By Iris Goldsztajn
9:00am PST, Jan 27, 2026
No good movie or TV show can scrape by with zero unlikable characters — they are what create friction and excitement. Some of these characters are purposefully written as evil, while others end up being disliked by audiences even though they're not
technically the bad guys.
Here are 28 movie and TV characters a lot of people can't stand…
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Tai Frasier from Clueless
—
Tai Frasier, played by Brittany Murphy, was clueless, but the way she turned on Cher Horowitz in the 1995 rom-com didn't sit well with all viewers.
Dean Forrester from Gilmore Girls
—
Dean Forrester was everyone's least favorite of Rory Gilmore's boyfriends, with many people citing his controlling tendencies as a real turn-off. Even actor
Jared Padalecki is
Team Jess.
Ava Coleman from Abbott Elementary
—
Principal Ava Coleman (Janelle James) is a nightmare for the first couple of seasons of Abbott Elementary: She seemingly only cares about herself and is totally underqualified to run the school. As time goes on, she gets a little more sympathetic.
Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series
—
Obviously, Dolores Umbridge was a bad guy in the Harry Potter series, but her character (portrayed brilliantly by Imelda Staunton) really grated on fans — maybe it was because she was hiding her evil intentions under all that marshmallow pink? At least Voldemort was open about his intentions.
Bella Swan from the Twilight series
—
Unfortunately for the
Twilight series' protagonist, many viewers couldn't stand Bella Swan, played by
Kristen Stewart.
Redditors found her self-righteous, "selfish" and "bland," among other things.
Rory Gilmore
—
Rory Gilmore (
Alexis Bledel) was supposed to be one of the heroes on
Gilmore Girls, but she became a villain to many fans of the show. They especially
took issue with her bratty tendencies and some of her poorest life decisions, such as cheating and (decade-old spoiler alert!) dropping out of Yale.
Madame Morrible from Wicked
—
When Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) first takes Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) under her wing, viewers are hopeful that it's the first step to turning things around for the green witch — but the evil educator only steers Elphaba toward harm.
Ross Geller from Friends
—
Ross Geller (
David Schwimmer) was many
Friends fans' least favorite character. He's been
called "annoying" and "manipulating," with people feeling like Rachel should have ended up with someone else.
Professor Callahan from Legally Blonde
—
It's not hard to see why people hated Professor Callahan (Victor Garber) so much, given he was an actual villain in Legally Blonde. Unsurprisingly, audiences tend to react negatively when men in positions of power attempt to use that authority to get their way.
Jasper Bloom from The Holiday
—
As far as ex-boyfriends go, Jasper Bloom (
Rufus Sewell) from
The Holiday was particularly vile. Knowing Iris (
Kate Winslet) was still madly in love with him, he used her to boost his ego — and edit his book.
Ugh.
Mia from Love Actually
—
In
Love Actually, not only does Mia
(
Heike Makatsch) encourage her boss Harry (
Alan Rickman) to cheat on his wife Karen (
Emma Thompson), but she also uses extra cringey tactics to do it. Honestly, doesn't "I don't want something I
need, I want something I
want" make your skin crawl?
Miss Marina Thompson from Bridgerton
—
Bridgerton's Marina Thompson (
Ruby Barker) is NOT a fan-favorite. She's been
called "selfish" and "foolish" and "entitled."
Harry from Love Actually
—
As much as viewers hated Mia's attempts at seducing Harry (Alan Rickman) in Love Actually, they're also well aware that he wasn't innocent in all of this. After all, nobody forced him to buy Mia a stealthy necklace — if anything, Rowan Atkinson's character actively tried to stop it.
Summer from (500) Days of Summer
—
People absolutely hated
Zooey Deschanel's Summer in the 2009 indie rom-com
(500) Days of Summer,
branding her "manipulative and self-centered." Yikes.
Mr. Big from S** & The City
—
Fans of
S** & The City were livid when Carrie (
Sarah Jessica Parker) married Mr. Big. Thankfully for these haters,
Chris Noth's character was written off in
And Just Like That… Phew!
Biff Tannen from Back to the Future
—
Some villains can be sympathetic — Gollum — or entertaining — The Joker. Not so much with Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson). The Back to the Future series villain was a bully and a coward, and as such, is universally hated.
Lillian from Bridesmaids
—
Although, as the bride and the protagonist's best friend, Lillian in
Bridesmaids (
Maya Rudolph) should have been a clear-cut good guy, many viewers were put off by her character. In particular, they
found her to be a bad friend toward Annie (
Kristen Wiig).
Janis Ian from Mean Girls
—
Regina George (
Rachel McAdams) was the straightforward villain in
Mean Girls, but fans of the iconic movie are often more bothered by Janis Ian (
Lizzy Caplan). In fact, she's been
called the real "mean girl" of the story.
Selina Meyer from Veep
—
When
Julia Louis-Dreyfus endorsed
Kamala Harris for president, she made a point to
clarify that her character in
Veep, Selina Meyer, was a "narcissistic, megalomaniac sociopath" — contrary to Harris. Everyone can agree that Selina was the worst.
Rico Suave from Hannah Montana
—
Sure, Rico in Hannah Montana (Moisés Arias) was just a little kid, but that evil laugh and the pain he inflicted on poor Jackson show he knew exactly what he was doing — and the audience hated him for it.
Manny Delgado from Modern Family
—
As a kid, Manny (
Rico Rodriguez) was pretty
creepy toward his female family members. As a young adult, he was "pretentious and self-righteous,"
per some fans. Overall, he made for an uncomfortable watch.
Terence Fletcher from Whiplash
—
Whiplash's Terence Fletcher (
J.K. Simmons) is a deeply horrible character, demanding and abusive toward Andrew Neiman (
Miles Teller). He's a nightmare to watch — but we couldn't look away.
Kelsey Peters from Younger
—
Younger was a fantastic show — but
Hilary Duff's Kelsey Peters was a blemish
for some. She was extremely self-righteous toward Liza (
Sutton Foster) while making similar — and sometimes worse — mistakes herself, yet never owning up to them. Yikes.
Veruca Salt from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
—
Veruca Salt, who was in the various movies inspired by the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, is the blueprint for an insufferable, spoiled brat. As such, audiences take great pleasure in watching her tumble down that trash chute. Is that bad?
Miss Agatha Trunchbull from Matilda
—
Roald Dahl was deeply adept at writing horrific villains — including Matilda's Miss Trunchbull, portrayed on screen by Pam Ferris in 1996. The top-knot-wearing headmistress was a caricature of a scary teacher, terrifying and physically hurting her students at every turn.
Elton John's mom in Rocketman
—
In
Rocketman,
Bryce Dallas Howard did a terrific job of portraying
Elton John's mom,
Sheila Eileen Dwight, as an uncaring, selfish, manipulative person. Whether or not the portrayal was
based in truth isn't the question; she certainly appeared hateful on the big screen.
Prince Charles from The Crown
—
The real-life royal family understandably didn't love The Crown — in particular because of its portrayal of then-Prince Charles (played in Seasons 3 and 4 by Josh O'Connor). The show revived anger and resentment against the royal over his treatment of his first wife, Princess Diana. Of course, it's worth noting it was heavily dramatized.
Scar from The Lion King
—
Scar is a really, really bad egg. Need we say more?
