Because I'm on a Game of Thrones binge, I decided today to
write about the most hated Game of Thrones characters. Why? Because there are a
LOT of hateful characters in the series. It would be no understatement to say
that in the series there are more dislikable character than on any other. However,
besides Joffrey, no one really agrees on what character to dislike or hate more
than whatever other character. In that spirit, then, let's make a countdown: The
most dislikable Game of Thrones characters. There are so many, however, that to
just do a top 5 would be a disservice. Let us then rank them in five tiers. I
should note that while many other characters may fit into each tier, I will
only focus on the few most dislikable ones.
This is a sister post to the most likable characters over at my page.
This is a sister post to the most likable characters over at my page.
*WARNING: SPOILERS GALORE!*
Tier 5 - The Dumb Ones: Sansa Stark, Catelyn Stark, Renly
Baratheon
These characters are the ones that we don't <REALLY>
hate, but we really hate when they do or say stupid things, specially in
critical moments. They are the ones that make us shout "WHY DID YOU DO
THAT?!" at the screen.
In this trio, Renly Baratheon is the least of the offenders.
He is a likable guy. He seems to care for the people, and he isn't specially
proud or snobby or pedantic. He isn't violent, and while he doesn't care much
for battle, he is more than willing to step up when needed. He has a good
heart, and he has a good thing going with his Tyrell boyfriend. So, WHY did you
have to listen to the whole "you should be king" idea, Renly? Renly
knew he didn't have any claim to the throne. His claim was as valid as
Mormont's claim to the throne. But yet, he does make a claim, knowing that the
legitimate ruler, Stannis Baratheon, will assert his right. That stupid
decision of making a claim to the throne rather than standing by his brother
and serving as his consciousness is what gets him killed. And, honestly, we
didn't want to see him die.
Between the two Stark ladies, Sansa can be said to be the
slightly less dislikable one. Sure, Sansa falls for Joffrey, and most of her
time on-screen is spent wailing or moping or saying dumb things while trying to
get by, and sure we all hate that dumb "I don't get it" look she gets
whenever someone tries to explain something to her. But to her credit, she is
supposed to be about 15 years old in Season 4, which makes her about 13 when
she falls for Joffrey and spews that whole "I'm in love and will do
anything for my prince" thing that made us all roll our eyes and scoff at
her. Still, if it hadn't been because of her whole "I love my handsome
prince so much that I will lie for him" (seriously, why didn't she stand
by her sister during the whole Joffrey thing in the first episode? That was
poor of her), she would have been just an unremarkable character not of any
note. Kind of like her little brother Rickon, who we all know exists somewhere,
but doesn't really matter yet.
The worst offender in this category, really, is Catelyn
Stark. She is a dedicated mother and a dedicated wife. Although she might have
some resentment towards Mr. John Snow, her resentment is justified. Still, she
never let that get in the way of being a mother to him. Why dislike her?
Because she freed Jamie "Kingslayer" Lannister. Robb Stark, Catelyn's
son, was leading the war. He had captured Jamie, the son of the opposing
commander, and an important commander and powerful fighter in his own right.
What does Catelyn do? She lets him go, because he told her that he would try his
best to return the Stark girl (Sansa) from King's Landing where Joffrey was
holding her. That was a dumb move. More importantly, she's not 13. She's a
grown woman. She has no excuse to act that way. For that, we bequeath her the
position of worst offender of the fifth tier.
*Note: I'm giving Daenerys Targaryen an honorable mention here for all the reasons explained here*
Tier 4 - The Betrayers: Theon Greyjoy. Littlefinger. Walder
Frey
While in the previous tier we had those who we could
potentially like again, or at least understand, in this tier we have people who
perhaps at some point were likable, but then betrayed us by doing some sort of
horrible act on someone we like.
The least of the offenders here is Walder Frey. He betrays
Robb Stark by selling him out to the Lannisters, and in a horrible event called
The Red Wedding he has his soldiers perform unspeakable acts including murder.
And this he did while on a celebration meant to cement his alliance to Robb
Stark. Still, he was somewhat betrayed first, and although his actions are
inexcusable, his anger is understandable and his betrayal, while not justified,
is ultimately not as outrageous as the other two.
Littlefinger, on the other hand, betrayed everyone, and we
hate him for the way in which he did it. He could have built goodwill towards
the viewer by actually siding with Ned. Viewers were hopeful. He gave us hope
that Joffrey and Cersei would not have their way. Then he crushed that hope.
When he betrayed Ned, he betrayed us. Despite all his charm and calm and cool
demeanor, we hate him for what he did. And when the truth is revealed about
John Aryn, we hate him even more. He betrayed viewers not once, but twice, and
that makes us the viewers hate him to no end.
But we don't hate Littlefinger as much as we hate Theon
Greyjoy. Everything that Theon learned, he learned from the Starks. The Starks
raised him as one of their own. They gave him everything he could ever want.
The Stark children treated him as a brother, and Ned treated him like a son.
How does he repay them? By bringing an army of Iron Island folk and invading
Winterfell. That is a really low move, and it manages to land him as the worst
offender of our circle of betrayers.
Tier 3 - The Ill-Natured: Ramsay Snow, The Hound, Melisandre
In this section we include people who de don't like off the
bat because of their actions and behavior. They are the ones that gross us out
and make us feel uncomfortable about them. We don't like them, we know they're
nasty folk, and we want to stay away from them.
Of these, the least offender is The Hound. Now, viewers have
reason to hate The Hound from episode 9 where he stops Sansa from killing
Joffrey. From there on, we sometimes applaud him for a few of his actions, such
as when he rescues Sansa from being raped, but condemn him for others, such as
HOW he rescued Sansa from her rape. From there on, he goes downhill. He becomes
nothing more than Joffrey's slave, doing his bidding, butchering the innocent.
Even after he begins roaming the countryside with a kidnapped Arya he manages
to apply his philosophy of life of "do evil" by killing a farmer and
stealing his gold after the farmer offered him food and shelter. His actions
are essentially similar to those of the betrayers, but rather than betraying a
single character or house, he betrays humanity as a whole.
Still, despite his overall chaotic nature, Melisandre is far
more disliked. Melisandre is a religious fanatic who worships the Lord of
Light, an demonic fire god. She is the one who, through sorcery, killed the
well-liked Renly Baratheon. She is the one who persuades Stannis Baratheon to
show complete disregard for humanity. She does not hesitate to rule with an
iron fist and kill not only her enemies, but those she would deem an
inconvenience, or even those who would not share her faith. Don't believe that
the Lord of Light is the one true god? To the pyre with you! That kind of
zealotry is unconscionable, and is what makes us dislike Melisandre to no end.
But we have to give the prize of the worst of the
ill-natured to Ramsay Snow. For what little we know of him, Ramsay seems to be
a psychopathic lunatic who gets off on hurting and killing others. We are
introduced to Ramsey shortly after he has captured Theon Greyjoy. Ramsey is
torturing Theon. It is not the fact that he is torturing the betrayer of the
Starks that gets viewers to hate him - at first viewers even think that Greyjoy
has it coming. It's the torture methods he uses and how much he seems to enjoy
doing the torture. His eyes shine with glee, and his smirk turns almost inhuman
as he gleefully chops Greyjoy's extremities into tiny pieces. It is this kind
of behavior that lands him as the worst of the ill-natured.
Tier 2 - The Greedy, Prideful, and Abusive - Viserys
Targaryen, Jamie Lannister, Cersei Lannister, Tywin Lannister
On the second tier we have those sociopath who have the
power to make the world better, but instead use it to harm others and further
acquire power. They are worse than those in the previous tier, as Melisandre at
least had a guiding ideal / philosophy, and Ramsey and The Hound, ill-natured
as they were, do not engage in the harming of others in as massive a scale as
these as these do. More importantly, when Hound or Ramsey DO hurt others, they
are straightforward about it. They don't put forward massive machinations that
could endanger Westeros itself in order to acquire more power. The ones on this
list, in short, are the cold, calculating, inhuman people who would trade the
world for a bit of power.
And we start this circle off with the Lannister family.
Tywin Lannister is a cold and calculating dude who won't hesitate to send all
of Westeros into war if it means that his family can acquire more power. And he
does as much. Rather than use diplomacy, he uses underhanded tactics and
manipulation in order to start many wars. It was thanks to him that Baratheon
was able to go to war against the old Targaryen king. It was partly because of
him that the north went to war. It was because he wanted to keep Joffrey on the
throne that Renly and Stannis had to take up arms. But still, that doesn't make
him as bad as his incestuous twin children, Cersei and Jamie. Just as with the
parent, Cersei and Jamie are power-hungry sociopaths who do not hesitate to
throw the world into chaos if it means they can have more power. On top of
this, however, they are also willing to commit terrible deeds, such as tossing
an innocent boy off a balcony, to keep secret their incestuous relationship.
But even then, Cersei and Jamie aren't really as bad as
Viserys, a highly underrated villain. People tend to forget about him because
Joffrey is worse, but Viserys... let's just say that anyone who is willing to
sell his sister to someone he considers inferior (Kal Drogo) and then tells her
that he would let Drogo, his army of 40,000 men, and their horses rape her if
it meant he could have his crown doesn't deserve any empathy. Furthermore, his
constant disdain for anyone other than himself lands him squarely at the center
of this circle.
Tier 1 - The Worst of Them: King Joffrey
To say that Joffrey represents the worst of humanity would
be an understatement. He is a psychopath, as those in tier three, a sociopath,
as those in tier two, and suffers of every flaw that exists. He is proud and
egocentric, greedy beyond description, a glutton, and wrathful. He cannot
contain himself. Even when he knows that other actions are best not only for
the world or for his family but for himself, he still chooses the sadistic
answer. And on top of that, he is a coward.
Jeoffry is the one who tries to kill a young boy for
pleasure, then lies when the kid flees. Joffrey then has the kid butchered.
Joffrey is the one who orders Ned Stark's execution despite having promised
that he would do otherwise, and that letting Ned live would be best for the
kingdoms and for himself. He is the one who forces his wife-to-be to look at
her father's impaled head. He routinely murders and tortures people for fun and
never shows any remorse. He is truly the worst of all humanity.
And for that, we denounce and reject him.
Does it make us evil that we loved when he died by poison? I
don't know. Maybe. What I DO know, however, is that this scene...
...it makes me happy.
I don't know if you read the books but Sansa has the biggest potential from all the characters in the series. As the plot advances you will see that she is growing up (it takes time, a LOOOOT of time but she is getting there) and if she will be smart about it she can achieve great things.
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