Least Favorite Character

[MountaineerWV]

While I more than dislike Egwene, I usually enjoy reading her storyline because they stir so much emotion.

 

My least favorite by FAR is Perrin. Usually he bores me to death. When do a read through, it's a real struggle to not skip over his sections. Even when I slog through his sections, I see him as boring and whiny.

[metalisticpain]

Im probably the odd one here but... other than the usuals (Gawyn, Faile), I do not like Padan Fain. I don't like to read from his PoV and he just disinterests me. I know I SHOULD be interested.... but I just cannot get intrigued by him. Hoping he doesn't do a gollum.

[DaoineSidhe]

I have to say that the Rand/Cadsuane resolution was somewhat disappointing. To me, Cadsuane is only the second Aes Sedai (after Morainne) that is able to see Rand as a person, and not just "The Dragon Reborn". Every other Aes Sedai, including Egwene and Nynaeve, and Suian, have to visibly steel themselves to deal with the Reality of the Dragon Reborn being in their midst.

 

In many ways, I thought her realization of her failure was great character growth for her. But we never got to see it evolve to the point where she had any real relationship with Rand. I thought the VoG chapter was very well written, and enjoyed it immensely, but my great fear is that now Cadsuane will kind of fade out. Maybe we'll see some more of her interacting with Rand, but with Morainne's return, I kind of doubt it.

[Maleshub]

Im probably the odd one here but... other than the usuals (Gawyn, Faile), I do not like Padan Fain. I don't like to read from his PoV and he just disinterests me. I know I SHOULD be interested.... but I just cannot get intrigued by him. Hoping he doesn't do a gollum.

 

Fain's madness-evil mixture is a genius bit of writing. But that doesn't make it fun to read. His crimes are chilling! In fact, they are so sickening and loathsome that his death is already deserved a thousand-fold and late by a year or two.

[Wool-headed lummox]

Generally, Perrin and everything directly relating to him is completely of no interest to me. Skipping almost all of Perrin's chapters on my subsequent re-reads contributed greatly to my enjoyment of the series, as the character lacks any grace or personal qualities that set him apart from the template Jordanian male hero that runs around worrying for his bitchy wife and lamenting every kill he has to make. Depressing characters burdened with earthly concerns and self-doubt is not what you read a fantasy series for. Having a lame superpower doesn't help.

[Vardar]

Least favorite how? Written or just character? If it's just the person whom if I were in the series I would not like/possibly attempt to kill it would be Gawyn/Cad/Eggy (Post promotion). Followed by Faile/Perrin, whom I would just spank some sense into.

 

But Cad especially. She makes me want to kick puppies.

[safwd]

BS has stated that he dislikes her character and I believe that is why she comes off so poorly in the Tam scene.

 

This is a very valid point to the Cadsuane debate.

I also have read that BS didnt like her much as a character. I'm sure it is hard to put a ton of effort into a character you just dont care about. Is that fair to the fans of Cadsuane, no, but BS didnt invent these characters, these arent all his children, he was a fan just like we are.

 

Plus the Cadsuane/Rand arc had to end quick and easy to make room for Moiraine to come back into his life. Once Moiraine is back he wont need her at all. She has mostly been replaced as his advisor by Nyneave already.

Plus her work is done. Time to ride off into the sunset.

[Samwise_Terminator]

Least favorite characters; in both the sense of skipping chapters, or wanting to smack them.

 

Luca's Circus, in FoH and CoT, 'yawn'.

 

Sevanna: would've been a lot cooler if Couladin stayed alive, he was much more interesting, the Shaido should've stopped being important after book 5, this would've made Perrin's story arc less boring

 

The Salidar Six, my teeth are gritting just thinking about them.

The way they picked on Siuan and Leane when they showed up, and Nynaeve and Elayne when they did, plus how they made the town have an illusion of progress when they just wanted to hunker down, at least till the "biddable child' showed up.

[Suttree]

Luca's Circus, in FoH and CoT, 'yawn'.

 

You obviously haven't read Felix Pax's crazy theories on Luca. Trust me, you will never look at him the same way, seeing as he is the one true dragon and all.

[muddasssir]

Im probably the odd one here but... other than the usuals (Gawyn, Faile), I do not like Padan Fain. I don't like to read from his PoV and he just disinterests me. I know I SHOULD be interested.... but I just cannot get intrigued by him. Hoping he doesn't do a gollum.

 

Fain's madness-evil mixture is a genius bit of writing. But that doesn't make it fun to read. His crimes are chilling! In fact, they are so sickening and loathsome that his death is already deserved a thousand-fold and late by a year or two.

wow theo that was severe iam impressed you still have some hope

[Maleshub]

Im probably the odd one here but... other than the usuals (Gawyn, Faile), I do not like Padan Fain. I don't like to read from his PoV and he just disinterests me. I know I SHOULD be interested.... but I just cannot get intrigued by him. Hoping he doesn't do a gollum.

 

Fain's madness-evil mixture is a genius bit of writing. But that doesn't make it fun to read. His crimes are chilling! In fact, they are so sickening and loathsome that his death is already deserved a thousand-fold and late by a year or two.

wow theo that was severe iam impressed you still have some hope

 

Lol ... I will have my vindication in 6 months' time. Fain will be toast then ..... muahahahahaha .....

[Luckers]

Im probably the odd one here but... other than the usuals (Gawyn, Faile), I do not like Padan Fain. I don't like to read from his PoV and he just disinterests me. I know I SHOULD be interested.... but I just cannot get intrigued by him. Hoping he doesn't do a gollum.

 

Brandon's said that he won't do a gollum.

[Diamondmask]

I'm so glad someone mentioned Perrin. I thought it was just me who found his character so tedious I skimmed through his pages until the last book when he gained a bit of interest. That might have been glamour leant to him by Galad though, LOL. I dislike Faile and Gawyn and skip over their parts too. And I got seriously put off Aes Sedai when they kidnapped Rand, Elaida's Aes Sedai,but some of the rebels do my head in as well. That still makes me irate - especially as I'm a bit claustrophobic too. My horror on his behalf is almost personal. . Moiraine is different of course (I can't wait for her return), as is Egwene but she's gone a bit strange. Elaine annoys me. She was right about him trying to hand Andor to her, it was hers to start with and has to be wrestled not parceled up.

[shortkut]

How can you even know what is going on in the book if you skip so many parts?

[Treebeard]

my personal bottom list run like this:

 

1: the seafolk- i mean they are just irritating with their " everything is a deal thing"

2: Perrin- you know why

3: Valan Luca - he is just boring and the segment in CoT when Mat travels with him is a pain to read ( at least when Mat is in the camp)

i have a structure on my displeasure , everyone that is created for a specific role and nags all the time is down the well with me. ( exemption Mat who is my favourite)

[lostcause]

My top 3 is - with a rather large distance between them - as follows:

 

1. Gawyn

 

2. Egwene

 

3. Perrin (He acts more like a dense man possessed than a leader in love, most of the time)

[holiday]

I found Sammael to be a near-complete bore, unable to hold a candle to Ishamael as main antagonist. I guess like most of the Forsaken, he never lived up to the original hype given to him by characters in the series, and he can't even make up for it by having a compelling personality.

[Vardar]

my personal bottom list run like this:

 

1: the seafolk- i mean they are just irritating with their " everything is a deal thing"

2: Perrin- you know why

3: Valan Luca - he is just boring and the segment in CoT when Mat travels with him is a pain to read ( at least when Mat is in the camp)

i have a structure on my displeasure , everyone that is created for a specific role and nags all the time is down the well with me. ( exemption Mat who is my favourite)

 

That's interesting. I've never heard someone who had issues with them as a whole. Cool.

[Jonas]

Cadsuane. Pompous and demanding. I'd not like to be her warder!

[Gristle]

First off, I don't consider any characters without significant time as POV leader worth the discussion. I also don't *hate* any of the characters - I love the series and couldn't think of character that I'd prefer was not in the books.

 

That said, my least favorite POV read is Elayne - I just don't relate to this character in any way. The massive amount of time devoted to her was painful for me. I think it's something to do with royalty and entitlement - I'm not really a huge fan of Tuon either.

 

I have always found Nynaeve frustrating as well, but mostly in the first 6-8 books. She's grown on me lately, mostly because she's grown up quite a bit herself. Characters that are adamantly dishonest about themselves are annoying to me. I read a note from BS regarding a re-read he was doing, and he discussed that she was one of his fav. characters because of the courage and tenacity she displays in tracking and protecting the Two Rivers gang. I agree with this, but her consistent self-delusion is infuriating.

 

I have also noticed a significant difference in Mat from BS's perspective, and I don't like it. He just doesn't seem to be able to write Mat's personality, humor, etc. effectively - it seems forced and uncomfortable. I think Mat's roguish character and humor were literally a part of RJ's personality, and it's been lost since he's gone. I'm actually a fan of BS, he's doing a great job with this, and I have read all his other books since he took over the series and enjoyed them, but this is a weakness to me.

 

Now, I have to say a couple things about the people everyone loves to hate:

Gawyn - I really don't understand the hatred towards this character. Most seem to think he is making choices with the same knowledge they have, but he's not. He doesn't know that he's fighting for the wrong side in the WT. He doesn't know that Rand didn't do it. Once he's given all the information, he eventually comes to grips with these things, but as a person of strong conviction it takes time for him to deal with it. He is incredibly arrogant when meeting Bryne again, but it makes sense to me - he's not only facing his father figure as a man for the first time, but he's also under the impression that that man has betrayed what he was to be where he is. It would be VERY out of character for him to have acted any other way. I honestly think that he's very similar to Rand in a lot of ways, minus the whole Dragon Reborn and insanity part. Both have strong convictions that they let lead them significantly far down the wrong path before realizing their mistakes.

 

Egwene - I don't get it. She's got to be the best written female in the book, and she is basically the female version of the Dragon, if there were such a thing. She is singlehandedly stripping the AS of a LOT of their ignorance, which was desperately needed. I hated her blindness when Halima was getting at her, but otherwise I think she's as deep and important as the holy triad.

[Treebeard]

Now, I have to say a couple things about the people everyone loves to hate:

Gawyn - I really don't understand the hatred towards this character. Most seem to think he is making choices with the same knowledge they have, but he's not. He doesn't know that he's fighting for the wrong side in the WT. He doesn't know that Rand didn't do it. Once he's given all the information, he eventually comes to grips with these things, but as a person of strong conviction it takes time for him to deal with it. He is incredibly arrogant when meeting Bryne again, but it makes sense to me - he's not only facing his father figure as a man for the first time, but he's also under the impression that that man has betrayed what he was to be where he is. It would be VERY out of character for him to have acted any other way. I honestly think that he's very similar to Rand in a lot of ways, minus the whole Dragon Reborn and insanity part. Both have strong convictions that they let lead them significantly far down the wrong path before realizing their mistakes.

Well first i must reply to the statement of Gawyn as the misunderstood. He has a choice to believe Elayne when she says that he got it all wrong, he grudging accepts that he will not go and kill rand straight off and in ToM he is just a pain in the ... to Egwene when she says go right he goes left and when she complains that he will not follow orders he says that she dosn't realise the danger. ( yes i.am aware that Gawyn saves her life in the end by contradict an order)

 

Egwene - I don't get it. She's got to be the best written female in the book, and she is basically the female version of the Dragon, if there were such a thing. She is singlehandedly stripping the AS of a LOT of their ignorance, which was desperately needed. I hated her blindness when Halima was getting at her, but otherwise I think she's as deep and important as the holy triad.

first i want to say that iam wih you on this point but

maybe peopel feel insecure or becomes nervous with a female character with a little edge and who also have immense powers

[muddasssir]

I am sorry if it sounds rude to you but do you have any idea that how may time this has come up in these discussions? Anyone who follows this series has at least two female characters among their top five characters. By that I mean literally everyone and here you walk in trying to take this into a completely wrong direction. Luckers or whoever is the moderator on this board should make it a part of the rules that you cannot make this point in any of these discussions. It side tracks the whole discussion into a gender war.

[Mr Ares]

I have always found Nynaeve frustrating as well, but mostly in the first 6-8 books. She's grown on me lately, mostly because she's grown up quite a bit herself. Characters that are adamantly dishonest about themselves are annoying to me. I read a note from BS regarding a re-read he was doing, and he discussed that she was one of his fav. characters because of the courage and tenacity she displays in tracking and protecting the Two Rivers gang. I agree with this, but her consistent self-delusion is infuriating.

Curious that you seem rather more well disposed to Mat, when he displays the same characteristic that you dislike in Nynaeve.

 

Gawyn - I really don't understand the hatred towards this character. Most seem to think he is making choices with the same knowledge they have, but he's not. He doesn't know that he's fighting for the wrong side in the WT. He doesn't know that Rand didn't do it.

He doesn't know that he did, either. He just decided that a rumour he heard from a passing peddlar - one of many such rumours - was the truth, and that Rand must die. His belief comes across as irrational, rather than a reasonable choice based on the information he had.

 

Egwene - I don't get it. She's got to be the best written female in the book,

I think that right there is a big part of why people disagree with you - many feel she is a Mary Sue, that she has no personality of her own, that she has unjustified success, things conveniently fall into place for her. But, please, let's not sidetrack this into another Egwene discussion. You can find more about why people dislike her elsewhere.

 

Egwene - I don't get it. She's got to be the best written female in the book, and she is basically the female version of the Dragon, if there were such a thing. She is singlehandedly stripping the AS of a LOT of their ignorance, which was desperately needed. I hated her blindness when Halima was getting at her, but otherwise I think she's as deep and important as the holy triad.

first i want to say that iam wih you on this point but maybe peopel feel insecure or becomes nervous with a female character with a little edge and who also have immense powers

I have to agree with muddasssir on this point. To accuse those who dislike Egwene of sexism is unfair, inaccurate, and smacks of a refusal to engage with the debate. People dislike her for a number of reasons, and often have other female characters in their lists of favourites. It's not insecurity or nervousness. It has nothing to do with her edge or power.

[Vardar]

Now, I have to say a couple things about the people everyone loves to hate:

Gawyn - I really don't understand the hatred towards this character. Most seem to think he is making choices with the same knowledge they have, but he's not. He doesn't know that he's fighting for the wrong side in the WT. He doesn't know that Rand didn't do it. Once he's given all the information, he eventually comes to grips with these things, but as a person of strong conviction it takes time for him to deal with it. He is incredibly arrogant when meeting Bryne again, but it makes sense to me - he's not only facing his father figure as a man for the first time, but he's also under the impression that that man has betrayed what he was to be where he is. It would be VERY out of character for him to have acted any other way. I honestly think that he's very similar to Rand in a lot of ways, minus the whole Dragon Reborn and insanity part. Both have strong convictions that they let lead them significantly far down the wrong path before realizing their mistakes.

Well first i must reply to the statement of Gawyn as the misunderstood. He has a choice to believe Elayne when she says that he got it all wrong, he grudging accepts that he will not go and kill rand straight off and in ToM he is just a pain in the ... to Egwene when she says go right he goes left and when she complains that he will not follow orders he says that she dosn't realise the danger. ( yes i.am aware that Gawyn saves her life in the end by contradict an order)

 

Egwene - I don't get it. She's got to be the best written female in the book, and she is basically the female version of the Dragon, if there were such a thing. She is singlehandedly stripping the AS of a LOT of their ignorance, which was desperately needed. I hated her blindness when Halima was getting at her, but otherwise I think she's as deep and important as the holy triad.

first i want to say that iam wih you on this point but

maybe peopel feel insecure or becomes nervous with a female character with a little edge and who also have immense powers

 

Since you wanted to pull the sexism card, I'll refute it with my personal thoughts Note: I cannot speak for all those who dislike her, just myself.

 

Eggy is disliked not because she's a strong female leader, but because she it a huge hypocrite. She basically spends the first few books learning how AS act and treat the world and how they push people away by acting so arrogantly, while maintaining they know what's best even when they're proven wrong. She sees this, she dislikes it, and wants to make a stand against it. When she finally gets the power to do something about it, she falls right back into what she hated about the AS, only now she sees it differently because she's in charge, and therefore she must be right. I also dislike her idea that Rand is something that needs to be "dealt" with. he's still a friend, as far as I know and heck Ny treats him better nowadays.

 

She's also pretty damn irrational and illogical at times. Which I could deal with by itself, but she tends to point out the flaws in others while not seeing hers. That's not everything I dislike about her, just some.

 

Ares explained the Gawyn thing, it seems you really read him wrong. All that stuff he doesn't know, is because he didn't bother to ask and find the information out. Which actually is a pretty bad sign for a leader, believing random rumors without looking deeping for information is rather foolish. Him and Eggy deserve each other.

 

She's not my least favorite either, That would go to Cads and Gawyn probably.

[SuperFade]

Echoing MrAres's request to not turn this into another Egwene debate. There's already several topics about her that could be revived if anyone wants to reignite the discussion, no need to do so here.

 

He doesn't know that he did, either. He just decided that a rumour he heard from a passing peddlar - one of many such rumours - was the truth, and that Rand must die. His belief comes across as irrational, rather than a reasonable choice based on the information he had.

 

The best part is that Gawyn himself had previously told the Supergirls not to believe every rumour they heard way back when they were in the White Tower together. Not only is he behaving like a moron, he's doing the exact opposite of what he advised other people to do.