Top Ten Tuesday: Most Dislikeable Characters

The "Top Ten Tuesday" meme is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. I surprisingly had some difficulty coming up with these! And okay, they probably aren't the top ten most hateable characters ever, but I wanted to pick some that were a little less well known. So, in no particular order...

1.) Pechorin from A Hero of Our Time

We had to read this for English class back in high school, and Pechorin was the protagonist. Which is bizarre, because he has no morals, so the reader is rooting against him for most of the book (or if you're optimistic, rooting for some major personality change!) He uses this completely naive girl just because he can, and he rides his horse to death chasing after this other woman he realizes has slipped from his grasp (who maybe, just maybe, he actually cares for. Maybe.) Later on in the book he shoots someone, but it was actually him exhausting his horse to death that made me hate him the most.

2.) Selia from The Goose Girl

Selia's the princess' lady-in-waiting, and she is evil through-and-through. Gifted with 'people-speaking' (the ability of persuasion) she attempts to usurp princess Anidori's position, and the princess is forced to go undercover as a goose girl. It's a fantastic fairy tale retelling and one of my favorite books - but Selia is so very sly and manipulative that you really can't help but despise her!

3.) John from Anna of Byzantium

Kind of an obscure choice, I know, but I really disliked Anna's younger brother John. She is originally the rightful heir to her father's throne, but when she is overheard making threats against her brother's life, her title of Crown Princess is stripped from her. Anna's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but her brother John is only out for himself and he is remarkably deceitful for a young boy. He knows exactly how to wrap people around his fingers so they'll act in his interest, and yet he pretends to be wholeheartedly naive and innocent. Honourable mention goes to Anna's grandmother, who's on John's side because she figures he'll be her little puppet (although he has more backbone than she suspects).

4.) Vesputo from The Seer and The Sword

The man murders Princess Torina's father, drugs her mother, and plans on killing her as well. All he cares about is power. 'Nuff said.

5.) Tiffany from The Nonesuch

Tiffany is the ultimate whiny brat. She is entirely self-absorbed, shallow, and manipulative (I'm beginning to think that's a theme here). If she's not the centre of attention, she throws a fit to make herself the centre of attention - good or bad, she wants attention. Tiffany doesn't care about anybody but herself, and worse, she doesn't try very hard to hide this fact! Occasionally she'll put on a pretense of kindness, but it is obviously faked. You will feel very sorry for her paid companion Ancilla by the end of the book, and wonder how she has the patience to put up with her charge. 

6.) The Troll Queen from East

What disgusted me the most about the Troll Queen was her desire to possess Myk (as she called him). For some reason she just has to have him, and she'll stop at nothing to get him, including first cursing him to a polar bear body for a certain length of time, and then feeding him potions to cloud his mind and memory. That's not even mentioning all those human bodies she's got piling up in an icy valley they call the killing fields...

7.) Roger from the Alanna series

He's charming, cunning, armed with evil magical abilities and totally out to get control of the throne. He doesn't care who he hurts in the process (well, actually, that's not true - he would definitely like to cause Alanna some trouble, preferably the fatal kind). Roger's a fantastic villain. Honourable mention to Alex, who used to be a friend of Alanna's and then is lured over to the dark side.

8.) Prince Bryan from Summers at Castle Auburn

Prince Bryan is a conceited pig of a man who can't make a sound decision to save his life, delights in hurting others, and is rather paranoid about getting poisoned (which considering his other qualities isn't so surprising). He's unfaithful to his fiancee (an arranged marriage, because who would want to marry him?), his actions are based on rash impulses that he doesn't regret later, and he's not even a very good swordsman. I can't think of one redeeming quality about him, and the fact that the protagonist Coriel is infatuated with him for half the book is rather annoying (she gets over it, though, thankfully). Runner-up: Coriel's sister Elisandra, who is ruthless in saving herself from a life of unhappiness.

9.) Dr. Cable from the Uglies series

Well, at least the Dr. Cable from the first two books (before she semi-redeems herself). She knows exactly what buttons to push to get a reaction and how to twist other people around to her way of thinking. She's crafty and cool in the face of trouble, and she loves control. Also, she has no scruples about lying, cheating and blackmailing if that will accomplish her goal. Dr. Cable's more of a villain you love to hate.

10.) Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment

Because he commits two murders and then spends 400 pages more than necessary contemplating whether or not to turn himself in. At some point the reader starts thinking, "Come on, just get on with it already so I don't have to read your incessant whining drivel anymore!"