Gwen and Leshawna in Island. They both have the role of The Protagonist we're supposed to root for while their enemy, Heather, is the Big Bad of the season. However, the way both handle their conflicts with her is morally questionable despite the narrative painting them as taking the moral high ground over Heather. Both constantly take it upon themselves to punish Heather for her wrongdoings by what essentially can be described as a "prank war" with her. However, while Heather's stunts involve embarrassing them (reading Gwen's diary or exposing her underwear) or manipulation that can be resolved by contestants watching the show afterwards or talking to each other (kissing Trent in front of Gwen), Gwen and Leshawna's retaliation often puts Heather's life or health at risk (Gwen putting red ants on her bed, Leshawna throwing her off the cliff, locking her in the freezer for an extended period of time, and making her shower in sewage). Both also lock Heather and Lindsay outside the girls' cabin in "Brunch of Disgustingness," even though Heather's worst action in the episode was dividing the cabin in half, which they agreed to. Lindsay also gets caught in the crossfire despite the two giving her a free pass for being a Minion with an F in Evil in other episodes. This all is also in spite of the show's format providing them with an incredibly easy and more moral way of dealing with their bully - simply voting Heather out, which they have numerous opportunities for, but waste each of them.
Cody in World Tour. We are supposed to feel sorry for him because Sierra is obsessing over him and barging in on his personal space and sympathize with him whenever he pushes her away. However, some felt he was being a hypocrite because of how by this point in the series he had effectively become a Gwensexual. It gets to the point that he starts harassing Duncan even when he's doing nothing to antagonize him out of jealousy. Duncan throwing a dingo at Cody resulting in Gwen's elimination comes off as Laser-Guided Karma for all three of them. There's also the fact that his spot in the final three felt undeserved since he did almost nothing noteworthy all season and was essentially carried (both figuratively and literally) by Sierra and ended up getting as far as he did because he managed to stay off of everyone else's radar for the entire season.
Gwen and Duncan are supposed to be sympathetic in World Tour, with the narrative upping up Courtney's controlling behavior towards Duncan once he returns in contrast to Gwen and Duncan's more friendly interactions once they become a couple, and showing how guilty Gwen feels about kissing Duncan while he was dating Courtney. However, the fact Gwen kissed Duncan knowing he was taken, especially after she'd started becoming friends with Courtney, makes her unsympathetic in the eyes of many, especially since she keeps dating Duncan even after seeing how bad it hurt Courtney. Duncan is even harder to like here, since he openly shows no regrets for cheating on Courtney. Even fans of Gwen and Duncan (as characters or as a ship) will admit that they didn't look as good in the World Tour arc as they were intended. While Duncan is painted as less likable in All Stars, Gwen is shown to beat herself up more for losing Courtney's friendship. The fandom is more split on whether Courtney should have forgiven Gwen in that season, especially since Gwen insists throughout the season that Duncan wasn't dating Courtney when Gwen kissed him, which isn't true; it's most likely a Series Continuity Error, but comes across as her still refusing to take responsibility for her actions.
Second generation
We're supposed to feel for Mike because his MPD makes it difficult for him to get the girl he actually wants. However, the fact that he never tells anyone about his MPD and most find out on their own. This hurt Zoey and would have hurt Anne Maria as well, not that we see.
Zoey's Friendless Background and struggles in her Love Triangle are supposed to be sympathetic, but she badmouths good-intentioned people like Dawn for being creepy. She spends most of the pre-merge in Revenge obsessing over her love life with Mike, which on a couple occasions distracts her from actually helping her teammates, most glaringly when she stands on Jo's oxygen pump and nearly suffocates her because she was complaining to Mike about his interactions with Anne Maria. As such, she comes across as selfish instead of the All-Loving Heroine she's meant to be.
Third generation
Sky also falls into this boat due to how harshly she treats Dave late in the season. Granted she never wanted a relationship to begin with, but many thought her actions that resulted in shattering Dave were really uncalled for. Then there's the fact that, despite feeling genuine remorse for hurting Dave after he learns she never officially broke up with her boyfriend despite fully intending to, she doesn't spare a second thought about leaving him on the island.
Jasmine fell into this from episodes 5 to 9. We're meant to feel sorry for her because of the fact that Shawn hit her off a dock, even though it was the challenge and Jasmine wanted to throw the challenge just to keep Shawn safe. Afterwards, she's furious at him and acts snippy at his attempts to apologize. This played a huge role in episode 8, where she wants Sky to be away from Dave mostly because of experience and less because of focusing on the game.
Fourth generation
Emma. We're supposed to feel sorry for her because her ex-boyfriend, Chase, won't leave her alone. However, her obsessive Jerkass to One attitude towards Chase (who, while deserving of it regardless of any care he might have, his worst actions are a result of idiocy rather than malice) makes her come off as petty and childish, making her come off as unsympathetic. This is compounded by how it's revealed in "The Truth, The Pole Truth and Nothing But the Truth" that he tried to legally have her name changed to "Chase's Girlfriend" and that he crippled her mother, yet she chose to stay with him until he cut her brakes. This is not helped by the fact that in "Tortoise Rigamortis", she actively sabotages Bowie throughout the challenge simply because he voted to have Chase eliminated, even blaming him for agreeing with her whenever she ranted about Chase, despite the fact that Bowie is right about Chase being a terrible person who Emma should have never gone back to in the first place. However, it may not have been unintentional as many characters, including Chris and Julia, are disgusted with Emma's decision to get back with Chase. Even when she breaks up with him for good, she's still petty, spiteful, and vindictive when she tries to sabotage her team just because they were doing the opposite of what she said as if it was their fault she kept giving them the wrong answers.
Caleb in the second season. He's intended to be seen as a Nice Guy who, like Priya but to a lesser extent, has parents that push him to be his best. For some, this falls flat when he initially talked to Priya just to form an alliance and only then in episode 6 did he fall for her (although to his credit Caleb seemed oblivious to Priya's crush on him). Him claiming that he's honest and doesn't want to go against his grandmother comes off as hypocritical when he's worked with Julia in the votes and once again, only wanted to form an alliance with Priya from the start. And he's presented as a pushover every time Priya acts vindictive and irrational. As a result, him making the finale comes off as unearned to some.
Priya, while she is certainly The Woobie and was in some ways correct to feel used by Caleb and Millie, even though they weren't acting maliciously, some fans pointed out that a lot of Priya's problems could be solved if she just talked to people instead of just yelling and physically attacking others (some who didn't even hurt her in the first place). She was also supposed to be a positive friend influence for Millie, except that Priya herself admitted to having intentionally tried to kill Caleb and used him for her own goals, making many of her (otherwise valid) criticisms seem hypocritical.
