I like Ryan as well. I like the concept of his character (popular, natural leader, strong Christian, athletic), and I think he, as a popular jock who isn't demonized, makes for an interesting addition to the cast. He's very well-rounded, in my opinion.
See, this is kind of hard for me because I know the characters I dislike (Emily Jones, I'm lookin' at you
![Mad :x](./images/smilies/mad.gif)
), but just because I dislike them does not mean that they are bad characters. For that reason, I really appreciate how you defined "worst character", Joy.
I think I'm also going to use characterization in this case, and for that reason, I shall discuss post-Novacom Rodney Rathbone (I honestly think he went into Antagonist Decay after Darkness Before Dawn, but he still got some good episodes). And the thing is, it's more because of wasted potential than anything else.
I just recently listened to "Aloha Oy!" and much of the Blackgaard saga, and it just makes me think about how classic and lovable Rodney was back then, when his status as the local bully wasn't milked for all it was worth, nor was it necessarily his defining schtick. Why couldn't we have seen more of Rodney like that, instead of him remaining the Perpetual Bully? He had a lot of potential as a character, as we saw in the Blackgaard saga and other such episodes, but instead he was downgraded, along with his parents, into being a one-dimensional go-to bully character.
I feel like, with the exception of some of the lines he got, he could have been so easily replaced by a new character and he could have moved on to new stories, but he grew into such a weak character that it didn't happen, nor could it. At least Bart and Doris could still make for good story material, even if they were only ever used as comic relief post-DBD, but Rodney not being allowed to grow up and his character decay make him much less justifiable.
//rantover
I'd also like to bring up the fact that the characterization of pretty much everyone in the split episodes falls under the "does nothing to help the show and is if anything a detriment" category, as well as the post-Novacom characterizations of Connie and Mitch.