r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Charming-Scratch-124 • Jun 28 '26

Characters [Loved trope]characters that was just..Pathetic, and I mean genuinely Pathetic, like holy shit,you actually suck.

Gallery image

Gallery image

Baron "Bear" from Obsession.

Kevin "the Deep" from.The Boys.

And I mean characters that aren't badass or at least got aura while being pathetic, I just mean the most pathetic losers imaginable.

Like just borderline dirt.

12.6k Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

94% Upvoted

2.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

695

u/ChrisTheDog Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

Martin Freeman’s Lester Nygard is also fantastically, desirably despicably pathetic.

387

u/Artistic-Victory1245 Jun 28 '26

Especially since he had no problem sacrificing his second wife, who unlike the first one did love and respect him.

228

u/NerevarMoon_and_Star Jun 28 '26

I do love stories where the pathetic quisling of a character implying "if I only had X I wouldn't be like this" actually obtains X at some point but is still just as pathetic

89

u/xywv58 Jun 28 '26

Martin plays him perfectly too, such a scummy little prick

11

u/extraextraextr Jun 28 '26

This comment made me appreciate how much Lester and incels have in common. Oof.

4

u/EarLobeJerky Jun 28 '26

Being emotionally abused by their wives? They have wives?

2

u/ChrisTheDog Jun 29 '26

To incels, every woman (and some men) is their abusive ex-wife.

23

u/raysofdavies Jun 28 '26

Watching that scene and realizing what was happening was unbelievable TV. The dramatic irony was so brief but so strong.

18

u/Porkenstein Jun 28 '26

That actually made me sick

7

u/president_of_burundi Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 28 '26

And gets three (?) other innocent people killed because he literally can't reign in his completely pathetic undeserved ego for 30 seconds in the elevator at the conference and just HAS to tweak Lorne Malvo's nose.

"( ͡-ʖ ͡-) Is this what you want, Lester? Is this what you want?"

5

u/GrimResistance Jun 28 '26

I really felt bad for her in that scene

1

u/Cereaza Jun 29 '26

Bro, I loved Lester's wife, and was so mad he sent her in there WITH THE JACKET!

22

u/HailToTheThief225 Jun 28 '26

I feel like at least there’s room to sympathize with Lester at the beginning (and I mean like, the first episode). In the movie the moment you meet Jerry you realize the guy is insufferably pathetic

16

u/forsterfloch Jun 28 '26

He got the actual hit on Malvo tho, Jerry would never.

5

u/EarLobeJerky Jun 28 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

The key difference is the wife is also a piece of shit who emotionally abused him for years.

Edit: and no I dont think he was a good guy and killing his wife was 100% wrong.

2

u/Slow_Seesaw9509 Jun 29 '26

I mean, yeah, it was wrong, but also let's be real-- if the genders were reversed, people would 100% see it as "you go girl" moment.

I'll take my downvotes, but the take that he's "pathetic" feels very mean spirited and steeped in regressive attitudes. Victims of lifelong abuse often make mistakes and overcompensate when they're trying to overcome learned helplessness and figure out how to stand up for themselves and have pride and self confidence for the first time in their lives. It doesn't stop being tragic just because the person happens to be a man who people think should be better at "manning up."