I had a guest post over at B O O K L U S T at the end of last week, in which I proclaimed my hate for Scarlett O’Hara. It got me thinking about all of the other fictional characters that I positively loath. And there are A LOT of them. So many! Here is a list of my top ten hated characters.

1. Scarlett O’Hara. From Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. Originally Published 1936. Scarlett is way too selfish and gives no thoughts to others or consequences of her actions when she fights to get what she wants.
2. Guinevere and Lancelot. From Arthurian Legend. These two count as one, as they are forever associated together in my mind. When I start ranting about one, I inevitably start ranting about the other. I think they are both ninnies and don’t deserve the love everyone gives them. Also? Their whole get-together bit is so NOT romantic. Puh-leeze. Cheating bastards. (That’s like saying that Romeo and Juliet is romantic, and last time I checked, they both killed themselves at the end of that play. SO not romantic!)
3. All Major Characters. From William Makepeace Thackeray’s Vanity Fair. Originally Published 1847-1848. I don’t even know where to start with them. They are just all despicable.
4. Duddy Kravitz. From Mordecai Richler’s The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. Originally Published 1959. This kid starts as a bully and grows into a man who will do pretty much anything in order to make a penny or two, and who thinks getting ahead in life is more important than family.
5. Bella Swan. From Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight books. Originally Published 2005. I loved the first book, but grew to despise both the characters and the whole series in general as it went on. Bella is WAY too Mary Sue-ish to take seriously, and the whole complete dependence on Edward is …. somewhat disturbing.
6. Heathcliff. From Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. Originally Published 1847. (I should probably include Catherine in this too, because she drives me as batty.) He is bitter and spiteful and just Really Not Nice at all.
7. Becky Bloomwood. From Sophie Kinsella’s Confessions of a Shopaholic (and other novels). Originally Published 2001. I have no patience for flakes, and that is exactly what Becky Bloomwood is.
8. Iago. From Shakespeare’s Othello. Originally Written 1601-1604. This is my least favourite (or most hated) of Shakespeare’s plays. Urgh. And Iago is the villain in it. It’s because of him that Othello believes his wife is cheating on him and kills her.
9. Axis. From Sara Douglass’s Battleaxe (and other books in the Axis Trilogy, Wayfarer Redemption and Darkglass Mountain trilogy). Originally Published 1995. I will admit that I hate Axis a lot less in the Darkglass Mountain books, but argh. I find him way too close-minded to not want to scream at him on pretty much every page that he appears on.
10. Royal Gardner. From L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of the Island. Originally Published 1915. Could you honestly find a more one-dimensional character? If you’re going to find a rival for Gilbert in Anne’s life, at least give the guy a little bit of spice, as opposed to Royal Gardner! What a flipping bore he is! One of the few things Kevin Sullivan actually did right for the Anne movies was introduce Morgan Harris.

There are so many others that could have been on that list, including Arwyn, Helen of Troy, Mrs. Danvers, Cho Chang… Oh, the list goes on and on and on! What about you – do you hate characters? Which ones do you hate the most?