I really dislike Mrs Weasley.

[cockneysalad]

She is an awful character, she seems to prefer Harry to Ron and is mean to Fleur. She is also a bit of a stereotype, the apron, the knitting, the homemaker etc. Which literary characters annoy you and why?

Sirius Black.

Remus at least regrets his part in the bullying of Snape and you could believe that there was some sort of apology/making peace between them because Snape never game him the same sort of shit he gave Sirius. Remus admits he was wrong to not stop sirius and James, and you can tell has genuine remorse. But Sirius seems never to have grown up and moved oassed the bully stage.

However if the age time line is right would be explained by him going to prison aged 21 ish so all those grudges against Snape would have had time to fester and grow. That would also explain why he latches on to Harry as MiniJames rather than a person in his own right. He hasnt had the human contact and socialisation to grow, mature and have the arrogant teenage corners knocked off that most people get.

I understand why he is how he is but he is still deeply unlikeable as a result.

@BatleyTownswomensGuild

Has anyone read Brooklyn! The main character Eilis Lacey pisses me off left, right and centre. She never makes her own decisions, never expresses her opinion, basically goes along with whatever any of the supporting characters tell her to do. Ends up married because she doesn't have the gumption to say no.

Excellent example of a male writer who has no concept of how to write a decent female lead....

Oh, now dont get me started!! I'd forgotten her, the self-pity.

Funny you should say that about Colm Tóibín. He often gets lauded for how brilliantly he writes his female characters. I agree with you.

I've found them all very similar across his book. Either wet blankets or scaldy old ones.

@BatleyTownswomensGuild

Has anyone read Brooklyn! The main character Eilis Lacey pisses me off left, right and centre. She never makes her own decisions, never expresses her opinion, basically goes along with whatever any of the supporting characters tell her to do. Ends up married because she doesn't have the gumption to say no.

Excellent example of a male writer who has no concept of how to write a decent female lead....

Yes I've read this, she is a wet lettuce, I found her so annoying.

I love misses Weasley! Although it is referenced in the book that she may have been disappointed Ron wasn't a girl, I'm not sure how accurate that is though. She is a but of a stereotypical careworn strong mother figure, but I like her.

I used to really love Professor Snape, however as I'm getting a bit older it seems more and more creepy. Rather than romantic, his undying unrequited love for Lily seems peculiar and unhealthy. His hatred for Harry despite him having his mother's eyes has also always bothered me, although I get it, and don't think he's supposed to be likeable, I was so blown away by the Snape twist that for years and years I held him in the highest esteem, second only to Dumbledore.

I need to get a friggin life

@PyongyangKipperbang I always felt Sirius was one of the most one dimensional characters in the books. Such a shame as he should and could have been ever so much more interesting. His childishness in OotP really bothered me, even when I was quite young and reading it for the first time.

Snape.
Loads of people romanticize his obsession with Lily but it just makes me cringe. Ultimate friendzoned nice guy. James may have been a bully when he was a kid but Snape was a wizard nazi as a kid. I never liked the shot in the movie either of him cradling the dead body of a woman who wasn't into him.

I'm trying to think of other books. Right now I've got a baby so it's all Each Peach Pear Plum and The Tiger Who Came To Tea.

Oh and I guess Eddard Stark in ASoIF, he is a good guy but none of his decisions make sense in context and he endangers his whole family and himself to uphold a sense of honor that only he seems to have in that entire franchise.

Oh god my DS loves Mrs W and I was once forced to dress up as her at Halloween! I still wear the frumpy cardigan at home.
I feel I can’t really comment on characterisation as I’ve only watched the films, but their house was fab. Wish I had spells to do the housework.
As a viewer I always hoped Harry would get with Luna rather than Ginny, who left me cold, perhaps she comes across better in the books?

I don’t get the Harry Potter hate. He was a neglected, abused and traumatised child. Of course he’s going to be a bit of a dick sometimes. He was at his worst in OOTP after the trauma of the graveyard the previous year, seeing Cedric die and then being tortured by Umbridge for a year. Add your typical 15 year old boy hormones on top of that, and it’s not surprising he was a bit of a dick at times. He improved in the following book.

I despise Snape. Nasty, cowardly man who took obvious delight in bullying innocent children. His 20 year old crush doesn’t make his behaviour towards the children in his care less reprehensible.

@CloudyVanilla

Totally agree. In fact I think that he is one of the few characters that you get more out of in the films than the books. Gary Oldmans acting gives him more depth. You see genuine affection for Harry in the films that you dont get in the books for example. He gives the speeches a nuance that suggests that although he is an arse to Snape its because Snape is in fact and arse (despite being a hidden hero) and not because Sirius is a fucking idiot, which is what I got from the books.

Bridget Jones.

You're not ditzy cute and sexy despite you big pants. You're annoying manipulative and vain.

always Elizabeth Bennet, same as someone on page 1. The epitome of the smug Queen Bee type. Realise that all the female characters can do is whore themselves out or starve, but she's pretty blatant in the 'look at the size of his country house' bit.

P and P used to just bore me. Rereading as an adult it makes me angry with the portrait of an abusive marriage and a young girl being groomed. Plus sad for the horrible society the characters lived in. Nothing much to laugh at.

Becky from the Shopaholic series. What an entitled, snobbish airhead! And she never seems to learn anything from all the mess she keeps causing.

@SilverLiningSearching Ginny is shockingly portrayed in the films. I actually feel sorry for the actress because I really feel the character was written badly as opposed to the actress herself having much to do with it - she was given NOTHING to work with.

Owen Meany from "A prayer for Owen Meany" is the most annoying character ever written.
I was glad when he died.

@MrsToothyBitch

I always had mixed feelings on Mrs Weasley. She's lovely but can be a bit heavy handed and stifling- and she doesn't seem to accept her sons GFs!

My irrational hatred is Jo March . I think she's an arrogant bitch and she deserved Amy burning her novel, and Amy getting the Europe trip instead of her - although she loves her family and her sacrifice of her hair for her father and her love for Beth do touch me. She was right to reject Laurie and she's much better after her stint as a governess & meeting Prof Baher. I do think she has good qualities, I just can't stick her cockiness initially!

I don’t think your hatred is irrational LOL

@sageandroses

I agree. Ginny in the books is ballsy and stands up for herself. She is intelligent and funny (and yes sometimes mean but so are they all, JKR did at least write humans as humans with all their flaws) but Ginny in the films is as wet as a thunderstorm sandwich. She is simpery and silly and very annoying. She wouldnt have had a stand up row in the corridor with Ron as book Ginny did.

I don't like James, Harry's dad. He is the stereotypical bully. Mrs Weasley, I know what you mean OP though as pp said above, bloody brilliant when she shouts 'You bitch' - even better than the killing curse itself!
Other characters I can't deal with: everyone in Wuthering Heights - what a bunch of either awful narcissists or pathetic losers (gets into bunker to protect self from the entire world that loves WH!)
Thank you for a great thread!

Not Bridget Jones herself but her godawful friends, Shazza, Jude and Tom. Unfunny and annoying caricatures. Worse in the films than in the books.

Oh, and possibly fave is Luna Lovegood. She is so wonderful!

Snape was creepy as hell

Tris in divergent if she had backed her brother up they both might have lived but nooo let's sacrifice ourselves and leave four fucking miserable

Beverley in stephen king's IT I'm pretty sure that's not where the maps are kept

Hermione in the film is ridiculous shrieks her lines and cant act her way out of a scene Harry Potter is no better they have more dimensions in the book

@slipperywhensparticus

Hermione in the film is ridiculous shrieks her lines and cant act her way out of a scene Harry Potter is no better they have more dimensions in the book

She's played by Emma Watson, possibly the worst actor/actress to desecrate the big screen since Plan 9 From Outer Space. Not that the leading man is much better. The whole child cast sucked except maybe Neville.

@ProseccoBubbleFantasies

I never liked Mary-Anne Singleton.

Luckily, by then end of the series, the author goes off her too

I'm reading Tales of the City series at the moment, yes I can see how Mary Ann Singleton could begin to grate.

I'm so glad I'm not alone in disliking everyone in Wuthering Heights!

Then there's Tess of the bloody D'urbervilles. . . if I never read that book again, it would be too soon. Hated everyone in it.