Toxic characters in fiction?

Another example, Eric Cartman from South Park. Not hard to see why he's toxic. He's racist, sexist, anitsemitic, ableist, pretty much every "ist" that exists in the dictionary lol. Nobody really likes him, but at the same time, nobody really wants to get rid of him because it feels wrong not having him around either.

He does have his redeeming moments, though. He's capable of putting his petty, bigoted views aside for the greater good sometimes 

I loved the semaphore version of Wuthering Heights by Monty Python, 

Heathcliff is probably the toxic character to end all toxic characters i think.

I LOVE VOX!! he's the worst.

"Smithers... you know I don't believe in suicide, but it'll make me feel better to watch." -post credits scene in the movie

There are some comments from Mr Burns to Smithers that live in my head.

"Thank you, Smithers, your cander is most refreshing" when Waylon tells him he is quite rich and can buy a TV rather than go to Homer's to watch boxing.

"It's a bit familiar but I'll allow it" - can't remember what that one was in response to.

"Well that's a hell of a thing!" - when Smithers tells him he hasn't had Homer beaten up.

Personally I'd say Vox (and by extension Alastor) From Hazbin Hotel. He's wildly problematic (cha-cha-cha) but there's just something about that TV headed man that endears me to him, toxicity aside. 

I dislike him so much I feel sorry for the other characters, plus angry at Cathy's father for bringing him to their home in the first place

pinkchocoholic said:

Would heathcliff be one?

Yes he is horribly abusive including hanging a dog.

I don't know, I've always been in favour of sneaking in the front door, its often easier than other entrances as they're more heavily guarded, or at least when playing D&D, lol.

Very much so, I'd say

Would heathcliff be one? Like he's so controlling when he takes over Wuthering Heights and tells everyone what to do and where they can go at all times (like Catherine you have to marry Linton to be able to go see your dying father again)

TheCatWoman said:

I couldn't get on with the Wheel of Time books, I think I read about half of one before giving up.

I persevered through 3 books before getting fed up, and realising it was just making be annoyed! Should have given up sooner too!

Yeah, I wasn't keen on Boromir, though his brother Faramir painted him in a better light post-humously, and they had a toxic father, putting too much pressure on one and ignoring the other. Still he was the least likable hero character.

I'm still waiting for my son to read them so we can watch the film again, I don't think I've seen it since I got the dvd 20 years ago! The more I hint, the less bothered he seems to be though.

Speaking of Rick and Morty, the entire show is pretty much a study on the dynamics of toxic relationships.

I already mentioned Rick, but Morty isn't that much better, either. Most adventures they go on, he often tries to claim the moral highground whenever he sees Rick doing something he's uncomfortable with, but unfortunately, whenever he tries to do the "right thing", it often results in everything going far worse than if he decided to take a neutral stance instead, which is more often than not what the entire show is all about. Basically, he kinda needs to learn that if your crazy drunk Grandpa has hijacked the brain of an alien creature from another planet against their will, maybe it's best to leave him to it, because said alien creature might actually be the alien equivalent of Hitler and your Grandpa's deplorable, unethical experiments to it might actually be doing the galaxy a world of good lol

Then there's Beth and Jerry, Morty's parents. Beth very much inherited her father's intelligence and lack of patience for those less intelligent, and sadly Jerry is... well, he's not dumb, but compared to the rest of the Smiths, his somewhat average intelligence makes him look pretty dumb in comparison. And unfortunately, whenever people point out he's doing something foolish, his first instinct is to double down and try to prove everyone wrong, which results in everything going horribly wrong until Rick or someone else fixes it for him. He learns to fix his own problems in later episodes, though, even if it still gets a little messy

And it's also nice seeing the Smith family slowly growing to resolve their problems and issues as the series goes on. Morty is learning that sometimes his Grandpa is right, Rick is learning that it's ok to let people in, Beth is learning that maybe Jerry needs to feel like he knows what he's doing even if he doesn't etc.

Oh, yeah, Boromir was always a little self important. He did give us the legendary "one does not simply walk into Mordor" line, though

I couldn't get on with the Wheel of Time books, I think I read about half of one before giving up.

Boromir in LotR, he was a big headed numpty who thought to much of himself, I cheered when he was killed in the films, even more so because he was played by Sean Bean, an actor who seems to have problems not playing Sean Bean

The funny thing about the Zeta Gundam example though is that the original Gundam and Zeta's followup, Gundam ZZ, actually had a lot of strong female characters and fairly non-sexist writing despite it being the same writer

Yeah, I think sometimes the stories that they tell reveal something about the creators mindset. 

I was enjoying another book by Dan Simmons, and then he threw in a r*** fantasy and it completely put me off the author. He had it that a futuristic people left technology behind for a certain character to find, and the only way to unlock it was having s** with an unconscious women to 'wake her from stasis'. He had his character morally torn, but ultimately did it for 'humanity'. It was completely unnecessary in an otherwise good sci fi book with good female characters. That is the author just being perverse and I've lost all respect for him.

Of course, another classic example is Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, especially to Mr. Smithers lol.

Even after getting stung by a bee on a bike ride (Smithers is allergic to bees), rather than taking over to get him to a hospital, he berates him to pedal faster to get to a hospital himself. Hilarious moment in one of the funniest episodes, honestly

Honestly, if you can REALLY hate a character that much, it definitely means the actor playing them is doing a good job!