Recently, over on the Ask Reddit subreddit, u/superman_squirts asked, "What fictional character is portrayed as a good or innocent person, that when you think about it, is an awful human being?" The comments were filled with supposedly "good" characters that, on second glance, are actually kind of assholes.
Don't get me wrong, characters are supposed to be flawed — that's how we as an audience are able to relate to them. That's what makes them real. But when the flaws are treated as good things or not called out in the context of the show, then it's a bit of an issue. Here are 21 such characters:
1. "Rory Gilmore. The entitlement. The affairs. The entitlement."
2. "Nick and Elizabeth from The Parent Trap. Each of them made the decision to completely abandon one of their children because they didn’t want to see each other again. Are you telling me they couldn’t figure out some sort of third-party custody swap? They just went straight to pretending one of their children didn’t exist."
3. "Ferris Bueller from Ferris Bueller's Day Off is an entitled prick who most definitely peaked in high school."
4. "Glinda from The Wizard of Oz. She could have told Dorothy how to get home from the beginning. And she said that only bad witches were ugly, then asked Dorothy if she was a good witch or a bad witch. Bitch."
5. "Severus Snape. A noble ending does not excuse child abuse or a lifetime of acting out because your crush didn't like you."
7. "Rachel from Friends. Rachel is perceived as a hot shot, but she is pretty entitled and selfish, and throughout her entire relationship and 'break' with Ross, she never really did much to love him, just the bare minimum. I understand she came from an entitled background, but she remained selfish and made fun of Ross a lot. A lot of the Friends characters have flaws, but she is just on another level."
8. "James Bond has always been a sociopath. On the face of it, he's a cool special agent charged with taking down the worst of the worst. But in reality, he's a serial killer. And it's not just the people he shoots and karate chops. How many innocent bystanders have been killed? He does not care about you or me or anyone. He is a killer."
"And does he show remorse? Does he take on this heavy burden of a license to kill with regret and trepidation? Oh no. He kills and kills and kills and suffocates the voices of his many victims with a series of martinis and one-night stands. The man is a danger to the world."
9. "Mary Poppins may seem like a charming caretaker at first, but her manipulative and condescending behavior toward the children is concerning."
10. "Jim from The Office. He harasses and bullies a coworker just because he's a little weird. Also, he flirts with and kisses Pam while she's engaged. He's a self-righteous douche."
11. "Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. A narcissist and a terrible friend."
12. "Harry Potter. He was an obnoxious jerk who was somehow favored by teachers and surrounded by a cult-like friend group that prevented him from ever learning his lessons and growing up. Seriously, I went to school with people like that, and it was extremely tiring having to deal with them, especially because of their lack of self-awareness."
13. "Grandpa Joe from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He's bedridden and unable to work but can somehow dance when Charlie shows up with the golden ticket. Also, he's got tobacco money, but his family is literally starving."
14. "Princess Bubblegum from Adventure Time. She's opportunistic, uncaring, and has no morals at all. She manipulated Finn knowing full well he had a crush on her, and she's also committed genocide on a couple of occasions."
15. "The entire Fast & Furious family. Like, how many innocent people do they kill just by causing accidents? Oh, the police are chasing you because you committed a crime in their country? Time to send them to the morgue. Good guys win again."
16. "Adam Sandler's character from 50 First Dates."
17. "Tony Stark. He took a young 15-year-old child to go fight super-soldiers and a witch. Granted the kid had powers, but still."
18. "Xander from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The dude is heavily portrayed as a good guy, and most people think he is, but I think if you really examine his actions and motives, it's pretty clear he's an evil narcissist."
19. "Elena Gilbert from The Vampire Diaries. She's so selfish and narcissistic, but everyone thinks she is so caring and selfless. At least Katherine admits she is a bitch and doesn't play dumb."
20. "Jane Villanueva from Jane The Virgin. She’s insufferable."
21. And finally, "Obi-Wan Kenobi from the original Star Wars movies. He lies his ass off to Luke under the pretense of protecting him. Luke makes out with his sister and gets blindsided by Darth Vader's revelation about his parentage. Thanks for nothing, Ben."
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
What are some other characters that are portrayed as "the good guy" but are actually awful people? LMK in the comments!
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