Top Ten Characters Everyone Loves Who I Just Don’t Get

Posted March 7, 2016 by Cristina (Girl in the Pages) in Top Ten Tuesday / 41 Comments

TTTcustombannerTop Ten Tuesday is a fun weekly feature hosted by the fantastic blog The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is: Top Ten Characters Everyone Loves Who You Just Don’t Get. I have a feeling I’m going to create a disturbance with some of my picks (and I will be the first to admit many may be influenced by my salty attitude toward certain popular book ships). Time to stir up some trouble!

  1. Ron Weasley from Harry Potter: I’m sorry, I have never liked Ron from Day 1. He rivals Percy for being my least favorite Weasley. I felt that his jealousy issues and lack of selc confidence came between his friendships with Harry and Hermione SO many times (all the way to Book 7, even) and I think his relationship with Hermione was emotionally abusive. Harry+Hermione 4eva.
  2. Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye: I have never read a book that featured a protagonist who made so many bad, foolish decisions in such a short period of time. Holden may be one of the most immature characters I’ve ever read…I find it worrisome how “iconic” he is.
  3. Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl: Chuck was a total weirdo (and not in a good way) in the books, and pretty sleazy in the show. I find it worrisome how many girls were/are in love with him. His relationship with Blair was also NOT healthy. (Nate + Blair fan over here).
  4. Chaol Westfall from Throne of Glass: Don’t get me wrong, I like Chaol well enough, and at one point I even shipped him with our favorite assassin, because who didn’t at the end of Crown of Midnight? However, Heir of Fire really changed my perspective of Chaol, and I had to face that facts: he’s just sort of boring. He’s like the generic, short-brown-hair-neautrally-good-attractive-guy in the series. I don’t think he’s a good match for Celaena.
  5. Simon from The Mortal Instruments: Another character who I don’t necessarily dislike, I guess I’ve just never been into the angsty-best-friend-pining-over-the-protagonist-type. He’s also a bit whiny for my taste, and I much rather preferred reading about the other characters in this series.
  6. Etienne St. Clair from Anna and the French Kiss: I really, really dislike St. Clair. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the book, but it really disgusted me how he led people on, was afraid to acknowledge his feelings for Anna so long, and just generally hurt a lot of people with his fickle flirting and dislike of confrontation.
  7. Cress from the Lunar Chronicles: I like Cress, sure, and I recognize that she’s a sweet girl and a necessary asset to Cinder’s team. However, she seems to be so many people’s favorite character, and I just don’t find her that interesting compared to Cinder, Winter, and Scarlet. (I also really love Kai though and I hear he bores most readers, so I suppose take my opinion with a grain of salt, haha).
  8. Jacob from Twilight: Do people even have strong opinions about this series anymore? I know there were friendships practically ruined over the “Team Jacob” and “Team Edward feud. While I was firmly on Team Edward, I disliked Jacob not because he was a third wheel, but because he was pushy and immature and acted like Bella owed him something romantic just for being his friend.
  9. Mal from the Grisha Trilogy: Sort of in the same vein as Simon, except Mal acted so morally SUPERIOR to Alina for a lot of the series, which I found laughable. I really dislike characters who try to hold the protagonist back from being their true (if perhaps a little scarily powerful) selves.
  10. Peeta from the Hunger Games: Peeta has a lot of admirable qualities, sure. He’s kind, compassionate, and a good listener. I just found him so painfully boring, the proverbial “boy next door” who somehow manages to catch the really kickass character’s heart. Sure, he kept Katniss from starving that one time, but Gale has been helping her family hunt and survive for YEARS. I also feel like he’s responsible for Katniss feeling “pressured” to have children in the Mockingjay epilogue (she alludes to the fact that she was terrified of bringing children into their world but she wanted to make him happy since he wanted him) and I’m not particularly fond of that message.

So if you haven’t been so offended that you made it to the end of this post, tell me, did you feel the same way about any of these characters? Do you think my mind can be changed? Were there other characters from the same novels that you found even less palatable? Let me know in the comments!

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41 responses to “Top Ten Characters Everyone Loves Who I Just Don’t Get

  1. I totally agree with you about Mal and Choal. Both of them are kind of like the other, honestly.
    But for Cress, I really like her, mostly because I relate to her.

  2. I’ve seen Peeta mentioned a few times, and I agree with that (although I’m only going by movie version, as I haven’t read the books). But he didn’t do much for me. And that epilogue issue does seem kinda… odd. I haven’t seen the last one yet but Gale seemed more… I don’t know, suited to Katniss?

    Greg recently posted: Alex and Ada Vol. 3
    • Trust me, he’s not much better in the books. I just think Gale was a better match for Katniss because he really understood her personality, rather than always hoping she would be MORE (more affectionate, more emotional, etc.)

  3. I 100% agree with Simon from The Mortal Instruments. I always found him way too whiny and lost puppy like. I find it SO much worse in the tv show now too. I felt in the books he had at least a tiny moral of self respect.

    • Oh dear, I haven’t watched past the pilot of the Shadowhunters TV show because I found it so cheesy, and my boyfriend, who hasn’t read the books, was even put off by Simon’s total and blatant lack of self respect and obsession for Clary! Is the show worth continuing on with?

      • Honestly, the only reason I’m still watching is because I’m hoping it’ll get better, but it hasn’t. Simon does NOT get any better as the show goes, and Clary treats him like trash. There was a much better balance of them being friends in the books, where as he just looks like a guy that Clary can’t get rid of in the show. I also completely dislike the way they are portraying Clary.

        I’m actually pretty upset because they had so much potential to make this a kick ass show and it isn’t. And now I’m done ranting 🙂

        • Oh god, I only got through the pilot and I cannot stand Clary’s character. I know there were a lot of issues with the movie, but I actually enjoyed Lily Collins’ performance! The performance by like 99% of the characters has me cringing when I watch, although I do prefer the show Jace over the movie Jace, to be honest!

        • I just hate that they’ve made a movie and a tv show now and neither has really done it justice. It always comes off as being so campy! And the dynamic between Jace/Simon/Clary is never right! Ugh, I’m thinking I will just delete the 7 unwatched episodes I have on my DVR!

  4. I had Ron on my list too! His immaturity just annoyed me to no ends. I kind of agree with Mal too.. I think the only guy I really liked by the end of the Grisha series was Nickolai. Oh, and St. Clair I completely agree with. I started a reread of the book recently and had to put it down because I realized he kind of annoys me.

    • THANK YOU I think you may be one of only a small handful of people in the whole universe who feel the same way I do about Ron, hahaha. I actually have also been weary of rereading Anna for the same reason. I loved her and the writing and the setting…but the romance aspect was a huge turn off for me because of his personality!

    • Well I do love a bad boy now and then (loved the Darkling!) I can’t get over some of the really despicable things Chuck did, especially in the show (such as his attempting to assault Serena and Jenny in the pilot). While I think they sort of tried to change his character arc away from that later in the show when they wanted to make him a love interest for Blair, I couldn’t really unsee it. However, I do love Ed Westwick and think he did a great job in character!

  5. I enjoyed Chaol at first, but then he really turned on me and I could barely stomach reading anything about him. I have seen a lot of Bella’s this week, but this is the first Jacob and I definitely agree. He was very immature and I never really thought of him as anything other than a friend and yet he kept pushing…

    My TTT 🙂

    • I actually didn’t think to put Bella on my list because for me, she doesn’t have a strong enough personality or presence to evoke a strong reaction, you know? She’s just sort of there as a character to project yourself on as a reader. Jacob however, really epitomized everything that’s wrong with the “friend zone” culture and the pressure that’s put on females to feel as though they owe males something intimate if they develop a strong bond with them.

  6. Hell yeah I felt offended! But then I saw you put Mal down and I had to compose myself because I despise that controlling boy and I’ll never understand what Alina saw in him. Everyone else wanted her to be herself, yet she chose the one guy that kept wishing for her to not have her power and to be “like she was before.”. How did he even compare to Nikolai and The Darkling? I’LL NEVER UNDERSTAND.
    Great list! 🙂

  7. NATE + BLAIR YOU KNOW IT.

    Cress was my favorite Lunar Chronicles book, but not really my favorite character! I just liked the action that took place in that book more than the first two.

    Also, YES about Peeta! I mean, I’m biased because I’m #TeamGale.

    • NAIR FOREVER.

      Cress was actually my favorite out of all of the books too! (I just loved how they really all came together and became there “gang” in that book!) Meanwhile, Scarlet was one of the slowest books in the series for me but I looooved her character.

      I didn’t know you were also Team Gale, I swear it’s like we’re shipping soul mates!

  8. yeah, i’m iffy about Ron… BUT his family is so critical to the story that his friendship with Harry is indeed important. But as a character in and of himself… eh. My TTT

  9. Ally

    Ron, Jacob, Peeta you are spot on. Holden OMG I reread this book as an adult and wondered why I liked it as a teenager. Holden is the worst.

  10. Yeah I’m not a big fan of Peeta/Ron/Etienne either (even more so as I get older and realise that Ron is so unreasonably jealous of everyone, and Etienne is just a coward).

    Oops. Did I say that out loud?

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