Rivaled only by Attack on Titan and One Punch Man, Sword Art Online proved to be one of the biggest crossover anime hits of the last decade. Its instant popularity is not hard to understand, as both the pilot episode and the first arc were extremely entertaining and capable of hooking in pretty much anyone. As the protagonist, Kirito was a big part of that early success; introduced as a bad ass loner with a chip on his shoulder, he slowly develops due to his budding relationship with Asuna.

Then it all kind of spiraled out of control. It could be argued that Sword Art Online should have ended after that initial Aincrad arc, as the follow-up seasons failed to live up to that original promise, and Kirito did not escape that backlash of disappointment. He went from being a detached protagonist to one that is unaffected by the events around him, and his mature relationship with Asuna ended up being tossed aside in favor of a dozen potential love interests.

Kirito kind of represents the fall from grace Sword Art Online experienced; what began as a potentially mature take on how a community could come together and deal with an impossible situation, dissolved into a shallow hero fantasy with a dull lead that lacks a personality.

The protagonist of the Future Diary series, Yuki is the owner of the Observance/Indiscriminate Diary, which allows him to predict what will happen in the next 90 days. A 14-year-old middle school student, Yuki was content with being a bystander; his days were spent watching others and taking down notes on his cellphone. To his surprise, a god-like being selected him to take part in a 90-day battle royale were 12 contestants must try to kill each other. The last person standing would then be elevated to a deity.

Yuki is not exactly the most impressive of protagonists. If someone were to point out his most defining personality trait, it would have to be his tendency to cry like a little baby. In a series centered around a massive battle to the death, our central character prefers to take a more cowardly approach; often using his love interest Yuno as a protector. He is also largely unmotivated and struggles to show any real conviction in most of his actions.

Following one of the most typical character arc since people started to tell stories, Yuki eventually becomes more capable and fearless as he goes on. When this development is done well and believably, like Simon from Gurren Lagann, it can result in creating a genuinely likable and relatable character. The problem with Yuki is that the change happens overnight. He goes through some traumatic experiences, which is a good starting point, but his personality does a complete 180 immediately. Although it offers a bit of relief from the annoying boy he was before, it ends up feeling contrived and unrewarding

Set in an alternative timeline with three main superpowers and a conquered Japan, Code Geass tells the story of Lelouch vi Britannia; an exiled Britannian Prince who was sent to Japan as a bargaining chip during the last war. Now a charismatic teen, he meets a strange girl that grants him the power of Geass – which allows him to order one person to do anything he wants for a single time. Lelouch uses this power to seek his own selfish vengeance while masquerading as a resistance fighter for Japan.

Suzaku exists to be Lelouch's rival. A childhood friend and the son of Japan's last prime minister, now-a-days, he forms part of the Britannian army and is one of their best pilots. While Lelouch is driven by his own desires, Suzaku seeks a future where Japan and Britannia can put aside their differences and live in peace. He is the righteous alternative to Lelouch's anti-hero persona.

He is also a complete tool, who is manipulated by everyone and anyone. Despite talking a good game, Suzaku spends most of the second season as nothing more than a pawn for the Britannian army. While Lelouch entertains us, Suzaku preaches and then fails to implement his convictions in a way that leads to a positive change.

The Fate series does not lack for despicable characters, but almost none can match up to the absolutely disgusting person that is Shinji Matou. Although he comes from a family of sorcerers, Shinji is incapable of using magic himself. This handicap greatly distorts his personality; creating a narcissistic sadist with a crippling inferiority complex.

After his family realized they had a dud on their hands, they adopted a young girl named Sakura Tohsaka, who would be able to represent them in any future Holy Grail War. As one could expect, Shinji is not a particularly huge fan of this new addition to his family. His mistreatment of her amplifies after witnessing Sakura in a rather precocious position; leading to an abusive relationship that results in Sakura allowing Shinji to act as master of Rider during the fifth Holy Grail War.

Shinji can be terrifying at times and was obviously written to be hated. Fate/stay night often focuses on his awful temper and violent tendencies – especially when it comes to any sort of rejection. Despite all of the above, Shinji is actually a virtuous character; one that will not stand for injustice or mistreatment of women – as long as he is not the perpetrator of the crime. Don't we just love hypocrites?

Alois has had a rough childhood. Nobody can deny that. Both him and his brother spent the first decade and a half of their lives either as orphans or sex slaves. With not even a shred of mercy or compassion shown their way, they quickly learned that those that are weak do not really get a say. Determined to use any means possible to change the trajectory his life was heading, Alois seduces an Earl and eventually became the heir to a huge fortune.

With such a dark and twisted back story, why is Alois on this list? Well, understanding why someone is the way they are is not the same as excuse their behaviour. Throughout the second season of Black Butler, Alois shows that he enjoys nothing more than sadistically torturing others in a similar way to how he and his brother were treated as children. His heavy mood swings, often transitioning from cheery optimism to violent outbursts, make him too unpredictable to really relate to as well.

Although his relationship with his butler, Claude Faustus, can be rather heart-warming, Alois is constantly trying to tear those around him down to make himself feel better. This viciousness is amplified by a hundred towards Hannah Annafellows, with some scenes being extremely hard to watch.

Was there any chance Shinji would not be on this list? Of course not! It's Shinji Ikari for crying out loud! There is no way that anime's poster-boy for annoying characters would miss out. The protagonist in Neon Genesis Evangelion, this soft-spoken introvert is pulled out of his calm life and dragged into an ongoing battle between humanity and large monstrosities called Angels. Forced to pilot Evangelion Unit-01 by his father, Shinji suddenly has the faith of the world forced upon his shoulders.

Remember what we mentioned earlier about how weak characters tend to develop an inner strength as a story goes on? How they learn what they are capable of, eventually becoming the hero they could always be? Well, that does not happen here, Shinji does not conquer his fears. No, he just breaks. If anything, his persona becomes even more fragile as the show goes on. Introduced as a socially awkward kid who does not want to hurt anyone and yearns for his father's approval, the constant hardship he is put through eventually destroys him mentally and emotionally.

It should be said: Shinji Ikari is a great character. But he is not one that is easy to enjoy watching. His constant self-annihilation can quickly start to grate on one's nerves, and his overly gentle nature, even to those who do not deserve it, is extremely infuriating. Unlike most series, there is no pay off with Shinji. It is just watching someone as they are psychologically tortured for 8+ hours, while he constantly complains but still refuses to actually do anything about it.

Ever wondered how annoying a poorly written version of Lelouch from Code Geass would be? Well, Big Order exists to provide that answer. Eiji is a hotpot of cliches and character tropes that have been done to death, with other popular series at least managing to do them competently.

Asread's modern epic is set after a Great Destruction left the world reeling, and Eiji believing that he caused this disaster. How may you ask? 10 years ago, a fairy named Daisy was wondering around granting people's wishes. She eventually stumbles upon a child named Eiji, who wishes for the world to be destroyed, because it happened in some cartoon. Fast forward a decade later, we now follow the emo teen version of that boy; one who ignores his classmates, has an incestual relationship with his sister and fights off threats using a poor man's stand from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Big Order was largely a mess of a series, with too much left unexplained to make it feel like any of the plot was well thought out. Eiji is one hell of a frustrating protagonist, who does not make it possible to sympathize with. He has the world out to get him, and acts as any poorly written teenage character would: by trying so hard to be edgy, cool and aloof. His whole persona comes off as contrived and a checklist of characteristics that were added just because they worked well in other shows. Add his nausea-inducing relationship with his sister, Sena, which ends up going to places that really leaves nothing to the imagination – and Eiji ends up being a write-off.

After discovering a hyper-gate on the moon, humanity teleports to Mars and form a colony. Once there, an extremely advanced piece of technology was discovered called Aldnoah. High on their own lucky discovery, these former earthlings declare themselves a separate empire known as the Vers, and start a war against those still grounded on Earth. After a fierce battle on the moon left the hyper-gate wrecked, peace was forced upon both sides for about 15 years.

Slaine Troyard is an Orbital Knight and has a close relationship with Princess Asseylum of Vers. He is quite an emotional character, providing an interesting juxtaposition to the stoic lead, but his impulsive nature leads to a few idiotic decisions through the course of the two seasons. Often he does not think his actions through, leading to devastating consequences that are mostly his own doing. He shows a lack of loyalty towards humanity or the Vers and is rather obsessive over Princess Asseylum.

Avoiding spoilers, there are at least two instances in Aldnoah.Zero were Slaine makes such a ridiculously dumb decision, that it ruins any believability he might have had as a person with a working brain. He also tends to throw himself a pity party whenever things do not go his way, which gets old quickly.

After watching the pilot episode of School Days, Makoto Itou comes off as a rather kind kid, who just happens to have a way with the ladies. This is one of those cases that all the episodes would need to be watched to understand why this character is rightfully hated. As the series progresses, it becomes apparent that Makoto is actually a full blown sociopath! His demeanor is due to his inability to feel empathy towards those around him, so instead, he pretends to be a nice guy.

School Days is what a harem would be like if the focus of all the girls' attention was a serial killer in the making, and they were not all that fond of sharing. Weak willed from the start, Makoto can instantly fall under someone's control, and his inability to read any girl's emotions result in a lot of hearts being broken. More than that, his main motivation in life is to get laid, all of the bloody time. Sure, that might not be that far-fetched of a defining characteristic for a teen boy going through puberty, but he takes it a few steps too far.

Despite having an ideal girlfriend, he uses any excuse to lie, mistreat and abuse her. Due to his non-existent backbone, he continues to string her along, which eventually drives a perfectly nice girl insane. He is also as charismatic as a soggy piece of toast.

There is no middle ground with Sasuke: you either love or despise him. His character is so polarizing, that if we were to create a list of the top 10 most awesome anime characters, Sasuke's name would definitely be on the short list. Yet, he was also the obvious choice for this top spot. No other boy has been with us for so long, gone through so much, and enraged viewers so often as this flip flopping ninja from Naruto.

When he is being a stoic anti-hero, in the vein of Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z, it is impossible to not cheer for the young man. The hatred towards him stems from how quickly he is willing, time and time again, to betray his friends and join the dark side. A morally ambiguous character is fine, but Sasuke switches sides so often, that it eventually becomes impossible to really understand the reasoning behind most of his actions. This unpredictability kind of makes it seem like his allegiance only depends on what twist in the plot is needed at that moment. Although Naruto and Sakura tend to be rather forgiving towards his actions, fans do not forget so easily.