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Minor characters you couldn't stand


ian

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I sure we've all done it. You have a book that you really love, but there is always that minor character that pops up from time to time that just ruins every scene they're in. Not necessarily an antagonist - we're meant to hate those - but those bit players, perhaps a bit of comedy relief, that just irritate you.

 

I have two, both from the same book. Merry & Pippin from Lord of the Rings. Even their names irritate me! I realise that they are supposed to represent the voice of the happy innocent, but their happy mumblings jar against the rest of the book for me. Perhaps I'm just being a misery!

 

Please tell me I'm not alone!

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A dopey character will set my teeth to grinding every time.

 

As an example, Lucy Westenra's mother in Dracula.  "Oh, Mr. Van Helsing, I know you told me not to, but I removed all of those horrible garlic flowers from Lucy's room last night, and threw open the windows to let some air in!  Oh, but, did I do something wrong, Mr. Van Helsing?"  ARRRGHH.

 

There are plenty of nitwits in the Sherlock Holmes stories too, who wilfully ignore Holmes's instructions, causing terrible things to happen to innocent people.  "Well, Mr. Holmes, I didn't see the sense in doing what you told me to, so I did THIS instead, and oh, oops, was that the wrong thing to do?"  ARRRGHH.

 

Yup.  Dopey characters.  :D

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I've definitely read books which had minor characters that I found annoying. A recent example was in The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy, for the first two books I couldn't stand Taylor. She was so bossy, even when the main character (Isabel / Belly) clearly said 'no', Taylor thought she knew what was best for the main character and just forced her will upon the main character. Not at all a friend I'd like to have.

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