18 TV Characters That Fans Absolutely Hated

Why: For a show with such major stakes (like the fate of the American government), the fact that the writers chose to spend so much time on Dana’s high school drama felt, well, unnecessary, and quite frankly frustrating. Entire episodes revolved around Dana’s boyfriend troubles and teen angst, causing even the most loyal viewers to roll their eyes.

Image: Showtime

Who: The inbred King of the House of Baratheon.

Image: HBO

Why: Not only was Joffrey a vicious, murderous ruler, but he also lost points for being a petulant spoiled brat. Luckily for fans, other people in the Game of Thrones universe thought so as well and offed him.

Image: HBO

Who: Rick’s wife and mother to Carl.

Image: AMC

Why: Walking Dead fans loathed Lori for a couple of reasons. She cheated on Rick with his best friend and seemed incapable of keeping an eye on Carl, despite the hoards of zombies roaming around. Fans criticized her for making the apocalypse even worse for everyone with her constant whining. Needless to say, she didn’t last very long on the show.

Image: AMC

Who: Drug lord Walter White’s wife.

Image: AMC

Why: Fans always judged Skyler far more harshly than her sociopathic husband, so much so that it’s hard not to cry sexism. A major criticism of the character was that Skyler was perpetually inserting herself into situations where, according to TV fans, she should just not — though it’s hard to say exactly what place the haters would have wanted White’s wife to take in this universe.

Image: AMC

Who: The earnest leader of the glee club, New Directions.

Image: Fox

Why: Ugh, because he’s the worst. Seriously. Will’s over-earnest nature was fine when Glee was still trying to be a parody of a high school television series, but he quickly became the worst when the show started to actually resemble the melodramatic shows it was allegedly poking fun at. He’s the kind of teacher who doesn’t know the line between friend and student, so much so that he had the high school quarterback as his best man at his wedding.

Image: Fox

Who: Don Draper’s ex-wife and mother of his children.

Image: AMC

Why: Betty isn’t exactly the warmest woman on television, so much so that she has been compared to the “icy blondes” so common in Alfred Hitchcock’s films. Is it sexist for fans to hate a woman because she’s not, well, maternal? Yeah, pretty much. I don’t see too many people calling out Don Draper for his fatherhood struggles.

Image: AMC

Who: Piper’s journalist fiancé.

Image: Netflix

Why: Larry uses Piper’s incarceration as fodder for his journalism and is often seen as a romantic roadblock standing in the way of the relationship between inmates Piper and Alex, who fans totally ship. He also hooked up with her best friend in Season 2.

Image: Netflix

Who: Oliver’s ex-girlfriend and assistant District Attorney.

Image: The CW

Why: The CW series has plenty of characters, so it’s frustrating that Laurel is always there without ever furthering the action in a significant way. Characters like Felicity seem more intriguing, and Laurel’s love life doesn’t exactly inspire many shippers to take up arms. It’s not really Laurel’s fault that the show has no idea what to do with her character, and things will probably change when she finally dons the Black Canary mask.

Image: The CW

Who: A classmate who becomes obsessed with Marissa Cooper, because of-freakin’-course.

Image: Fox

Why: Ughhh, Oliver. Fans saw right through the walking, talking “relationship problem.” Crazy Oliver’s only purpose seemed to be to mess with Ryan and Marissa’s finally settled relationship, and, while fans wanted plenty of drama, they didn’t need a gun-toting psycho to stir the pot… well, at least until Trey Atwood rolled back into town.

Image: Fox

Who: One of Olivia Pope’s gladiators who recently went rogue.

Image: ABC

Why: Quinn was the audience stand-in during the first season of Scandal, but her character went off the rails pretty quickly — and seemingly without reason. Her disturbing story arc with Huck and their violent sex life made everyone cringe, so much so that they wish Quinn could be “handled” by the show once and for all.

Image: ABC

Who: One of serial killer Joe Carroll’s most devoted disciples.

Image: Fox

Why: Emma was cruel and demented, just like all of the serial killers on the show. But what made Emma stand out as the worst was her constant whining and bickering with other members of the cult. Because if you’re going to join a cult, at least TRY to get along with people.

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Who: A paleontologist, Monica’s brother and Rachel’s lobster.

Image: NBC

Why: Honestly, I adore Ross and all of the characters on the NBC sitcom, but I understand why he’s perpetually placed on lists of the most hated sitcom characters. Ross is whiny, bitter, and a total know-it-all. Even Phoebe points out that he always has to be right in order to be happy — and let’s not forget the whole “We were on a break!” drama. I can forgive Ross, but not every fan can.

Image: NBC

Who: An architect and hopeless romantic obsessed with finding “the One.”

Image: CBS

Why: Dude, you’re a hot, single guy with an awesome apartment living in one of the greatest cities in the world, and your problem is that you can’t find a date? Seriously?

Image: CBS

Who: The son of the Evil Queen and the boy who helps bring magic back to Storybrooke.

Image: ABC

Why: Henry was so earnest and vital in the first season of the series, but, now that everyone is aware that they exist in an alternate realm to their original fairy tale land, he’s a lot less useful. The show no longer cares about giving Henry particularly compelling storylines, which often leads to audiences resenting the character for sticking around at all.

Image: ABC

Who: Daughter of Victoria Grayson and secret daughter of Daniel Clarke.

Image: ABC

Why: I am convinced that Charlotte is incapable of coping with life, and I’m pretty sure she’s beyond help at this point. Sure, she has a drug problem, but, when she’s not hopped up on coke, she’s dealing with her feelings by attempting to murder her sister or fling herself off of balconies. Charlotte is perpetually overwrought, and it’s just not believable.

Image: ABC

Who: Dan’s little sister and one-time Queen Bee of Constance.

Image: The CW

Why: During her arc on the CW series, Jenny went from sweet girl-next-door to a selfish and manipulative sociopath who had zero clue that she was the worst. When she was kicked out of Manhattan by Blair following her one night stand with Chuck, no one was particularly sorry to see her go.

Image: The CW

Who: One-fourth of the liars quartet. Also, the student who is still hooking up with her teacher.

Image: ABC Family

Why: The best way to describe Aria is that she’s the friend who would ask you briefly about your problems and then spend hours discussing her own. Ali labeling Aria “the compassionate one” was laughable to any fan of the show. She also gets the most leeway when it comes to A, which has fans suspicious of whether she might be Big A herself.

Image: ABC Family

Who: Hannah’s uptight best friend and aspiring singer.

Image: HBO

Why: I defend the unlikeable characters on Girls by stating that it’s the entire point of the show for these young women not to have their shit together, but even I understand why Marnie gets a ton of fan hatred. Marnie lacks a certain self-awareness and lives in what could essentially be known as “MarnieLand,” a magical place where it’s totally appropriate to belt out a Kanye West song at your ex’s app launch party or arbitrarily jerk around that same ex depending on your mood du jour. Marnie is kind of the worst, but at least it’s fun to watch her being such a trainwreck.

Image: HBO