Types of Characters That Annoy You

@ i saw sparks @ WellNow
I think the two go together, also. Because absolutely there are some female characters that are written terribly. Some of them are practically unreadable, but in the same story there will be several male characters that have fleshed out personalties.

@ daisyfairy
@ WellNow

I know that there are terribly-written female characters out there, but I do believe that people tend to search out things that will confirm those preconceived traits (whether a character's "too perfect," bitchy, whiny, whatever). Like if a female character complained about how terrible her day was to a friend, a lot of people would probably think "oh, she's too whiny," but if a male character did the same thing, people wouldn't be as critical.

Usually, if I see a poorly-written/flat/obnoxious female character in a story, there's an entire cast of lackluster characters along with it, because it's really a character development issue, not a female character issue. I've never come across a story that had a terribly-written female character and every other character in the story be stellar.

I agree with the above few posts. All the hate for female characters on this thread is like whoa. And I agree with i saw sparks in that I think people (probably subconsciously) are more critical of female characters because they want to confirm their dislike, and likewise they let things slide for male characters because they already have it in their head that male characters > female characters. I just don't understand where this dislike stems from in the first place, though.

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I don't like characters that, according to the author, possesses a certain trait, but then the character's actions don't convey that trait at all. For example, the author says that Jane is super stubborn and strong-willed, but then she easily bends to the whims of all the other characters. Or if Joe is supposed to be a genius, but nothing he says or does conveys that he even possesses a brain cell.

Does that even make sense? I guess it goes along with "show, don't tell". You can't just say your character is worldly and sophisticated and expect the reader to go along with it; you have to show that through their thoughts, actions, etc. so the reader comes to that conclusion on their own.

@ chai latte

Oh, lord, you just said one of the things I dislike. (Although, I think that might go along with Things You Don't Like in Stories ) But, yes, I dislike that so much. I actually commented on a story recently that did that. The story mentioned that the character was shy, but the character never acted like it at all.

I just didn't get it.
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Characters who are too reckless. Any character. Not every character is going to be super reckless and go out and put themselves in mortal danger all the time. It just annoys me so much.

Or that I see a lot of male characters that are "tall, dark, handsome and mysterious." Noooooo. Not every guy ever is going to be this super cool, mysterious guy that is inhumanely beautiful. It just does not work that way.

chai latte:

You can't just say your character is worldly and sophisticated and expect the reader to go along with it; you have to show that through their thoughts, actions, etc. so the reader comes to that conclusion on their own.

Yes, yes, I totally hate it when you are told what a character is like instead of shown. There's an excellent Chuck Palahniuk article somewhere about how to ''show'' rather than ''tell'', and it's insane what a difference it makes, even if you only do it some of the time.

Characters who are either of the stereotype 'I love reading and I only ever spend quiet nights alone and every time I play sport I fall flat on my face' or of the stereotype 'I love sport so I only possess half a brain cell and don't care about anything except my looks.' It makes them seem hugely two-dimensional, and surely someone can love both reading/creative stuff and sport?

I don't like characters that are only interested in one thing. They're very knowledgeable about that one thing, but it's all they talk about. (Sports, music, a particular person, a certain kind of neuroscience, religion.) I'm not saying there's no purpose or whatever, I just don't like them.

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In Harry Potter fiction specifically, any character that is told by the Sorting Hat they are equally suited for all houses.

I don't like the types of characters that are goth/emo/loners/ or just shy, and for some reason they almost always know how to draw and that's what they always do. >.<
It's just super irritating when the character's like "I hate drama so I'm going to go to the empty art room, listen to music and paint a picture (or sketch)." Then some guy comes in and is all "Oh wow you're a good artist. I like you so much now, be my girlfriend."

^I have a character who is like that :') she's one of my favourites. Loner who draws, watches films and listens to music all of the time. Oh gosh, I'm feeling bad now. I can't really think of any redeeming features for her, either.

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'My life is awful and no one understands me and everyone judges me and so now I cut'
I hate those characters with a passion. I hate them so much that, if a character mentions that they cut, I backspace the hell away from the story, just in case. And characters who are ungrateful and repel every single effort that anyone, ever, makes to be nice to them.

The extremely bitchy main character! I've only read a handful of these, but my god, they make me want to punch the MC. Except for when the MC is filthy rich, then it makes them seem Mary Sue to me. It just irritates me when there's no moments of compassion, they're just straight up bitches, gets old after a while. It's like do you even have a heart? A bit ridiculous to explain I know, but even the most bitchiest person has to have some weak moments? I don't know.

And the character who just can't own up to his/her feelings? Like if he/she is crushing on someone, they want to beat around the bush the whole damn time -_-

I'd have to say the stubborn characters, especially when their stubborness gets worse through the story that gets really annoying to me.

Pretentious people

It irks me when girls are trying SO hard to be ~badass. All the more if she comes off special-snowflakey or sexist or misogynistic. They'd usually be like, “I'm weird, I know. Because I'm not like the other girls. btw wtf is that girl wearing? She's obviously a slut, unlike me, who wears chucks, and did I ever tell you I'm a girl and that I wrestle and play video games? You're a guy, but I can sooo beat you 'cause I'm into boy stuff. btw I'm a girl and I like boy stuff haha so you must be intrigued with me now haha”

And the guy certainly falls for it I like my women being badass without trying so hard/being a needy annoyance.

And then there are those whiny narrator guys, who constantly judge others, act all cool, and think they're right all the time because they think they're better than everyone.

Perhaps I'm just wary of supposedly 'cool' people in stories

@ She Said Poptarts
I agree with that. It's one of my pet peeves in stories as well. I mean, I like love triangles, but those are the limit and even those have to be done carefully to avoid becoming a cliche, but then when the guy's best friend, cousin, and next door neighbor all like this one chick, it's overkill, y'know?

This may be totally obscure but I have grown a deep disliking for characters who like Count Chocula. Is that weird? ;A; Oh well; I can't help it. Sorry. There are far too many for my opinion. Ever since Vampire Kisses, it seems. Don't get me wrong; Count Chocula has been my favorite cereal since I was about four. I practically lived off of it. It is quite delicious. But not every person in the world likes Count Chocula. People like Trix and Lucky Charms and Chex (okay, maybe not Chex... Chex is kind of bland and gross :I). Not every main character is going to like Count Chocula. It simply is not realistic. I must admit, that I have practiced this flaw when I was still a novice at writing.

But with a little logic, you realize not every character is going to hold the same adoration for the same things as you. Maybe this leads me to expand this pet-peeve to "characters who share the same preferences as their creators." Not every girl is going to wear skinny jeans or listen to screamo. Not every guy has shaggy hair and full sleeves, like the guy you crush on in that one band you like. Not every one is a cookie-cutter carbon copy of you and your friends. Not every story can be about the emo girl who finally gets the guy. This is what annoys me the most. It only seems like an author's attempt to play out their own happily ever after scenario rather than come up with an OC with some actual originality (hence the "O" in OC if some of authors have forgotten...) and give them an original story.

Characters with no backbone. And by the end of the story, they still have no backbone. Especially when these characters are main characters, I mean, really, c'mon. It's called character development, people.

That being said, characters with too much backbone, and too much attitude. Not everything you say has to be said with so much attitude.

Female characters that are incredibly insecure about their appearance, especially when all the male characters in the story fall head-over-heels for them. Give me a break, no one wants to read non-stop self-loathing anyway.

Characters whose entire existence/happiness/self-worth revolves around one central relationship with a love interest or best friend.

When writers try way too hard to make their characters relatable, to the point where the character has no personality whatsoever and is just boring.

Special little snowflake characters who are just so unique and important.

All these quirky, hipster female characters that seem to be all the rage in stories now.

i saw sparks:

All these quirky, hipster female characters that seem to be all the rage in stories now.

Oh this so much. Seriously I can't handle it.

Nothing annoys me more than the self-pitying character that bitches about everything, but never does anything to fix their so-called problems. It's so much worse when they somehow end up with the perfect ending too.