Sometimes audiences come to realize that characters on children's shows are a lot worse than they thought. Here are the children's show characters that are actually terrible.
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00:00A greedy old farmer, the school's resident snitch, spoiled young girls.
00:06Children's show characters are so well-known, even the terrible ones.
00:10Keep watching to find out which ones made the cut.
00:14Shows get new characters added to the main cast all the time.
00:17Sometimes those additions become an important part of the show's new dynamic, like Mike
00:21Hannigan on Friends.
00:23Other times, the newbie can overpower the entire show's narrative, like Steve Urkel
00:27on Family Matters.
00:29Other times, you get a character like Scrappy-Doo.
00:32The loud and energetic little pup was introduced as the nephew of Scooby-Doo in the latter's
00:37cartoon series in 1979.
00:39The ratings for the show were dropping, and series writer Mark Evanier credits the arrival
00:44of Scrappy with keeping the show running.
00:47So it seems the Great Dane puppy was fairly popular, at least in the beginning.
00:52Later generations of fans grew to dislike how much attention Scrappy was getting, and
00:56the way he affected the dynamic of the main cast of Scooby and the Gang.
01:00Scrappy's popularity sunk so low that he was reimagined as the main villain in the 2002
01:06live-action Scooby-Doo film.
01:08When James Gunn, who wrote the screenplay for the movie, was asked why he made Scrappy
01:12into a villain, Gunn bluntly replied,
01:14"...Scrappy is just a completely f----- awful person."
01:19In a sea of superhero cartoons aimed squarely at young boys, The Powerpuff Girls was a breath
01:24of fresh air.
01:25It shone the spotlight on superpowered tween sisters Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, and
01:31their quest to keep their city safe from just the most adorable villains you can imagine.
01:36While most of the villains on the show were portrayed as creatures and monsters, things
01:40got pretty real with the introduction of Princess Morbucks.
01:43As her name indicates, Morbucks was a little girl whose superpower was having an uber-rich
01:48dad who gave his little princess anything she wanted.
01:52Princess Morbucks typifies the worst kind of spoiled children that exist in the real
01:56world.
01:57"...Get on aboard the choo-choo express."
01:58"...Woo-woo!
01:59I only travel first class on my daddy's private Learjet."
02:05She is the kind of over-entitled brat who thinks the world owes her everything.
02:10Morbucks repeatedly tries to become a Powerpuff Girl with the help of her dad's resources.
02:14When that doesn't work, she tries to take out the competition by every underhanded means
02:18available.
02:20Amusingly, Princess Morbucks might be a parody of Little Orphan Annie.
02:24Both characters are red-haired, freckled-faced little girls, while Daddy Morbucks sounds
02:28quite similar to Annie's adoptive father, Daddy Warbucks.
02:33If Peppa Pig is the modern flag-bearer of the troublesome children's show protagonist's
02:37archetype, Caillou is the OG.
02:40Much like Peppa, Caillou's life revolves around exploring the world with an inquisitive spirit.
02:46Also like Peppa, the dude can become quite the little monster if he is not allowed to
02:50do what he wants all the time.
02:52He complains nonstop about things he does not like, and throws temper tantrums at the
02:57drop of a hat.
02:59He pinched his baby sister, called his friend stupid, and ran wild in the school when Sarah
03:03took him to her class for a project.
03:06To add to the chaos, it's pretty clear that much of Caillou's bad behavior is enabled
03:10by his weak-willed parents.
03:12Things got so bad that many articles were written about how much people hated Caillou
03:16and his show.
03:17Today, the character is better known as a symbol of internet hate than for his own show.
03:23You know hating Caillou has gone mainstream when the character gets specifically called
03:27out by last week's Tonight host, John Oliver.
03:29"-F-ck you, Caillou!
03:30Grow some hair and leave the house!"
03:34Imagine Dennis the Menace without any of the charm or charisma, and you have Norman Price
03:39in a nutshell.
03:41Norman holds the record for being rescued the most number of times, and roughly each
03:45time he was responsible for his own mess.
03:48Norman refuses to learn from experience, and goes right back to work getting into trouble
03:52again.
03:53While other children's show protagonists often get into trouble because they don't know any
03:57better, Norman is a much more proactive participant, you know, like the million times he caused
04:03a fire.
04:04We're pretty sure Norman's reputation as a prankster will get him sent to prison the
04:08minute he turns 18.
04:10Or if he ever steps foot outside of his hometown, where all the grown-ups are inexplicably cool
04:15with Norman's constant life-threatening antics.
04:17"-It's dangling from a zip wire above the waterfall, hanging upside down by his foot.
04:23I should have seen that one coming."
04:26At first, the Smurfs looks to be the portrait of an ideal society as embodied by Smurf Village.
04:32Every Smurf gets one defining trait, and their jobs and personalities are built around it.
04:36In truth, some of the Smurfs' personalities seem to be built around being obnoxious tools,
04:41and nothing else.
04:43Somehow Brainy Smurf manages to be more annoying than every other resident.
04:47"-Clearly you two lack the verbal skills required to explain this predicament succinctly."
04:51Supposedly, Brainy is the voice of reason among his peers, but he is too in love with
04:57his own mind to be likable.
04:59He constantly brags about his intelligence, looks down on the other Smurfs, and acts like
05:04he is Papa Smurf's second-in-command despite there being no such actual position.
05:09To top it all, while Brainy talks a good game, he has proven himself to be no more competent
05:14at dealing with actual problems than the other Smurfs, which means his problem-solver persona
05:19is all just an act.
05:222003's Teen Titans was praised for its complex plotlines, strong central cast of characters,
05:27and believable emotional arcs.
05:30The series got a semi-spin-off in 2013 called Teen Titans Go!, which was exactly like the
05:35original except all the returning main characters were now just awful people in every way.
05:41Robin, Raven, Beast Boy, Starfire, and Cyborg on Teen Titans Go! are like parody versions
05:47of the Teen Titans characters.
05:49They rarely fight crime and are frequently depicted more as self-absorbed teenagers than
05:54superheroes.
05:56The creators of the show are aware that fans of the original are not happy with the changes
06:00made to the main characters.
06:02As producer Michael Jelinek told Comics Alliance,
06:05"...we decided to bring back the original cast because they had good chemistry and so
06:09far it's worked.
06:10For everybody except for fans of the original show."
06:14The issue has become so hotly debated that Teen Titans Go! did an entire episode about
06:19its characters needing to be more like the guys from the original Teen Titans.
06:24Everyone knows the basic premise of Tom and Jerry.
06:26There is Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse.
06:35Their battles have become the stuff of legends.
06:38Within the confines of the house Tom belongs to, Tom is the dim-witted Goliath, while Jerry
06:43is the quick-witted, but much tinier, David.
06:46As such, Jerry is usually depicted as the protagonist of the series.
06:50But as you grow older, you realize how unfairly Tom is depicted in the cartoons.
06:55After all, the dude is a house pet, and is specifically expected to help keep his owner's
07:00house and belongings free of vermin.
07:03On the other hand, Jerry is the undesired house guest, who steals what he wants, destroys
07:08house property, and even brings his pals from the wild into the house for extended periods.
07:13Who knows what kind of diseases or dangerous bacteria Jerry, his nephew Nibbles, or Quacker
07:19the Duckling have brought into the house over the years.
07:22Once you become an adult and a homeowner, you start to realize the danger posed by rodents
07:26to your property.
07:28And that's when Tom starts looking more and more like the good guy.
07:32Recess was a show that dared to ask, what if the typical American school playground
07:36during recess became a sophisticated, small-scale version of society, complete with kids being
07:42placed in highly organized social groups and a king to oversee the running of the entire
07:47structure, and dole out punishment to wrongdoers.
07:50The central premise of the show might appear limited, but it works surprisingly well due
07:55to the well-rounded nature of the characters of the children who take part in the recess
07:59society.
08:00However, not every character is likable.
08:03Least of all, Randall Weems.
08:05Randall is the school's resident snitch, which might sound like an insult if Randall wasn't
08:09so proud of the fact.
08:12Throughout the show, he is shown to be completely devoted to the cause of snitching on his fellow
08:15classmates to his beloved teacher, Miss Finster.
08:19Randall is also shown at different points to be a coward and a traitor.
08:23To make matters worse, he is not above using information he has on other kids to blackmail
08:27them for favors.
08:29Honestly, if he wasn't such a scrawny little weasel that you occasionally feel sorry for,
08:34Randall would be one of the most despicable characters in fiction.
08:37Blonde, pigtailed, and angelic-looking, Angelica Pickles is a prime example of a wolf in sheep's
08:44clothing.
08:45A cousin of Tommy and Dill Pickles, Angelica served as one of the main villains on Rugrats.
08:50Which is a truly awful statement when you remember the heroes of the series are literal
08:54toddlers that Angelica delights in terrorizing.
08:57At just three years old, Angelica is a spoiled, headstrong little tyrant who can communicate
09:02with adults as well as infants.
09:04Here's your pudding, Angelica.
09:06Oh, that's okay, Uncle Stu.
09:09I'm not hungry anymore.
09:12Instead of acting as a bridge of understanding between the two groups, Angelica uses her
09:16advantage entirely for her own ends.
09:19She has also frequently played the babies off against each other, pinned the blame for
09:23her cat's actions on Tommy's dog, convinced the other babies that Chucky is an alien,
09:29and faked a ransom note to get free candy.
09:31Honestly, a grown-up version of Angelica would probably be a full-blown psychopath who'd
09:36cyberbully her classmates as a joke.
09:39Unfortunately, teenage Angelica who showed up later in the series is shown to have calmed
09:43down somewhat and isn't nearly as awful as her three-year-old self.
09:49Farmers and old men are generally treated kindly on children's shows.
09:53They are often depicted as fatherly and full of wisdom, or harmless backdrop characters
09:57to whatever the protagonist of the show has going on at the moment.
10:01Eustace from Courage the Cowardly Dog bucks this trend by being an actively awful person.
10:06As the title suggests, the show is about a dog named Courage, who is an extreme coward.
10:11However, his cowardice does not stop him from protecting his owners, Eustace and his wife,
10:16Muriel.
10:17While Muriel is every bit the simple, warm-hearted farmer stereotype you could hope for, her
10:22husband is a crotchety, greedy, mean-spirited jerk who constantly goes out of his way to
10:28make Courage's life miserable.
10:30The main villains on the show are aliens and otherworldly monsters, but viewers realize,
10:35as grown-ups, how much more realistic and compelling a villain Eustace was than the
10:39villain of the weak creatures.
10:41His habit of addressing Courage as Stupid Dog, putting on scary masks to send Courage
10:46into a frenzied panic, and taking his irritation out on the family pet all line up depressingly
10:52well with real-life cases of animal abuse.
10:55Really, if Courage hadn't been so loyal, the best thing he could have done was just let
11:00the monsters take Eustace.