Readers name their favourite unlikable movie characters

Readers told the Guardian which unlikable movie characters they still find compelling, citing figures from Willie Soke in Bad Santa and Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange to Howard Ratner in Uncut Gems. Contributors used vivid descriptions from the films: one reader called Willie Soke ‘‘a sweary alcoholic without an ounce of dignity and self-respect … positively heartwarming’' (GusCairns), while another described Alex DeLarge as ‘‘a murderer, a gleefully sadistic rapist, an unapologetic sociopathic who treats human beings as playthings’' yet ‘‘irresistibly charming and likable throughout his horrors’' (Thecuregalore94).

Other nominations and brief reader notes included Emily Bennetto (Emily the Criminal), Jules Winnfield (Pulp Fiction), Tommy DeVito (Goodfellas), Mark ‘Chopper’ Read (Chopper), Ethan Edwards (The Searchers), Lily Powers (Baby Face), Barry Champlain (Talk Radio), Valerie Solanas (I Shot Andy Warhol), Sebastian Valmont (Dangerous Liaisons), the servant in The Servant, John Hammond (Jurassic Park), Harriet Potter (Carry On Camping), Withnail (Withnail and I), William ‘D-Fens’ Foster (Falling Down) and Quint (Jaws).

Key Topics

Culture, Willie Soke, Alex Delarge, Howard Ratner, Emily Bennetto, Jules Winnfield