1. Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - I've been writing about him so I don't think my choice here is a surprise. I know people love him but really, he seems like an ass to me. He's never that particularly kind to Jane and he seems to think he deserves a humanitarian award because he decided against killing someone. Sorry, I do not understand the great love for this guy.
2. Wickham from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I have a hard time separating out Austen and the Brontes as separate people so it's just natural I have an Austen creation next. At least Austen meant for Wickham to be an ass. He tried to ruin several reputations and left a wake of debt in his path. I guess he gets his comeuppance, seeing that he gets stuck with Lydia.
3. Snape from the Harry Potter series by Rowling - An HP character (Umbridge) made it on my mean girls list, so it's nice to have a male equivalent. Snape may not be totally evil but he's such a jerk throughout the series, even if he wasn't actively trying to give Harry to Voldemort.
4. Mr. Norrell from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clark - I don't necessarily hate this guy but man, he could be such a jerk. He's a magician that just sucked all of the fun out of magic and managed to get multiple people enslaved within the fairy kingdom. Sure that may not have been his intention, but he certainly knew what was going on and just let it happen.
That's all I've got. I keep coming up with evil characters which is stronger than this list calls for. I'm sure I've missed a number of perfect jerk characters. Who are some of your favorites?
