Grey’s Anatomy: The Main Characters, Ranked By Meanness

The hit medical drama Grey’s Anatomy has been around for a record-breaking seventeen seasons, and characters have come and gone over the years, most of them memorable, some not so much. From kind-hearted and gentle to rude and insolent, fans have found themselves getting attached to a variety of individuals whose very flawed nature makes them more real somehow.

A human drama, Grey’s may not have out and out villains, but its characters are compelling nonetheless. Whether it is the arrogance of Derek or Mark or the obnoxiousness of Cristina Yang, there isn’t any dearth of people who looked down on others or made them feel really bad about themselves.

10 Tom Koracick

Koracick, a character that was unfortunately saddled with a weak storyline, and was not mean or spiteful. But he was sarcastic most of the time, couldn’t care less about whether or not people liked him, and his dry wit didn’t make him many friends.

Koracick might be widely hated by his colleagues. But he would, in fact, be one of the least mean characters on the show, for whatever flaws he had were out in the open, and he wasn’t sneaky about his snark.

9 Miranda Bailey

Miranda Bailey has achieved everything she set out to, although the journey hasn’t been smooth. She has seen hardships and has even risked her health for her career.

Bailey was written as an intimidating character that didn’t mince words when she was introduced as ‘the Nazi’, but although the character has mellowed with time, she has become a tiny bit insecure and can even be immature at times. From treating Richard harshly when he was only trying to help her and being resentful of Callie when the latter was selected to be Chief Resident over her, Bailey can be a tad mean.

8 April Kepner

The gentle, sweet, and anxious April could be annoying when she went off on a tangent, although she was in general a really good person. However, she had some rather uncharacteristically mean moments, for instance, when she came to Seattle Grace from Mercy West, and was initially best friends with the very obnoxious Dr. Reed.

Later too, she went through a mean phase during her terrible crisis of faith. She screamed at Bailey when an old patient of the latter’s, an elderly rabbi, showed up with a horrifying skin condition that was the result of some antibiotic prescribed by Bailey. The chances that such a thing would happen were very minimal and Bailey had no way of knowing that her prescription would end up killing the man, but April made her feel small all the same. She was also petty with Jackson when she delayed informing him about her second pregnancy and then went and filed for a restraining order against the Averys who she wrongly assumed was plotting to take her baby.

7 Owen Hunt

When Owen Hunt was introduced years ago he was a dashing trauma surgeon, a risk-taker, and someone who had been a surgeon in the military. Owen was brought in as Cristina’s potential love interest and at the time he was a loving man who had had his share of difficulties in the past.

But over time, Owen’s character became more confused and suffers from moments of lack of compassion. He might have been through a lot, but he is unable to let his personal life stay separate from his profession and often has mean outbursts. True, he had no reason to love Tom Koracick, but he seemed to go out his way to be obnoxious to him at work which wasn’t very professional. He was also rude to Nathan Riggs without knowing the latter’s entire history with his sister Megan.

6 Preston Burke

Great doctors do not achieve greatness by being sweet to everybody ,and that has been demonstrated again and again by surgeons on Grey’s Anatomy. Preston Burke was a divisive character who had a polarizing effect on fans, and more so after the way he treated Cristina, although to be fair, that was more unjust than mean, and ended up being a good thing for both of them in the long run.

However, Burke could also come across very strongly when he is interacting with surgical interns or residents, and as Bailey mentioned at the very beginning, he had a habit of picking interns every year and terrorizing them. He might not have been mean by nature but he wasn’t a ray of sunshine either.

5 Derek Shepherd

The handsome Derek Shepherd was suave, elegant, and usually kept his cool even in the direst of circumstances. But even the great Shepherd wasn’t perfect and he could be hurtful and offensive to people with whom he had a personal relationship.

He was particularly mean to his younger sister, Amelia Shepherd, when she first came to the hospital. He went to the extent of publicly pointing out that she was an addict and refusing to give her her due respect as a surgeon. Although they did reconcile, his behavior toward her will always be remembered as toxic. He was also arrogant in general and had narcissistic tendencies.

4 Mark Sloan

The devastatingly handsome Mark Sloan was not the easiest of people, and he treated his underlings with arrogance and disrespect.

He had no interest in passing knowledge on as a mentor until he made efforts to teach Jackson Avery, thinking that Lexie was in love with him. He could be insolent and rude and had a significant attitude problem. The only thing that helped him get away with it was his good looks and his ability to manipulate people with his charm.

3 Catherine Fox

Catherine Fox is one of the most powerful women in the Grey’s universe. Not only is she one of the top urologists in the country, but she has also been the main force behind the Harper Avery Foundation, now known as the Catherine Fox Foundation, for years.

But while she might have reached the peak of success, she unfortunately also has a mean streak which becomes especially evident in her relationship with Richard Webber. The whole affair where she bought Pacific North General Hospital simply to spite Richard was beyond mean, and didn’t portray her in a very mature light.

2 Meredith Grey

The protagonist after whom the series is named can be very mean too, and that has been evident time and again when she has gone out of her way to insult her own half-sisters.

Both young Lexie Grey and Maggie Pierce were at the receiving end of Meredith’s wrath when they first joined the hospital and informed her of their relationship with her. True, Meredith was justified in not wanting to be great friends with people who only reminded her of her and her mother’s painful past, but her behavior seemed a tad unnecessary, especially given that both Lexie and Maggie were genuinely nice people. And even professionally, when it was Meredith Grey’s turn to be an attending, she soon earned the nickname ‘Medusa’ given how strict and intimidating she was with her interns.

1 Cristina Yang

Without a doubt, the meanest of the main characters to have graced the series was the inimitable Cristina Yang. Yang was a hardcore surgeon and didn’t believe in compromises when it came to her career. But her excellence in her own field didn’t afford her a lot of humility and she would often be very rude to others, especially those she considered weaker than herself.

Even before she was an established surgeon, Yang was a terror to work with. As an intern and a resident, she would constantly bully her fellow workers. For instance, she called George ‘Bambi’ which only helped to worsen his confidence in himself. Brilliant though she was, and a much-beloved character, Cristina Yang could be a meanie through and through and even seemed to derive some sort of sadistic pleasure from it at times.

About The Author