History JerksAreWorseThanVillains / LiveActionTV

** Elena was a contentious character among the fandom for a long time, as many felt she was far less interesting than the aforementioned Katherine. Hatred for Elena skyrocketed when she chose to be with Damon over Stefan, leaving the latter heartbroken, even though Elena was sired to Damon. By contrast, the villainous Katherine and semi-villainous Rebekah have received far less vitriol from fans despite doing far worse things to other people, including Stefan. Fans unironically took Rebekah calling Elena "a child who only cares about herself" at face value ignoring that Rebekah is [[ImmortalImmaturity incredibly immature for her age]] and far more childish and selfish than Elena.

** Xander Harris was a popular and beloved character during the show's original run thanks to a combination of his humor, vulnerabilities and role as TheTeamNormal in a group where almost everyone either had expert knowledge of the supernatural or was a supernatural creature themselves. However, ValuesDissonance has resulted in Xander's character being viewed in a much more negative light over the years. Xander has drawn criticism for his casually sexist comments which are often lobbed at Cordelia (whom he later cheats on), his jealousy of Angel's relationship with Buffy coming across as [[EntitledToHaveYou entitlement]], his often judgmental and hypocritical attitude towards his friends, and his ditching Anya at the altar. It doesn't help that Creator/JossWhedon -- who admitted to basing Xander on himself -- has recently lost a great deal of public favor due to revelations about his personal life and his behavior towards certain actors on the sets of both ''Buffy'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Some fans have even gone as far as saying Xander is ''more'' evil than the villains of the show whose crimes have included murder, rape, torture and attempted genocide.
** Fans have little love for the Watchers Council due to them being ArmchairMilitary {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s whose treatment of Slayers has been shown to be outright abusive; one of their traditions is the Tento di Cruciamentum, a RiteOfPassage which involves drugging the Slayer to weaken her powers and turning a vampire loose on her. This is done to any Slayer who lives to past the age of 18 and their Watchers are instructed not to tell them about the test, likely because they would object to it. The Watchers Council are also disliked for the role they played in Faith's FaceHeelTurn by trying to arrest her for the accidental death of Mayor Wilkins's assistant which broke her trust in Buffy and her friends because she thought they were in on it. Some fans have also pointed out that the Watchers drafting young girls into a war against evil that will likely kill them at a young age without even financially compensating them is pretty messed up, especially when a Slayer's Watcher is given a salary. The only Watchers who aren't hated worse than most of the villains by fans are Giles and Wesley, the latter initially being just as stuffy and insufferable as most other Watchers before being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap on ''Series/{{Angel}}''.
** Season seven introduced Caleb, a smug, hateful, misogynistic serial killer, who was one of the most evil and depraved characters on the show, yet was entertaining to watch thanks to Creator/NathanFillion's natural charisma. The same can't be said for Kennedy and Rhona, who stand among the most unlikable characters in the series, for their whiny, petulant, selfish, ungrateful, entitled attitudes towards Buffy despite the number of times she's saved them. The former was a particular sore point as she replaced Tara as Willow's girlfriend, despite the short amount of time since Tara's death and the fact that the two had no chemistry with each other.
* ''Series/{{Camelot}}'' has a pretty extreme case; Arthur - the ''main protagonist'' - is [[TheScrappy hated]] by a large chunk of the fandom due to being perceived as a hedonistic spoilt manchild who does little to earn the throne and sleeps with women who he knows are already in committed relationships (including his brother's girlfriend and the bride-to-be of one of his knights). That being said, his actions pale in comparison to [[BigBad Morgan]]'s, who is willing to commit multiple murders and rapes (including [[spoiler:raping her own brother]]) to gain the throne, yet she's easily one of the show's most popular characters. To make matters worse, [[spoiler:the Jerk (Arthur) is the ''rape victim'' of the Villain (Morgan)]], but most viewers tend to [[DracoInLeatherPants brush that aside]]. This is likely due to Creator/EvaGreen's charismatic and nuanced portrayal of Morgan, while Creator/JamieCampbellBower is widely seen as [[WTHCastingAgency miscast]] as Arthur and makes him a [[UnintentionallyUnsympathetic very difficult protagonist to root for]], but the dissonant fan reception can still seem a tad extreme.

** While villains like Kreese, Hawk and Tory are seen as entertaining in spite of their violent actions due to their badass fight scenes and great performances from their actors, the most hated characters on the show by far are Anthony [=LaRusso=] and Counselor Blatt, whose only crimes are being a lazy SpoiledBrat and an incompetent school administrator who is too obsessed with [[PoliticalOvercorrectness political correctness]] respectively. Unlike the villains, these two characters lack the traits that make the villains fun to watch.

** While villains like Kreese, Hawk and Tory are seen as entertaining in spite of their violent actions due to their badass fight scenes and great performances from their actors, the most hated characters on the show by far are Anthony [=LaRusso=] and Counselor Blatt, whose only crimes are being a lazy SpoiledBrat and an incompetent school administrator who is too obsessed with [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad political correctness]] respectively. Unlike the villains, these two characters lack the traits that make the villains fun to watch.

* ''Series/BandOfBrothers'': It doesn't get much more villainous than original recipe Nazis, but in this series they're not given any individual characterization; they're just the opposing force in the war. Captain Sobel, on the other hand, is a grade-A HateSink despite being Easy Company's commanding officer. He revokes weekend pass for the entire company for a few minor uniform infractions, he makes one soldier repeat a 12-mile march for the crime of ''drinking from his canteen,'' he interrupts a spaghetti dinner to make the company run Currahee (a 6 mile trail up and down a mountain) with full stomachs, causing many of them to vomit, and he tries to impose Article 15 punishment on Winters for the crime of not reporting when summoned, despite the fact that Winters never received the message. Winters finally has enough of his shit and requests trial by court martial, leaving Sobel gobsmacked.

* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' is a firm believer in this, most of it's villains [[FromNobodyToNightmare started off as ordinary people]] who suffered constant abuse and humiliation by the people around them [[AristocratsAreEvil (often royals)]] and as a result, as soon as they gained access to dark magic they easily became TheCorruptible. These villains are frequently given moments of sympathy, [[PetTheDog humanity]] and many end up performing HeelFaceTurn's while their bullies tend to either be forgotten or end up becoming AssholeVictim's.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Karen and Foggy tend to easily be hated on by fandom for opposing Matt's double life as Daredevil even when they have legitimate reasons for taking issue with what Matt does, and have more hate than Wilson Fisk, main villain of the show.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Catelyn is often hated by fans for being mean to Jon, her husband's (supposedly) bastard son. While she doesn't treat him like a son and is quite cold to him, she ''does'' [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone feel very bad about it]], most of her children grow up with a close relationship with Jon, and Catelyn is also a loving mother to all her other children. Compare her to Tywin, a much more antagonistic ArchnemesisDad who also hates his son Tyrion for an unfair reason (being a dwarf and MaternalDeathBlameTheChild), treats Tyrion much worse that Catelyn treats Jon, feels no remorse over it at all, and is a terrible father to his other children as well. Unlike Catelyn, Tywin is a fan favorite.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'':

* BandOfBrothers: It doesn't get much more villainous than original recipe Nazis, but in this series they're not given any individual characterization; they're just the opposing force in the war. Captain Sobel, on the other hand, is a grade-A HateSink despite being Easy Company's commanding officer. He revokes weekend pass for the entire company for a few minor uniform infractions, he makes one soldier repeat a 12-mile march for the crime of ''drinking from his canteen,'' he interrupts a spaghetti dinner to make the company run Currahee (a 6 mile trail up and down a mountain) with full stomachs, causing many of them to vomit, and he tries to impose Article 15 punishment on Winters for the crime of not reporting when summoned, despite the fact that Winters never received the message. Winters finally has enough of his shit and requests trial by court martial, leaving Sobel gobsmacked.

** Xander Harris was a popular and beloved character during the show's original run thanks to a combination of his humor, vulnerabilities and role as TheTeamNormal in a group where almost everyone either had expert knowledge of the supernatural or was a supernatural creature themselves. However, ValuesDissonance has resulted in Xander's character being viewed in a much more negative light over the years. Xander has drawn criticism for his casually sexist comments which are often lobbed at Cordelia (whom he later cheats on), his jealousy of Angel's relationship with Buffy coming across as [[EntitledToHaveYou entitlement]], his often judgmental and hypocritical attitude towards his friends, and his ditching Anya at the altar. It doesn't help that Joss Whedon -- who admitted to basing Xander on himself -- has recently lost a great deal of public favor due to revelations about his personal life and his behavior towards certain actors on the sets of both ''Buffy'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Some fans have even gone as far as saying Xander is ''more'' evil than the villains of the show whose crimes have included murder, rape, torture and attempted genocide.

* ''Series/LaCasaDePapel'': The hostage Arturo is easily the most hated character on the show for being a selfish, slimy, perverted jerk[[spoiler: and a rapist]]. He gets much more hate than Gandía, the BigBad who is willing to torture and kill the main characters, and Sierra, who also likes to torture and wants to kill the main characters. Some fans give Gandía and Sierra the DracoInLeatherPants treatment and claim they're just doing their jobs to stop the VillainProtagonist robbers, even if Gandía is clearly sadistic and [[spoiler:kills Nairobi for his own amusement]]. There's also the fact that Gandía is a pretty badass OneManArmy, and Sierra [[spoiler: publicly defies her own force to throw a monkey wrench in the Professor's plans and actually corners the Professor himself]] while Arturo is a pathetic DirtyCoward who manipulates the other hostages into doing things for him.

** Xander Harris was a popular and beloved character during the show's original run because of his sense of humor, role as TheTeamNormal and having moments that dealt with his insecurities and vulnerabilities. However, ValuesDissonance has resulted in Xander's character being viewed in a much more negative light. Xander has drawn criticism for his casually sexist comments which are often lobbed at Cordelia (whom he later cheats on), his jealousy of Angel's relationship with Buffy, his often judgmental and hypocritical attitude towards his friends, and his ditching Anya at the altar. It doesn't help that Joss Whedon, who admitted to basing Xander on himself, has recently lost a great deal of public favor due to revelations about his personal life and his behavior towards certain actors on the sets of both ''Buffy'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Some fans have even gone as far as saying Xander is ''more'' evil than the villains of the show whose crimes have included murder, rape, torture and attempted genocide.

** Xander Harris was a popular and beloved character during the show's original run because of his sense of humor, role as TheTeamNormal and having moments that dealt with his insecurities and vulnerabilities. However, ValuesDissonance has resulted in Xander's character being viewed in a much more negative light by many fans in modern day. Xander has drawn criticism for his casually sexist comments which are often lobbed at Cordelia (whom he later cheats on), his jealousy of Angel's relationship with Buffy, his often judgmental and hypocritical attitude towards his friends, and his ditching Anya at the altar. It doesn't help that Joss Whedon, who admitted to basing Xander on himself, has recently fallen due to revelations about his personal life and his behavior towards certain actors on the sets of both ''Buffy'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Some fans have even gone as far as saying Xander is ''more'' evil than the villains of the show whose crimes have included murder, rape, torture and attempted genocide.
** Fans have little love for the Watchers Council due to them being ArmchairMilitary {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s whose treatment of Slayers has been shown to be outright abusive; one of their traditions is the Tento di Cruciamentum, a RiteOfPassage which involves drugging the Slayer to weaken her powers and turning a vampire loose on her. This is done to any Slayer who lives to past the age of 18 and their Watchers are instructed not to tell them about the test, likely because they would probably object to it. The Watchers Council are also disliked for the role they played in Faith's FaceHeelTurn by trying to arrest her for the accidental death of Mayor Wilkins's assistant which broke her trust in Buffy and her friends because she thought they were in on it. Some fans have also pointed out that the Watchers drafting young girls into a war against evil that will likely kill them at a young age without even bothering to financially compensate them (by contrast the Slayer's Watcher is given a salary). Pretty much the only Watchers who aren't hated worse than most of the villains by fans are Giles and Wesley, the latter initially being just as stuffy and insufferable as most other Watchers before being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap on ''Series/{{Angel}}''.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Laurel Lance had been a divisive character for audiences ever since she told Oliver in the pilot that it was difficult for her to deal with the fact that he was alive while her sister, with whom Oliver was cheating on Laurel with, died. Her standing with the fandom only got worse when Laurel's sister Sara was revealed to be alive in season 2 and Laurel had fallen into alcoholism because of tragedies (such as the death of her friend Tommy Merlyn) which caused Laurel to lash out at her sister and Oliver. Laurel got far more hate than Malcolm Merlyn, the BigBad of the first season, to the point that some fans held her responsible for Tommy's death since he died trying to save her even though Tommy and Laurel were only in danger in the first place because of Malcolm's EvilPlan to destroy the Glades. Thankfully, the hate for Laurel died down after she was killed off.

** While villains like Kreese, Hawk and Tory are seen as entertaining in spite of their violent actions due to their badass fight scenes and great performances from their actors, the most hated characters on the show by far are Anthony [=LaRusso=] and Counselor Blatt, whose only crimes are being a lazy SpoiledBrat and an incompetent school administrator who is too obsessed with [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad political correctness]] respectively, as they lack the traits that make the villains so much fun to watch.
** This is the root of a lot of the RonTheDeathEater applied to Demetri in his conflict with Hawk. Despite being a violent bully, Hawk's badass look, AttackAttackAttack fighting style and sympathetic backstory have made him a case of EvilIsCool. By comparison, a lot of fans find Demetri's constant whining and cynicism to be merely annoying. Not helping is that Hawk ends paying a heavy price when he crosses a line, Demetri rarely does when he crosses a line and when it happens it's treated as tragic.

** Fans have little love for the Watchers Council due to them being ArmchairMilitary {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s whose treatment of Slayers has been shown to be outright abusive; one of their traditions is the Tento di Cruciamentum, a RiteOfPassage which involves drugging the Slayer to weaken her powers and turning a vampire loose on her. This is done to any Slayer who lives to past the age of 18 and their Watchers are instructed not to tell them about the test, likely because they would probably object to it. The Watchers Council are also disliked for the role they played in Faith's FaceHeelTurn by trying to arrest her for the accidental death of Mayor Wilkins's assistant which broke her trust in Buffy and her friends because she thought they were in on it. Some fans have also pointed out that the Watchers drafting young girls into a war against evil that will likely them at a young age without even bothering to financially compensate them (by contrast the Slayer's Watcher is given a salary). Pretty much the only Watchers who aren't hated worse than most of the villains by fans are Giles and Wesley, the latter initially being just as stuffy and insufferable as most other Watchers before being RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap on ''Series/{{Angel}}''.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Laurel Lance had been a divisive character for audiences ever since she told Oliver in the pilot that it was difficult for her to deal with the fact that he was alive while her sister, with whom Oliver was cheating on Laurel with, died. Her standing with the fandom only got worse when Laurel's sister Sara was revealed to be alive in season 2 and Laurel had fallen into alcoholism as a result of recent tragedies (such as the death of her friend Tommy Merlyn) which caused Laurel to lash out at her sister and Oliver. Laurel got far more hate than Malcolm Merlyn, the BigBad of the first season, to the point that some fans held her responsible for Tommy's death since he died trying to save her even though Tommy and Laurel were only in danger in the first place because of Malcolm's EvilPlan to destroy the Glades. Thankfully, the hate for Laurel died down after she was killed off.

** Xander Harris was a popular and beloved character during the show's original run because of his sense of humor, role as TheTeamNormal and having moments that dealt with his insecurities and vulnerabilities. However, ValuesDissonance has resulted in Xander's character being viewed in a much more negative light by many fans in modern day. Xander has drawn criticism for his casually sexist comments which are often lobbed at Cordelia (whom he later cheats on), his jealousy of Angel's relationship with Buffy, his often judgmental and hypocritical attitude towards his friends, and his ditching Anya at the altar. It doesn't help that Joss Whedon, who admitted to basing Xander on himself, has become a DarthWiki/FallenCreator in recent years due to revelations about his personal life and his behavior towards certain actors on the sets of both ''Buffy'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Some fans have even gone as far as saying Xander is ''more'' evil than the villains of the show whose crimes have included murder, rape, torture and attempted genocide.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': Laurel Lance had been a divisive character for audiences ever since she told Oliver in the pilot that it was difficult for her to deal with the fact that he was alive while her sister, with whom Oliver was cheating on Laurel with, died. Things got only worst when Laurel's sister Sara was revealed to be alive in season 2 and Laurel had fallen into alcoholism as a result of recent tragedies (such as the death of her friend Tommy Merlyn) which caused Laurel to lash out at her sister and Oliver. Laurel got far more hate than Malcolm Merlyn, the BigBad of the first season, to the point that some fans held her responsible for Tommy's death since he died trying to save her even though Tommy and Laurel were only in danger in the first place because of Malcolm's EvilPlan to destroy the Glades. Thankfully, the hate for Laurel died down after she was killed off.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Xander Harris was a popular and beloved character during the show's original run because of his sense of humor, role as TheTeamNormal and moments that dealt with his insecurities and vulnerabilities. Fast forward a few decades and ValuesDissonance has resulted in Xander's character being viewed in a much more negative light by many fans. Xander has drawn criticism for his casually sexist comments which are often lobbed at Cordelia (whom he later cheats on), his jealousy of Angel's relationship with Buffy, his often judgmental and hypocritical attitude towards his friends, and his ditching Anya at the altar. It doesn't help that Joss Whedon, who admitted to basing Xander on himself, has become a DarthWiki/FallenCreator in recent years due to revelations about his personal life and his behavior towards certain actors on the sets of both ''Buffy'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Some fans have even gone as far as saying Xander is ''more'' evil than the villains of the show whose crimes have included murder, rape, torture and attempted genocide.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Xander Harris was a popular and beloved character during the show's original run because of his sense of humor, role as TheTeamNormal and moments that dealt with his insecurities and vulnerabilities. Fast forward a few decades and ValuesDissonance has resulted in Xander's character being viewed in a much more negative light by many fans. Xander has drawn criticism for his casually sexist comments which are often lobbed at Cordelia (whom he later cheats on), his jealousy of Angel's relationship with Buffy, his often judgmental and hypocritical attitude towards his friends, and his ditching Anya at the altar. It doesn't help that Joss Whedon, who admitted to basing Xander on himself, has become a DarthWiki/FallenCreator in recent years due to revelations about his personal life and his behavior towards certain actors on the sets of both ''Buffy'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Some fans have even gone as far as saying Xander is ''more'' evil than the villains of the show whose crimes have included murder, rape, torture and attempted annihilation of the human race.

** Some Bonnie fans who like to pair her off with Kol, Klaus, Kai or Damon view them as better matches for Bonnie than Jeremy who once cheated on Bonnie with the ghost of his dead ex-girlfriend. Damon flip flops between being a hero and a villain, Klaus was the BigBad for much of season 3 and had tried to kill Bonnie and her friends several times, Kol is notable for being even more AxCrazy and untrustworthy than Klaus and Kai is a sociopath who, among other things, tried to kill Bonnie and left her in a prison dimension. None of these things have stopped fans from pairing Bonnie with any of these characters while bashing Jeremy for a brief moment of infidelity that he apologized for.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': In a show featuring Walter White (drug manufacture with intent to distribute, theft, arson, multiple homicides in first and second degrees), Gustavo Fring (narcotics distribution, kidnapping, assault, multiple homicides in first and second degrees), and Jack Welker (multiple homicides including deaths of federal agents, drug manufacture and terroristic threats), the most hated character in the show by far is Walt's wife Skyler, who is hated by fandom for things like disagreeing with Walt, being "difficult," smoking three times while pregnant, and sleeping with another man while divorcing Walt.

** This is the root of a lot of the RonTheDeathEater applied to Demetri in his conflict with Hawk. Despite being a violent bully, Hawk's badass look, AttackAttackAttack fighting style and sympathetic backstory have made him a case of EvilIsCool. By comparison, a lot of fans find Demetri's constant whining and cynicism to be merely annoying.