Hailey Watson
Some of the most beloved characters in television history are actually pretty horrible when you stop and think about it.
They lie, cheat, manipulate, and hurt the people around them, yet we still tune in every week to watch their antics.
While their charisma and wit make them entertaining, their actions often cross serious moral lines that would make them unbearable in real life.
1. Walter White from Breaking Bad
Facing a serious illness, Walter started a secret, illegal business to cover his hospital bills.
Sounds noble, right?
Wrong.
He quickly became addicted to power and money, poisoning a child, watching Jesse’s girlfriend die, and destroying countless lives along the way.
His pride and ego drove every terrible decision he made.
Walt manipulated everyone around him, especially Jesse, treating him like a puppet.
By the end, even his own family feared and hated him.
Despite all this, viewers found themselves rooting for him at times, which shows just how charismatic a monster can be.
2. Ross Geller from Friends
Remember how Ross was supposed to be the romantic, sensitive guy?
Looking back, he was actually controlling, jealous, and self-centered.
His obsession with Rachel bordered on creepy, and he refused to take responsibility for his mistakes.
The whole “we were on a break” excuse shows how he twisted situations to avoid admitting fault.
He dated one of his students, which is incredibly inappropriate.
Ross also threw tantrums when things didn’t go his way, acting more like a toddler than an adult.
His constant need to be right and his condescending attitude toward his friends made him exhausting to be around, even if the laugh track tried to convince us otherwise.
3. Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother
Sure, Barney was hilarious with his suits and catchphrases, but his treatment of women was absolutely disgusting.
He lied, manipulated, and tricked women into sleeping with him, treating them like conquests rather than human beings.
His elaborate schemes included impersonating professionals and creating fake identities.
Barney even had a playbook full of manipulative tactics.
The show played this all for laughs, which makes it even more disturbing.
While the series tried to redeem him later, years of predatory behavior can’t be erased by a cute wedding episode.
His actions would be considered harassment or worse in real life.
4. Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls
Everyone loved Rory as the sweet, bookish daughter, but she grew into an entitled and selfish adult.
She had affairs with multiple men who were in relationships, showing zero respect for other women or basic decency.
Rory treated boyfriends like backup options, dropping them when something better came along.
She expected the world to hand her success without putting in real work.
When journalism didn’t fall into her lap, she acted shocked and offended.
Her privileged upbringing made her blind to her own faults.
Rory’s character arc proved that being well-read doesn’t automatically make someone a good person.
5. JD from Scrubs
JD seemed like a lovable goofball, but his treatment of women was consistently terrible.
He cheated on girlfriends, played with Elliot’s emotions for years, and prioritized his own feelings over everyone else’s.
His constant need for attention and validation made him emotionally draining.
JD would sabotage relationships because he couldn’t stand not being the center of someone’s world.
His fantasy sequences showed how self-absorbed he really was, imagining himself as the hero in every situation.
While Scrubs played his flaws for comedy, JD’s immaturity and selfishness hurt real people.
His refusal to grow up made him a frustrating friend and worse boyfriend.
6. Paul Robinson from Neighbours
Australia’s longest-running villain, Paul Robinson has spent decades being absolutely terrible.
He’s committed arson, fraud, and manipulated everyone in Erinsborough for personal gain.
His business dealings are shady at best, criminal at worst.
Paul has been married multiple times, cheating and lying to each wife.
He’s a serial womanizer who uses people and discards them.
His children barely tolerate him because of his constant scheming and betrayals.
Despite being caught repeatedly, Paul never truly learns or changes.
His character proves that some people are just fundamentally selfish, choosing power and money over basic human decency every single time.
7. Don Draper from Mad Men
Charming, talented, and devastatingly persuasive, Don sells impossible dreams while living a lie.
He steals a dead man’s identity, abandons responsibility whenever it gets uncomfortable, and cheats like it is a hobby.
The pitch always sparkles, but real people bleed behind those glossy campaigns.
He weaponizes charisma to dodge accountability, gaslighting lovers and colleagues to maintain control.
When the facade cracks, he runs to booze, then back to work to launder his guilt.
Redemption flickers now and then, but it rarely sticks.
You are left realizing the myth of Don is built on other people’s broken pieces.
8. BoJack Horseman from BoJack Horseman
BoJack is brutally self-aware yet keeps choosing the selfish path.
He sabotages friends, exploits assistants, and chases validation at the expense of anyone nearby.
The jokes land hard until you realize the wreckage is not punchline material, it is people’s lives.
He apologizes a lot, then repeats the same harm, like contrition is a reset button.
Fame becomes his shield and his excuse, especially when he fails someone who trusted him the most.
You may empathize with his pain, but that does not erase what he does.
The show makes sure you feel both truths at once.
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