Top 20 Hated Movie Characters

“Jaws” (1975)

At first glance, Larry Vaughn seems like a reasonable guy. He’s the mayor of Amity Island, and when a potential shark attack happens in the nearby waters, he doesn’t want to start a panic, as many businesses in town rely on tourism. However, as evidence mounts and the death toll rises, it becomes increasingly clear that Vaughn cares less about the public and more about his own standing. Vaughn has all the experts telling him the dangers, yet steadfastly ignores them until he can’t any longer. Hmmm, sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Vaughn is the bullheaded movie face of every politician who thinks they know better than everyone else.

“Happy Gilmore” (1996)

A smarmy up-and-coming golfer, Shooter McGavin is outraged when Happy Gilmore’s raucous attitude begins disrupting the tournament and taking the spotlight away from him. To that end, not only does Shooter hire a heckler to mock Happy and provoke him at every turn, but he also buys his grandmother’s house out from under him! Shooter’s dirty tactics and smug attitude come crashing down after he provokes the ire of one of Happy’s bigger, meaner fans - Jaws himself! The Bond villain, not the shark movie. Everybody loves to hate Shooter! It’s a credit to actor Christopher McDonald that he makes this guy seem so punchable!

“Train to Busan” (2016)

Adversity can bring out the best in some, and the worst in others. Yon-Suk was arguably already a jerk before the zombie apocalypse though. A selfish and cowardly businessman, Yon-Suk is certainly understandable in his panic over the dead coming to life. But at every turn, he uses everyone around him to live just a little longer. In addition, he encourages others to be just as fearful and self-serving as him, locking the protagonists out of a train car on the chance that they’re infected. Karma eventually catches up with him though, as Yon-Suk is bitten and becomes a zombie, menacing our heroes one last time. Self-interest can only get you so far.

“Ghostbusters” (1984)

Given that the Ghostbusters are walking around toting unstable nuclear devices on their backs, it was only a matter of time before they caught the attention of the government. That attention comes from Walter Peck, a member of the Environmental Protection Agency. While you could argue that Peck is just doing his job and that the Ghostbusters do seem like con men from the outside, he goes about his business in the most off-putting and insulting way possible. And, typically, the jerk decides to cut off the power to their containment unit, releasing ghosts into the city and nearly destroying the city! Way to do the exact opposite of your agency’s stated mission, Peck-erless! By which we mean, he doesn’t have a woodpecker. Or a-

“Carrie” (1976)

The titular Carrie White may be the psychic fire that sets her fellow students ablaze, but she didn’t create the kindling - her mother did. Margaret White is a tyrannical mother to Carrie. Her fanatical religious views and intolerance of anything sinful, which includes just about everything, leads her to heap abuse on her daughter. Having a character be an abusive parent is a guaranteed way to get the audience to hate them, but Margaret’s particular brand of delusion and viciousness gets under our skin. However, Margaret reaps what she sows, after Carrie snaps and her “witch” of a daughter puts an end to her.

“Whiplash” (2014)

Most movie teachers are positive role models. Fletcher is not. While many teachers try to build up their students, Terence Fletcher only seems to tear them down. He continually mistreats his pupils with emotional and verbal abuse until they either break or get better - or both. While he tries to pass it off as using tough love to create the next great jazz musician, Fletcher’s cruelty is more than just the method to his madness. It’s despicable and even experiencing it secondhand by watching him on screen makes us seethe that Fletcher and people like him can get away with this kind of behavior!

“Titanic” (1997)

Romance films are rarely kind to romantic rivals, and “Titanic” is the biggest romance movie of all time - so it’s only natural that audiences hate Cal. The snobby, arrogant fiance of Rose, Cal Hockley is oddly possessive over a woman he just met. Cal’s outdated (though likely period-correct) attitude towards his soon-to-be wife extends to seeing her like property, having her followed, and slapping her - and that’s before he tries to kill her and Jack. And while there is a certain amount of inherent bias - Rose is telling the story after all - Cal still feels like a jerk unworthy of her… and of making it to shore.

“Get Out” (2017)

Racially motivated criminals are always heinous, but the Armitage family is particularly disturbing. This monstrous clan is part of a grisly cult that uses the bodies of young Black people to transplant their minds into, gaining a kind of immortality. Each member of the family has their own sinister role to play, whether it’s luring their victims in, hypnotizing them, or performing the procedure. Their deeds are as horrific or even worse than slavery, depriving their victims of control over their own bodies! Chris wreaking havoc on them in his desperate escape is tremendously satisfying.

“Office Space” (1999)

Bill Lumbergh is the embodiment of everyone’s awful middle management boss. He micromanages his employees and needles them about minutiae like TPS reports. He doesn’t make even the effort of pretending to care about them or their time, with his treatment of poor Milton directly leading to his company getting burned down. And that droning, irritating voice of his just gets under our skins - and we don’t even work for the guy! While he may not get the comeuppance we all know he deserves, it’s still satisfying to see Lumbergh get grilled about his management style by the efficiency consultants.

“Aliens” (1986)

Carter Burke may seem like an okay guy, but don’t let that fool you - he’s really a terrible company man! The slimy weasel accompanies Ripley to LV-426 as the corporate liaison to investigate the alien incursion there. Naturally, Burke is more than just a suit - he wants to retrieve an alien to use as a bioweapon and to get rich doing it. He goes to any lengths to achieve this goal, even purposefully exposing Ripley and the young Newt to an alien facehugger. Oh, and did we mention the whole disaster, which killed nearly all the colonists, was his fault too? Burke meeting his fate at the hands of the very aliens he unleashed is all he deserves.

“Back to the Future” franchise (1985-90)

This guy is a real butthead! The quintessential movie jerk, Biff Tannen is lazy, dim-witted, and violent. He causes problems for generations of the McFly family, particularly George and Marty. In addition to walking all over George, Biff also tries to force himself on Lorraine, George’s eventual wife. Then there’s the timeline where his future self helps his past self get rich, leading to Hill Valley becoming a lawless hellscape that he rules with impunity. Biff is so hateable because he’s so relatable - we’ve all probably encountered someone like him at some point. We can’t say he isn’t entertaining though - those mixed metaphors are hilarious.

“Matilda” (1996)

Matilda Wormwood is an incredibly gifted child, possessing a genius-level intellect at a young age and telekinetic powers. However, her parents are incredibly neglectful, not even allowing her to go to school until she’s six and probably failing to teach her anything at all. Her brother is a dimwitted rascal. Meanwhile, when she does get to school, Matilda encounters Miss Trunchbull, her school’s tyrannical principal, who frequently abuses students in outlandish ways. Just watching Matilda have to deal with them for a few hours is enough to make us despise them, so we really feel for the girl growing up with them all.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003)

The steward of Gondor, Denethor is the ruler of the last land that has fought the forces of Mordor for generations. Denethor is immediately dislikeable because of the disparity with which he treats his sons, Faramir and Boromir. While he venerates Boromir, he lambasts his more bookish and intelligent son, Faramir, and even sends him on what seems to be a suicide mission. His pride is toxic, as is his despair, since he no longer believes Sauron and his forces can be defeated, and even tries to burn himself and his son, whom he believes is dead, alive. While he’s considerably better in the book, Denethor’s dour obstruction and despair aren’t exactly endearing, no matter the medium. John Noble kills it though!

“The Green Mile” (1999)

A prison guard of death row inmates in 1930s Louisiana, Percy Wetmore is a thoroughly despicable character. Percy is abusive towards the inmates, especially Del; stepping on his mouse, calling him slurs, and eventually sabotaging his execution to make his death needlessly painful; getting away with it because of he’s related to the governor. In addition, Percy is a coward, as he is terrified when one of the more dangerous prisoners stands up to him. John Coffey ultimately sends Percy into a catatonic state for the rest of his life and we feel little sympathy for the creep.

“The Hunger Games” franchise (2012-)

“The Hunger Games” series has plenty of despicable to go around, but the vilest of the vile is President Snow. Head of Panem’s dystopian society, Snow oversees the cruel titular games and perpetuates the sharp divide between the haves and have-nots. While he presents a warm and kind front, Snow is as cold and calculating as his name implies. He regularly commits atrocities, slaughtering his citizens to send messages to both his enemies and his allies. Katniss may decide against killing him herself, but we can see why many fans of the series wanted to see an arrow pierce the area a heart would be… if Snow had one.

“The Mist” (2007)

Sometimes a crisis brings out the best in people. Mrs. Carmody is at the other end of the spectrum. A religious fundamentalist, Mrs. Carmody is trapped in a supermarket with many others when a supernatural mist full of deadly creatures descends on their town. Rather than rise to the occasion, Mrs. Carmody becomes bitter, spiteful, and is convinced that the mist is divine punishment from God. Some of the panicked survivors become convinced that she’s right, joining her in sabotaging the protagonists from leaving and even attempting to murder some of them. You know, like God would want.

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (1975)

Speaking of awful people in authority over the confined, Nurse Ratched is the head nurse of a mental institution. Far from being a caring figure, Ratched is a veritable tyrant, using her position of power over her mentally ill charges to make life simpler for herself, no matter the cost to their wellbeing. Her revoking of privileges and threats against patients ultimately drive one to suicide; prompting protagonist McMurphy to nearly choke her to death, for which she has him lobotomized. Positions of power go to people’s heads and Nurse Ratched is a “retched” poster child for abusive authority figures.

“Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006)

Fascists in general are easy to hate, but Captain Vidal goes beyond that to be utterly irredeemable. While his coldness towards his stepdaughter Ofelia is off-putting, he quickly illustrates himself to be a worse monster than the ones Ofelia encounters. Vidal viciously kills innocent citizens in his pursuit of rebel fighters. He seems to enjoy torturing captives, and he only seems to care about himself and his legacy - his newborn son. Ofelia even falls victim to Vidal when she threatens to take his son, her brother, away. If any man deserves to be forgotten, it’s Vidal. Unfortunately, the hate he invokes in us makes him unforgettable.

“Django Unchained” (2012)

Calvin Candie is arguably the most despicable character in a Quentin Tarantino film - which is a truly high bar. A slaving plantation owner, Calvin is everything awful about that turned up to 11! He has men fight to the death for his amusement! He has another torn apart by dogs! Plus, we have questions about how close he is with his sister. And for all his claims of racial superiority and greater intelligence, Calvin still gets outthought his sycophantic slave, Stephen. When Dr. King Schultz finally kills Calvin, he can’t resist, and we can’t blame him!

“Harry Potter” franchise (2001-11)

You know you’ve got a vile villain when they’re more universally hated than the franchise’s main antagonist AND Harry’s awful family - with all due hate to the Dursleys. Dolores Umbridge is a government bureaucrat put in charge of teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who nearly takes over the entire institution. Petty, two-faced, and cruel, Umbridge does her worst to not only suppress the students’ education and sense of joy, but also literally tortures them with her draconian punishments; having it out for the series’ eponymous boy wizard in particular. After she’s driven out of Hogwarts, she follows it up with falsely imprisoning people for the magic supremacist government run by Voldemort. We’d say she deserves the Dementors, but as Umbridge demonstrates: she has no soul to suck out!