The character you love to hate...

[mjmonarch]

Several are out there. There is something I find so fascinating about them. The difficulty I think lies in establishing an emotion or trait that the reader relates too, but the character must act out in ways we would be disagree with.

It seems it maybe it is related with the attachment we as people often have with the underdog? A hidden altruism in they way we behave? Not sure, though I find these characters to be exhilerating if done right.

If one comes to mind, post him/her/it and why.

Artemis Entreri comes to mind for me, though I haven't read the latest in the series.

 

[Ireth]

If we're allowed to mention our own characters, then Fiachra of Winter's Queen comes immediately to mind. I loathe this guy's guts, and I created him. He's a smug, arrogant, self-serving S.O.B. who drinks too much and abuses his bride-to-be both physically and emotionally to get her to submit to him (which fails, thankfully), on top of being far too ambitious for his father's good. He has absolutely no redeeming qualities that I can think of, and I must say, writing the scene where he finally gets his comeuppance was immensely satisfying.

 

[Aravelle]

If he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, nothing good about him, he can't truly be evil. That's a Disney style villian. I'm not saying anyone should sympathize with him, but I feel an "all bad" guy makes for a really flat character.

 

[Steerpike]

If he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, nothing good about him, he can't truly be evil. That's a Disney style villian. I'm not saying anyone should sympathize with him, but I feel an "all bad" guy makes for a really flat character.

You should read Monument, by Ian Graham. Ballas is a main character with no redeeming qualities that I could find, but he's an effective and non-flat character. Good book, too.

 

[Aravelle]

I have a character of mine I don't necessarily hate, but I really love to put through crap for some reason. His name's Kassimir, and he is human. He's my "hero", my Aragorn, my Eragon, my Harry Potter. I love having him make mistakes and getting stuck in the very worse things, as if fate is trying to screw up his life rather than favour him.. he is forced to become a noble of a country he loathes, he ends up bedding a woman he didn't know was married- and together they're found by her husband.
I just really love beating him to a pulp, whereas I pity my other characters and want to coddle them.

 

[WyrdMystic]

I'm going to log off and let the storm die down after this but......Frodo Baggins.

I hate Frodo Baggins. I love LOTR. I hate Frodo Baggins.

 

[J. S. Elliot]

Using a character of my own, it would have to be Calden Telger. He may hate his own name, but even for the complexities of his mind, I can't help but hate his guts for the depravity that lurks there. Anyone who I've mentioned him to would probably know why.

 

[Amanita]

I'm very fond of this type of character myself.
For me, villains who unite everything we consider morally wrong within themselves are often boring. Fantasy stories often have villains who are misogynist, racist slave owners and thieves who abuse children and torture animals for fun. And of course, they've been born that way. (Mabye not all of that but you get the idea.) Often, this kind of character doesn't do anything for me. Of course, they need to be punished and it's extremely likely that they will be and that's it, besides a few scenes of gratitutious violence their good for.
If the writer is doing it well, this can work of course, but most of the time, this is not the case.
Really interesting villains are the ones who're doing things we consider evil but still have reasons and motivations we can sympathize with, at least in parts. These people are much more frightening because they show us where some actually good things could lead us, what we might become ourselves if we chose a certain path. They're also more fascinating, because we might actually find ourselves sympathizing with them in some instances, only to feel guilty about it upon realisizing.
I have a tendence of turning many fantasy villains where nothing is stated to the opposite into this in my mind, but often it's probably not been the author's intention.

 

[MotherofDragons]

For a long time when I first started reading the vampire hunter books by Laurell K. Hamilton, I really hated Anita Blake. I loved the stories, but I couldn't *stand* Anita herself. She was just so self-righteous, so full of herself. I've long since stopped reading those books, but I remember how frustrated I'd get with her decisions and the way she treated everyone around her.

 

[shangrila]

I found Vin from Mistborn kind of annoying at times. Her insecurities made a good character at the start but they dragged on in the series a little in my opinion and her blind trust in Elend was a tad annoying.

Also, I never really understood why everyone thought she was so special. I mean, she was Mistborn, yeah, so she was pretty damn powerful, but everything she does either had been done or could have been done by Kelsier, considering by the end of the series she had an extra two years of being a Mistborn than he did. *SPOILERS* Not to mention her one special ability, piercing copper clouds, was only a result of the Hemalurgy infused earring she wore. *SPOILERS END* But everyone trotted around like she was the chosen one, which annoyed me to no end.

 

[Ireth]

If he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, nothing good about him, he can't truly be evil. That's a Disney style villian. I'm not saying anyone should sympathize with him, but I feel an "all bad" guy makes for a really flat character.

Well, Fiachra certainly wouldn't call himself evil; his culture just doesn't use that word. Humans have associated his Court, the Unseelie, with evil for many centuries; their counterpart, the Seelie, are thus the "good" Fae, even though both courts can be really nasty when they want to be. Their morality isn't black and white, it's more what we'd call blue and orange. Fiachra doesn't go around kicking puppies or anything -- in fact he has a horse that he's quite fond of and treats well -- but there's no denying that in his view (and honestly, most Fae's view), humans are only as worthwhile as it benefits him to interact with them. The girl he kidnaps and intends to marry is, to him, little more than a broodmare who'll look pretty sitting on a throne beside him. He doesn't deflower her before their wedding, but as I said before, he abuses her in other ways.

 

[Jess A]

For a long time when I first started reading the vampire hunter books by Laurell K. Hamilton, I really hated Anita Blake. I loved the stories, but I couldn't *stand* Anita herself. She was just so self-righteous, so full of herself. I've long since stopped reading those books, but I remember how frustrated I'd get with her decisions and the way she treated everyone around her.

Your point being that there should be moral shades of grey in the protagonist/ 'good guys' as well? If so, I agree. If not, what do you mean? I didn't like the books much myself. I read somewhere that Anita was a Mary Sue of sorts.