10 of the Worst Main Characters in TV Show History

Main characters in TV shows are supposed to be the most likeable. They are presumably the heroes and heroines, and the glue that holds the entire show together. 

But sometimes, TV productions ask fans to root for protagonists that are downright detestable and unrelatable. 

Here’s our list of the worst main characters on TV shows so far.

When it comes to teen dramedies, Jenna Hamilton takes home the trophy of the worst main character. Every episode makes her least favorite, portraying no growth as the rest of the cast blossoms.

Jenna began the show as quite likeable, but as her popularity grew, she became self-centered, pretentious and completely horrible. 

Failing to see life beyond herself made fans abhor her. In each episode, you get tired of how she always complains about people including how their behavior doesn’t suit her.

Rachel was the least favorite character of the close-knit friends’ group. She was immature, self-centered, petty and unapologetically lazy. Not forgetting that Rachel only wanted Ross when he had moved on with someone else but completely shunned him when he was free and available. Toxic!

One episode where Rachel was super annoying was in season three, 'The One At The Beach', where she convinced Ross's girlfriend Bonnie to shave her head. She didn't want Bonnie to be more attractive than her and possibly to get Ross to break up with her. Who does that? Only the narcissistic and psychopathic Rachel Green.

Another protagonist managed to get on the audience's nerve. Zoey Johnson is a horrible friend- self-absorbed, hypocritical and often impatient. Oh, she is also narcissistic and not afraid to admit it!

Zoey doesn't grow throughout the series because after learning each lesson, she repeats the same mistake. Her immature behavior, coupled with the political talks going on in the group constantly stirs conflict. And by constantly, I mean every waking moment.

At the beginning of the vampire thriller show, Elena was a sweetheart and we all vouched for her, but throughout the series, she evolved into an unlikeable character. 

Fans were majorly riled when Elena chose to leave Stefan for his elder bad boy brother Damon. The show spent the first three seasons grooming Stefan as the ideal man for Elena, only for her to dump him without remorse and immediately start things with Damon.

While Damon fans were thrilled for the ‘Dalena’ pairing, when you stop to think about it, it’s gross to get romantically involved with brothers. 

Vampire Elena was also terrible and would treat people like dirt. Thank God she became human again!

Homer may be The Simpsons’ delight, but sometimes you can’t help but cringe or scream at him for his selfish and obnoxious acts. Though he loves his family and tries to be a good father and husband, he goes too far with his practical jokes to disgust.

His version ‘Jerkass Homer’ was hard to withstand. He almost murdered his dad when he needed a kidney transplant, framed his wife and committed random acts of violence, to mention a few.

While Jane the Virgin is one of the best drama shows, you can't help but cringe at the main character's personality. She has a holier-than-thou attitude, always thinks she's right and excessively nosy. 

Jane may have started as sweet and innocent, but life experiences turned her into a b***. My worst Jane moment was when she used her dad's telenovela co-star Fabian for sex. At first, she dismissed him because he wasn't as intelligent as she'd thought, but when they finally hooked up, Jane coldly dumped him for wanting a deeper relationship.

That was the cruelest thing Jane could have done on the show, and the saddest part is that she moved on without a care, not considering Fabian's crushed heart.

Rory Gilmore is a perfect example of sweetness progressively gone sour. She was tolerable in the first three seasons, but everything went downhill from the fourth season. After Rory went to Yale, she became a disaster of a human being- entitled, inconsiderate, selfish and incredibly boring.

The cringe is an understatement when we see Rory in her dubious acts, which are many by the way. But we will mention a few where she went over the top. 

Sleeping with her married ex-boyfriend Dean was below the belt. And the fact that Rory wasn't sorry, claiming that Dean's wife wasn't good for him, was infuriating. On top of that, when her mother, Lorelai criticized her for having an affair with a married man, she ran off to Europe. Totally immature!

More immaturity, when she couldn’t take criticism from her senior in college, she went on a rampage with a stolen yacht, got herself arrested, quit Yale and moved into her grandparents’ pool house, completely disregarding her mother’s tireless efforts to put her through school. 

Rory also lacked respect and appreciation for her mom. For example, she went behind Lorelai’s back to ask for money from her grandparents when her mother specifically asked her not to. She missed her mother’s graduation to hang out with some guy in New York. 

If you quit watching Gilmore Girls, Rory could definitely be the reason why.

Watching Dawson from nice guy to jerk in this series will make you sick. He is the psychopathic boyfriend you would get a restraining order. 

First, he was obsessed and too controlling with Jen, not forgetting he got mad at her for not having sex with him and that she wasn't a virgin. The sickest part is he put on a great guy act when in reality, he was a nightmare. 

Moving on to Dawson and Joey, he treated her twice as bad. He constantly talked about Jen while with Joey, clearly showing no interest in the latter until she enrolled in a beauty pageant. 

Viewers are then forced to watch a toxic on-and-off relationship between the two, with Dawson always being the reason for their breakup. Making her the other woman in college and blaming her for his father's death are some indecent acts that outraged the fans. 

Dawson pretty much offended his fellow characters and viewers with his narcissistic behavior and that God-awful cry when Joey finally ended things with him for good.

I used to be a huge fan of Sex and the City, but each time I re-watched it, I disliked it more and more because of one Carrie Bradshaw. Many fans can agree with me that Carrie is among the top worst main characters in TV history.

For a thirty-something-year-old woman, you'd think she'd make wise life decisions but watching her falling into BIG traps not once, not twice, but several times was a pain.  

To make it worse, she cheated on the nicest guy she ever dated with her married jerk ex-boyfriend Mr Big. Showing little remorse later, she convinced Aiden to take her back, only to break his heart again by refusing to marry him. 

She also constantly disregarded her friends' advice concerning the Big character, treating them like villains while they were simply looking out for her. 

Carrie's financial management skills were wanting, spending all her money on labels and expensive shoes without saving. Even Charlotte had to loan her the cash she got from selling her first engagement ring to help Carrie buy her apartment. Disaster Carrie!

Lea Michele's Rachel Berry is by far, the worst main character on TV shows. Even just looking at her gives you instant mean girl vibes. 

While other awful characters like Santana, Puck and Quinn showed growth throughout Glee, Rachel’s personality only got more insufferable. 

Rachel was freakishly obsessed with being the best that she'd take down anyone who challenged her talent. Remember how she sent the exchange student Sunshine to a crack house so that she wouldn't audition for the Glee club? Disgusting huh? She'd also throw fits if she wasn't given solos. 

Everybody at the McKinley Glee Club hated or merely tolerated Rachel because she was extremely selfish. She also managed to upset her BFF Kurt multiple times, including vying for school president and challenging him when she knew how important it was for Kurt to win. 

When she eventually made it in the Big Apple, getting into Nyada and landing a Fanny Brice role on Broadway, she was incapable of taking harsh criticism, finally dropping out of the college that she spent her entire senior high school year preparing for.

So many things are wrong with Rachel Berry we would need a whole book. And the fact that her actual persona Lea Michele doesn’t stray too far from Glee’s character gives you the chills.