20 Toxic Main Characters We Were Tricked Into Sympathizing With

zachnading Published 02/14/2023 in wow

In hindsight, maybe these characters weren't as good of people as we had originally thought.

Thanks to AskReddit, we've compiled some of the most disgusting and toxic main characters from television shows and movies. It's okay to admit we were wrong, but now it's time to stop putting them on a pedestal. Enjoy roasting these anti-heroes.

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1.
Carrie Bradshaw. -throwaway-_-friend
2.
Ferris Bueller. -Philcycles84
3.
Hannah Baker from 13 reasons why. Commits suicide and becomes romanticized by the school and everyone around her, gets a cute boy to become obsessed with her and view her as 'the one who got away', and gets revenge on all her bullies. It's everything you *don't* want to tell or show a person struggling with suicidal thoughts. -DMMEPANCAKES
4.
Jerry from Tom and Jerry. Now, nothing in the Tom& Jerryverse is really consistent and a lot of their dynamic depends on whichever studio did the episode. But I remember a LOT of times when Tom wasn't really trying to seriously hunt/hurt Jerry, he was usually toying with him like cats do or if he'd cross the line, he would immediately feel bad about it and then save Jerry himself.

Meanwhile Jerry, the little f*ck we're supposed to root for, uses that to his advantage to lure Tom into situations that genuinely would've killed him if not for cartoon immortality. -AccioSexLife
5.
Julia Roberts in My Best Friends Wedding. She spends the whole movie trying to break up her friend and his fiancé because she realized she’s in love with him. -Agreeable_Memory_67
6.
Evan Hansen, he's a legit monster. -EricUdy
7.
Nancy from Weeds. I don't know why, but she made my skin crawl. -MMRavenclaw
8.
That dude from "The Notebook." If you don't go on a date with me, I'll kill myself! -slinger301
9.
Piper from Orange is the New Black. -bananamana55
10.
Grandpa Joe. -nsfw-R
11.
Tom Cruise in Risky Business. There's a setup in the beginning he's in some business class where they're supposed to come up with some business idea. Then his parents go away for the weekend. Cue that famous scene. Tom Cruise, the protagonist and high school student, orders a prostitute. The prostitute turns out to be a man. But that prostitute gives him another number to call and he finally gets a girl, and they bang.

Something happens where Cruise now needs money. He and the prostitute he's "befriended" decide to start a brothel in his parents' house. A brothel that caters exclusively to Cruise's high school friends. They make the money they need and then some. Parents come home none the wiser.

We end with Tom Cruise back in the business class failing the assignment because he was busy doing the whole child brothel thing, but ends with a voice-over where he's proudly saying how much money he actually made. Turns out he actually was a businessman! -MurderDoneRight
12.
Rory Gilmore - whiny, narcissistic, cheated on multiple boyfriends… -Far-Juggernaut8880
13.
Scott Pilgrim from Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Has a gf. Decides to pursue Ramona while in the relationship with Knives. Gets his friends to cover up for his cheating ass. Expects to walk out of it all smelling like roses. And we're supposed to cheer for this shithead during the fights and hope he wins?

F*ck. That. ETA for all the 'not supposed to cheer for him' and 'he's not a good guy' comments: His fights are still shown as a death possibility, and we all become curious as to the weakness point of each opponent. But of course after he finds it, they're defeated, and we anticipate the mystery of the next one. Therefore the movie makes us wanting him to win all the time cuz death avoidance, and curiosity. -Fine_Cheek_4106
14.
Severus Snape. He was a neo nazi incel who wanted the girl to love him despite running with wizarding Hitler who wanted to commit holocaust on her kind. When he learnt that her son is targeted. He begged for her life alone not her child or husband whom he wished dead anyway. Then he bullied her son for 7 years and the other child whom he indirectly orphaned and literally every non slytherin kid for close to 2 decades...

But all should be forgotten because he said "ALWAYS"!!! -mrtipbull
15.
Chris Pratt in the movie Passengers. Out of pure selfishness, the dude decides to ruin the bright future of a girl so that she has no other option than to live with him. She'll never accomplish the great projects she had, she'll never see any of her loved ones, she'll never be able to even talk to another human being, she will live in prison for the rest of her days.

While the movie hints at the fact that he's a selfish asshole. It's largely overbalanced by the idea that a man's gotta do what he's gotta do to pursue [his own] happiness. In the end, her stockholm syndrome is presented as a happily ever after ending. -hoaxymore
16.
The most recent Velma. Narcissistic, mean, and stuck up with no intention of growing as a person. -The_Presitator
17.
Ted Mosby. -satirevaitneics
18.
Zack Morris. That guy is trash. -Osr0
19.
Zooey Deschanel has been typecast into that annoying entitled manic pixie dream girl role so many times, and I hate it every time. 500 Days of Summer is worse. The only time I saw a character by Zooey that didn't get on my nerves is in Elf. -indorock
20.
Wanda Maximoff. This woman was straight torturing an entire town just because her boyfriend died. Then when eventually she realizes that was awful, like 6 months later she goes on a multiversal murder spree. Imo the writers really dropped the ball on her descent into villainy, it’s very abrupt and doesn’t make much sense.

Edit: Yeah I know, the dark hold, blah blah. It’s still dumb. It could have been a very interesting story about loss and unlimited power leading to horrible things. -thejakewhomakes

1.
Carrie Bradshaw. -throwaway-_-friend
2.
Ferris Bueller. -Philcycles84
3.
Hannah Baker from 13 reasons why. Commits suicide and becomes romanticized by the school and everyone around her, gets a cute boy to become obsessed with her and view her as 'the one who got away', and gets revenge on all her bullies. It's everything you *don't* want to tell or show a person struggling with suicidal thoughts. -DMMEPANCAKES
4.
Jerry from Tom and Jerry. Now, nothing in the Tom& Jerryverse is really consistent and a lot of their dynamic depends on whichever studio did the episode. But I remember a LOT of times when Tom wasn't really trying to seriously hunt/hurt Jerry, he was usually toying with him like cats do or if he'd cross the line, he would immediately feel bad about it and then save Jerry himself.

Meanwhile Jerry, the little f*ck we're supposed to root for, uses that to his advantage to lure Tom into situations that genuinely would've killed him if not for cartoon immortality. -AccioSexLife
5.
Julia Roberts in My Best Friends Wedding. She spends the whole movie trying to break up her friend and his fiancé because she realized she’s in love with him. -Agreeable_Memory_67
6.
Evan Hansen, he's a legit monster. -EricUdy
7.
Nancy from Weeds. I don't know why, but she made my skin crawl. -MMRavenclaw
8.
That dude from "The Notebook." If you don't go on a date with me, I'll kill myself! -slinger301
9.
Piper from Orange is the New Black. -bananamana55
10.
Grandpa Joe. -nsfw-R
11.
Tom Cruise in Risky Business. There's a setup in the beginning he's in some business class where they're supposed to come up with some business idea. Then his parents go away for the weekend. Cue that famous scene. Tom Cruise, the protagonist and high school student, orders a prostitute. The prostitute turns out to be a man. But that prostitute gives him another number to call and he finally gets a girl, and they bang.

Something happens where Cruise now needs money. He and the prostitute he's "befriended" decide to start a brothel in his parents' house. A brothel that caters exclusively to Cruise's high school friends. They make the money they need and then some. Parents come home none the wiser.

We end with Tom Cruise back in the business class failing the assignment because he was busy doing the whole child brothel thing, but ends with a voice-over where he's proudly saying how much money he actually made. Turns out he actually was a businessman! -MurderDoneRight
12.
Rory Gilmore - whiny, narcissistic, cheated on multiple boyfriends… -Far-Juggernaut8880
13.
Scott Pilgrim from Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Has a gf. Decides to pursue Ramona while in the relationship with Knives. Gets his friends to cover up for his cheating ass. Expects to walk out of it all smelling like roses. And we're supposed to cheer for this shithead during the fights and hope he wins?

F*ck. That. ETA for all the 'not supposed to cheer for him' and 'he's not a good guy' comments: His fights are still shown as a death possibility, and we all become curious as to the weakness point of each opponent. But of course after he finds it, they're defeated, and we anticipate the mystery of the next one. Therefore the movie makes us wanting him to win all the time cuz death avoidance, and curiosity. -Fine_Cheek_4106
14.
Severus Snape. He was a neo nazi incel who wanted the girl to love him despite running with wizarding Hitler who wanted to commit holocaust on her kind. When he learnt that her son is targeted. He begged for her life alone not her child or husband whom he wished dead anyway. Then he bullied her son for 7 years and the other child whom he indirectly orphaned and literally every non slytherin kid for close to 2 decades...

But all should be forgotten because he said "ALWAYS"!!! -mrtipbull
15.
Chris Pratt in the movie Passengers. Out of pure selfishness, the dude decides to ruin the bright future of a girl so that she has no other option than to live with him. She'll never accomplish the great projects she had, she'll never see any of her loved ones, she'll never be able to even talk to another human being, she will live in prison for the rest of her days.

While the movie hints at the fact that he's a selfish asshole. It's largely overbalanced by the idea that a man's gotta do what he's gotta do to pursue [his own] happiness. In the end, her stockholm syndrome is presented as a happily ever after ending. -hoaxymore
16.
The most recent Velma. Narcissistic, mean, and stuck up with no intention of growing as a person. -The_Presitator
17.
Ted Mosby. -satirevaitneics
18.
Zack Morris. That guy is trash. -Osr0
19.
Zooey Deschanel has been typecast into that annoying entitled manic pixie dream girl role so many times, and I hate it every time. 500 Days of Summer is worse. The only time I saw a character by Zooey that didn't get on my nerves is in Elf. -indorock
20.
Wanda Maximoff. This woman was straight torturing an entire town just because her boyfriend died. Then when eventually she realizes that was awful, like 6 months later she goes on a multiversal murder spree. Imo the writers really dropped the ball on her descent into villainy, it’s very abrupt and doesn’t make much sense.

Edit: Yeah I know, the dark hold, blah blah. It’s still dumb. It could have been a very interesting story about loss and unlimited power leading to horrible things. -thejakewhomakes