The 15 Most Disliked Characters From The Office

NBC’s hit series The Office developed an incredibly loyal fanbase that continues to stream the show years after the series finale, but even the most die-hard fans will agree that many of The Office‘s characters are the worst. The show uses a notorious mockumentary style to follow the characters who work in Dunder Mifflin, a paper company in Scranton, and how they make the most of their uneventful office hours.

There are many lovely characters in The Office: even the unbearably annoying Michael Scott eventually redeems himself in the show. However, not every character who makes their way through The Office is fun to watch, with some of them being downright unfunny. Overall, the show has a good balance between some of the most beloved and most hated characters on television. Here are the least favorite characters in The Office.

15 . Michael Scott’s Hate for Toby Flenderson Was Understandable

Toby Flenderson deserves credit for sticking around even after years of enduring Michael Scott’s hate, but deep down everyone agrees with Michael that he’s simply a bore. As Dunder Mifflin’s Human Resources Manager, Toby lives by the rules, consequently preventing anything fun from happening in the office.

However, for someone so concerned about preserving the workplace’s well-being, Toby has never really done much to protect his co-workers. For one thing, he’s never done much to protect himself from Michael’s abusive behavior. Toby’s passive nature only gets worse as The Office progresses, and his inappropriate advances on Pam backs up the case that Toby is one of The Office‘s most hated characters. Lastly, there’s an argument to be made that Toby might be The Office‘s vicious Scranton Strangler.

14. Luke Cooper Achieved The Worst Possible First Impression In The Office

Few characters achieve as bad a first impression as Luke Cooper in The Office. The character, who only appears in a single The Office episode, makes everyone’s blood boil due to his irreverent behavior. Luke can’t do a single thing right: he arrives late with coffee, mixes up orders, and takes the clients’ packages to himself.

Chaos ensues in The Office when the characters find out that Luke’s hiring is the fruit of nepotism: he’s Michael’s nephew, and Michael only hired him to make peace with his half-sister. Luke’s privileged position in The Office despite his unacceptable behavior is outrageous. Hopefully, this hated The Office character gets what he deserves when Michael resorts to a spanking session to educate him: one of the most awkward scenes in the whole show.

13. Kelly Kapoor Never Stops Talking

One of The Office‘s least favorite characters is Kelly Kapoor. While she’s never done anything wrong and is, essentially, a genuinely innocent character in The Office, her personality can often be too much to handle. It might have something to do with Kelly being the youngest worker in The Office, but her self-centered nature makes her extremely annoying to be around: she can talk for hours without ever getting tired, always with a loud, screeching voice.

Even though Kelly can never stop gabbing, she can only talk about three things: office gossip, herself, or Ryan. Initially, her fascination with Ryan is funny, but it soon gets annoying when Kelly insists on going after him despite his rude behavior. Kelly might not be a hated The Office character, but she’s definitely among the most annoying.

12. Roy Anderson Prevented The Office’s Best Couple From Happening Sooner

Roy Anderson starts off as the most hated The Office character simply because he acts as an obstacle between Jim and Pam. However, beyond the fact that he was engaged to someone who clearly wanted to be with someone else, Roy was undeniably a terrible fiance: Pam is a sensitive, caring person, and Roy never cared much about her feelings, to the point Jim was the one who met her expectations.

When Pam finally comes to her senses and breaks up with Roy, he goes after Jim and attacks him. Thankfully, Dwight saves the day with pepper spray. After acting as a low-key antagonist in The Office‘s earlier seasons, Roy pretty much disappears. He has minor roles later in the show and appears to have become a better person, but it’s difficult to forget how badly he treated Pam. Pam’s character arc is one of the best in The Office, but things could’ve been different had she stayed with someone who only devalued her.

11. Clark Green’s Early Actions Were Shady

The Office begins to add a few new faces in later seasons as veteran characters move on from Dunder Mifflin. Season 9 brings in Clark Green, an office worker who hopes to become a salesperson. This ambition, and the fact he looks just like a younger Dwight, leads him to form a bond with Dwight Schrute.

However, Clark is a problematic character who attempts to manipulate Erin into coming to his house. He uses the excuse of an audition for a news program, although his true plan is to seduce her. Clark is not seen with keen eyes by fans and his early actions in The Office make it hard to appreciate the character’s small growth over the final season.

10. Nellie Bertram Treated Andy Unfairly

Nellie Bertram makes a few appearances in Seasons 7 and 8 before she becomes a Dunder Mifflin regular, but this doesn’t exactly endear her to fans. She’s interviewed for the Regional Manager position following Michael’s departure and later returns when half the staff is sent to Florida to open the ill-fated Sabre electronics store.

Nellie eventually leaves for Dunder Mifflin Scranton and steals Andy’s job as Regional Manager while he is trying to reconcile with Erin. This leaves audiences frustrated, making it difficult for viewers to sympathize with Nellie when Andy holds a grudge against her. While some Dunder Mifflin employees warm up to her by the end of the series – most notably Pam – Nellie remains a sore spot in The Office‘s history.

9. Ryan Howard Was Only Michael’s Favorite

While most of the show’s main cast are loveable in their own way, there’s no denying that Ryan Howard is one of the worst employees in The Office. He starts off as an office temp before he moves to the sales team. He gets an enviable promotion to VP of Dunder Mifflin and subsequently nearly ruins his career with a promotion to the New York office. The only reason Ryan managed to keep a job in the first place was because Michael loved him and kept bringing him back on board.

Ryan spends The Office using others for his own gain and showcasing a number of deplorable character traits, ultimately abandoning his infant child in the finale. Not only does Ryan have a questionable work ethic, but he also has bad personal dynamics with everyone, especially Kelly, his love interest.

8. Robert California Was Incredibly Unprofessional

Robert California is a savvy, but eccentric businessman who interviews for the regional manager position after Michael Scott exits The Office. Just when Robert is starting to win over characters, it’s revealed that he’s actually a fraud who talks his way into positions of power. His greedy persona is unveiled at the end of Season 8.

California’s odd behavior and sex-fueled ramblings make him a truly unusual character in The Office. Unfortunately, these attributes fuel a widespread distaste for his out-of-place characterization, especially so late into the show’s run. Robert is another failed replacement for Michael Scott’s odd personality, and he eventually leaves to mentor young international gymnasts in a distinctive creepy fashion.

7. Brian Wittle’s Entry Into The Show Was Unnecessary

The premise of The Office involves a documentary crew following the daily lives of Dunder Mifflin employees, but it’s only during the last season that the filmmakers are shown and become a part of the story. Brian is introduced as a sound guy who develops feelings for Pam, causing him to break the rules and step in to comfort or even protect her on occasion.

Brian is revealed to have been friends with Jim and Pam off-camera, though things take a dark turn when he loses his job and marriage before trying to act on his feelings for Pam. The character seems to have been introduced only to cause problems in Jim and Pam’s loving relationship, and he quickly falls into oblivion after a few undesired appearances.

6. Cathy Simms Almost Destroyed The Best Ship In The Office

Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly’s relationship is the heart of The Office. Fans watch them grow over the years as they fall in love, get happily married, and start a family. However, when Pam goes away on maternity leave, Cathy Simms is brought in as a temp and threatens to throw a cog in the works.

Cathy and Jim are teamed up and sent to Florida to work on the new Sabre line, where she attempts on more than one occasion to seduce him. If there’s one thing that could’ve ruined The Office for good, it is the possibility of Jim cheating on Pam. Every scene featuring Cathy creates an unwanted tension, making her one of the most hated characters in The Office.

5. Gabe Lewis Irritated His Coworkers With His Pedantry

When Dunder Mifflin is sold to the printer company Sabre, they welcome a new liaison named Gabe Lewis, who quickly earns the ire of his co-workers. Gabe’s strict devotion to company policy leads to a number of unwelcome changes in the office and no one is interested in his tedious moral compass. At the end of the day, Gabe feels like a second Toby, while one was already more than enough.

Gabe tries to make friends in The Office but ends up just making enemies. His romantic relationship with Erin, in particular, leads to problems with Andy Bernard. Things only get worse after the relationship ends and Gabe unveils a creepy, possessive behavior which ultimately leads to his departure from The Office.​​​​​​​

4. Jan Levinson Was Insensitive And Selfish

Michael Scott dates a few different women in The Office, but his worst relationship is with Jan Levinson. Their relationship has turned out to have layers and layers of toxicity, revealing that Jen is one of The Office‘s scariest characters. Not only is Jan domineering and controlling, but she also only dated Michael for her own personal gain. Jan pressured Michael financially to the point that he had to secretly get a second job.

Every time Jan returns, fans find new reasons to dislike her. Whether because of her odd relationship with her daughter Astrid and her inappropriate love for younger men like Clark Green or her former assistant Hunter, Jan stands out as a hated The Office character.

3. Deangelo Vickers’ Management Style Was Stifling

The first Regional Manager to take on the role after Michael Scott is Deangelo Vickers, who briefly worked alongside the former Dunder Mifflin boss to better acclimate himself to The Office‘s working environment. However, Deangelo is not at all interested in Michael’s antics or management style and quickly begins to change the atmosphere in the paper company.

Deangelo picks his favorites in The Office for inappropriate reasons. He’s also a sexist who judges staff members based on his own prejudices. It’s almost as if Deangelo is a caricature of Season 1 Michael Scott, who’s regarded as the most annoying sitcom character of all time. His time in The Office was short-lived, and while Deangelo introduces a different dynamic to the show, most fans were happy to see him leave.

2. Todd Packer Was The Most Obnoxious

Todd Packer is among the most hated characters in The Office. He’s one of Michael Scott’s closest friends and one of two traveling salesmen who work for the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch. Packer appears periodically in The Office, purposely written so that fans and office workers alike will hate him. Packer is fond of practical jokes that are in poor taste, off-color humor, and inappropriate antics that get worse with almost every appearance.

When Todd finally returns with a pledge that he’s attempting to make amends for his past behavior, he offers drug-laced cupcakes to the staff. They were dosed with laxatives and hallucinogens, a move that worked as the final reminder of the kind of terrible person Todd Packer is.

1. Andy Bernard Went From Lovable To Deplorable

Andy Bernard’s character arc in The Office is pretty similar to a roller-coaster ride. He’s introduced as an obnoxious and inconvenient co-worker who reaches a tipping point when he punches a hole through the wall in a fit of rage. He returns as a much more affectionate character, making an effort to connect with his co-workers. While Andy still got on people’s nerves, the fact he worked hard to be better endeared him to fans and made him enough of a favorite to be the obvious pick for Regional Manager after Michael left.

Unfortunately, Nellie stealing Andy’s job reawakens all his anger, and Season 9 runs with it. Where Andy was once understanding, he was now cruel. The man who risked his job to get back together with Erin now treated her like garbage as he put his own needs first. By the end of the series, Andy is a shell of the ‘Nard-Dog he used to be. He goes through so much character development only to regress at the last minute.