Ah, TV. The land of over-dramatic breakups, fake deaths, and characters we love to hate. But let’s talk about the ones who masquerade as heroes, yet are secretly the villains of our binge-worthy sagas. They’re the ones who make you want to yell at the screen, “Who let you out of the writer’s room alive?” Buckle up, because we’re diving into TV’s most unbearable characters who were supposed to be the stars but turned out to be… the worst.
1. Ross Geller (Friends)
Oh, Ross. The man who invented “We were on a break!” If Ross isn’t the poster boy for toxic academia and fragile masculinity, I don’t know who is. Sure, he’s got a PhD, but let’s not forget that he’s also got a PhD in being a possessive, self-pitying ex-boyfriend. He whines his way through 10 seasons, treating Rachel like a trophy instead of a person. And don’t even get me started on how he treated Emily. Who invites their ex to their wedding, Ross?! The fact that this guy is a paleontologist is ironic because his dating habits should’ve gone extinct ages ago.
2. Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
Yes, I said it. Lorelai, queen of fast-talking and coffee chugging, is kind of awful. She’s the mom who pretends to be her daughter’s bestie, but let’s face it, she’s more into her own drama than anyone else’s. She judges everyone (especially her parents) while making terrible life decisions herself. Also, what was with her habit of sabotaging perfectly good relationships? Max, Christopher, Luke—it’s like she had a checklist titled “How To Ruin a Love Life in 10 Easy Steps.” And the cherry on top? Her complete inability to let Rory grow up without hovering like a caffeinated helicopter.
3. Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother)
Ted Mosby: the self-proclaimed “romantic” who is actually just a walking red flag. This guy spends nine seasons telling his kids the world’s longest story just to flex about all the women he dated. And let’s not forget how he treats women like puzzles he needs to solve instead of actual people. Remember when he told Robin he loved her while she was dating Barney? Or how he cheated on Victoria? Or his weird obsession with finding “the one” like it’s a prize at a carnival game? Ted, your soulmate deserves better. And by that, I mean anyone else.
4. Rachel Berry (Glee)
Rachel Berry is the human equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. Sure, she’s talented, but she’s also manipulative, self-centered, and delusionally convinced that the world revolves around her nasal Broadway voice. She’ll step on anyone—friends, boyfriends, teachers—to get what she wants. And when she doesn’t get it? Cue the waterworks and some sappy ballad about dreams being crushed. Rachel may have been written as the star of Glee, but let’s be real: she was the show’s main villain all along.
5. Piper Chapman (Orange Is the New Black)
Piper is proof that even in prison, privilege can be annoying. She walks into Litchfield Correctional Facility like she’s on a poorly lit episode of The Bachelor. Her constant whining about her middle-class problems while surrounded by women with actual hardships is peak self-absorption. And don’t even get me started on how she makes everything about her. Did she grow as a person over the seasons? Sure. But it took a painfully long time to get there, and by then, we’d all kind of wished Red had just left her in the kitchen freezer.
6. Dawson Leery (Dawson’s Creek)
Dawson Leery is the OG Nice Guy™ who makes you want to throw your TV out the window. He’s the kind of person who thinks he’s the main character not just in his own life but in everyone else’s too. His constant whining about how life isn’t going his way is exhausting, especially when he has literally everything handed to him. And his obsession with Joey? Dude, take a hint. The creek isn’t the only thing that’s flowing—so are her feelings… for someone who isn’t you.
7. Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City)
Carrie Bradshaw: fashion icon, relationship nightmare. She’s the friend who borrows $500 shoes from you and never gives them back. While her wardrobe is aspirational, her behavior is desperational. From cheating on Aidan with Mr. Big to ghosting her own friends for her love life, Carrie’s messiness isn’t just relatable—it’s downright toxic. The fact that she wrote a column on relationships is laughable because her advice would probably be, “Dump him, and then blame him for it.”
8. Walter White (Breaking Bad)
“Wait, Walter White is the worst? He’s a genius!” I hear you screaming at your screen. But hear me out. Walter’s transformation from meek chemistry teacher to drug kingpin is impressive, but let’s not ignore the fact that he ruined literally everyone’s lives along the way. Skyler? Traumatized. Jesse? Manipulated. Hank? Dead. Walt Jr.? Left with no waffles and no dad. Sure, Walt did it “for his family,” but by the end, his empire was built on a mountain of lies, corpses, and meth fumes.
9. Debra Morgan (Dexter)
I know, I know—Deb had a tough life. But let’s not pretend she was a joy to watch. Her constant swearing was entertaining for, like, two episodes, and then it just became her entire personality. And while we sympathized with her struggles, her questionable decisions and inability to read a room (or her brother) were frustrating. By the time she started falling for Dexter, we were all ready to throw our remotes at the wall.
10. Joffrey Baratheon (Game of Thrones)
You didn’t think we’d get through this list without mentioning Joffrey, did you? The brat king of Westeros was so unbearable that his death felt like Christmas morning. Joffrey wasn’t just bad—he was historically bad. From his constant tantrums to his sadistic treatment of literally everyone, he was the human equivalent of a spoiled bag of milk. If there’s one thing we can thank him for, it’s that he taught us all a valuable lesson: sometimes, karma really does work.
And there you have it, folks—a lineup of TV characters who make you question your life choices for watching them. But don’t get too comfortable yet because there’s one more character who might just take the cake.
Spoiler alert: It’s probably someone you’ve been rooting for this whole time. Curious? Let’s just say they’ve got a dark side you didn’t see coming… but more on that later.
