Game of Thrones 30 Day Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: Discuss the character you like the least.

This is difficult for me. For one thing, there are like 9000 characters in these books and many of them are unlikable. Anyone who is basically just some raping crazy asshole isn't someone I'm going to like (The Mountain, Zolo the Fat), but those people usually serve the purpose of being dangers and obstacles for the protagonists. They're not really characters are much as they are just problems.

There are other characters, like Lysa Tully and Viserys Targaryen, who are horrible, selfish people who cause a lot of problems . . . but they're dead now so my dislike for them is rather muted.  Again, they mainly served the purpose of being problems for the protagonists. And really, without Lysa doing what she did before the books started and Viserys selling Dany to Drogo, we really wouldn't HAVE a story in the way we know it. Characters like this serve a purpose.

It's easy to say I hate the Boltons and the Freys, but the truth is, I don't hate ALL the Boltons or all the Freys. I hate Ramsay but he does make for an interesting problem. I hate things Roose Bolton has done, but I can't help but understand some of his motivation. I also like his comical relationship with his wife. Said wife happens to be a Frey and is my favorite Frey, along with her sister, Gatehouse Ami.

I don't hate any of the Lannisters. I even like Cersei. I hated Joff, but that isn't a problem anymore. I love his two younger siblings. I love Jaime and Tyrion. I adored Kevin and Gemma. And I think that old magnificent bastard Tywin was one of the more interesting villains we tackled. And that's the thing about good antagonists. If they're done well, you can't help but like them. If they move the story forward, even if you hate them in the midst of what they are doing, you still like the fact that they are there.

Stannis gets on my nerves because he bitches all the time and always has that look on his face. His fanbase gets on my nerves more, because they see him as some kind of badass  . . . when really he's a Jan Brady who bitches all the time and has that look on his face. And yet, I adore Davos and Davos loves him, so Stannis is tolerated.

I could actually go on about this for a while and arrive at no conclusion. Everyone I dislike usually either dies, redeems themselves, makes someone else happy, or has a really important point in the story.  So no least favorites.