Heroic characters - bad qualities

[Emelee]

Few characters on TV series are 100% good and heroic, forget about that right now.

What characters that can be described as "the good ones" on their shows (heroic, that you're supposed to root for) are actually not that awesome when you think about it?


Carrie Bradshaw (Sex and the City): she's not really the best of friends, is she? It's mostly all about her and her problems. Her issues take presidence. I always get the feeling that the other 3 are less selfish and better at friendships.

Carrie Mathison (Homeland): awesome at her job, but her bipolar disorder cannot excuse her lousy behavior and her selfishness. Why are people loyal to her? Especially: poor Franny.

Ross Geller (Friends): Insecure, whiney & controlling as a boyfriend. I finally started liking him in later seasons when they turned him into a loser.

Ted Mosby (How I Met Your Mother): Pretentious as heck, plus whiney. All other characters ever seen on that show are more enjoyable. The Ross Geller character of HIMYM.

Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones): at first someone I really rooted for. She was the victim who turned heroic as she freed the slaves from vicious rulers. But along the way, she kinda turned into a vicious ruler herself. Her "follow me or I'll burn you to ashes" attitude reminds me of Mad King Targaryen.

Emily Thorne (Revenge): she's a sociopath, quite frankly. Yes, she was wronged as a kid, but she hurt a lot of people on the way to get her revenge. Lots of casualties, lots of used people. No one else mattered to her than herself and her plot.


Can you add more characters to the list?

 

[tommie]

I think the word you're looking for here is the Protagonist.

In all honesty, there's so many supposedly "good" characters that end up annoying me. I think Alison on Melrose Place was, somehow, supposed to be the protagonist (at least during the first three seasons) and Amanda's supposed to be the antagonist - only as an adult I find myself siding with Amanda more than Alison, who in all honesty should've been thankful to even have a job.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

And there's the joint issue of good characters ruined by writers who don't know what to do with anybody who isn't flawed to point of no longer being decent.

Krystle Carrington
Bailey Salinger
Barbara Cooper

 

[Willie Oleson]

In all honesty, there's so many supposedly "good" characters that end up annoying me

I could say the same about some of the antagonists.

Anyway, I'd say Meredith Grey because she became more and more cynical and bitchy for no good reason, although she was always a little offbeat for good reasons.
And bitchy Miranda became weak and woe-is-me in the last seasons I've watched.

 

[Emelee]

Ugh, don't get me started on Meredith Grey... Her problems were the only valid problems in her mind. A real downer to watch.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Soap characters are difficult to place in this kind of thread, since different writing regimes will use the characters for different purposes depending on their mood. A heroic character might be viewed as "dull" by some writer, so they write a "fall from grace" type plot for them and alienate a segment of viewers. Longer-running characters might end up cycling between hero, villain, victim, perpetrator, pushy and doormat over the years. This is why the characters often end up being seen as hypocrites since they tend to forget their past misdeeds when commenting on those of other characters.