Are there any characters you just have 0 sympathy for?

[SeanF]

5 hours ago, Gilbert Green said:

I might be able to feeling a bit sorry for Tyrion if he, and his fans, did not spend so much time doing that for me.   As it is, I just laugh at each well-deserved misfortune.

I was sympathetic to Tyrion on my first read of the first three books.  Then, it gradually dawned on me that he is appalling.

i won’t say I have no sympathy for him, but I don’t have a lot.

[Maegor_the_Cool]

3 hours ago, SeanF said:

I was sympathetic to Tyrion on my first read of the first three books.  Then, it gradually dawned on me that he is appalling.

i won’t say I have no sympathy for him, but I don’t have a lot.

His wit made him enjoyable. Post KL Tyrion is not only a dull character but it shows his appalling nature. I find it super ironic that Jaime is the “good Lannister” when at the start of the story it seemed like it was supposed to be Tyrion 

[Phylum of Alexandria]

4 hours ago, Maegor Targaryen I said:

His wit made him enjoyable. Post KL Tyrion is not only a dull character but it shows his appalling nature. I find it super ironic that Jaime is the “good Lannister” when at the start of the story it seemed like it was supposed to be Tyrion 

He's pretty awful, and may get even worse before he ever pulls back. But still, I do love his ADWD chapters. They're my favorite glimpses into Essos. The river chapters are just wonderful.

[SeanF]

5 hours ago, Maegor Targaryen I said:

His wit made him enjoyable. Post KL Tyrion is not only a dull character but it shows his appalling nature. I find it super ironic that Jaime is the “good Lannister” when at the start of the story it seemed like it was supposed to be Tyrion 

I think Tyrion is the Walter White of this tale, with the same anger, pride, and bitterness.

He may be a very bad influence on Daenerys.

[KingStoneheart]

A lot of people are saying Cersei and yet I felt sympathy for her when I read her chapter during her walk of atonement. She’s a cruel and horrible person who does horrible things and yes deserves death, but there are worse things than death and thinking about those who deserve worse than death is the line of my sympathy.

Joffrey, Ramsay and most of the people named above (Craster, Gregor Clegane, the Bloody Murmers, etc.) all deserve Ramsay style torture. The slavers of Slavers Bay and any slave city deserve the exact punishment that they inflict on their slaves.

[Phylum of Alexandria]

18 minutes ago, SeanF said:

I think Tyrion is the Walter White of this tale, with the same anger, pride, and bitterness.

He may be a very bad influence on Daenerys.

Hmmm, I sure hope not! I tend to think Tyrion will pull back at some point. He's always been a gray character, but his darkness is directly related to family traumas that he still has some capacity to process. And despite how ugly he's become, his dark thoughts still compete with feelings of compassion and notions of doing the right thing.

Perhaps most importantly, his arc seems to have been written so far with the threat from the North in mind. While he dismissed much of it as snarks and grumpkins, he had moments of intuitive clarity about that threat. Should the Others march down with their army of the dead, there's a solid chance that Tyrion wakes from his toxic family psychodrama and is pulled closer to the path of wanting to fight for the realm, be he twisted monkey demon or no.

[Ser Arthurs Dawn]

No sympathy for Sandor, sorry. Nor Janos Slynt, Tywin Lannister, Roose & Ramsay Bolton, Gregor Clegane, and as much as I enjoy Tyrion's POV and character, I also hold no sympathy for him.

[Jon Fossoway]

Theon Greyjoy. I remember never wishing him bad during the course of my readthrough. But I distinctively remember not liking his arrogant, ignorante pose at first that spiraled down kinda quickly to the broken and hopeless submissive lapdog named Reek. And I did not like Reek neither. Both archetypical ends of a character that is not complex at all. I like his inside look at the Boltons and his POVs become really interesting when he is in the middle of the Bolton occupied Winterfell, but the character himself doesn't inspire me a single grain of empathy.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Jon Fossoway

[Terrorthatflapsinthenight9]

Jorah Mormont, who never showed remorse for his actions as a slaver and showed no regard for slaves and people assaulted, raped and enslaved after, not counting that his behavior toward Daenerys is very creepy, having kissed her once without her consent if my memory is correct.

[Ser Arthurs Dawn]

21 minutes ago, KingStoneheart said:

A lot of people are saying Cersei and yet I felt sympathy for her when I read her chapter during her walk of atonement. She’s a cruel and horrible person who does horrible things and yes deserves death, but there are worse things than death and thinking about those who deserve worse than death is the line of my sympathy.

Joffrey, Ramsay and most of the people named above (Craster, Gregor Clegane, the Bloody Murmers, etc.) all deserve Ramsay style torture. The slavers of Slavers Bay and any slave city deserve the exact punishment that they inflict on their slaves.

I feel like it's impossible to not be biased or "hypocritical" in our likes/dislikes of characters. I also sympathize with Cersei (to a certain extent), even though she's just as guilty as the people I mentioned. I've been "called out" for liking her more than popular characters. To some people, it's a heinous crime, even though I don't defend her and acknowledge that she is deserving of punishment.

[Ser Arthurs Dawn]

2 minutes ago, Terrorthatflapsinthenight9 said:

Jorah Mormont, who never showed remorse for his actions as a slaver and showed no regard for slaves and people assaulted, raped and enslaved after, not counting that his behavior toward Daenerys is very creepy, having kissed her once without her consent if my memory is correct.

Oh, I'm adding Jorah to my list. I try so hard to not think about him that I sometimes forget he exists.

[kissdbyfire]

8 minutes ago, Ser Arthurs Dawn said:

Oh, I'm adding Jorah to my list. I try so hard to not think about him that I sometimes forget he exists.

Jorah is creepy af and seemingly completely devoid of a moral compass imo. And another thing we can “thank” the abomination for is the expunging of Jorah’s worst traits. Instead of an ugly & creepy stalker, we get Iain Glen w/ his smooth voice acting all chivalrous. 

[Phylum of Alexandria]

I think in terms of zero or almost zero sympathy, Illyrio Mopatis.

Sure, he has his tale about Serra, but even that relationship sounds grossly one-sided. She was a thing of beauty for him to covet and claim. And like all narcissists, he has a love of his child that really reflects an infatuation with himself, the love for the prospect of immortality through reproduction.

He is thoroughly vile, and hopefully will roast in a torrent of dragonflame.

[Ser Arthurs Dawn]

6 minutes ago, kissdbyfire said:

Jorah is creepy af and seemingly completely devoid of a moral compass imo. And another thing we can “thank” the abomination for is the expunging of Jorah’s worst traits. Instead of an ugly & creepy stalker, we get Iain Glen w/ his smooth voice acting all chivalrous. 

Lol right?? I watched the show before I read the books and walked away thinking highly of Jorah. Iain Glen gave me false expectations. 

[Moiraine Sedai]

I have 0 sympathy for Jaime Lannister, Brandon Stark (Jon’s uncle or father), Nymeria the wolf, and the Brotherhood Without Banners.

[kissdbyfire]

9 minutes ago, Ser Arthurs Dawn said:

Lol right?? I watched the show before I read the books and walked away thinking highly of Jorah. Iain Glen gave me false expectations. 

Ugh! Adjusting from Iain Glen to book!Jorah must have been a nightmarish rude awakening!

[SeanF]

43 minutes ago, Terrorthatflapsinthenight9 said:

Jorah Mormont, who never showed remorse for his actions as a slaver and showed no regard for slaves and people assaulted, raped and enslaved after, not counting that his behavior toward Daenerys is very creepy, having kissed her once without her consent if my memory is correct.

Yes, he's a horrid old perv, preying on girls young enough to be his grandchildren.

[KingStoneheart]

2 hours ago, Jon Fossoway said:

Theon Greyjoy.

Interesting, and yes Theon done awful things. When you read Reek’s chapters, did you feel bad for him at all or at any point during reading thought “To be fair, he doesn’t deserve this. They should just kill him”? A suitable punishment for his crimes would have been a flogging through the streets of a Northern castle for his crimes to then be hung or beheaded. I personally don’t feel he done enough to warrant what Ramsay done to him. A couple of innocent kids, the betrayal of House Stark and Rodrik’s death (which he didn’t want to do, he was peer-pressured to do it by his advisor) is the height of his crimes (on top of just being an arrogant asshole).

[Northern Sword]

Cersei and Janos and at #1 Joffery ... the little shit.

[Curled Finger]

This is tough.  There are characters I love to hate and specifically read them like some teenager with porn because I get such a kick out of them.  Cersei and Tywin do that for me.  They make me cringe and I can't not like that.  I do not care for Sandor Clegane's foul mouth and gruff ways, but I can't help but appreciate a guy who tries to help the otherwise helpless Stark girls.  Soft spot, sorry.  I hate those nasty C players like Rorge and Biter and all those  creepy ass buggers Dany is forever crossing paths with along with the bigger boogey men like Gregor and Vargo.  The POVs give me a look inside so it's really hard to hate them.  Even Victarion when you see what a dumbass he is.  I think the Green Grace is nasty and Dany just gets the hell out of Mereen post haste.  I can't read much more of those backward assholes.