Worst Protagonists (Lead Character) in Novels

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  • silvergurl518
    silvergurl518 Posts: 4,123 Member
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    For those of you who read a ton, who is the worst protagonist and from which book is she/he? I'd have to say Bella Swan...God, what a simpering, useless character.

    you stole the words right out of my mouth. i'd say BELLA EFFING SWAN in the book except the movie version totally stole the book's thunder in terms of awfulness. kristen stewart, QUIT YOUR DAY JOB. other than that, all is well :)
  • maab_connor
    maab_connor Posts: 3,927 Member
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    I'll say Emma, from . . . . . Emma. I'm reading it right now, and I just want to smack the little twit.

    this honestly surprises me. while it's true, she's no Lizzy Bennett, i found her delightful. she's an airhead, but she owns it.
  • thecrossfitter
    thecrossfitter Posts: 424 Member
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    Okay, okay. Bella bashing aside, who else sucks? Holden Caulfield bugs me, but I'm pulling that from memory (been a long time since last read)

    First my favorites: Gilly (The great gilly hopkins), Dewey (green glass sea) Joey Pigza (Joey pigza swallowed the key)

    Clearly I've taught 5th (and 8th for that matter) grade language arts.

    OH MY GOSH. I have it. I HATE the protagonist of Go Ask Alice. HATE. (C'mon Beatrix Sparks... You've anonymously published like 7 books of these supposed diaries. Stupid cautionary tales... I also take this as a total jab at fiction - to me it says that for anything to be meaningful it must be true).
  • maab_connor
    maab_connor Posts: 3,927 Member
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    Angel in "Unleashing Angel" - gay lit that the cover made sound good. it was TERRIBLE and i wanted to punch Angel in his throat.
  • Iamfit4life
    Iamfit4life Posts: 3,095 Member
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    Fudge
  • Howbouto
    Howbouto Posts: 2,121 Member
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    LOL, I have to laugh at all the Bella bashing. All my friends (mind you in their 30s) loved the Twilight series. I forced my way through the first 2 books and quit in the middle of the 3rd. I couldn't handle it any longer.
  • SeanIsMyHomeboy
    SeanIsMyHomeboy Posts: 107 Member
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    Okay, okay. Bella bashing aside, who else sucks? Holden Caulfield bugs me, but I'm pulling that from memory (been a long time since last read)

    First my favorites: Gilly (The great gilly hopkins), Dewey (green glass sea) Joey Pigza (Joey pigza swallowed the key)

    Clearly I've taught 5th (and 8th for that matter) grade language arts.

    OH MY GOSH. I have it. I HATE the protagonist of Go Ask Alice. HATE. (C'mon Beatrix Sparks... You've anonymously published like 7 books of these supposed diaries. Stupid cautionary tales... I also take this as a total jab at fiction - to me it says that for anything to be meaningful it must be true).


    I can summarize Holden Caufield in The Catcher In The Rye:

    I cant stand phonies so I sat in this park and smoked a bunch of cigarettes because everyone are phonies.

    The End.
  • WifeNMama
    WifeNMama Posts: 2,876 Member
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    Catherine and Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights. Just.... Everything about them.
  • ajfrench
    ajfrench Posts: 323 Member
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    Catherine and Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights. Just.... Everything about them.

    Good call!!
  • beatleschic87
    beatleschic87 Posts: 260 Member
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    BELLA = AWFUL

    But I never really liked Holden Caulfield either. He pissed me off as a kid.
  • beatleschic87
    beatleschic87 Posts: 260 Member
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    Okay, okay. Bella bashing aside, who else sucks? Holden Caulfield bugs me, but I'm pulling that from memory (been a long time since last read)

    First my favorites: Gilly (The great gilly hopkins), Dewey (green glass sea) Joey Pigza (Joey pigza swallowed the key)

    Clearly I've taught 5th (and 8th for that matter) grade language arts.

    OH MY GOSH. I have it. I HATE the protagonist of Go Ask Alice. HATE. (C'mon Beatrix Sparks... You've anonymously published like 7 books of these supposed diaries. Stupid cautionary tales... I also take this as a total jab at fiction - to me it says that for anything to be meaningful it must be true).


    I can summarize Holden Caufield in The Catcher In The Rye:

    I cant stand phonies so I sat in this park and smoked a bunch of cigarettes because everyone are phonies.

    The End.

    And inspire psychopaths to kill John Lennon
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
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    Catherine and Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights. Just.... Everything about them.

    Hear, hear!

    RE Bella Swan, she was even reading books with awful female leads (Romeo&Juliet and Wuthering Heights).
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    Humbert Humbert from Lolita, closely followed by Ignatius J. Reilly from A confederacy of Dunces. No redeeming qualities in either character, although IJR is funny, at least.
  • maab_connor
    maab_connor Posts: 3,927 Member
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    Catherine and Heathcliff, Wuthering Heights. Just.... Everything about them.

    the bronte sisters only existed to make ppl forever link suicidal depression and "twu wub" oh, sure, the greeks started it - good try, Medea - but the Brontes PERFECTED it.

    i once read a "dating game" fic where the 3 batchelors were Heathcliff, Edward Rochester, and Mr Darcy. it was hysterical.

    "to all the batchelors: what are your worst qualities?"

    heathcliff: "drunken insanity and murderous tendancies"
    Rochester: "bigomy, unlawful imprisonment and insanity"
    Darcy: "... i can be a bit judgemental"
  • jlchow
    jlchow Posts: 40
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    Holden Caufield, what a whiny, pretentious little turd.

    Great novel though.
  • thedreamhazer
    thedreamhazer Posts: 1,156 Member
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    Bella Swan
    Holden Caulfield
    Charles Darnay (kind of a lead)
    Esther Summerson
    Romeo and Juliet


    Probably many more. I'm thinking.

    Edited to add:
    Hester Prynne
    Esther Greenwood
  • adrian_indy
    adrian_indy Posts: 1,444 Member
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    Well, it's a novel and movie, but my vote goes to .....Anakin Skywalker. Whiney and dumb. He's supposed to be the most cunning and powerful Jedi in history, and tricked easier than a 5 year old by the emperor.

    Emperor "Hey, your lady friend is sick and will die if you don't turn to the dark side"
    Anakin "Ok". I guess they don't have MRI or CAT scans in the future.

    And way to go from being some what normal to killing children in about 5 seconds. Way to build up to being evil.
  • dragonbug300
    dragonbug300 Posts: 760 Member
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    Seriously? All this hatred on 'Twilight'? There's a host of poorly-contrived protagonists. Bella has nothing on Kelsey from "A Lump in the Middle".
    Never, in all of the books I have read, has there been a more pathetic female protagonist.
    Essentially, she whines the entire time about being a middle child (two loving parents, sisters who act sisterly, enough cash to own a beach house...). Meanwhile, lying about her age to a slightly older kid (15 years, while she's 13) for no other reason than 'he's cute, and being 2 years older makes such a difference in his opinion of me...'. And it's all because she 'needs' male attention. It was a painful read. I couldn't make it through the whole book.
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
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    Humbert Humbert from Lolita, closely followed by Ignatius J. Reilly from A confederacy of Dunces. No redeeming qualities in either character, although IJR is funny, at least.
    IJR is funny. But that brings up a worthy question: does being funny - even if being laughed at, or even ridiculed - qualify as a redeeming quality? I'm going to say yes, especially if you take the definition of "redeeming" to be compensation or replacement of something else missing. By that definition, even despicable Humbert has redeeming qualities in that he is interesting.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Bella is top pick, but... Scarlett O'Hara.

    Yes, she faced things she never thought she'd have to face, and did things she never thought she'd do, and as God as her witness, she never went hungry again, but... another brainless twit with screwed up ideas about love and relationships. And over ASHLEY? Barf!!!

    Mammy and Belle Watling, on the other hand... now THEY were some tough women!

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