laughed at everything.

Richtie, 'Nuff said.

The new replacement Kimi (Misty gets replaced) this has sealed my hatred for pokemon

Cardcaptors

Man that was one piece of ****. The characters made me wanna pull out my cochlear and my visio-auditorial cortical section and pour acid on it. The characters were goodly drawn but that story was lets just say "mess"

Real Life shows

Dating shows: Those people get on there an humiliate themselves for what?

trash Talk shows: Trailer Trash Nuff said

VIP: Pamela Anderson is not sexy, she is ugly as a seti-alpha eel on crack. Teen boys like this P.O.S. My advice, go outside and get a real girl.

[SilverKnight]

>blinks< I'm surprised that no Star Trek fans have mentioned Wesley Crusher yet. The show was great; dynamic, engaging, and very addictive. That is, until Wesley Crusher decided to be baby MacGuyver. I understand the reasoning behind the character's creation; he was Gene Roddenberry's Marty Stu (an author's thiny veiled idealized self--and are often annoying as hell, too), however that didn't dispell the fact that he ruined every episode in which he saved the day. Why? There are literally hundreds of the best in Starfleet, and a 14 year old KID saves the day? Eighteen times? Ah, no thanks. You want to watch a genius kid save lives, go watch Doogie Howser. :)

[Terminatah]

I don't think anyone has ever ruined anything for me. Ahhhh, I love my life! Ahhhh! :D

-Terminatah

[czyznyck99]

I never understood people's hatred of Jar Jar. The movie's better without him, but I don't think he destroyed the movie.

If it wasn't for Charlie, I might have never found interest in Biker Mice From Mars...

Later.

[Mackenzie Rainelle]

Originally posted by Lonestarr
To be honest with you, my earlier post was an offshoot of "Characters you'd like to beat up". I've got one now, though.

Now, I don't necessarily hate this character, but I hate the direction that the writers of "Hey Arnold!" took with her:

Helga G. Pataki


^^;;;;;;;;; I hate to say this, but for the better part of my late elementary and most of middle school life, I WAS Helga G. Pataki, only in my case, it was two older cousins, not a sister, that I had to replicate.

That said, I despise Asagi from the X movie. At the time, I'd been kinda-sorta checking out the mangas, and had fallen in love with the newest character, Kakyou Kizuki. The idea of someone who quite literally lives in a dream world and can only speak to others through a warped type of telepathy was awesome to me. So when I heard about the movie,I couldn't wait to see him in an animation form. Unfortunately for me, he was replaced by this psychopathic, loudmouthed, and REALLY irritating water-user. I cheered when Asagi died in the movie, if for no other reason than he was a cheap replacement for my beloved Kakyou.

[Sandoz]

From a cartoon: Jean Grey, X-Men: Evolution. Now, Jean can be a really nice person. But too often she is rude, bossy, all-knowing, and far too perfect (at least in appearance). Take for example the episode African Storm--Evan swipes her milk, and she telekinetically throws him across a table, ruining several student's lunches and clothes in the mess. Jean critizises other for using their powers in public, but it's ok for her to recklessly use her abilities whenever she's in a pissy mood. :rolleyes: Then there's her involvement with the Scott/Duncan/Taryn/Rogue love polygon. Oy. First of all, Jean only shows interest in Scott when other girls are fawning over him. She spies on him, then lashes out at him when he finds her out. Then when her best friend asks Scott to the school dance, Jean snaps at her and gives her the cold shoulder as she gets into her boyfriend's car! I mean, HELLO! Scott is fair game, seeing as you are spoken for, Jeanie dear. And Taryn was right, she had plenty of chances at Scott, none of which she took. So she has no right to be so snippy. And if she's not happy with Duncan, she should leave him. She's beautiful, smart, talented and popular. She could have any guy, even Scott--who is smitten with her for some ungodly reason--if she really wanted him. Instead she mopes and sulks like, "Poor pitiful me." Ugh.

From a Live-Action Series: Brian, Queer as Folk. This guy was, to be blunt, an A-Hole. He was selfish, conniving, vain, manipulative, nasty, and had not a decent hair on his body. He used people for sex without a thought towards their feelings and treated his childhood friends like garbage. And everyone loved him anyway! :rolleyes: I mean, this is the kind of guy that ditches taking care of his infant son to go get lucky at a leather bar. And everytime he was about to get what he deserved, a genuinely nice person put their butt on the line to help him. God bless Amanda for seeing him for what he really was.

[Allen's Nickname.]

The Kankers on Ed, Edd, and Eddy.

They've coped-out the endings of ever episode they've been in.

[Dark Vicious]

Originally posted by Lonestarr
Cotton Hill on King of the HillYeah Cotton does NOTHING for the series except berating Hank and then wanting help with his problem and he brings up his lost shins OVER AND OVER again he uses it like an excuse to act like and a-hole and then piss and moans about his wife who waits on him hand and foot He Sucks and should be OFF the series

[James]

Originally posted by Zoddman
Thanks for backing up my opinion SJJ!

S'ok, I reply in belated fashion!

Another, Heather Lockear in Spin City. Her timing his average and for some reason, she takes up far more screen time than her character deserves. Charlie Sheen isn't a patch on Michael J Fox, but he is watchable. Caitlain is awful. The series spiralled down after her appearance...

[Magentabeams]

Originally posted by Calhoun07
No matter how good a movie is supposed to be and no matter how much I think I want to see it, I will NEVER sit thru a movie with Julia Roberts in it. And this is rather hard for me, cuz I want to see Notting Hill because the talent behind that movie also have worked on other projects I greatly enjoyed and I would like to see Ocean's 11. Maybe if I started drinking heavilly and taking some hard drugs I could withstand having to see her in a movie, but for now, I cannot and will not watch anything with her in it. Why? I just find her the most annoying actress on the face of the earth is all!

I feel the same way about Julia Roberts.

Sarahanne

[GoufCustom]

Jar Jar Binks
Jake Loyd/Young Anakin Skywalker

[James]

Originally posted by BrendaBat

Watch the origional Ocean's 11 (the one with Frank Sinatra) the origional is ALWAYS better than the re-make

Not always the case... I was surprised to find the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair was better cast and far more sassy than the original.

Yes, and the reminder of Wesley Crusher has brought the feeling of oozing anger rising from my belly. Dreadful.

Can we condemn a whole cast? The entire cast of series 1 of Seaquest was terrible. Cringeworthy, even.

[Supreme]

Louis from "Even Stevens". I wanna take one of those grocery checkout dividers and smack that Jim Carrey wannabe!

[Jedigreedo]

Any current Disney kid "actor/ress". :rolleyes:

Jake Lloyd as young Anakin was...not right. Seems like he was hired just because he was more famous than the others because if you watched the DVD documentary, one of the finalists delivered the screen test (the "Are you an angel" sequence) alot better than Lloyd but I think was less famous or was just new.

Natalie Portman as Padme, she just can't act on the right level for movies like Star Wars.

Also another SW thing I have trouble with is Jango Fett, that character was only put in Episode II for an easier way to introduce Boba Fett to take advantage of the Boba Fett hype and it just ruins the whole mysterious dude thing for the trilogy.