Top 10 Animated TV Characters You Love to Hate

Debuting in 1979, Scrappy-Doo has always been the Cousin Oliver of Mystery Incorporated. At one point, it was thought that the character’s overbearing cuteness would draw in younger audiences and save the “Scooby-Doo” franchise. As we all know now, however, Scrappy would ultimately become the franchise’s most embarrassing blemish. He’s like that irritating dog next-door who never stops barking, or in this case talking. You just want to send him to a farm. Some people like to pretend he doesn’t even exist, but others take pleasure in hating and mocking this little pest.

Every epic needs a despicable villain and “Samurai Jack” finds an unforgettable one in Aku. This shape-shifting master is the epitome of evil. We can tell this not only based on his malevolent actions, but also from his hellish design and haunting voice. The polar opposite of the good and noble Jack, Aku is constantly taunting, tricking, and challenging our hero. It’s hard not to hate somebody that’s just so darn evil, but we still admire how Aku takes such joy in his wicked deeds and pushes Jack to his limits.

The Griffin family is full of colorful, funny characters… except for Meg. When “Family Guy” first began, Meg was basically just a whiny, teenage drama queen that nobody really looked forward to seeing. The creators seemed to agree that Meg was kind of boring compared to everyone else. So they naturally made her the prime target of the show’s physical violence and mental torment. Some have argued that the treatment towards Meg has gotten too cruel over the years. However, we admittedly take delight in seeing her endure such punishment.

SpongeBob is a cheerful, optimistic rainbow of imagination. It’s only fitting that Squidward would thus be a bitter, pessimistic storm cloud of sad reality. Where SpongeBob is a hard character not to love, Squidward is a hard character not to love to hate. While he blames SpongeBob and Patrick for a majority of his misery, the truth is Squidward’s his own worst enemy. Egotistical, paranoid, obsessive, jealous and pretentious, this wannabe artist always sets himself up for failure. Sometimes we may sympathize with him, but mostly he has it coming.

Azula is like a high school mean girl if you gave her political and military authority. The daughter and favorite child of the Fire Lord, this princess is calculating, strategic, and ruthless in her pursuit of the Avatar. The fact that she’s hunting our beloved heroes is one thing, but what makes Azula so enjoyably detestable is how bitchy she is in the process. Nothing will stop Azula from rising to absolute power. Once Azula finally achieves what she wants, however, her unbalanced mind doesn’t know how to handle it.

While it’s easy to dislike a nasty, old assistant teacher like Ms. Finster, it’s even easier to loathe a fellow student who sides with the enemy. Randall takes great satisfaction in ratting out his classmates. We all knew a little weasel like this in school and we all wanted to give him a knuckle sandwich. While we wouldn’t want to hang out with Randall on the playground, it is fun watching him hatch devious schemes and getting his comeuppance in the end.

At times, Helga is reminiscent of a Shakespearean villain. She’s short-tempered, manipulative, and constantly delivers soliloquies. To be fair, though, we’d have issues too if our mother was an alcoholic, our father couldn’t remember our name, and our older sister was an overachiever. Just as the audience has a love/hate relationship with Helga, she has a love/hate relationship with Arnold. This wise football-headed boy can bring out the best in Helga and even helps her overcome these insecurities. With him in her corner, there just may be hope for Helga.

Anybody who grew up with an annoying younger sibling can identify with Arthur’s frustration towards D.W. This girl thrives on making fun of her older brother and being a nuisance. While D.W. can be pesky, it’s difficult to flat out dislike her because she’s just being a little sister. Despite their sibling rivalry, Arthur and D.W. do love each other and come through for each other when it matters most. Many siblings can identify with their relationship, which is full of affection and affectionate hatred.

Lemongrab is one of those characters the audience can never decide whether to love or to hate. His voice is irritating, but never to the point that we want to mute him. He’s a social outcast, but we sympathize with his personality disorder regardless. He’s controlling and drunk with power, but a ton of great humor is derived from his actions. We honestly can’t think of a character on “Adventure Time” who stirs up more mixed emotions. So in the end, we basically just love to hate him.

Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Gayle
“Bob’s Burgers” (2011-)
- Bill Cipher
“Gravity Falls” (2012-)
- Vicky
“The Fairly OddParents” (2001-)
- Mojo Jojo
“The Powerpuff Girls” (1998-2005)
- Uncle Ruckus
“The Boondocks” (2005-14)

Angelica is the eldest of all the youngsters on “Rugrats” and she’ll never let the babies forget it. Bossy, selfish, and just plain mean at times, this three-year-old is the definition of a spoiled brat. She deserves a severe grounding from her enabling parents, but they constantly let her get away with murder. Always stealing the show with her troublesome behavior, Angelica does have her moments of empathy too. Every time it seems like Angelica will learn a lesson, however, she reverts back to the child we love to hate.

Do you agree with our list? Which animated characters do you love to hate? For more entertaining Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.