Tuesday 29 January 2013

Top Ten Tuesday - Most Frustrating Characters



Time for Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, and this week it's our Ten Most Frustrating Characters.

This was a lot of fun, but harder than I thought it would be. It's not about characters we hate - sometimes really great, likeable characters can be so frustrating too, and I felt a bit guilty about putting some of them on the list! I'll be interested to see how everyone's lists compare.

So, here are ten characters who really frustrate me:

1) Harry Potter, from the Harry Potter series. I love the books, and I like the character too, but wow Harry can be frustrating. He has a tendency to not see what's obvious, and to do really silly things that are Definitely A Bad Idea! He also carries around far too much angst for one person, especially in the later books.

2) Dumbledore, from the Harry Potter series. Gah, he's so frustrating! He's one of the those typical elderly wizard characters who seems to waffle on about a lot without actually saying anything useful. He knows exactly what's going on at most points but never seems to feel the need to tell anyone, particularly poor Harry, who takes the brunt of most of the trouble.

3) Gandalf, from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Similar deal to Dumbledore. Knows a lot, speaks in riddles, deliberately keeps people in the dark, gives off a demeanor of being all-wise and powerful but is actually about as helpful as a hedgehog in a balloon factory. Cast some spells! Explain what's going on! Tell the Eagles to help earlier!

4) Emma Woodhouse, from Emma. Emma is actually a great character, and it's a brilliant book, but she definitely deserves her place on a list of frustrating characters. Stop meddling Emma! Did you not learn from the umpteen times it backfired horribly? At least Emma does eventually learn from her mistakes... kinda.

5) Cathy and Heathcliffe and... everyone, from Wuthering Heights. I know this is a much-loved classic, but was there ever a book with such unlikeable people in it? When I read this I spent the whole time in varying states of frustration and despair with every character involved.

6) Bella Swan, from Twilight. Everything about this girl is frustrating. Everything. Although I actually don't blame her for wanting to be a vampire - I know people don't like that she's so ready to give up her life, but seriously... what's actually bad about being a vampire in Twilight? Super strength, super speed, live forever, good looks, about 80% chance of getting a superpower, don't even have to feed on humans to survive if you don't want to, you don't have to forsake sunlight for eternity, and you'd save a lot of money on body glitter. In fact, it's kinda frustrating that Edward doesn't want her to become a vampire. But then, I guess he likes her weak.

7) Everyone in Twilight. Does anyone act normally in this book? Overreactions, stupid decisions, stalking, whining, spending pages wondering what someone sees in you while they spend pages telling you how they're not good enough for you... arghlblarglbgl.

8) Meghan Chase, from The Iron King. I've only read the first one in this series so far, and I loved it, but at the same time... Meghan, oh Meghan. *shakes head in despair* I think Meghan must be part-human, part-faerie, part-deer, because when anything happens, she just stands there blinking at the metaphorical headlights. Her companions are busy shouting 'RUN' or 'HIDE' or 'something's coming!' and diving into convenient bushes, while she stands gawping at whatever nasty is about to eat her this time. Try not to facepalm every time this happens or you'll end up with concussion.

9) Odysseus, from the Odyssey. I studied this book for GCSE classics, then A Level classics, then degree level classics. Odysseus never gets any less frustrating. Pro Hero Tip: don't shout out your name and address to the monster you just blinded, especially if his father happens to be the sea-god and your only way home is by boat.

Also, don't wave about your mysterious bag of treasure, being all mysterious about its mysterious contents, and then fall asleep, leaving said bag tantalizingly close to the men who want to know what's in it. REALLY don't do this if the bag actually contains all the winds of the world, which will blow your ship years off course just when home was in sight. I could go on. Odysseus basically spends the entire story running around like a toddler, gurgling and poking at stuff. (It's a fantastic story, by the way. Honestly, you should read it.)

10) Lucy Steele, from Sense and Sensibility. She makes a beeline for the one person who really doesn't want to hear about her secret relationship with Edward. Then goes on and on about it. And on.


Ha! That was fun! What about you? Any characters you find really frustrating? Do you agree with my list?


30 comments:

  1. Great list! I agree Harry Potter can be really annoying and so can Dumbledore and Gandolf. Do you just not like old wizardy type people? :)

    Bella, Jacob, and Edward made my list too. I get annoyed by them. Thanks for sharing and this is a great list.

    Here's mine

    ~Danica Page@Taking it One Page at a Time

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    1. Haha, there's quite a few wizards there isn't there? >_< I love magic in stories, just get frustrated when people have the power to stop trouble or help others and then don't seem to really use it.

      Hehe, I think Bella and Edward are on a lot of lists...

      Thanks for stopping by! :-D

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  2. EVERYONE from Twilight LOL. I haven't read the rest of your pics except Harry Potter, and I agree Dumbledore can be frustrating. Thanks for visiting my top 10!

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    1. Hehe, they are just all so annoying in Twilight! xD I was pleased to see Dumbledore on a few other lists too.

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  3. Great list, I was annoyed with Potter as well and often with Dumbledore as well. I can't believe I missed on Twilight, I hated everyone... Bah! :D

    Thanks for stopping by :)

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    1. Haha, you've probably just blocked Twilight out of your memory :-)

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  4. I've just started The Iron Fey series and I'm with you on the Meghan Chase thing! Ugh!

    Thanks for stopping by my TTT.

    Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

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    1. The girl needs to learn that monsters charging at you = running away very fast. :-)

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  5. Hahaha, I love all the "and Everyone" sections. :D I can totally see why everyone in Twilight would frustrate you! And Meghan too!

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    1. Hehe, I love how Twilight appears in some form on almost every list. Universal frustration! :-)

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  6. I agree with your Austen characters! Also, Meghan Chase. She's ridiculous. She has so much power, but has to be freaking saved ALL THE TIME. Oy.

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    1. Emma appeared on a lot of lists, but I think she's written to be frustrating, so that's weirdly probably a good thing! :-) Yes! Meghan every time a monster runs at her:
      a) Use my awesome faery power on it?
      b) Hide in a tree?
      c) Stare at it and wait for death?
      I'm gonna go with... C!
      *headdesk*

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  7. Dumbledore did treat Harry unfaily :(

    New follower. Here is my TTT

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    1. I know, I felt really sorry for Harry at times. Just tell him stuff Dumbledore!

      Thanks for the follow! :-)

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  8. I am glad to see beloved characters on the frustration list! Harry and Dumbledore definitely had their moments. I think Meghan grows up a lot over the course of the Iron Fey series. I really enjoyed her evolution. Twilight seems to be the series we all love to hate (though I will gladly admit to enjoying both the books and the movie!) http://wp.me/pzUn5-1on

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    1. I've heard Meghan grows a lot through the series - looking forward to that. I actually really like her, just find her lack of survival instincts frustrating!
      Bella on the other hand... I'm not a fan.

      Thanks for stopping by! :-)

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  9. Lol. I've seen a lot of people saying that everyone in Wuthering Heights was frustrating. I've never read it, but I don't want to. I saw a movie once, and hated everyone, and I couldn't imagine reading a book where everyone was awful.

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    1. Yeah, they are... not the easiest characters to sympathise with! xD

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  10. A lot of people found Bella frustrating, but it's been too long since I've read Twilight, so I can't remember anything about her.

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    1. I think it was mainly the whole 'lying comatose for months' thing after Edward left her, and then jumping off a cliff just so she could hear his voice in her head, which irritated most people. Though, to be honest, most of what she does is frustrating!

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  11. They could have gotten things done much more effectively if Gandalf had gotten the Eagles to help from the beginning.

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    1. I know right! I think there's some explanation of it somewhere in the book, along the lines of 'the eagles don't want to be involved, but now they are because... reasons.' Or something equally baffling.

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  12. "Everyone in Twilight" Lol. So true. There were no mild reactions in those books!

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    1. Ha! I know :-) Forks must be a very intense place to live...

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  13. Okay I love all of these! YES YES to Dumbledore. Although I ADORE the Harry Potter series, I'm always annoyed when reading a book and someone could TELL THE MAIN CHARACTERS EVERYTHING the need to know, but they DON'T. And YES to Bella and Twilight, I like that you brought up the fact that there's nothing bad about being a vampire in those books. SO TRUE. Unless you count the inability to have a baby. But they are portrayed as so much better than humans and they SPARKLE! Who wouldn't want that? Your Meghan Chase comment cracked me up. She definitely proves her worth as the series goes on, but I agree, that it's annoying when heroines don't get out of the way, when they're absolutely no help at all.

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    1. I think I may actually have shouted at Dumbledore at one point while reading the book. xD Poor Harry! Hehe, I've heard Meghan grows a lot, so really looking forward to that. I do actually really like her - she's brave and pro-active. Just, not good at the 'not getting eaten' thing!

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  14. Great list! Harry's angst was so frustrating, I got that he had a lot of pressure stacked onto his shoulders but the way he acted on occasions really got under my skin. I'm a huge fan of the series, but he was so annoying at times. And I get why you found Gandalf frustrating, although I was grateful that he appeared with the eagles (even if it took him far too long!) Thanks for stopping by!

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    1. Not quite sure what would have happened if the eagles hadn't arrived! Good job they did decide to help after all :-) If I'd been one of the fellowship though, I think I'd have sneaked off with Gandalf's staff in the night and switched it for a fake or something. Then next time we were attacked - fireballs away! None of this 'wizards must be careful and use their magic as little as possible to interfere in the doings of man' nonsense.

      Hmm, it's probably a good job I don't have access to magic staff, thinking about it.

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  15. lol it's been years since I've read The Odyssey but your comment with it was hilarious, they really kept dropping by every single place that didn't look safe, didn't they?

    Agreed re: Emma, Lucy Steele, WH (high-five, we have some of the same characters in both our lists, lol) and Twilight.

    Am rather late (it's been busy on my end for the past two weeks) but thanks for dropping by my blog the other week! =)

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    1. Haha, they didn't have a very good sense of danger did they? xD Woohoo! Great minds think alike! :-)

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