The Worst Female Characters in 2023

2023 has been a doozy of a year for original female characters. In this video, we discuss the worst ones and why.

[@Namo_4242]

That's my biggest problem with those activists. They say they want to show more female characters and represtation, but the characters are so bad written and unlikable, that it has the opposite effect what the writers want.

[@Prototype-357]

That genuinely worries me, the point of representation in media is to normalize those people in real life, it's to make us more tolerant of them, but because now people are associating representation with bad writing (cause writers think they don't have to try if they are already doing representation) I think it's making us *less* tolerant.

[@lordlongstroke5989]

It's because activists lie. The better questions is, why are you listening to them?

[@brandonscott5544]

ANTMAN DAUGHTER AND HELENA SHAW, VELMA,

[@gregorysaugustine5236]

@@Prototype-357IMO, the point of representation without being accompanied by good writing/story and the fact that Hollywood is making these kinds of shows over and over again isn't to normalize and make us more tolerant. It is to make us feel despair and uncomfortable that these kinds of people are the ones running the show and there's nothing we can do about it. These people can fail over and over again, costing studios millions of dollars and still they kept being employed. It's like an acceptable reverse discrimination againts normal people in general and it's sickening.

[@killcat1971]

They are unable/unwilling to write "real" characters, to do so would be to admit that women are flawed, human, that not all women are capable, for example, of beating most men, to them this is tantamount to saying that women are inferior, can't have that.

[@dr.medieval1131]

These characters share the same morality as their writers. They are villains, because the writers are villains.

[@taffysaur]

Postmodernists and Marxists HAVE no consistent set of principles. Only what is politically expedient, or what makes them feel good about themselves in the moment. This is why they are unsuitable to morally inspire our children through family entertainment.

[@1Gr8Editrix]

Probably a bunch if spoiled Ivy League brats.

[@chazzitz-wh4ly]

A writer can only write what they know.

[@jasholden9741]

*"It was the Wokest of times, it was the Brokest of times."* _Charles Dickens_

[@DickDarkie]

Charlie wokens your making me Imagine a woke tale of two cities and makes me wanna vomit

[@invariant47]

not a single female superhero in recent times had memorable heroics ,as they did not experience any memorable lows

[@Fionalah]

A - R - C - A - N - E !!!!!😀

[@invariant47]

@@Fionalah i was referring to superheroes

[@1Gr8Editrix]

Do these women even menstruate? Have cramps?

[@9tailjeza]

@@invariant47Spidergirl/Gwen Stacey in Spiderman across the spiderverse

[@invariant47]

@@9tailjeza thanks for proving my theorem wrong, and for me that spider- girl stuff was generic ,not memorable, her reaction to parker’s death was bit too much, looked artificial to me, she was memorable only because of animation, anyway i was referring to live action stuff, u think madame web movie will have great heroics?

[@davidrichardson1636]

The amazing thing about the unlikeable and angry Mary Sue characters you mention is that supposedly responsible studio executives have approved them for commercial distribution. These characters and the films in which they appeared deserved the public backlash that they received. These films were commercial failures--as if Hollywood's intent was to create on purpose an assembly line of flops. And that assembly line is still running. Echo is an insult to indigenous people and the physically challenged, an unrepentant villain motivated by revenge offered as an admirable example of representation without a discernible story. Moreover, The Acolyte, the Rey movie, Madame Web, and Captain America 4 are still on the way. I don't think this nonsense will stop until major studios are forced to declare Chapter 11.

[@Cynidecia]

Realistically Marvel & Dc might not exist within the decade.

[@Prototype-357]

As someone who dreams of writing books and for videogames every time I detect laziness in the writing of any movie, tv show or published book I get so unbelievably angry. My dream is to be able to live off my writing but I currently have so much trouble focusing on my writing and getting enough time to write, seeing these supposedly professional writers wasting my time with these hollow products really grinds my gears, it's like they want praise for doing the bare minimum when there's so many people who are trying their hardest to get to the position of being a professional writer, so many people would want to write a Star Wars or Indiana Jones movie cause they are genuinely passionate about those franchises and yet what we actually get is complete trash.

[@johnbox271]

Antman. The relationship between Scott and Cassie was great during the first two movies, unfortunately they threw that away.

[@DavidGreen_au]

I found it rather ironic that the 1963 epic Cleopatra by Mankiewicz, is probably more historically accurate than the "documentary". Will 2024 be better? I seriously doubt it…

[@gloriathomas3245]

Dude get your facts straight, the 1963 Cleopatra movie is FAR, FAR from being accurate because it's largely based on Shakespeare play Antony and Cleopatra

[@brandonscott5544]

GARBAGE 🗑📦📦📦📦🗑 FICTIONAL FEMALES CHARACTERS.

[@eddhardy1054]

​@@gloriathomas3245 'Dame' get your facts right. The 'Dude' didn't say the 1963 film is accurate, he said it's 'probably more accurate' than the recent Netflix 'documentary' that's all. 😉😊

[@jacotromp59581]

One of the greatest badass female ever put on screen is Samantha Caine, from the movie Long Kiss Goodnight. She is written perfectly and played amazing by Gena Davis. Go watch it. She kicks ass and gets her ass kicked. She loving and hateful. She has plans to get out of all the bad situations, but when all hope is lost she broke do2n and cried. All her human emotions are on display throughout the movie. She is more human than most females of 2023

[@Patterner]

so true!

[@guyjperson]

That's my go-to as well. Tough and flawed. Whenever people go thru the list of tough female characters (Sarah Conner, Ripley, Leia, etc...) I'm always surprised she's left out.

[@billfurlong5954]

marion ravenhood anyone ?@@guyjperson

[@Ostsol]

When men have the attributes that some of these women have, they're flaws that require character growth. In women, they're treated like virtues. This is social justice in action: it's not about equality or about making everyone better, but about a reversal of roles and fortune.

[@rakeshmalik5385]

It's actually toxic feminism marketed as social justice. The whole point of it is to turn people away from social justice and gender equality. They wanted to craft the message that "no one wants female heroes" by creating unlikeable female blooperheroes, but then they lost control of their own monster when they put KK in charge... And in fact their excuse has been that male audiences don't identify with female heroes, even though some of the greatest heroes in cinematic history have been women, several already mentioned in this discussion. I'll add Eowyn to the list of great female heroes.

[@quatore-5886]

I love how you reject a countdown. I am glad there are still people like you in publishing. Thanks for the great videos ❤

[@christuffer]

None of this type of stuff will ever get any of my money.

[@baby_grogu]

Great points! (You forgot Galadriel from Rings of Power.)

[@imperialprimarch4442]

She's 2022.

[@ItsDaBatman]

​@imperialprimarch4442 shows how many people forgot about the show if they forgot what year it was made in.

[@drjuancruz]

Those awful characters bring no sympathy at all for those minorities they are trying to represent.

[@aulvinduergard9952]

It's definitely good that you rejected making a countdown. That would've required you putting in more thought and effort into ranking them than their creators put in to creating them.

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

Part of the issue with contemporary Hollywood is that it seems to have muddled the definitions of hero and villain. All too many of their 'strong female characters' (and no small number of other kinds of supposedly heroic characters or characters the audience is clearly supposed to root for) are written in a manner that makes them appear to be villains by any reasonable measure - they are often self obsessed to the point of rampant narcissism, have no problem endangering innocents if it serves their own ends or advancement, and are generally arrogant, cruel, manipulative and grossly entitled. Despite all this, the audience is expected to practically lionize these deeply unpleasant characters because the writers tell them to, usually because the villain-cosplaying-ineptly-as-hero ticks this or that inclusivity and diversity check box. Naturally, the audience does not react as the writers demand that they should - inconsiderately insisting on remaining individuals with their own minds and free will instead of acting as obediently mindless pay pigs that can be milked for money whenever a vast and unaccountable entertainment corporation feels the urge - and then the usual disingenuous, gas lighting accusations of bigotry, privilege, and 'toxic masculinity' follow as surely as night follows day.

[@spinlok3943]

I wanna see more female main characters like Marge Gunderson in Fargo. She was insanely likeable and I was rooting for her all the way through the movie.

[@THEINFINITIVERSESAGA]

Who that

[@spinlok3943]

@@THEINFINITIVERSESAGA Fargo!

[@VALonYouTube]

Where's Mindy Kaling in the video? I mean, Velma.

[@drjuancruz]

This is the second list about shitty woke stuff from 2023 that excludes her (the first Is that of Nerdotic)... It speaks volumes about how pathetic that abomination of a show it is.

[@phoebea]

People are still trying to erase that one from their memories.

[@VALonYouTube]

@@phoebea Can't argue with that.

[@LumPeyCusTerEd]

I'm surprised you didn't add Wendy from Peter Pan and Wendy.

[@willlyon7129]

I’d prefer the 2003 version of Peter Pan

[@MissMedeiros]

I'm so tired of girl boss

[@MasticinaAkicta]

I think the best message a movie/story can tell is "you can't do it alone" This means that yes a female can be strong... BUUUT also not perfect, and also NEED others. It is in the working together of the different characters that the magic happens. It is bored if a character is perfect and can do without others, it is much more interesting to see a character who needs to deal with other characters. Some of the best, or well most funny movies, had characters that are far from perfect but they work so well together.

[@thirdcoastfirebird]

The real Robin Hood is more likely similar to the man from Robin Hood 2010. This TV show is a disgrace to the original stories. Period.

[@MissMedeiros]

the girl boss from Secret Invasion was also horrible

[@rwinger2481]

Tiny Toons Looniversity, a reboot of Tiny Toon Adventures, I would say it is alright to those who have not seen it. When it comes to the Looney Tunes characters used, they made Granny the Dean of Acme Looniversity and they play the “Cool grandma” trope. Lola Bunny was written in the show in one episode as a girlboss that is perfectly perfect at everything. They gave her a skater girl voice and she is bubbly with a go-getter attitude. I am only reminded of how Lola Bunny was poorly written in Space Jam: A New Legacy where she is not even funny in the slightest.

[@TThomas-si7yn]

If they're not beating men up with their words, they're beating them up in la la land, with superior strength, superior intelligence and superior intellect (which, if you consider the # of females able to think and reason through pure logical intellect all the time, that # would be negligible; but I double dare anyone to prove me mistaken), they're beating men up with their extreme hatred, fear, and envy of us. That final point is exceedingly important when observing; jealousy is fairly harmless, whereas envy is the most inexcusable and worst of the 7 Deadlies. The other 6 can be explained away as the sins of the flesh and inherent weaknesses of human beings as a whole. Envy, on the other hand, is premeditated and hateful. It's where the notion, "...if I can't have you/it, no one can..." originates. Envy is not excusable. Envy is poisonous. [edit:] I like NerdWord quite a lot. Men don't fear strong women. And we don't care about how many fancy degrees you ladies have. I often wonder why so few articles through the major medias; NY Times, The BezosPost, AP, et al, fail so consistently to hear from successful Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard WAGs? There's a honorary title given to military wives who worked hard AF while their husbands got through school and OCS successfully: the PhT: Put hubby Through. Men and women are not enemies. But, damn, it certainly feels like someone wants things that way.

[@amharbingerreactions]

Add Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Mary Jane to the list. Can take down elite hunters who activate track and kill the most dangerous prey in the world and commits journalism fraud.

[@DjTiesticles]

Despot of Antrim recommended your channel and I am pleased that he did. Always good to find new channels that are producing great videos

[@patkawasaki771]

Despot of Antrim sent me here, and I'm glad I checked it out. Very clear and in-depth analysis.

[@victorcates9330]

If you had a paragraph of character psychology, then you'd reasonably catch some of the mistakes. With Photon, it might have caused them to think "Hold on, this isn't a real character". With Helena Shaw, if you had to consult a character bible prior to writing scenes, you'd likely notice if her character is written as "capable in every scenario". It just seems disorganized if the writers can write a wish fulfilment self-insert by accident.

[@The-Man-On-The-Mountain]

Well, it's a very disputed competition to be honest.

[@joffreyiii4024]

Hi NerdWord, I saw you yesterday on the Despot's channel and to support you I just subscribed 🙂 Enjoy the weekend and thanks for all your efforts, greetings from the Netherlands.

[@nerdword07]

Oh my goodness! Thanks so much!

[@attlue]

Good video but audio levels were too low to hear you between the ads.

[@rakeshmalik5385]

I do think that 2024 will be better... because I think we'll see more indie content in 2024 than we did in 2023.

[@user-gi8pk9uc7q]

Cleopatra was GREEK!

[@vincentserrano1595]

great video , good job 🤜🤛

[@Nobody_else_but_me]

facts.....

[@mirunaelena4436]

Cassie Lang (Ant-Man 3) - 2:27 Queen Cleopatra - 4:25 Indiana Jones's daughter - 6:16 Captain Marvel - 9:02 Monica Rambeau - 9:27 Robyn Hood - 10:55

[@Tallest333]

Doing a countdown would be impossible since there is an endless amount of lazy, woke written female characters these days.

[@megshells]

have you considered doing a deep dive into the best characters, showcasing what makes a character great? male, female, books, shows, doesn’t matter. i’d love to see a series on that. you could do a worst characters series too. i think it would be very educational and might help writers who watch your channel.

[@Uncle_Neil]

The Despot of Antrim sent me, he exercises despotic infallibility at all times. So let it be written, so let it be done.

[@aoibhg1211]

Echo fits right into this list

[@rileyjfosbre6383]

Another critic (madvocate) brought this up in a review already, but in one of the few scenes I remember from Shang Chi, the titular character is dangling some guy off a building to interrogate him (you know, the old Batman maneuver), and then his sister (whose name sadly escapes me) knocks the goon out of his hands, letting him plummet to his death. Then when he rightfully looks over at her with a “what the hell?” face, she says “Did America make you soft?”, like he’s the one in the wrong here. It’s unclear if the writers are aware of how stupid this made her look. Apparently she wasn’t paying attention when Shang Chi killed two other guys in a similar manner, and didn’t learn from her years of martial arts training that you can’t ask a dead guy questions like “why are you trying to kill me?” It’s just little touches like that which make an otherwise boring character annoying. Coincidentally, this is why I remember America Chavez as a kleptomaniac and Monica Rambo as an “enhanced interrogation apologist”.

[@kwk111]

To pull off a character like Helena Shaw in Indy 5, that requires serious charisma because the in-universe character is meant to be really charismatic. Phoebe Waller Bridge is not that charming.

[@drofwarcnwahs2108]

The problem is basic but layered. You have writers hired not for their skill but other "check the box" attributes. You have directors who are cast based on the same criteria and not hired based on their experience, talent and skill. You then have the helicopter activists, studio leadership, producers and financial elites who want to one-up each other by being the next great champion of the repressed victim (based on sexual preference, skin color, heritage, physical sex or economic background. Once this all in place for a few years it becomes proceduralized and operationalized with mid-tier management's bonuses based on their compliance.

[@alericc1889]

WILLOW......

[@ajc1888]

These women are that bad ,they should try another media job, like radio. So we don't have to look at them

[@Sev_Auk]

Great video Kaitlyn [sic]. These "Mary Sue / Girl Boss / Antagonists Posed as Protagonists" characters, drive me nuts too! I really enjoyed watching you and Despot on his live stream earlier tonight, dissecting these modern tropes. One note of pronunciation (7:33)... "Contribute" is pronounced with the accent on the second syllable, not the first (kən-trĭb′yoo͞t). As someone that works in the publishing industry, I would think this modicum of advice would be beneficial to you :) I'm sure it's probably just a colloquialism, like Southerners saying "umbrella" with the accent on the first syllable, instead of the second. Just think of it as Veronica Corningstone, in Anchorman, practicing her "non-regional diction" :) Cheers, Sev (Your Friendly Neighborhood Grammar Nazi)

[@Sev_Auk]

On a side note... Have you noticed the extreme misuse of the word "which" these days? It seems like 90% of the population uses "and" and "which" interchangeably. They are not interchangeable. People will say something like, "My mother is female, which I don't know if that's a good, or bad, thing these days." Instead of, "My mother is female, and I don't know if that's a good, or bad, thing these days." Or, "My mother is female, which I don't know is good, or bad, these days." Just wondering if you see those same patterns of misuse? Cheers, Sev

[@zurc_bot]

The girl that acts as Cassie is also Claire Novak in Supernatural. Shes annoying in that too.

[@liljenborg2517]

"She's not a character. She's an ideology speaking words." That sums it all up in two sentences. And the saddest thing is that these characters didn't HAVE to be bad characters. They could have been written to be great characters - even, possibly Captain Marvel. But the ideology behind these characters didn't allow for it.

[@kinginthefort3928]

Can you please take a look at blue eyes samurai I would love to hear your take on it definitely a good counter to the Mary sue and possibly one of the best shows out of 2023

[@themangomanjuice]

Very interesting analysis.

[@xavevoncroy]

I don't agree at all with your point about Helena in Indy 5. Not every overconfident woman who talks harsh to a white male hero, is a badly-writen character. In the case of this movie, Helena and Indiana Jones have a complicated relationship because while Helena is disdainful towards Indy, Indy is very critical towards her lifestyle. She is his Nemesis, the dark-side version of Indy, a treasure hunter who does it only for money, and who, instead of returning the artefact to a museum as Indy would, sells everything to the black market. The movie acknowledges that she is morally ambiguous, Indy lectures her regularly, and she eventually changes. While I'm not a huge fan of the fifth movie, I really don't think it has this issue of toxic captain-marvel-like character.

[@RichGarner]

Maybe this is shallow of me, but I'm so grateful that a prominent female nerd is outspoken about this. It's almost impossible to mention these things as a male without being accused of being sexist. I love strong female characters WHEN the are well written and have interesting character arches. Thank you for being vocal about this.

[@johnenigma8506]

Wait, they have a condom jar laying around the house? I have questions on that alone.

[@user-ke7bb1df1e]

Just from the fact that people in the comments can name over 5-6 other examples of awful female characters shows the paucity of well-developed, morally centred women in entertainment

[@forevertj]

You missed the worst female character of 2023, VELMA!!! Nothing was worse.

[@jcrebel18]

I almost considered watching The Marvels when it came to Disney Plus, but now I may just pass on it.

[@PeterParker-ff7ub]

they are modern day people. no one has kindness, honesty, goodness, selfawareness.

[@neomatrix4412]

are you a literary agent ?

[@draverraj]

TURN YOUR MIC VOLUME UP!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO EEEEET

[@tarasubramaniam6191]

They are Boring...there were wonderful actresses such as Ingrid Bergmann.. Audery Hepburn .. Katherine Hebburn Jeanne Moreau...Sylvia Sims Deborah Kerr.. Rita Hayworth Iconic Actresses ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@Pushbike1894]

Cleopatra/Netfix. There is nothing else needs explaining when Netflix is mentioned. Absolute garbage.

[@jamyers1975]

EVERY female character in that so-called "Barbie" movie belongs on this list.

[@pigeonpoo1823]

Other terrible characters Kathleen Kennedy I mean, no-one can be that bad in real life

[@eduardoalvarez7546]

Cassie Langs characterization in quantumania was so out of left field in assassination because of the fact that in endgame, when Scott returns after the five years, you can see Cassie is distraught and in shock because her dad is alive. Then at the end of endgame where everyone is together as families, she is with her dad and is happy to be reunited with him. Yet in Quantumania, she is all of a sudden this rebellious little asshole who treats her dad like shit and blames him when he did nothing wrong, as if he had any choice to be missing for five years.

[@lordlongstroke5989]

Title could have just been character and would have still applied. The endless gender war is old...

[@deltavagen9796]

there are so many

[@Masteroogway40]

Amen

[@beebTim]

The common theme here is that all of the characters that you mention - regardless of gender - are awful people. Apart from the likes of the Godfather movies and most of the movies with Al Pacino in which movies are awful people the main characters in which you invest your time and interest? The world needs, and has always needed, heroes. And regardless of gender we need aspirational heroes not mysogynistic, narcisistic sociopaths.

[@Wreck1990]

here from despot

[@AldebaranX1987]

There's a few things that came to my mind while watching your video, which by the way it's great thank you. First thing if you are an actress and you got the offer for a role like thise we saw and read the script and accept that tells about thebkind of person you are and your values, if you are doing it because of the fame and money then you are shitty human being really. Second, after all of the changes that have been made in the past few years to all tv shows, movies and entertainment it seems that they don't care about the acceptance of the people or the negative ratings if that was the case they clearly would've done something about it, however, that hasn't been the case, which leads me to think that their purpose is to destroy all ideologies, beliefs, values and morals that grew up with and by putting their message into the movies we know and the new shows is how their accomplishing such thing. Just take LoTR Rings of power, first seaon was awful and had a really bad response yet they didn't give a f@ck and proceeded to make season 2 and even though it hasn't even been aired the amount of negativity it has been given it's enough for Amazon to actually stop it yet they won't because at the end of the day what really matters is to send the message and continue with their agenda.

[@Internatube]

You forgot Velma.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

But they were _stunning and brave..._ 🙄

[@tomcoop9750]

Don’t forget Barbie lol

[@9tailjeza]

controversial, but i actually think barbie was a good character. she eventually learns to accept neither delusional perfectionalism nor self-loathing misery. also, she actually learns that her neglect of ken was actually quite hurtful - though she never goes to love. the feminism of ferrera chavez is utterly bullshit, but barbie has an interesting arc

[@vwhite3055]

Obviously, the best woman is masculine.

[@Cynidecia]

I hope it all collapses and they are forced to make a good product again.

[@neomatrix4412]

first

[@angelkiller]

Wait. Is this an Incel channel criticizing female characters? 😂😂😂😂

[@johnhoran9840]

Was Fleabag a female?

[@neomatrix4412]

feminists want this 🤣