The Office is a series full of unique and outlandish characters. From Michael and Dwight to ing characters like Angela and Meredith, there were many over the top characters. However, there were also some more reasonable characters that provided balance.
Whether the characters were ridiculous or normal, certain characters received a lot of hate either from their fellow co-workers or from fans themselves. While some of these characters deserved to be despised, others definitely did not.
Don’t: Toby Flenderson
Toby wasn’t exactly the most likable person, and he definitely lacked a lot of charisma. However, the way he was treated by Michael was definitely unacceptable.
While it was fine if Michael didn’t love him or click with him, the way he singled him out and basically bullied him all the time was out of control. This behavior started to seem normal on the series to the point where most people watching didn’t even really question how wild it was that Toby was treated that way.
Do: Roy Anderson
Roy truly was a jerk, and he was an awful partner to Pam. Most fans didn’t like him at all and wanted Pam and Jim to get together instead. While Jim and Pam were clearly the superior couple, even without Jim, Pam shouldn’t have been with Roy. This is because Roy seemed to have abusive tendencies.
He could be controlling and he definitely didn’t Pam and her ions. He was very selfish, and he also had an angry side that was shown when he tried to punch Jim.
Don’t: Oscar Martinez
Oscar Martinez is a character that got under many of his co-workers' nerves and who wasn’t always loved by fans either. While Oscar could be annoying and stuck-up, he didn’t deserve the hate compared to many other worse characters. Oscar had to deal with homophobia a lot at work from people like Michael and Angela, and he definitely was one of the more reasonable employees at Dunder Mifflin.
Yes, he could be a bit of a know-it-all, but he was still better than many other characters on the show.
Do: Jan Levinson
Jan started out seeming like one of the more reasonable, normal characters on the show, but she slowly turned out to be one of the most ridiculous.
She was clearly struggling with some mental health concerns, and the way she treated Michael was unacceptable. While Michael was by no means a great partner, Jan was outright abusive in the later stages of their relationship.
Don’t: Gabe Lewis
Gabe Lewis is another character on the show who was just kind of annoying. Since he came into the series late, he wasn’t as liked by fans. While he never quite hit his stride as a character, and he wasn’t particularly compelling, he also wasn’t the worst new character that was added.
Characters like Nellie Bertram and Robert California were much worse, and Gabe was able to integrate more into the overall tone and feel of the show at least.
Do: Andy Bernard
Andy Bernard started out as an obnoxious character, and he just got more and more that way as time went on. At first, he was just annoying with some anger management issues, but when he truly became awful was in his relationship with Erin.
When they finally got back together after Erin dated Gabe, Andy ruined the entire thing by ditching her to sail around the world. The way he acted during that season was so weird, and he was such a jerk about it all. It’s no wonder the other characters, as well as fans, couldn’t stand him anymore.
Don’t: Karen Filippelli
Karen was a character that wasn’t well-liked mostly because people saw her as an obstacle to Jim and Pam’s happy ending. Unfortunately, she was written into the show as a love interest for Jim and that was her main purpose at the end of the day.
This made many fans feel defensive about her right away. This is a shame though as she was actually an interesting, funny, and cool character. In many ways, she was a great match for Jim, and she didn’t deserve all the hate.
Do: Todd Packer
Todd Packer is hated by almost everyone that interacts with him on the show except for Michael. This isn’t surprising because he was truly vile. While many of the other characters on the show can be really inappropriate, Todd Packer took things one step further.
He was straight-up harassing basically every woman he interacted with, and he also bullied and said awful things to pretty much everyone. He definitely deserved to be hated by the other characters on the show as well as by fans.
Don’t: Pam Beesly
One strange thing fans find when they search questions about The Office on places like Reddit is that a lot of people don’t like Pam. While she’s one of the main characters on the show, and many people do like her, some people find her more annoying than they should.
While she definitely wasn’t always perfect, she did way fewer awful things than many of the other characters. The dislike of Pam sometimes seems to be rooted in sexist attitudes, and this is definitely not fair.
Do: Michael Scott
Michael Scott is somewhat of a divisive character because some fans really love him and others can’t stand him. However anyone might feel about him personally, there’s no denying that his character really shaped the show in many ways. However, some of the hate that Michael gets is definitely deserved. He didn’t respect boundaries, and he was way too needy and obnoxious.
He also could be extremely obtuse about things, and he said way too many racist, sexist, and homophobic things that he shouldn't be let off the hook for saying.