Mario is a virtuous hard-working plumber hero. Luigi loves his brother and is willing to brave his fears to help others.
And Kirby is just, well, adorable!
That said, a couple bad apples have slipped through the cracks. And any real Nintendo fan can think of at least one character they not only dislike but actively hate with a passion.
Whether they’re annoying, disturbing, or too evil even for a villain – here are the most-hated Nintendo characters according to the Internet.
25. Tingle – The Legend of Zelda Series
I know this might come as a surprise for many of you, but many people hate Tingle.
It’s crazy, right?
Here’s a man who decided to leave behind a life of normalcy and instead live his best life as the reincarnated fairy he believes himself to be – and you guys think that’s worthy of hate?
Shame on you!
Then again… Imagine looking out of your apartment window and seeing a middle-aged man in green spandex float by on his red balloon like he was some kind of drone.
Was he peeping on you? He definitely was… Even if he wasn’t, that’s undeniably disturbing.
As a compromise, I’m giving Tingle the least-hated spot on the most-hated list.
24. Pink Gold Peach – Mario Kart 8
Peach is one of the most beloved Marioverse characters for obvious reasons.
She’s elegant, prim, and proper, and she handles every situation with the grace befitting a person of her royal stature – even when that’s being kidnapped.
Now, Pink Gold Peach? That’s a different story.
Her design doesn’t look half bad, but it’s creatively vacant and repetitive. At least Metal Mario has some history – he’d been in SM64 (1996) and the SSB series – but Pink Gold Peach is just a filler character.
People hate her because she’s a symbol of lazy game design.
23. Princess Daisy – Super Mario Series
The only princess I’ve seen people hate on more than Pink Gold Peach is Daisy.
When she was introduced in Super Mario Land (1989), people saw the ruler of Sarasaland as a cheap rip-off of Princess Toadstool. Her involvement in the famously terrible 1993 Super Mario Bros. live-action film didn’t help her case.
What really got people’s attention was her renewed design for Mario Tennis (2000), which many gamers saw as a simple recolor of Peach to fill in the gaps.
As a sporty and down-to-earth character, Daisy has a lot going for her. She just needs a little help and characterization from Nintendo to reach her true potential.
22. Donkey Kong – Donkey Kong Series
Some of you might be unpleasantly surprised to find your favorite video game monkey on a “most hated” list, but you only need to remember his track record to understand.
Not only is he the OG villain of the Marioverse – which started with the arcade hit Donkey Kong (1981) – but also a recurring baddie that lets his negative emotions get the best of him.
We can see this clearly in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, where DK takes hostages and tries to seize the means of (mini-Mario) production just because he feels left out.
21. Kiddy Kong – DKC 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble!
A little-known monkey that most of us would prefer to forget entirely is Kiddy Kong, the infant primate that serves as Dixie Kong’s side-kick in the third Donkey Kong Country game.
There’s a lot to be said about how slow and lumbering his movements are in-game.
And you can’t help but feel bad for Dixie, who has to babysit a monkey baby while also trying to rescue the rest of the family.
What grinds my gears about Kiddy Kong is how undeniably ugly he is.
Babies are supposed to be cute, but Kiddy Kong is terrifying.
Why are his lips like that? And his proportions are just… wrong.
KK is also incredibly strong for a baby, which is a recipe for disaster.
Babies are disgusting degenerates who can’t exist for ten seconds without making a mess. Imagine what a herculean baby can do…
20. Toad – Super Mario Series
Having a shrill and annoying voice is a great predictor of how much hate you’ll get from gamers.
Toad’s voice didn’t use to be like that.
In Mario Kart 64 (1996), he has a high-pitched but relatively melodic voice provided by Isaac Marshall. He sounds a little bit like a child, but it’s energetic and perfectly fits this little guy.
Isaac Marshall was only ever a temporary voice actor, though. Fast forward to Super Mario Advance (2001), and Toad already has his characteristic shrill voice that sounds like Marge Simpson on helium.
19. Waluigi – Super Mario Series
Waluigi is a topic of heated debate among Marioverse fans.
While some see the lanky, mustachioed guy as an underdog who Nintendo purposefully mistreats and leaves out of the big games like mainline Mario titles and Super Smash Bros., others see him as a mediocre filler character.
The reality is that Waluigi is both at the same time.
Created by Camelot to serve as Wario’s partner for Mario Tennis, this guy copies Wario’s concept of “evil Mario” but is instead based on Luigi – who is, at the same time, a “green Mario.”
Despite being the copy of a copy, Waluigi has climbed up the popularity polls and become a meme hero.
18. Louie – Pikmin Series
Louie was introduced to the Pikmin series to serve as Olimar’s second-in-command – a sort of Luigi for Olimar’s Mario.
But if Luigi is so beloved by the fanbase, why is Louie hated?
Well, it’s because Louie does nothing but cause trouble.
He’s the kind of employee that forces small-business owners to create draconian rules to avoid slacking off, and he’d probably eat all the toppings if he worked at a pizza place.
It’s his fault Olimar and himself have to go look for treasure in the Pikmin Planet to repay their company’s massive debt in Pikmin 2 (2004), and there’s reason to believe he was controlling the Titan Dweevil that serves as the game’s final boss.
Did I mention he loves eating bugs?
17. Camilla – Fire Emblem Fates
The Fire Emblem fanbase can be divided into two main camps.
On the one hand, you have the hardcore pre-Awakening fans that play the game for the challenging tactical aspect.
On the other hand, you find the post-Awakening fans that like flirting with medieval fantasy cuties.
The old-school fans hate Camilla as a symbol of what the franchise has become. In their eyes, she’s only there for the fanservice – and she doesn’t even make you work for it.
She’s proof that FE is now more of a dating sim than a strategy RPG.
16. Jynx – Pokémon
Here’s one I have strong negative feelings about.
Ever since I was a child, I found Jynx unsettling. At the time, I think it was the way this Pokémon seemed to be emphasizing its “sexual” traits, which was pretty disturbing.
I’m not the most politically-correct individual, but anyone can see the striking similarities between Jynx’s design and blackface characters. Nintendo has made her skin tone lighter and more purple-y than black in recent years – but the memory remains.
15. Fawful – Mario & Luigi Series
Fawful is one of those villains that we love to hate – but oh boy, do we hate this evil bean.
Introduced in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003) as Cackletta’s right-hand man, Fawful carved himself a place among the greats with his unusual personality.
The hate really set into the hearts of fans with his appearance as the main villain of Bowser’s Inside Story (2009).
There’s something about his facial expression that infuriates me. It’s the face of somebody who hasn’t felt a drop of remorse in their entire life.
14. Mr. Resetti – Animal Crossing
Our younger readers might not know about old-school gaming.
But back in the day, you had to manually save your game.
This was a bit of a drag, but it allowed you to revert to a previous save-state easily after making a terrible decision or failing a skill check.
The Animal Crossing series has always tried to discourage this by including Mr. Resetti – a nosey mole who’ll track you down and lecture you at length whenever you reset the game without saving.
Luckily, AC: New Horizons (2020) introduced an auto-save feature, freeing Mr. Resetti to pursue another profession.
13. The Broodals – Super Mario Odyssey
The Broodals are a recent addition to the Mario villain cast that I’d rather not see ever again.
This gang of evil rabbits feels like a cheap copy of the Koopalings introduced to Super Mario Odyssey (2017) to give Bowser’s minions a rest.
They’re ugly, uncreative, and their master Madame Broode is absolutely unlikable.
Anthropomorphous rabbits have been overdone in popular culture. There’s Bugs Bunny, Roger Rabbit, Judy Hopps, the Energizer Bunny – and the Broodals just can’t compare to any of them in terms of character design.
If any Nintendo employee is reading this, please, keep these guys archived in the back of the drawer.
12. Mido – TLoZ: Ocarina of Time
Those with a good memory might remember Mido – a bossy, annoying Kokiri who’d block Link’s path to the Deku Tree at the beginning of Majora’s Mask.
Mido is hated for excellent reasons.
He’s a xenophobe who treats Link as an outsider and probably bullies him off-camera, and he goes so far as to blame Link for the tree’s death after you risk your life to kill Gohma.
It takes Ganondorf plunging the world into ruin for Mido to finally reflect on his actions and apologize to the now-adult Link – but it was too little, too late.
11. Groose – TLoZ: Skyward Sword
Another notorious bully from The Legend of Zelda is Groose – a brutish and immature youngster from Skyloft who sees himself as Link’s rival.
The problem isn’t the rivalry in and of itself but the way Groose goes about solving it.
He’ll stop at nothing to put down Link – especially if Zelda is nearby to see it.
This eventually leads him to steal Link’s Loftwing, which is just criminal behavior at this point.
Groose does get a bit of a redemption arc, though. I could even say he was OK by the end of the game, but that doesn’t excuse his past behavior. Being a bully is never cool.
10. Angry Sun – Super Mario Bros. 3
It doesn’t take a complex personality to make you hate a character.
Take the Sun from Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988). His angry expression and hard-to-dodge attacks make it despicable despite only appearing in two levels and having no dialogue.
What is it even angry about?
We never really find out, but it seems hell-bent on taking it out on you.
9. Hammer Bros. – Super Mario Bros.
Another tilt-inducing pair of Mario villains from the NES days are the Hammer Brothers, highly-sophisticated bipedal hammer-launching weapons systems disguised as Koopas.
These Olympic-level hammer throwers are among Bowser’s army’s strongest and most annoying members.
Ever since World 3-1 of the original SMB (1985), they’ve been Mario’s #1 nightmare.
On the one hand, they’re loved as a symbol of the good old days of 2D Mario side-scrolling platformers – but once you die at their hand once or twice, years of pent-up frustration come rushing back.
8. Tom Nook – Animal Crossing
Animal Crossing is full of lovely characters, but also plenty of despicable sorts.
The prime example is Tom Nook – a guy that presents himself as a force of good who’ll help you get settled into your new life, before forcing you into a massive debt you’ll spend the early game trying to pay back.
In that way, this tanuki stands as a symbol of a capitalist society that makes you a sort of indentured servant (read: slave) just to be able to afford a humble home in a small town.
And that’s not even mentioning that he works his young nephews Timmy and Tommy into the ground with no regard for anti-child labor laws.
There are few things more annoying than a baby crying for attention.
It’s hard-wired into our DNA to force us to actually get up and go see what the baby needs – but when it’s a digital baby, the parts of us that make us love them regardless don’t work.
Baby Mario became such a hated figure back when Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island first came out in 1995 because he would cry incessantly throughout the game.
It was shrill and obnoxious – not to mention very repetitive.
It’s the kind of thing that gets you to play a game with no audio.
6. Marx – Kirby Super Star
When you first meet him in Kirby Super Star, Marx looks like an adorable jester with a bow tie and an innocent facial expression that makes you want to pinch his cheeks.
But below all that cuteness and apparent good intentions lies a manipulative villain who’ll do anything to fulfill their dreams of world domination.
Betrayal is commonplace in video games – but when you look at Marx’s idiotic face after he’s transformed into the final boss of the Milky Way Wishes campaign, it’ll spark fiery hate within you.
5. Slippy Toad – Star Fox 64
Most video games put us in the shoes of heroes risking life and limb to save the world, but gamers don’t take kindly to weaklings who ask for help repeatedly.
Never mind the fact that these characters often possess a shrill and annoying voice – like Slippy Toad from the Star Fox series.
Slippy has been friends with Fox for a long time, and his first appearance was actually the original NES Star Fox (1993), but it was in Star Fox 64 (1997) that Slippy earned his fame for demanding assistance over and over.
Some people went as far as to shoot Slippy down themselves as soon as possible, and I don’t blame them.
4. Dog – Duck Hunt
One of the most iconic video game bullies is the dog from the classic Nintendo Entertainment System launch title Duck Hunt (1984).
Like any old-school game worth its salt, Duck Hunt was pretty challenging. It had to be if it had any hope of keeping you playing despite the repetitive gameplay.
The game also had another way to make you come back: the snickering dog that makes fun of you whenever you fail.
Even if you were a bit bored, you’d definitely come back to see if you could show him who the real duck hunter was.
The thing is, you can’t. The game is unwinnable.
Even if you get to LVL100 (which takes an excessive amount of skill), the game just glitches out – ensuring it always ends with the dog laughing at you!
3. Porky Minch – Earthbound
Bullies who take out their anger on the weak are despicable.
But it’ll take about a million regular high-school bullies to match the evil and destructive capacity of Porky Minch.
Porky starts out as Ness’ rude and bitter neighbor. He’s not only obnoxious and uncooperative, but also a veritable coward.
During his little time as a party member, his skills are smiling insincerely and using Ness as a shield. That should tell you everything you need to know about his personality.
After that, he becomes increasingly evil – slowly drifting further into darkness until becoming the universe-destroying baddie’s right-hand boy.
He’s definitely a well-written villain – but he’s also profoundly loathsome, earning him a high spot on our ranking.
2. Navi – TLoZ: Ocarina of Time
The friendly fairy from Ocarina of Time (1998) is the poster child for annoying video game characters.
While she does provide some practical support – such as helping Link lock on to enemies with Z-targeting – Navi’s biggest contribution to OoT is chipping away at your sanity by constantly yelling “Hey, listen!” in a squeaky voice.
Navi is a special case among hated characters though.
Because she’s fondly remembered as a symbol of Ocarina of Time, despite making the game less enjoyable. People even get her tattooed to remember better times!
1. Zubat – Pokémon
Imagine you’re a Pokémon Trainer.
You’ve been on the road for days living off of Soda Pop and Rare Candy, when you finally spot a town.
Hallelujah! You’ll finally get some rest, but you have to make your way through a cave to get there.
Scared but with little choice left, you enter the dark maw in front of you, only to be swarmed by a cloud of Zubats. It’s a Pokémon battle for your life until you make it out or run out of gas.
What should have been a 5-minute run through the cave has become a 40-minute crawl, and you’ve littered the entire cave with empty potion bottles.
Well, that’s basically every cave in the early Pokémon games.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
