Every TV show has at least one lead who should’ve been demoted to “Girl with Coffee Cup #2.” You know the type — always whining, always monologuing, always surrounded by more interesting people who are clearly carrying the story on their back.
This is for them: the protagonists who mistook screentime for depth.
1. Dawson Leery — Dawson’s Creek
Cinema kid. Ego problem. Human beige flag.
Dawson cried about Spielberg more than he ever listened to his friends. His greatest contribution to pop culture was inspiring the meme of his own breakdown — which, to be fair, was the most relatable he ever got.
Justice for Pacey and Joey. Exile for Dawson.
2. Ted Mosby — How I Met Your Mother
Imagine your friend interrupting every conversation to announce, “One day, I’ll tell my kids about this woman I barely dated.” That’s Ted.
He turned a nine-year story about friendship into a cautionary tale about entitlement. The entire premise was “I’m the nice guy,” but every action screamed, I am the problem.
3. Ross Geller — Friends
He was a palaeontologist, not a personality.
Ross was the man who’d ruin a wedding, correct your grammar, and still think he’s the victim. He weaponised pedantry the way other men weaponise power tools.
The only good thing he ever gave us was the phrase “We were on a break,” and even that’s debatable.
4. Marissa Cooper — The OC
Beautiful. Tragic. Inexplicably exhausting.
Every bad decision felt like a group project we didn’t sign up for. Summer Roberts did more emotional labour in one episode than Marissa did in four seasons.
When she finally left, the show got… fun again. That’s not coincidence; that’s relief.
5. Clay Jensen — 13 Reasons Why
He started as a witness and ended up acting like Jesus with a bike helmet.
The show might’ve worked better if it had just followed literally anyone else — like Tony, or a stapler.
6. Elena Gilbert — The Vampire Diaries
Elena had main-character fatigue before the audience did. Every supernatural creature in a 200-mile radius risked extinction for her, and she still looked bored.
By the time Nina Dobrev left, the show felt lighter — as if Mystic Falls itself exhaled.
And tbh, Bonnie was always more interesting.
Honourable Mentions
Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls): Great as a student, unbearable as an adult.
Nate Archibald (Gossip Girl): The human screensaver.
Zack Morris (Saved by the Bell): The original manipulative “nice guy.”
The Real Truth
Maybe it’s not that they were bad characters — just that they were written to be relatable when they should’ve been cautionary tales. The audience saw the supporting cast grow, evolve, and carry the emotional weight, while the leads were too busy narrating their own misery.
Sometimes the real main characters are the ones standing quietly in the back, rolling their eyes, waiting for the drama to end.
Because let’s be honest — most of us stopped identifying with the hero years ago.
