Top Ten Tuesday #10

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke & the Bookish.  This week's topic is the top 10 most frustrating characters ever.  I can think of plenty of really annoying or frustrating characters that I've endured over the years, but to choose only ten?  Well, I chose the ten that immediately came to mind as soon as I heard about this category.

Top Ten Most Frustrating Characters Ever

1. Everyone  (Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes) -  Flat, two-dimensional, and stereotyped.  I just wanted all of them to shut up or die by the end of the book.
2. Rincewind  (The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett) -  When a character spends 95% of his time whining, you get sick of him very quickly.  I had no sympathy for him at all, even when it wasn't his fault that he was in life-threatening situations.
3. The whole Bennett family, except Jane & Elizabeth  (Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen) -  Everyone who's read P&P knows Mrs Bennett is ridiculous, constantly throwing her daughters into awkward situations and predicting ruin for them all.  Mr. Bennett has no authority in his house, or if he does, he chooses not to exercise it until it's too late.  Kitty & Lydia are practically the same person- flighty, shallow, and flirtatious.
4. Mr. Collins  (Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen) -  He's so over-the-top, so oblivious to everyone around him or to the rules of society, so obsessed with other people's importance or wealth.  I couldn't wait for his part in the story to be over.  Is it really surprising that Elizabeth wants nothing to do with him?
5. Buttercup  (The Princess Bride by William Goldman) -  I love The Princess Bride, but Buttercup can be such an idiot.  In the beginning, she's so full of herself.  Then later, after thinking her love Westley has died, she withdraws into herself and becomes very boring.  And then after learning he's alive, she actually believes Prince Humperdinck's promise that he'll let Westley go free.  Naive and kind of worthless, she's pretty much just there to be rescued.
6. Marianne Dashwood  (Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen) -  I think the reason I find Marianne so frustrating is because Colonel Brandon is such an awesome hero, and she just doesn't deserve him.  She's so obsessed with the handsome Willoughby that she throws caution and self-respect to the wind, but in the end, still somehow manages to get the better man.  How does that even happen?  Oh yeah, it's fiction.
7. Mia Thermopolis  (The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot) -  I felt like the whole book was just a catalog of whine.  "My life sucks...whine... the hot guy doesn't pay attention to me...whine... I'm a princess and that sucks too...whine... the hot guy turned out to be a jerk... whine."  By the end of the book, I really didn't care what happened to her anymore.
8. Flavia de Luce  (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley) -  My sister loved this book, and I wanted to as well, but I just couldn't get past how much I disliked Flavia.  I kept thinking that she was an arrogant little brat.
9. Edmund Bertram  (Mansfield Park by Jane Austen) -  Edmund annoyed me so much because he was so wishy-washy.  One minute he's standing by his morals & beliefs, and then as soon as a pretty girl asks him to, he just throws all of his principles aside.  I know Fanny is usually the Mansfield Park character no one likes because she's so meek and never stands up for herself, but at least she never gives up her morals.
10. Arthur Dimmesdale  (The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne) -  GROW A SPINE!!  Enough said.