fannish5 The Love-Hate thing

[jayes_musings]

5 characters you think were created to be disliked but you really like anyway.

I could do this meme based on 'Highlander' alone, however, I'll be diverse.

Kronos -- Highlander: The Series. Really, enough said.

Bilis Manger -- Torchwood. He's old, he's not sexy, and he's bad, bad, bad (and creepy)...but he's compelling.

Herrick -- Being Human. The evil vampire with plans to dominate humans. He's appears just so...ordinary and average, but a real bastard and I love that.

Brick Top -- Snatch. There's nothing redeeming about this man. He's a sleezy, brutal, nasty, unattractive bully of a pig farmer. And yet he makes the film.

Obadiah Hakeswell -- Sharpe. Utterly, utterly evil. Brilliantly played by the late, great Pete Postlethwaite (hey, that rhymes!) not to make him likable...you still hated him, but so watchable that you were glad to see him killed...and sad at the same time.

ETA: I think it's worth noting that for 4 of these 5 it certainly isn't based on the actor's look, and that in every case for me, the actor put something into the character that in someway connected with me to make them very real and something quite human in them (even if some aren't human). I do go for the fictional bad guys, often for the sexiness factor, but these (and others I didn't list) manage to be surprising and three-dimensional.

Comments

[beccadg.livejournal.com]

Heh, while I don't go for the bad boys the way you do and I haven't seen any of Being Human (either version), I certainly love everyone of those characters that I do know very much in my own way. If I were going to pick a favorite, based on the film versions, I'd have to go with Obadiah. I hated him so much from the books that the film translation could have been a disaster. Pete Postlethwaite made him everything I could have hoped for. Now, if I was basing it on everything I know about them I'd be tempted to go with Bilis. I might really hate Obadiah or Brick Top, but no one, not even Kronos truly scares me as much as Bilis does.

[simplyjaye.livejournal.com]

Herrick's from the UK version of Being Human, I haven't seen the US one either. He just appears to be your average bloke, nothing remarkable, yet he's the arrogant head vampire with a Napoleon complex...even if he is dumb for locking himself in a room with a werewolf. I think you're right about Bilis...I think because we don't really learn about his motives or what he is exactly that it really ups the creepiness factor in him. He appears such a nice, elderly gentleman and so isn't.

I'm catching up on S2 of Being Human (UK) atm and the Big Bad in that might find his way on this list. Ooooh, not a nice man at all!

[moderate-mod.livejournal.com]

Yes...as much as I love hotties, some of my all time favorite characters are not attractive at all!

[simplyjaye.livejournal.com]

Yes, you can always excuse baddies if they're hot....but if they're not you focus on more on their characterization.

Which is why I never mentioned GB or Fassy or some others. *g*

[moderate-mod.livejournal.com]

I noticed you left Terry and Azzie off the list. *ggg*

[simplyjaye.livejournal.com]

Uh-huh...for exactly that reason! *ggg* And I'm not sure that Azzie was written to be disliked. Evol yes, but still sympathise with him.

[moderate-mod.livejournal.com]

Azzie is all "I'm a FUCKING DEMON, people! It's in the job description to be a bastard!", which drives Alexa batshit insane. *ggg*

[simplyjaye.livejournal.com]

And he loves doing just that! *ggg* But I think the HEX writers were very aware how sexy he was and made the most of that, so you never quite hate him.

[moderate-mod.livejournal.com]

Yes, and he was funny, too. He and Thelma were hysterical together. She kind of poked the pin into his inflated ego, which was fabulous.

[simplyjaye.livejournal.com]

The scenes between him and Thelma are the best ones. There was such good verbal sparring that was pretty equally given.