21 TV Characters Who Were Supposed To Be Likable But Were Actually The Worst

"No offense, Dawson, but I don't think anybody cares."

We recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which TV characters were supposed to be sympathetic and likable but were actually awful people. Here are some of the characters they just couldn't stand:

🚨 Warning: Spoilers ahead!!! 🚨

1. Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother:

CBS

"He was an entitled brat who thought the world revolved around him. Plus, he was a shitty friend."

—tedpreston234

2. Daniel LaRusso from Cobra Kai:

Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

"All Johnny wanted to do was open Cobra Kai and make it better, but Daniel kept trying to sabotage him. I just found him super annoying; couldn’t stand him."

—aneggonmylegg

3. Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City:

HBO

"She was a terrible friend, terrible girlfriend, and just an all-around terrible person."

—termen

4. Rachel Berry from Glee:

Fox

"I think, in the beginning, we were supposed to root for her, but over time she just become completely annoying, selfish, and competitive. I couldn't have cared less about her college years because she was so unlikable by that time."

—megana459810788

5. Dawson Leery from Dawson's Creek:

The WB

"He was a whiny, entitled, pretentious jerk. He was always complaining — no one cares, Dawson!"

—nicchic_us

6. Piper Chapman from Orange Is the New Black:

Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

"She was narcissistic and manipulative and always thought she was the victim. Honestly, I kept hoping she would get killed off so the show would improve."

—ashleyp459897ecc

7. Ani Achola from 13 Reasons Why:

Netflix

"She pissed me off so much. It was like the show wanted to replace Hannah with her. She even sympathized with Bryce, which was ridiculous."

—teffbaby

8. Dan Humphrey from Gossip Girl:

The CW

"We were supposed to believe he was poor, but he lived in Brooklyn and his father owned an art gallery and was a relatively well-known musician. Also, he was supposedly an outsider, but the people who mattered to him liked him or at least tolerated him."

—GeekGirl1990

9. Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls:

The WB

"I liked her throughout the first few seasons, but then she became an awful person. Even in the revival, she still hadn't learned anything from her mistakes."

—ILoveBuzzfeed

10. Mallory Higgins from Cruel Summer:

Freeform

I can't put my finger on it exactly, but something about her character just annoyed me from the beginning. It was hard to sympathize with her initially because she was pretty awful to Vincent and Jeanette and constantly trash-talked Kate before she got to know her. I did find myself shipping her with Kate and liking her more by the end of the season, though.

11. Archie Andrews from Riverdale:

The CW

"He constantly thinks the world revolves around him. He told Betty they could never be together, then kissed her even though he was with Veronica. He sucks."

—tahliamcbrien

12. Joey Potter from Dawson's Creek:

The WB

"We were supposed to feel for her because her mother died, her father was in and out of prison, and she was too smart to be stuck in a small town, but she was horrible. She was selfish, whiny, and a bad friend. I’ll never get why every single person she came across was in awe of her. She didn’t deserve Pacey — I said what I said!"

—faceghostta

13. Will Schuester from Glee:

Fox

"He was creepy and annoying."

—cellarence

14. Sabrina Spellman from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina:

Netflix

"Something about her just pissed me off. She got on my nerves so much that I stopped watching the show."

—janebug1489

15. Marina Thompson from Bridgerton:

Netflix

"She used people and was just rude as hell throughout the entire season, but we were expected to feel bad for her because she was pregnant and lost the father. She turned into the exact thing she sought to avoid."

—whytho23

16. Elena Gilbert from The Vampire Diaries:

The CW

"She only cared about herself and was super whiny. Everyone had character development except for her."

—Adriannarayna

17. Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory:

CBS

"He was just insufferable!"

—blendy

18. Nancy Wheeler from Stranger Things:

Netflix

"She was painted as a quiet, lovely girl who had a great deal of empathy. But then when Barb, her best friend, was killed while Nancy was off having sex with Steve, she was back to her old self like a week later. I'd say that's awful."

—hannah_hannah_31

19. Mike Ross from Suits:

USA

"He was supposed to be the good-guy foil to Harvey, but in reality, he was never truly thankful for what everyone did for him. He also constantly made bad choices and tried to justify them because they were for a good cause."

—MoandDo

20. Tristan Milligan from Degrassi: The Next Generation and Degrassi: Next Class:

Netflix

He was okay in the early seasons, but he was awful later on. He consistently shamed his boyfriend for being bisexual, pressured Zoë to come out before she was ready, constantly ditched Maya, and was just an overall bad friend and boyfriend. The show tried so hard to get us to sympathize with him and love him, but he never thought he was in the wrong and acted entitled to everything.

21. And finally, Ross Geller from Friends:

NBC

"We were supposed to feel sympathy for him because his wife left him for Susan and then he lost Rachel, but he was just annoying."

—mollees90

Reminder that I, Kelly Martinez, do not necessarily endorse all of these submissions!! I personally like Joey Potter and Archie Andrews.

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity. Not all submissions were from Community users.

Jul. 03, 2021, at 03:25 AM

Correction: An earlier version of his post included the wrong photo for Mike from Suits. It has since been corrected.