I’ve spent much time discussing my favorite anime characters, but I’ve rarely written about characters I dislike (probably because there are not that many in comparison). So today I’ll be looking at what there is to dislike about certain types of characters, as well as my personal dislikes…
Back in the days when I was a rookie fan in the late 90s/early 2000s, I prided myself on not hating any anime character. When character bashing sites were popular, I steered clear of the hate. Now, a bunch of years and hundreds of characters later, there are still relatively few characters I dislike, but some have indeed cropped up.
Over the years, I’ve discovered that the most frequent type of character I have a distaste for is the arrogant, self-absorbed, and often overtly manly and quick to violence, yakuza-ish guy. A few examples of my most disliked are Kenpachi and a number of other Bleach guys like him, Black Star (Soul Eater), and Masaru (Digimon Savers). I’ve thought about why I dislike these types of characters and I think it has to do with the fact that if I can’t stand them in anime, they would be utterly intolerable to me if I met real guys like them. But I definitely don’t dislike all characters with this type of personality. If they have enough redeeming factors, I can overlook it. Even though Naruto and Inuyasha are yakuza-ish like this, their character development throughout their respective series is so well written, and they display a number of genuinely good traits, such as loyalty and self-sacrifice for others, that I grow to love them regardless. Zoro (One Piece) is another character who appears to be the type I would dislike, but there are many things I like about him such as his humorous quirks and selfless loyalty, so I can overlook his violence lust. But in general, give me guys like Chad (Bleach) and Luffy (One Piece) over Grimmjow (Bleach) and Kamina (Gurren Lagann) any day.
The only other type of character I would say I dislike is the one-dimensional, usually comic relief side-character with zero character development, whose only purpose is to provide some hyperbolic, obnoxious gag that’s never funny to me. Examples off the top of my head would be Yuuto’s mom and teacher and other guest characters in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu, Keigo (Bleach), and Miharu (Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu). But I usually don’t dwell on my dislike for these types of character because nobody else likes them anyway, which is unlike most of the yakuza guys I mentioned above.
Other than these two types, there really isn’t any other type of anime character I dislike. It’s interesting to me that fans direct most of their bashing and hate towards characters they feel are “annoying,” “stupid,” or “useless” as opposed to truly despicable. For example, there’s much more hate going around for Kagome (Inuyasha) and Shinji (Evangelion) as opposed to the really bad dudes on their shows, Naraku and Gendo Ikari. My theory is that, if these characters were real, there’d be much more hate for the latter two, but since we recognize the latter two’s function as villains in a fictional story that we’re not supposed to like anyway, we don’t even feel the need to think about disliking them and instead find it more interesting to think about why we dislike protagonist characters we’re supposed to like (though I personally think Kagome, Shinji, and many other “underdog” characters are sorely underrated).
I’m aware of the most disliked types of characters among fans – moeblobs, tsunderes, or other annoyingly hyper female characters with high-pitched voices, angst-ridden bishounen, weak, useless tag-alongs – but I usually don’t have a problem with any of these. I guess I reserve my dislike for characters that, were their personalities implanted into real people, I would not like them if I met them in real life. Thus, even if a character is weak, clumsy, emo, or has an annoying voice, as long as they’re generally a good person with some redeeming qualities, I can overlook their flaws, just like I try to do with real people, overlooking minor things about them that bother me as long as they’re basically a decent person. There are some exceptions of course, like Beatrice (Umineko no Naku Koro ni) whom I don’t dislike because she’s an interesting character despite being quite nasty, but I wouldn’t want to meet someone like her in real life. I like a lot of characters and am neutral to a lot, but there are only a few I really dislike.
Even when it comes to real life, I rarely dwell on things I hate. I hardly even use the word “hate” actually, nor phrases like “I hate this thing” or “I hate that person.” I believe (and maybe it’s been scientifically proven?) that it’s actually healthier to dwell on things you like and enjoy instead of things you hate. So for me at least, as long as an anime character (or a real person for that matter) isn’t genuinely mean or obnoxious, I don’t usually hate them. But I’d rather just spend my time thinking about characters I like =)
Omake:
Speaking of liking/disliking certain characters, I recently took a look at the top 10 most popular characters on MAL. See them below (with my notes):
Male version of Natsuru and Kaede from Kampfer. Fuyuki from Minami-ke Okawari and Ismail, Marina from Gundam 00
Generally, I’m quite fond of most anime characters, though, frankly, the moeblobs are are maddening intrusions into otherwise good casts. I also can’t stand characters who are complete pervs, because they increase the amount of tasteless fanservice in an anime, which I do NOT appreciate. Primarily, the characters I dislike are for their plot roles or relations with other characters. Example: Euphie from Code Geass. She’s always getting in Lulu’s way! I don’t mind her personality so much, but the problems she causes are flipping irritating. Not to mention that, myself being a yaoi fangirl, Suzaku belongs with his pretty, Brittanian, control-freak prince.
“even if a character is… emo (pathetic)… generally a good person with some redeeming qualities”
I think there’s a limit, especially when characters may lack redeeming qualities dependent on your definition.
Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinji_Ikari
Kamui from X
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_of_X_(manga)#Kamui_Shir.C5.8D
@ crazydave
The only character on your list that I know is Marina from Gundam 00. I guess she would go under the category of “useless” female characters who wait around for their men to do something. That doesn’t really bother me, but I can understand why some people don’t like it.
@ Akikura
Yeah, if the “moe-ness” of the moeblobs is shoved down our throats in an otherwise serious show, I usually don’t like it either. But if it’s mild, or at least not intelligence-insulting (like K-ON!), then I don’t mind. I could even like it if it’s handled right.
And I also don’t like the perv characters either. They would go under the annoying one-dimensional characters category I mentioned in the post. But if they have enough depth to them, like Jiraiya (Naruto) for example, I could learn to like them, too.
Heh, seems like you dislike Euphie because she gets in the way of your Lelouch+Suzaku shipping XD That’s another reason people dislike characters that I should have mentioned – the ones who interfere with the shipping they want to see in the series.
@ V
Yeah, if their annoying/unappealing qualities outweigh their good qualities, even if they’re not necessarily bad, I would probably lean more towards dislike. But I personally don’t think Shinji deserves the hate he gets (he’s a kid with a messed up upbringing, how do you expect him to act in such situations?) I’ve never seen X so I couldn’t comment on Kamui.
> Even though Naruto and Inuyasha are yakuza-ish like this, their character development throughout their respective series is so well written, and they display a number of genuinely good traits, such as loyalty and self-sacrifice for others, that I grow to love them regardless. <
And yet, you don't like Kamina or Black Star? Black Star in particular is highly self-sacrificial and loyal.
I don't seem to have any character archetypes that I dislike anymore (except maybe those one-off gag characters you mentioned, but like you said, everyone hates them), and it's pretty rare, but i hate characters on a case-by-case basis. It's also pretty rare for them not to redeem themselves either. I had to think for a minute, but the first character I hate that comes to mind is Louise from Zero no Tsukaima. What an insufferable bitch.
@ digital boy
Inuyasha and Naruto’s characters have been developed for years over the course of hundreds of episodes, in which we’ve seen all sides of their personalities and many changes they’ve gone through. I don’t really think Kamina and Black Star are in that league. I was hesitant about whether to mention Kamina or not. I don’t dislike him that much, but because he’s so popular, I thought I’d mention him just to point out that he has some of the qualities I don’t like.
Black Star just got on my nerves for some reason, and I’m pretty tolerant. He was just so arrogant, obnoxious, aggressive, and so into himself and what he wants to do (surpass god was it?) Unless I’m mistaken, or if it never happened in the Soul Eater anime (I haven’t read much of the manga), I don’t remember him being particularly loyal or self-sacrificing. Of course he would help out Tsubaki and Maka or whoever, but for me it wasn’t enough to make up for his personality.
Like you said, what’s great about anime is that most characters can be redeemed when given enough time, which is probably why I, like you, don’t have many I truly dislike. After I’ve seen a series, I try to think whether a character’s good qualities can make up for any bad ones they have, or if they have a backstory that makes them not blamable for bad things they’ve done.
I’ve never seen Zero no Tsukaima, but I’ll look out for Louise if I do ;)
Bland harem leaders whose only purpose is to get inexplicably fawned on by his haremettes. Now, I don’t mind harems, but would it be that difficult to create an interesting harem lead who might be deserving of his haremettes?
@ RP
Ah yes, the stale wish-fulfilling harem male leads. I’m usually more neutral towards them, but I can definitely understand where the dislike comes from. The only good ones I can think of come from shows that I wouldn’t classify as harem but they have some harem qualities – Keiichi (Higurashi), Kyon (Haruhi), Jin (Kannagi), Hayate (Hayate no Gotoku!), and Ryuuji (Toradora!). Kyon, Jin, and Ryuuji in particular are extremely well written characters in my opinion.
Touka from Nogizaka Haruka Purezza… God that is a very generic Tsundere at best… it annoyed the heck out of me. Also, add Yayoi and Nozomi as well for well taking advantage of Haruka for their own interests.
Have to agree with Sakura Kaede from Kampfer… she is the most hated character in Kampfer and also the most manipulative b-word out there.
Otherwise, I haven’t seen that much Anime at the moment to give a long list of hated characters, but then again, there isn’t much to hate.
I hate ugly characters. Why can’t every character look like Sakura Kinomoto?
When it comes to male characters, I always go for the violent, brash ones like Zaraki Kenpachi, Grimmjow, and Zoro. I guess I’m the opposite from you. On the other hand, I also feel strongly for the silent types that are protective of a few things, like Doumeki from xxxHolic, Gaara from Naruto, and Ryuuji from Tokyo Crazy Paradise. All three were changed by a single person entering their life.
The guys that I tend to dislike are weak, especially ones that don’t make any effort whatsoever to get better–this makes sense due to my love of bloodlusting fighters. I feel this way about the leads in a lot of romantic comedies, particularly harems. Lame rounins will often have girls throwing themselves at their feet without truly deserving such a miracle or having any gratitude for whatever anime situation causes it, unlike Tomoya from CLANNAD, who is flawed but genuine. Basically, I guess I just don’t like the whiners.
I won’t even try to categorize the girls I like or dislike, because of indifference. My only favorite female character is Tsukasa from Tokyo Crazy Paradise, a manga. There are girls that I occasionally feel a bit fond of, like Kanade in Land of the Blindfolded, but for the most part I don’t pay any attention to girls. Male characters are typically far more interesting. To some extent, I think this is because most anime/manga center around a male character and the females in his life are romantic interests and/or stereotypes. Whenever a female has the spotlight, she tends to be either whiny or, again, cliched and all-empowered. As a whole, guys have more depth and the creators find more room to develop them in interesting ways.
(*cough* Interesting violent ways. :D I will forever love guys like Kenpachi.)
TSUNDERES. Because they are the cancer who is ruining the anime industry.
@ chikorita157
Touka was the rawest cliche tsundere without anything else interesting about her – so glad she only appeared in one episode. But even that didn’t save Nogizaka Haruka Purezza from having one of the most unlikable casts I’ve seen.
@ Roy
Guess the phrase “don’t judge by appearances” doesn’t apply to you =P
@ Saere
Seems we are opposites when it comes to taste in male characters. I don’t mind watching violence in anime or other fiction, but I can’t bring myself to like someone, character or real person, who enjoys violence. Violence is associated with inflicting pain, and I don’t like pain. Unless the one being caused pain is someone bad, but that’s not always the case. To each their own I suppose.
“Male characters are typically far more interesting. To some extent, I think this is because most anime/manga center around a male character and the females in his life are romantic interests and/or stereotypes. Whenever a female has the spotlight, she tends to be either whiny or, again, cliched and all-empowered. As a whole, guys have more depth and the creators find more room to develop them in interesting ways. “
I guess you haven’t seen much of a variety of anime – your description of male and female characters is common in shonen and harem series, but not in a lot of other genres. There are plenty of anime that center around strong, mature, well-developed female characters who are not dependent on male characters. I would assume you haven’t seen Seirei no Moribito, Noir, Shikabane Hime, Blood+, Nausicaa, Claymore, Kemono no Souja Erin, or Revolutionary Girl Utena? These series are basically the opposite of what you’ve described.
Reasons to Dislike Shinji from Evangelion:
1) He whines.
2) The two girls on his team are tougher than he is.
3) He’s weak and indecisive. This is okay for side characters and others – anyone except a shonen hero. You need to see a shonen hero overcoming traits like weakness and indecisiveness – and Shinji never really does. He just continues to react to whatever happens around him.
On Naruto – I don’t think I would call him “yakuza-ish.” He’s never been a thug, and his inflated ego as a youngster was a defense mechanism against being hated by the other villagers. He shifted out of that kind of ego when he began to realize his own self-worth; like you said, his character develops. Kenpachi and Grimmjow = yakuza-ish: absolutely. But I wouldn’t put Naruto in that category.
Saere, you sound like me. :)
Ugly characters are literally, by design, ugly. In other words, the creator of these characters intentionally made them ugly. They want you to hate them. I’m just respecting their artistic intent.
@ Jan
You’ve pretty much nailed the reasons why people dislike Shinji. If you would classify him as a shonen hero, then I guess he’s not much to root for (I never thought of Evangelion as shonen though, just mecha, sci-fi, and drama). But I still don’t think he deserves as much hate as he gets.
I used the term “yakuza-ish” loosely, meaning that the guys just have foul mouths and act tough and reckless, not that they’re like actual thugs. Naruto was somewhat like that in the early episodes, but as I said, his character development shines and he grows out of it. In Shippuuden, pretty much all of the old Naruto’s flaws are gone.
You and Saere really do have similar tastes XD
@ Roy
I guess you have a point, at least for characters who are obviously ugly and don’t have the most likable personality. But what about characters who may be ugly to some (but not to everyone) and yet have very appealing personalities? How do we know if the creator is telling us to hate them because they’re ugly or like them because they have a great personality? And what about the characters who are ugly to some people but not to others? Not everyone agrees on which characters are ugly, so how do we know which was the original creator’s intent?
If there is any ambiguity, it just means the artist is incompetent. Why would anyone want to watch a substandard show made by an incompetent artist?
@Yumeka
“I guess you haven’t seen much of a variety of anime – your description of male and female characters is common in shonen and harem series, but not in a lot of other genres.”
When I wrote my post, I was mainly thinking about the typical shows that air each season. :p Shows like Blood+ and Bokurano top my list of favorites, but they are rare gems among hours spent watching shows that, while enjoyable, aren’t entirely original.
But I will completely agree that I am not as versed in anime as the other posters. While there have been a few standout females in the shows I have watched, I never actually grow attached to them. I guess attached in the key word there. Although female myself, I have a hard time connecting or finding the girls interesting.
Therefore, I’d like to edit my statement a bit. I appreciate males that are motivated by something other than getting in girls’s pants, and females that are are not over-the-top.
…this entire debate is actually confusing me. I don’t know how to describe myself without sounding like I only watch Bleach and harems. XD
I’m not in any way demeaning characters like Balsa, Nausicaa, or the Noir girls. I do not dislike them; but I don’t like them either. I enjoy the anime/movie, root for them, and then don’t think about them until the next time I see the show. That is why, in my post above, I confessed that it is hard to define which type of females I like or dislike.
@Jan
I’ve been noticing that lately, yes. :p
@Roy
Watchmen’s Rorschach is intentionally ugly, which adds insight to his character when revealed.
I can understand where you’re coming from, though. “Ugly” is often used to point out to readers, “Hey, this guy’s the bad one,” or “hate this one.” On the other hand, Yumeka speaks truth. Think about Zaitsu Misao from Hatsukoi Limited.
@ Saere
It’s cool, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t making some big generalization about anime based on your own opinion after only viewing shonen and harem anime.
I know other fans who, like you, usually only like characters of one gender. It’s not always female fans liking male characters and males liking female characters – I’ve seen the reverse too. As someone who loves characters from both genders, it’s hard for me to understand, but you should just like what you like I guess =) I’m not saying it’s the case with you, but from what I’ve seen, fans who only like characters of the opposite gender do so for wish-fulfillment – girls like bishounen or cool, manly men because they have the hots for guys like that, while guys like sexy moe girls because they wish they had a girlfriend like that. Again, I’m not saying this applies to you, I’m just saying it’s not uncommon ;)
@Yumeka
Nah, totally applies to me. I don’t hate women. I just really like guys. XD
On the Omake (I guess this comment is an “Omake” to my previous comment, lol):
I will never understand the fangirl obsession with Lelouch… to me he looks like a vampire. And what’s more – I think Suzaku is far better-looking than him. Take that, Lelouch fangirls! :0
It’s hard to believe both Lelouch and Light Yagami scoring this high. I guess “most popular” doesn’t always mean “most admirable” – or maybe I’m just old-fashioned in that respect…?
Mine would be the violent tsundere, and the characters who accept the violent tsundere. Non-violent tsunderes or mutually violent relationships are fine! And a serious portrayal of an abusive relationship would be OK too. But I just can’t stand abuse without condemnation from the ‘programme’, and I lose respect for the characters involved.
Egads, you should enable comments on comments.
Anyway, I don’t know to much about the Soul Eater anime really I guess. I do happen to remember a scene wherein BS lets a whole village beat him mostly to death while he waits for Tsubaki to come out of the demon blade though.
Black Star in the manga goes through so much transformation, at this point he’s one of the most respectable and badass characters in the story (which is full of respectable and badass characters)
Hmm. I really dislike aloof male characters who seem to exist just to be mysterious and act like they secretly have all the cards in their hands. Jade Curtiss from Tales of the Abyss and Izaya from Durarara!! come to mind immediately. Your model works in this case, because I’m pretty sure if I met these guys in real life I would grit my teeth, swallow the acid in my throat and quietly find an excuse to be very far away from them.
You know who I hate the most? Inoue Whore-hime
I dislike male characters over the age of 13 and all female characters.
@ Logopolis
So you don’t like it when the abuse is one-sided in a relationship and the character being abused (usually the male) doesn’t condemn the one abusing him? I don’t like that much either actually. But I don’t watch much harem or ecchi anime, which I believe has a lot of this.
@ digital boy
Unfortunately the WordPress theme I’m using doesn’t have the “Reply” option for comments. I don’t want to change the theme because I like this one out of my available options and it took me forever to figure out how to post the top banner and Twitter sidebar (I know nothing about CSS). I usually don’t get this many comments on a post 0_o
I’m glad to hear that Black Star changes for the better in the manga. Maybe I wouldn’t dislike him in the manga since he gets character development AND I wouldn’t have to actually hear his bragging XD
@ 2DT
I know exactly the type you mean. I’m not too fond of them either.
@ kluxorious
Orihime is another character who gets a lot of hate. I would assume it’s for the usual reason that she’s “useless” and doesn’t do anything but wait around to be saved by others. I would argue that she can’t help it if she’s not as strong as the others and she does have some powers. But I can understand why people don’t like her.
@ Jura
Wow, that’s a really small amount of characters you like then. I haven’t seen many anime where the majority of characters are males below 13 (mostly kids anime) so you must dislike most of the characters you watch.
Izaya is far more interesting than Jade, I don’t think Jade has anyone to run around and pull an “IIIIZAAAAYAAAAAAAAA” on him. Part of what makes Durarara great is you know at some point Heiwajima is going to punch Izaya (hopefully).
I dislike characters who replace characters who were already good enough (Example: Seiya from Sailor Moon).
I myself also aren’t that big a fan of villians, so I don’t really like characters who just evil (Example: Aizen from Bleach)
the main types i can think of atm
Mary Sues (given), tsundere, moeblobs, and however you classify Inoue Orihime types.
I dislike characters who use ready-made excuses to justify morally gray (or downright immoral) actions. Like, I think Lelouch is an interesting character, but I can’t stand the constant, “I’m doing this all for my blind, crippled sister!!” refrains. So annoying. Light Yagami was even worse. “I’m saving the world!” Uh, no, you’re going on a huge ego trip, buddy.
@ Kyoizumi
I know a lot of people think evil characters are cool but I was never one of them (unless they have some goodness in them).
@ Myna
For Mary Sues, I could like them if they’re well developed (Orihime would probably fall into a Mary Sue type I think). I usually like tsunderes as long as they’re not total bitches. And moeblogs I could like or at least be neutral to.
@ Shinmaru
Interesting…I guess you would totally disagree with Lelouch and Light being among MAL’s most popular characters. Apparently a lot of people are attracted to characters like that. I think people like the fact that Lelouch and Light have these cool powers and sort of want to do good, and I know much of their fan following is from fan girls who like their looks too. Even though they both end up becoming too obsessed, their martyrdom in the end makes them heroes in some people’s eyes. Like Jan said, favorite characters aren’t necessarily the most admirable.
I think the only characters I usually dislike are characters who are fangirls (and then I mean the squeaking over some guy they’ll never have type). I just can not possibly get that and feel it is so annoying. I’ve personally never really been a fangirl like that, when most girls I knew were going on and on about how this or that guy/actor/singer was awesome I never got it. I can understand admiring someone for their talents, liking them in general or having a crush on them (although I don’t get the having a crush on an actor or a singer or someone you don’t really know) but real squeaking, adoring fangirling is just beyond me.
Not to say that I dislike every character who is a fangirl, so long as the character has other good trates I can even like her. But I’ll always dislike the fangirl part of them.
Of course I probably also dislike villains sometimes, although I usually find them more interesting rather than truly dislike them. Like you said with Beatrice, they are nasty and I wouldn’t want to meat them but I find them interesting and so enjoy them as characters.
Also, man do I disagree with that list XD Especially how high Light is on it, he always got on my nerves >.< He's one of those relatively few that I come really close to disliking despite being interesting. I haven't finished Code Geass so I can't say about Lelouch, but if he starts turning more into the way Light became he'll probably start annoying me too. The only characters I really like a lot on that list are Konata, because I enjoy the humour and slice-of-life with her in Lucky Star, and Ed Elric, because he's one of my favorite characters in general.
Thank you! I’m glad there are some anime fans out there who aren’t harping on about how anime cliches or “troops” as some are calling them now are ruining anime. Myself personally I don’t mind cliched characters wether male or female because you have to remember anime is fiction and in fiction stories that make you think are not always needed nor are deep characters. What ticks me off the most is how fans always want physically strong female characters that can kick butt every 5 seconds. I don’t mind these girls at all. (I’m a girl myself) but sometimes being strong emotionally works too. kyou, ryou, and tomoyo from Clannad is a good example of this because all three of them liked tomoya but when they found out he liked someone else, they cried and accepted it in the end.
Are you me? I mean really, I didn’t know there were other female fans who thought that way! Emotionally strong girls need more love! I like physically strong girls, but emotionally strong girls I really admire.
The only two anime chara’s I don’t like are Gingerbread(Hitman Reborn) and Izumo(Blue Excorcist)
@Saere
I completely understand what you’re trying to say and relate 100%. *high five*
Since you like Bleach, I have a question–what are your thoughts on Yoruichi? Or Rukia?
I do lean towards disliking more morally despicable characters; Shinji Matou (Fate/Stay Night) is the only character I sincerely hate since he raped his [adoptive] sister and is otherwise vehemently abusive towards her. He has also attempted to rape other female characters in other Fate-related media such as in the Unlimited Blade Works movie where he almost raped Rin, my personal second-favorite character in the series.