One trend I've been noticing lately is that on a lot of the shows I watch, my favorite character is often the most aggressively disagreeable one, the one that none of the other characters on the show can stand. These flies in the ointment provide the vital interpersonal conflict that keeps most of these shows going.
Of course, the king of all TV-Assholia is Eric Cartman on South Park. On a show that is an allegory for the folly of American culture, Cartman is the raging id. He's selfish. He's driven only by his own vices & appetites. He had Scott Tenorman's parents killed over a matter of $16.12. He told Butters that the entire world had been annihilated in a nuclear war just so that he could go to Casa Bonita for Kyle's birthday party. He dresses up like Hitler. He spews out profanity-laden rants against Jews, hippies, etc. He's just... evil.
2nd place would go to Arnold Judas Rimmer on Red Dwarf. "He was the most unpopular man on the ship. He even had to arrange his own surprise birthday parties." "There's a saying amongst the officers. 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. If it's not worth doing, give it to Rimmer.'" "Astoundingly zealous. Possibly mad. Probably has more teeth than brain cells."
Most of the rest tend to fall under the arrogant scientist breed of asshole. They're geniuses who think that their intelligence gives them the right to treat other people like dirt.
Few humans in the whole of science fiction have more blood on their hands than Gaius Baltar on the new Battlestar Galactica. He sold out 50 billion people in exchange for some Cylon poon tang. And as the show goes on, he's still only truly concerned with number one. But then, since no one else loves him, he's just making up for that deficiency on his own, I guess. Oddly, the longer the show goes on, the less I care about the rest of humanity. The only thing that kept me watching past the 1st few episodes of Season 3 was the desire to see what becomes of Gaius Baltar.
Rodney McKay on Stargate Atlantis doesn't have the kind of heavy conscience that Baltar does but McKay is much, much ruder. Owen Harper on Torchwood is very much cut from the same cloth.
Dr. Kurt Mendell on Odyssey 5 isn't nearly as much of an asshole as the rest mentioned here. He's kind of a pig but he means well. Still, he's got an edge to him that makes him the most interesting character on the show.
So who else loves the asshole of TV?
Of course, the king of all TV-Assholia is Eric Cartman on South Park. On a show that is an allegory for the folly of American culture, Cartman is the raging id. He's selfish. He's driven only by his own vices & appetites. He had Scott Tenorman's parents killed over a matter of $16.12. He told Butters that the entire world had been annihilated in a nuclear war just so that he could go to Casa Bonita for Kyle's birthday party. He dresses up like Hitler. He spews out profanity-laden rants against Jews, hippies, etc. He's just... evil.
2nd place would go to Arnold Judas Rimmer on Red Dwarf. "He was the most unpopular man on the ship. He even had to arrange his own surprise birthday parties." "There's a saying amongst the officers. 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well. If it's not worth doing, give it to Rimmer.'" "Astoundingly zealous. Possibly mad. Probably has more teeth than brain cells."
Most of the rest tend to fall under the arrogant scientist breed of asshole. They're geniuses who think that their intelligence gives them the right to treat other people like dirt.
Few humans in the whole of science fiction have more blood on their hands than Gaius Baltar on the new Battlestar Galactica. He sold out 50 billion people in exchange for some Cylon poon tang. And as the show goes on, he's still only truly concerned with number one. But then, since no one else loves him, he's just making up for that deficiency on his own, I guess. Oddly, the longer the show goes on, the less I care about the rest of humanity. The only thing that kept me watching past the 1st few episodes of Season 3 was the desire to see what becomes of Gaius Baltar.
Rodney McKay on Stargate Atlantis doesn't have the kind of heavy conscience that Baltar does but McKay is much, much ruder. Owen Harper on Torchwood is very much cut from the same cloth.
Dr. Kurt Mendell on Odyssey 5 isn't nearly as much of an asshole as the rest mentioned here. He's kind of a pig but he means well. Still, he's got an edge to him that makes him the most interesting character on the show.
So who else loves the asshole of TV?
