These movie "heroes" straight-up suck. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most annoying, cringey, or just plain awful movie characters that we were supposed to root for.
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00:00 "You're an idiot."
00:01 "Yes, I am!"
00:02 Welcome to WatchMojo!
00:04 And today we're counting down our picks for the most annoying, cringy, or just plain awful movie characters
00:10 that we were supposed to root for.
00:13 To limit ourselves, we'll only be looking at primary protagonists or ensemble casts,
00:18 no side characters.
00:20 "Yes!"
00:21 "In response to this direct threat to the Republic,
00:26 Mesa proposed that the Senate give immediately emergency powers to the Supreme Chancellor."
00:36 Number 20.
00:39 Mike.
00:40 The Blair Witch Project.
00:41 "We're lost, admit that first."
00:43 "I know we're not lost."
00:45 "Oh, you knew that yesterday too, and you knew that twice today."
00:48 This guy is a spitting example of what you shouldn't do in a crisis.
00:53 When Mike and two other junior filmmakers set out into the woods to find the fabled Blair Witch,
00:58 they end up with a lot more than they bargained for.
01:01 And how does Mike react to the pressure?
01:03 By kicking their map into a river out of frustration.
01:06 That's how.
01:07 "No, I'm not."
01:08 "Your map was useless!"
01:10 "This was your own map!"
01:11 "Your map was useless!"
01:12 Even worse, he refuses to take responsibility for his actions,
01:16 and instead remains a whiny, immature pessimist until the very end.
01:20 Now, to be fair, no one's going to be completely level-headed when running from a malevolent witch.
01:26 But you could do a whole lot better than Mike's piss-poor attitude.
01:30 "I would love to hear this right now, I really would."
01:32 "I'm just trying to say that, you know, we have to rationally say that they might very well go on forever compared to our footsteps."
01:41 Number 19.
01:42 Julianne Jules Potter.
01:45 "My Best Friend's Wedding."
01:46 Wedding crashers have nothing on Jules Potter.
01:49 Rather than reminiscing over the one that got away,
01:52 this conceited rom-com lead decides to take her man back by sabotaging his wedding.
01:57 "It sounds like a great opportunity."
02:00 Oh, and keep in mind, she's literally the maid of honor, too.
02:04 What's more, Jules strings along the lovesick George to help her with her scheme.
02:08 "In the beginning, it was mostly this prior claim, he belonged to me."
02:17 "But now, when I'm with him, he's just so wonderful."
02:25 In the end, the only thing she succeeds at is making everyone around her miserable.
02:29 Julia Roberts never turns in a bad performance,
02:32 but it's hard to get on her side when it's clear that Jules only cares about three things.
02:37 Jules, Jules, and Jules.
02:40 By the time she sees the error of her ways, it's too little, too late.
02:44 "Choose me, marry me, let me make you happy."
02:49 Number 18. Cole Young - Mortal Kombat
02:53 "You've been chosen."
02:54 "Chosen? For what?"
02:56 "To fight."
02:57 Video game adaptations don't always pan out, and decisions like this are exactly why.
03:02 Instead of starring Raiden, Sub-Zero, or Scorpion,
03:06 2021's Mortal Kombat introduced a whole new main character.
03:10 To say Cole Young didn't connect would be an understatement.
03:13 He's a boring, wet blanket on the story that sucks away screen time
03:17 from characters fans actually wanted to see.
03:21 Cole is completely unnecessary,
03:23 especially since the games have been delivering cinematic story modes without him for years now.
03:29 It's not like Mortal Kombat is lacking in iconic main characters, either.
03:33 Cole Young is a damning fatality on what could have been a great film,
03:37 and no amount of bland fight scenes could convince audiences otherwise.
03:42 "Sorry, my days fighting for 200 bucks are done."
03:46 "Ah, you're finally quitting, huh?"
03:48 "Yeah, uh, something like that."
03:50 Number 17. Sierra Burgess - Sierra Burgess Is A Loser
03:56 Catfishing, lying, unwanted kisses, more catfishing.
04:00 No, we aren't describing a supervillain, we're talking about Sierra Burgess.
04:05 Although, when you think about it, they're basically one and the same.
04:08 For context, Sierra realizes the best way to woo her crush, Jamie,
04:13 is to text him pretending to be It Girl, Veronica.
04:16 "This is kind of interesting. Your voice sounds different than I remember it."
04:22 "Oh, yeah, I have a cold."
04:24 If you thought the ruse would end on their first date, you'd be wrong.
04:28 There, Sierra concocts an elaborate scheme to steal a kiss from him.
04:32 He's none the wiser, of course.
04:35 For someone trying to make it into Stanford,
04:37 Sierra clearly doesn't know the meaning of the word "consent".
04:41 It's obvious that, loser or not, Sierra Burgess is no hero.
04:45 "Sorry, I suck so bad."
04:47 Number 16. Tom Hanson - 500 Days Of Summer
04:52 You know the saying, "If you love something, set it free"?
04:55 Well, apparently, Tom Hanson never learned that one.
04:59 "See?"
04:59 "No."
05:01 "They say that."
05:02 "Well, they're lying."
05:03 One day at work, he meets Summer Finn, the girl of his dreams.
05:07 Or so he thinks.
05:09 As the film goes on, it's abundantly clear that Tom is more in love
05:13 with the idea of Summer than who she really is.
05:16 But rather than working through that,
05:18 he mopes around and lashes out when she can't meet his unrealistic standards.
05:23 "No, don't pull that with me. Don't even try to...
05:27 This is not how you treat your friend."
05:29 In Tom's defense, his toxic relationship with love
05:33 lays the groundwork for some worthwhile character growth.
05:36 It just takes a very, very long time to get there.
05:39 "I know you think that she was the one.
05:43 But I don't.
05:45 No, I think you're just remembering the good stuff."
05:47 Number 15. Catwoman - Catwoman
05:51 Don't get excited.
05:52 Despite the name, this is not Selina Kyle.
05:56 In fact, she's barely a character at all.
05:58 Patience Phillips' entire personality can be boiled down to bad cat puns
06:03 and some laughable method acting.
06:05 Throw in a few bizarre feline tics and you have Catwoman,
06:09 a role that turned Halle Berry from an Oscar winner into a Razzie recipient.
06:13 "I'm here."
06:16 Look, it's one thing to write a bland action star,
06:19 but another entirely to drag Catwoman's name into it.
06:23 Instead of just a bad character,
06:25 now she's a bad character with massive missed potential.
06:28 "What a purrrrrfect idea."
06:32 They say cats always land on their feet,
06:34 but the same could not be said for patience.
06:38 Number 14. Noah Calhoun - The Notebook
06:42 "Why not?"
06:43 "Cuz I don't want to."
06:45 "Noah?"
06:45 Grab a pen and paper.
06:47 We could fill more than one notebook with Noah's red flags.
06:50 For one, he threatens to throw himself off of a Ferris wheel
06:54 if Halle doesn't go on a date with him.
06:56 Then, when she breaks it off, he proceeds to write her letters
06:59 every single day for a full year.
07:02 While they were actually intercepted by Halle's mom,
07:05 for all Noah knew, he was getting rejected.
07:07 But did that stop him?
07:09 Of course not.
07:10 "I wrote you 365 letters."
07:15 "I wrote you every day for a year."
07:17 Even worse, he later buys their dream house
07:19 in a desperate, obsessive act to steal her from her fiancé.
07:23 That, friends, is called a pattern.
07:25 Ryan Gosling's charm can only excuse so much.
07:29 "So it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard."
07:32 "And we're gonna have to work at this every day, but I wanna do that because I want you."
07:36 Number 13. Paul Blart - Paul Blart Mall Cop
07:40 "You aren't gonna touch her, but you are gonna feel this."
07:47 To protect and serve.
07:48 That's the motto of law enforcement.
07:51 For Paul Blart, though, it's more like to eat and self-serve.
07:55 See, despite his best intentions,
07:57 the only thing Paul truly protects is his own interests.
08:01 His normal day on the job includes gouging on food,
08:04 stalking women on security cameras, and occasionally,
08:07 even putting himself in the middle of a life-or-death mall heist.
08:11 Instead of endearing, Paul's bumbling antics come off as eye-rolling at best,
08:16 and grossly incompetent at worst.
08:19 "Security guard? Really?"
08:21 Although maybe that's just how mall cops in movies are.
08:24 Ronnie Barnhart from Observe and Report isn't any better.
08:27 And trust us, that's a low bar to meet.
08:30 "I'm a cook, and I'm serving up justice."
08:33 "You're a security guard."
08:35 "Hot plates of justice."
08:36 Number 12. Jim Preston - Passengers
08:40 "Good morning, James. How are you feeling?"
08:43 "Wait, what?"
08:44 After waking up from his spaceship's cryostasis 90 years early,
08:49 Jim Preston realizes he has to live out the rest of his life in isolation.
08:53 Unless, of course, he wakes someone up to spend it with.
08:57 Naturally, he picks the pretty girl.
08:59 Even putting aside his creepy behavior towards her sleeping body,
09:02 Jim resigning Aurora to his same tragic fate is just plain unforgivable.
09:08 Especially since he lies and blames her awakening on a malfunction.
09:11 "How? How could you do it?"
09:16 "I tried not to."
09:21 Jim is pretty much as selfish as you can get.
09:24 And his romance with Aurora isn't love, it's textbook Stockholm Syndrome.
09:28 As long as he's at the helm, we recommend you pass on passengers.
09:33 "You saved my life."
09:34 "And I know that's no excuse for what I did."
09:39 Number 11. The Nerds - Revenge of the Nerds
09:44 "I think they're talking about us. No way."
09:47 Watching underdogs grow a spine and overthrow their oppressions is a tale as old as time.
09:53 Sadly, the finer details of this one haven't aged very well.
09:57 Like, say, when they dress up as one of their enemies and sleep with his unknowing girlfriend.
10:02 As if that's not bad enough, they also took explicit photos of the girl,
10:07 and sold them inside pies to win a fundraiser.
10:10 Oh, and it was for charity too.
10:12 Yeah, and these guys have the gall to say the jocks are the evil ones.
10:17 Even though the titular nerds are framed as the heroes of the story,
10:21 several of their exploits are straight up villainy.
10:24 "Are all nerds as good as you?"
10:26 "Yes."
10:27 Number 10. Brian E. Tallis - Atonement
10:32 "It was Robbie, wasn't it?"
10:33 By the time she was 13 years old, Brian E. Tallis had already ruined a man's life.
10:40 Her infatuation with her sister's boyfriend, Robbie,
10:43 gets messy when her cousin is attacked by an unseen assailant.
10:47 Subconsciously blinded by jealousy, Brian E. points the finger at Robbie,
10:52 condemning him for a crime he didn't commit.
10:55 All the while letting the real culprit off the hook.
10:57 "Yes, I did. I saw him."
11:00 "With your own eyes?"
11:00 "Yes, I saw him. I saw him with my own eyes."
11:06 At the very least, Brian E. comes to her senses and apologizes to Robbie and her sister.
11:11 NOT.
11:12 As it turns out, Brian E.'s penance is a fictitious scene from her latest novel.
11:17 So not only does she never own up to her mistake,
11:20 she's actively profiting off it too.
11:22 That's not atonement. That's just disgraceful.
11:25 "My sister and Robbie were never able to have the time together."
11:29 "They both so longed for and deserved."
11:35 Number 9. Robin - Batman Forever
11:39 "What do you think? What's a good sidekick name?"
11:41 "How about Dick Grayson, College Student?"
11:43 This sidekick needs a kick in the rear.
11:46 That, or his spandex privileges revoked.
11:48 Either one works.
11:50 Dick Grayson lost his family to Two-Face's villainous schemes.
11:54 But that doesn't excuse him using Robin's name to pursue a personal vendetta.
11:58 Particularly since it breaks Batman's no-kill rule.
12:02 When he's told no, Robin steals the Batmobile and goes after Two-Face on his own.
12:07 With behavior like that, he's more like a bratty teenager than a crime-fighting vigilante.
12:12 "Good. 'Cause you gotta help me find him. And when we do, I'm the one who kills him."
12:19 "So you're willing to take a life?"
12:23 "As long as it's Two-Face."
12:26 "Then it will happen this way."
12:33 While Robin does eventually come around,
12:35 none of his shoehorned redemption arc feels particularly earned.
12:39 If anything, Robin's temper tantrum makes you wonder what Batman saw in him in the first place.
12:44 "This is why Superman works alone."
12:47 "Mark. Love Actually."
12:50 Don't let the name fool you.
12:52 This is more like Schoolyard Crush, actually.
12:55 It all starts with Mark.
12:57 Like all good pals, he's in love with his best friend's wife, Julia.
13:01 Except his "romantic" gestures include giving her the cold shoulder
13:05 and turning their wedding video into a close-up of Juliet's face.
13:09 "You never talk to me. You always talk to Peter."
13:15 Then, on Christmas Eve of all days,
13:18 Mark shows up on her doorstep with cue cards to confess his love.
13:22 After she kisses him, Mark resigns himself to just being friends anyways.
13:27 He couldn't have realized that before macking on his best friend's wife?
13:31 She may be named Juliet, but Mark is no Romeo.
13:34 That's for sure.
13:35 Number 7. Sam Witwicky - Transformers
13:46 In this 2007 action film, the robots in disguise took their nickname way too literally.
13:52 Arguably, they aren't even the main characters.
13:54 No, that honor belongs to Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky,
13:58 who takes the awkward teen trope to new, cringeworthy heights.
14:02 Sam isn't a bad person or anything.
14:04 It's just that no one showed up to a movie called Transformers
14:07 wanting to watch a nerd get the girl.
14:09 "I think there's a lot more than meets the eye with you."
14:16 It doesn't help that, more often than not, the movie reduces Sam to comedic relief
14:21 rather than any sort of fully fleshed-out character.
14:24 As a result, fans made it very clear they expected more Transformers
14:28 in their Transformers movies.
14:30 "That was really awesome."
14:32 "It felt awesome."
14:34 "Are you okay?"
14:35 "I'm not okay. I'm losing my mind a little bit.
14:37 I'm getting chased by my car right now. I gotta go."
14:39 "You know what? I'm gonna catch up with you guys later."
14:41 Number 6. P.T. Barnum - The Greatest Showman
14:45 Showcasing revisionist history at its finest,
14:48 this crowd-pleasing musical took some serious artistic liberties with its main character.
14:53 Namely, that the real P.T. Barnum wasn't exactly friendly to the people he employed.
14:59 But even judged on its own merits,
15:01 Hugh Jackman's take on the character is far from innocent.
15:04 Just like in the history books, he doesn't welcome differences.
15:08 He takes advantage of them.
15:09 "Well, they're laughing anyway, kids. Might as well get paid."
15:12 To prove it, Barnum later chooses a singer's tour over his namesake circus,
15:21 abandoning his "family" faster than you can say "showman".
15:24 In the words of Jenny Lind herself, nothing will ever be enough for P.T. Barnum.
15:30 "Of course. I wouldn't suggest otherwise."
15:33 Number 5. Willa Mina - Willie Scott - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
15:39 If you've seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, you know that Indy works better alone.
15:44 But for some head-scratching reason, the sequel decided he needed a partner.
15:48 Not just any partner, though. A singer with absolutely no experience in high-stakes adventures.
15:53 Also known as Willie Scott.
15:55 She spends half her screen time complaining and the other half screaming about every tiny obstacle.
16:16 Even worse, distributor Paramount Pictures never learned their lesson.
16:20 Kingdom of the Crystal Skull tried to introduce yet another unwanted side character.
16:24 This time in the form of Indy's new protege, Mutt Williams.
16:28 Neither Willie nor Mutt have appeared beyond their initial film and that's probably for the best.
16:34 "And you're just too proud to admit that you're crazy about me, Dr. Jones."
16:37 Number 4. Bella Swan - The Twilight Saga Let's make one thing clear.
16:44 Kristen Stewart is a great actress. However,
16:47 her work in the Twilight films doesn't necessarily reflect that. It's partly the scripts,
16:52 partly the story and partly the fact that Bella Swan
16:55 is almost universally defined by her relationship to Edward and Jacob.
17:00 Whenever she isn't around one of her love interests, she's talking about them.
17:08 Or in some cases, putting herself in mortal danger just to get their attention.
17:13 Bella's actions nearly lead to an all-out war and, even then, she looks bored through it all.
17:18 In a way, that sums up Bella Swan perfectly. She isn't irredeemably evil. She's just
17:24 uninteresting. Which, honestly, might be even worse.
17:27 "It's painful but it's bearable."
17:29 Number 3. Guru Maurice Pitka - The Love Guru This guy claims to be the number two guru in
17:38 the world. But based on the havoc he wreaks in just 90 minutes, we'd say his rank is a lot lower.
17:45 And we do mean a lot. Guru Pitka's love advice usually ends up doing more harm than good.
17:51 Although that's hardly surprising considering most of it comes from offensive jokes and
17:55 PowerPoint slides. Guru Pitka isn't wise, funny or interesting. He's a self-absorbed gold digger
18:04 that wears out his welcome fast. Like, within the first 10 minutes fast. Since Mike Myers starred,
18:10 wrote and produced this maligned misfire, he has no one to blame but himself.
18:15 "I have one idea that just might work."
18:20 Number 2. Evan Hansen - Dear Evan Hansen Meet Evan. He's your average high school kid,
18:26 shy, nervous and quietly pining after the pretty girl in class, Zoe. One day, he decides to ask
18:32 her out the way every normal kid does. By pretending he was best friends with her recently
18:37 deceased brother. Really. "He took you to the apple orchard? When?" "Oh, once. Just once. That
18:45 one." Somehow it gets worse. In order to keep up his ruse, Evan forges emails, manipulates Zoe and
18:51 even befriends her grieving parents. No amount of crying or bursting into song can ever justify
18:57 such an inhumane act. And yet, the film tries its darndest to present Evan as some kind of
19:02 misunderstood anti-hero. In reality, Evan Hansen isn't just a villain, he's a monster.
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19:32 Number 1. Jill Sadelstein - Jack and Jill Quick heads up, if you see Jill on your screen,
19:41 you may as well turn off the TV. Your ears will thank us. Played by Adam Sandler in Drag, Jill
19:48 is every single grating female stereotype crammed into a single headache of a character.
19:53 And somehow, that's still underselling just how annoying she is.
19:57 It's not in a funny way either. It's just plain bad. Although perhaps the most unrealistic part
20:07 is that she has a whole romantic subplot with Al Pacino of all people. How he stands her is
20:13 beyond us. Jack and Jill is often considered one of the worst films ever made and considering
20:18 its female lead, we understand why. Which movie heroes do you detest with all your being?
20:28 Let us know in the comments below. Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from Watch
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