First on my list is Ash. He is a typical shonen hero. Dumb as a brick, short-tempered, stubborn, impulsive, rude, and arrogant as hell. If he was a real person, I would like to tie him to a tree and punch him in his dirty face multiple times.
Misty is next. She started off as your standard ****** anime red-head (though she failed to pull off the stereotype in an entertaining way ala Jessie. If anything, she just came across as being an angsty little brat), but then became INCREDIBLY boring upon receiving Togepi. The creature drained her personality and made her into a mostly hollow background character who only really stood out whenever her crush on Ash was touched upon. By the way, her unrequited romance with Ash was annoying and extremely cliched. I am GLAD that the writers chose not to have him return her feelings. I think the show would have become completely unwatchable if that were the case (unless you like that sort of relationship).
Furthermore, I hate how the writers had her win the Princess Festival competition (Jessie deserved to win more. At least Misty had dolls, y'know? Then again, we would not have had the Team Rocket living doll-set scene at the end of the episode if Jessie had won, would we?) and how they gave her Togepi when it should have been either Brock or Meowth who got it (since they actually took care of it). It seemed to me she was receiving Mary-Sue treatment in those two instances.
While I find the psychology behind Brock's character interesting (I read in one guide that the reason he is female crazy is because he desperately desires a motherly figure in his life), he has long over-stayed his welcome in the show. Not only has his running gag of becoming infatuated with practically every female he comes into contact with grown old over the years (personally, I would have had him settle down with Ivy during the Orange Islands instead of having her dump him and him returning to the group as a permanent main character), but he has generally become a background character who commentates on what is transpiring in the show. Nowadays, the only thing he is good for is cooking.
I have never liked Tracey. I have always found his personality dull, since he does not have any character traits that make him interesting or entertaining.
eleven said:
Another character that I found really annoying was Harley, but I guess that was the point. :-P
Yeah, Harley was intended to be a character viewers were supposed to enjoy hating. That said, I absolutely love to hate him. Same goes for Cassidy, who reminds me so much of the many girls I was enemies with throughout grade school that it is not even funny.