Most Unlikable Protagonists

[beatnikchick300]

Villains hire stupid henchmen because smart henchmen tend to try to usurp them. Look at Starscream. While not particularly bright, he tends to have a lot more foresight than Megatron, and doesn't let him forget it. Starscream actually revels in Megatron's failures and calls him out on it. Not to mention how the smart henchmen of Skelletor are constantly planning to get rid of him behind his back. Bungling henchmen may screw up, but when they screw up a plot that was bound to fail, at least the main villain can come out and blame everyone else for his imbecilic schemes.

That's not always the case. Ursula, from The Little Mermaid, had henchmen (her eels) who were smart, efficient, and never betrayed her. In fact, that was the reason she went nuts when Ariel caused her to accidentally kill them. Then again, that's more an exception than the rule (oddly enough, Atlantis had the reverse; a villain who betrayed his smart, loyal minion).

Not really a main protagonist but I have to mention mr potato head in toy story 1, he was just so unreasonable and he and the rest of Andy's toys just ganged up on woody without even hearing what he had to say.

I agree with this. That's actually the reason I don't like the first Toy Story. Nobody even let him explain (which would have been one thing if it was just that once in the movie, but it happens twice more later that some misunderstanding happens, and the other toys just shut him out and don't listen).

 

[Drtooth]

That's not always the case. Ursula, from The Little Mermaid, had henchmen (her eels) who were smart, efficient, and never betrayed her. In fact, that was the reason she went nuts when Ariel caused her to accidentally kill them. Then again, that's more an exception than the rule (oddly enough, Atlantis had the reverse; a villain who betrayed his smart, loyal minion).

Yeah, there are cases depending on the competency of the villain. It's usually none too bright villains that surround themselves with dumber henchmen. Dr. Robotnik, Shredder in the 80s series... it's obvious for comedy, but it adds that extra level of self awareness.

As for protagonists... uh is it cheating to say everyone on Wild Grinders? And on every level, even their ugly designs?

 

[BeakerJanice]

Road Runner from the Looney Tunes. This one might upset people a little and I'm not saying I hate Road Runner, but let's be honest, he is a bit of cocky jerk and you were really cheering form Wile E. Coyote..

I wrote once a Muppets story and I wrote for Beaker ,,Meep!".And as I clicked on this word and went to the dictionary,they said :,,Meep is a word from the road runner."I thought only:,,yes.Meep Meep."

 

[minor muppetz]

I wrote once a Muppets story and I wrote for Beaker ,,Meep!".And as I clicked on this word and went to the dictionary,they said :,,Meep is a word from the road runner."I thought only:,,yes.Meep Meep."

In print it's often spelled "meep", but he's clearly saying "Mee" most of the time.

And in the Road Runner shorts, it clearly sounds like he's saying "Meep Meep", but in print merchandise and titles with the catch phrase it's spelled as "Beep Beep". And according to audio commentary on some of the Golden Collections, the scripts spelled it as "Hmeep Hmeep".

One thing I've noticed in this thread is that many people have mentioned supporting characters. I thought "protagonist" was the star or main stars (by "main stars", I mean if it stars a group of characters like South Park and The Powerpuff Girls, or a duo, like Beavis and Butthead or Regular Show). Though many of the supporting character examples are episodes where they were the main focus. For example, Iggy from Hey Arnold was a minor character who only starred in one episode, and only having dialogue in three other episodes (and never voiced by the same actor twice).

 

[Dominicboo1]

In print it's often spelled "meep", but he's clearly saying "Mee" most of the time.

And in the Road Runner shorts, it clearly sounds like he's saying "Meep Meep", but in print merchandise and titles with the catch phrase it's spelled as "Beep Beep". And according to audio commentary on some of the Golden Collections, the scripts spelled it as "Hmeep Hmeep".

One thing I've noticed in this thread is that many people have mentioned supporting characters. I thought "protagonist" was the star or main stars (by "main stars", I mean if it stars a group of characters like South Park and The Powerpuff Girls, or a duo, like Beavis and Butthead or Regular Show). Though many of the supporting character examples are episodes where they were the main focus. For example, Iggy from Hey Arnold was a minor character who only starred in one episode, and only having dialogue in three other episodes (and never voiced by the same actor twice).

I guess it's like real horns, we can't really tell the sound they're making.

 

[BeakerJanice]

I guess it's like real horns, we can't really tell the sound they're making.

Yea

In print it's often spelled "meep", but he's clearly saying "Mee" most of the time.

And in the Road Runner shorts, it clearly sounds like he's saying "Meep Meep", but in print merchandise and titles with the catch phrase it's spelled as "Beep Beep". And according to audio commentary on some of the Golden Collections, the scripts spelled it as "Hmeep Hmeep".

One thing I've noticed in this thread is that many people have mentioned supporting characters. I thought "protagonist" was the star or main stars (by "main stars", I mean if it stars a group of characters like South Park and The Powerpuff Girls, or a duo, like Beavis and Butthead or Regular Show). Though many of the supporting character examples are episodes where they were the main focus. For example, Iggy from Hey Arnold was a minor character who only starred in one episode, and only having dialogue in three other episodes (and never voiced by the same actor twice).

But that's why I like beaker,he always say ,,Mee" or ,,Meep" or something like that

 

[Drtooth]

Road Runner from the Looney Tunes. This one might upset people a little and I'm not saying I hate Road Runner, but let's be honest, he is a bit of cocky jerk and you were really cheering form Wile E. Coyote..

A very interesting analysis. There seems to be two camps when it comes to the Road Runner. Those who think he's actually calculating and smart enough to realize he's in danger, and those who find him just completely oblivious to the situation and thinks the Coyote is playing with him. I'm kinda in the second camp, depending on the episode.[/quote]

 

[Slackbot]

I think that in the early shorts the Roadrunner was oblivious. He just wanted to run around, and the Coyote's suffering was the direct result of his own mischief. Acme karma. However, sometimes in the later episodes I did get the feeling that the Roadrunner had some understanding of what was going on. Maybe over the years he caught on, but continued playing dumb because it's so fun to see that dumb coyote clobber himself.

Regarding the question of what a protagonist is, I may have to rethink my nomination of Light Yagami from Death Note. He's a main character, but is he a Good Guy or a Bad Guy? From the very beginning he blithely kills people because, in his personal opinion, the world is a better place without them. He feels he can create a better world by taking out the trash. But then he kills good people because they are trying to bring him to justice, and by the end his power has utterly corrupted him, turning him into a madman in his final scene.

Maybe I'll switch my nomination over to Misa Amane from the same series. Many people will see her otherwise, but to me she's vapid and irritatingly bubble-brained. There are times when I want to throttle, and when Aizawa does a slow burn in one scene and then finally shoves her out the door, I mentally cheered.

 

[JJandJanice]

A very interesting analysis. There seems to be two camps when it comes to the Road Runner. Those who think he's actually calculating and smart enough to realize he's in danger, and those who find him just completely oblivious to the situation and thinks the Coyote is playing with him. I'm kinda in the second camp, depending on the episode.

[/QUOTE]

That's a good point and yeah I would agree there are some shorts were Road Runner probably didn't know the danger he is in, but even than Wide E. always tried so hard, I can't help but root for him more than Road Runner,.

 

[Oscarfan]

And, while I overall love the heck out of Huckleberry Hound... well... anyone ever see the Boomerang/old time Cartoon Network short "Sound Off?" The one where he constantly harasses city dwellers for daring to make noise? The one where he breaks into someone's car and snaps their necks because that's somehow related to them listening to music on the radio? Seriously... Huckleberry Hound snapping necks. You ruined Huckleberry Hound for me, student animator who doesn't get the character at all and inserted him into a lame student film.

He doesn't snap their necks; he straightens them because they're bopping to music.