The legacy ofThe Big Bang Theoryhas continued to ripple throughCBSthanks to their spinoffs in its Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) universe. This latest spinoff,Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, focuses on Sheldon’s brother, George Cooper (Montana Jordan). However, before there wasYoung SheldonorGeorgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, there wasThe Big Bang Theory, which spawned the incredible and famous Sheldon Cooper. By now, Sheldon Cooper, as a character, has come a long way. From being one of the most annoying characters in the show to one of the most—oddly—wholesome, Sheldon has proven time and time again that sometimes being annoying is all part of a character. And sometimes, being annoying is not such a bad thing.
The other cast of characters inThe Big Bang Theoryare far from perfect. While Sheldon may have been an annoying character at times, so have the other characters. Every single one, from Leonard (Johnny Galecki) to Amy (Mayim Bialik), has demonstrated some sort of annoying trait that viewers either love, hate, or tolerate. Likewise, while some of these characters can be annoying at times—some more than others—it’s also undoubtedly true that being annoying is not a bad thing. It just helps in creating a complex character. Here’s to the annoying but lovable characters ofThe Big Bang Theory.
The Big Bang Theory
A woman who moves into an apartment across the hall from two brilliant but socially awkward physicists shows them how little they know about life outside of the laboratory.
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7Leonard Hofstadter
Played by Johnny Galecki
Leonard Hofstadter is one of the main protagonists inThe Big Bang Theory. An experimental physicist with a Ph.D. is best friends with Sheldon Cooper who has eventually married neighbor next door, Penny (Kaley Cuoco). Though best friends with Sheldon, Leonard is seen butting heads with him multiple times throughout the series. Unlike his other friends, he is not socially inept. Additionally, with the exclusion of Howard (Simon Helberg), Leonard is the only character who can hold a genuine conversation with a woman.
One of the main geeky nerds of the friend group,Leonard has proven himself to be more sociable than any of his other friends. While he has some nerdy qualities that can sometimes get in the way of his life, Leonard knows when to step away from that world and get his life back on track. More importantly, he has better situational awareness than any of his friends, and he holds a certain gentleness for everyone—except for Sheldon because everyone knows he pushes buttons.
Played by Kaley Cuoco
Penny is another main protagonist of the show. She moves in down the hall from Sheldon and Leonard at the beginning of the show, and she eventually marries Leonard. Though she is not quite as geeky as the rest of her friends, she understands their love for collections and nerd culture. Though early on in the show she is seen as particularly judgmental toward her newfound friends, their nerdiness grow on her a tiny bit, so much so that she begins to understand their love for all thingsStar Wars,Star Trek, and other things.
Because of Penny’sunderstanding and acclimation to nerd culture, she becomes increasingly likable.Penny may have the best situational awareness out of all her friends, but sometimes she can be a little cold or sarcastic, which is a somewhat annoying layer to her personality. Not to mention, her boy troubles often feel predictable, and when Penny dates men who underappreciate or disrespect her, it’s hard not to feel annoyed.
5Sheldon Cooper
Played by Jim Parsons
Sheldon Cooper is another main character ofThe Big Bang Theory. He was initially roommates with his best friend Leonard and has various degrees and multiple doctorates.The most intelligent character in the show, Sheldon is also the most popular character in the series, having a spinoff series,Young Sheldon,based on his youth. This spinoff is proof of the character’s success and being likable. After all, if viewers couldn’t tolerate Sheldon, then how couldYoung Sheldongrow into a seven-season sitcom, which then spawned another spinoff series calledGeorgie & Mandy’s First Marriage?
While Sheldon Cooper is a fan favorite, he is also undoubtedly mildly annoying. He is socially inept, lacking situational and social awareness, and this leads to confrontation between him and his friends.The most annoying part of Sheldon is how apathetic he can be, which in turn tends to upset other characters. Still, despite his annoying traits, Sheldon also proves to be quite the lovable character, which balances it out.
4Raj Koothrappali
Played by Kunal Nayyar
Raj (Kunal Nayyar)is one of Sheldon and Leonard’s close friends. Best friends with Howard, he also hangs out often with Sheldon and Leonard at their apartment. Raj is also as geeky and intelligent as his friends, though he tends to have trouble with love. Still, despite his own social awkwardness, Raj has proven to have a kind heart, and he grows rather close to Penny and finds that they are quite similar in personality and character.
Raj is one of the sweeter characters of the show, as he is more empathetic than most of the other main cast. However, he is also very socially inept, suffering from a case ofmuteness when around women unless drunk. However, there have been times whenRaj’s personality has been altereddue to medication for his social anxiety, which has led to an extremely annoying narcissistic personality. However, apart from these instances, Raj has proven time and time again that he isn’t the most annoying character in the show, and he is actually one of the most tolerable.
3Howard Wolowitz
Played by Simon Helberg
Howard Wolowitz is another main character ofThe Big Bang Theory. Though he lacks a doctorate like his other friends, Howard has proven himself to be an intelligent and capable man, having designed space inventions and eventually becoming an astronaut. He is another goofy friend who values his collections greatly, and he is closer to Raj than he is Sheldon and Leonard. This is perfect, considering Raj and Leonard are alike in mind, though Howard is more of a pervert and Raj is incapable of flirting with a woman without drinking.
One of the more annoying men on the show,Howard is often obsessive about his love interests, avoiding his friends when he dates or hooks up with women. He is obnoxiously confident when flirting with women, and it comes off rather creepy at times. His insufferable personality tends to make him one of the more annoying characters; though, he can be gentle sometimes when the situation calls for it,making Howard somewhat more likable.
2Bernadette Rostenkowski
Played by Melissa Rauch
Though debuting later in the show, Bernadette Rostenkowski (Melissa Rauch) is a waitress inThe Big Bang Theorywho was good friends with Penny. Due to her closeness with Penny, she met Howard and began to date him, eventually marrying him. When joining the friend group, Bernadette wasn’t always passive-aggressive. Like many of the other newer characters, she outgrew her one-dimensional phase, be it for the better or worse. At least she is the perfect fit for Howard.
Though an equally complex character compared to her husband and the other main characters, at times, Bernadette had an overbearing and annoying personality. Not to mention, at times, Bernadette has proven herself to be passive-aggressive, which is an extremely annoying character trait. Furthermore, later on in the series,Bernadette appears to be a rather controlling partner and friend. This results in hardships between her and Howard or her and her friends. Still not the most annoying, Bernadette can also be tolerabledue to her sometimes empathetic attitude.
1Amy Fowler
Played by Mayim Bialik
Amy Fowler is another main character of the show, though, like Bernadette, she appears in later seasons as Sheldon’s love interest. She becomes good friends with Penny and Bernadette, and eventually, she marries Sheldon.Amy had her own troubles getting along with the other charactersof the show. After all, Sheldon is difficult to get along with; add Amy, his female clone, and the show has two difficult characters, though Amy grows increasingly likable.
While Amy Fowler is like Sheldon, she is not quite as likable (at least, at the beginning of the show). Viewers already had one Sheldon to deal with, and there’s only so much tolerance for him before he becomes exceptionally annoying. Add one-dimensional Amy Fowler to the mix, and it’s hard to have any tolerance left over for her.Amy tends to have a demanding and manipulative personality, though she does grow later on and becomes far more complex than anyone would have initially expected. This does not make her a bad character by any means;in fact, Amy is lovable. It’s just she tends to have more annoying personality traits, but she grows on the viewers easily, just like Sheldon did.
