This.

Half the cast of Star Ocean 4. Some of the most annoying characters I've ever had the misfortune of encountering in a video game.

9S from Nier: Automata. I bought that game so I can play as waifu A2, but then i got cockblocked by 9S. Not to mention that during 9S final boss fight transitioning into A2, it glitched, making the boss unkillable. 4 hours of playtime was lost, so I had to continue playing as him for another 4-5 hours just to get to best girl. 2 years have passed, and I still can't finish Nier: Automata because I'm on 9S's side mission.

Kratos.

Most unlikeable, unpleasant arsehole of a protagonist I've ever had the displeasure of playing as. 

Yeah, yeah, I know, he was tricked into killing his wife and child yada yada yada but his constant "I'm super angry and hate everyone and I'm gonna kill you all and yell every line in an enraged shout ahhhhhhh" thing got old really fast and the way he blithely murders innocent characters made him extra reprehensible. It's possible, if difficult, to make playing a douchebag enjoyable if he/she has at least some charisma, but Kratos has none whatsoever, he's just a repugnant bore.

Tiz and Agnes from Bravely Default. Holy crap these two are absolute morons and I wanted Ringabel to strangle them so many times after World #2. It was so freaking obvious who the villain was and yet I had to go through the whole thing five things before they figured it out. Edea was dumb too I guess but come on I would never want to see her hurt or troubled.

Phoenix Wright...even if it's more a result of his type of game rather the character himself. I've never had such a disconnect with a video game, it was infuriating trying to reveal an obvious twist, only being unable to because the game basically railroaded you in order to reveal the twist in a certain way. Completely broke my immersion since I was just waiting for the game to get to what I figured out hours ago, and it made the characters feel like morons.

Otherwise, Corrin/Kamui in Fire Emblem Fates for being an avatar that's not really an avatar, Emil in the Tales of Symphonia spinoff for being an insufferable whiny kid, and Celica in Fire Emblem Echoes for thinking trusting a known villain is ever a good idea.

Noticing a pattern.

Corrin was bad in the sense she had no character and story in Fates was uncharacteristically terrible for a FE game ( I realize the pre-GBA had limited stories but I attribute that to the limitations of the time not weak writing).

Emil was like two different generic stereotypes for characters crammed into one, neither working well on their own, and somehow working worse when combined together. But if I recall correctly, I didn't like any of the new characters in the Symphonia sequel.

As for 9S, I stopped playing when he became the playable character. Wasn't a fan of the whole beat the game multiple times to get the real ending/full story thing, and his story in particular just didn't entice me. Then again, I wasn't as impressed with most of Nier Automata's characters, which is probably considered heresy in the weaboo gaming sphere.

As for Kratos, am I allowed to swear in this forum? I passed on his games primarily because of his awful attitude, and the fact that his stories were always about him ruining the world for everyone else.
Were his Godly opponents bad?
Yes.
Was Kratos worse?
YES.

Perhaps it's the INFJ in me, but I just could not sympathize with a guy whose literal answer to life was "kill everyone and everything." Want to say there was one or more characters who gave him the items or whatever it was he came to them for willingly, and Kratos then killed them anyways. But from what I've seen of GoW PS4, old age has mellowed him out, so the new series may turn things around.

Now, this will sound crazy, but there's been a few games that actually made me hate myself/protagonist but usually for the bad choices I made or narrative arc, but in a good/intentionally way. Spec Ops the Line and Doki Doki Literature Club in particular come to mind (highly recommend both btw).

Nah, it wasn't a tech thing, it's a design choice. Plenty of games from the pre-NES games were better written than any Fire Emblem. In light of how bad the stories in Fire Emblem tend to be, I think more limited is probably a wise decision, to be honest.

Agreed that Kratos is probably the worst character for this of all time, though.

Came to this thread to say precisely this. I had trouble getting through the first major chunk of the game before he started to improve, he was so insufferable. DotNW is just a giant disappointment in general, as far as I'm concerned.

I also agree with everyone who is saying Kratos. What a worthless character. I don't care how good the games are, I've no interest in playing them because the main character is a piece of shit.

Yes, you can swear. And yes, to hell with Kratos. I don't care if old age mellowed him out. After the piece of shit he was in the first trilogy, I don't really want to play any game starring him anymore.

Kratos was amazing. We will never get another character like him, that era is over, now is all about being pc and not hurting anybody's feelings because they will be sad.....