It’s tough to think of a book-to-TV (or movie) adaptation that actually includes every single character that was written. In fact, the mere idea of including every tiny detail, down to the minor and most forgettable characters, seems kind of tedious and overwhelming. So in a sense, we understand why directors would choose to get rid of the least important people. However, when they decide to cut out major characters, that’s a completely different story.
You see, there are supporting characters who offer nothing when it comes to plot development, and then there are characters who actually help drive the plot forward and leave a lasting impression. We’ve noticed that many of the latter haven’t had their chance to shine in on-screen adaptations. And yet, interestingly enough, directors often take the liberty of adding new roles that never even existed in the books. Don’t get us wrong – these kinds of changes can be good (when used effectively), but does it really have to mean sacrificing the existence of some of the most memorable book characters?
21. Peeves from Harry Potter
We still can’t believe that Peeves, of all characters, was cut out of the films. In the books, he was the most notorious poltergeist and a master at creating chaos. In fact, he took so much pleasure in causing trouble that Hogwarts students would allow him to take the blame for their mischief. He was that ghost who roamed the halls of Hogwarts and played pranks on the teachers and students, which is probably why Argus Filch was so keen on getting him kicked out. Can you imagine how entertaining it would’ve been to see Peeves in action on the big screen? He would’ve brought the drama to a whole new level.
Apparently there was a Peeves cast for the original film but he got cut out of the movie during post-production. That must’ve been brutal on the actor’s ego!
20. Winky from Harry Potter
Winky was a house-elf who devoted her life to serving the Crouch family. However, she was fired (or should we say “freed”) by Barty Crouch Sr. when she was found with Harry’s wand during the Quidditch World Cup. Her good friend, Dobby, helped her land a new job at Hogwarts. But since she never wanted to be free, she fell into a deep depression and started to drink heavily. We find it kind of hard to believe that she never appeared in a single film, considering how she got caught with Harry’s wand and all. But perhaps it was due to the fact that she was never really close to Harry or his friends.
19. Ludo Bagman from Harry Potter
Ludovic had quite a successful career in the Ministry of Magic. He rose to become the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and he helped organize both the Quidditch World Cup and the Triwizard Tournament. However, he had a bit of a gambling problem. During the Triwizard Tournament, he made a huge bet with the Goblins that Harry would win the game. So as a result, he tried to help Harry with the tasks by giving him pointers. By the end of the game, Harry did win, but it turned out to be a tie. So Ludo lost the bet and was forced to go on the run.
In the movies, Ludo is nowhere to be found and not even mentioned once. Dumbledore oversees the tournaments, and Barty Crouch Jr. (disguised as Mad-Eye Moody) is the one who tries to help Harry get through the tasks.
18. Madge Undersee from The Hunger Games
Madge was the daughter of District 12’s mayor and Katniss’s best friend from school. There aren’t many details about her past and her encounters with Katniss in the books are quite limited, but it doesn’t erase the fact that her character left a major impact. For those who haven’t read the books, Madge was Katniss’s only female friend and the two had quite a lot in common. Also, it was Madge who gifted Katniss with that Mockingjay pin as a token for District 12, not Prim.
17. Bonnie and Twill from The Hunger Games
Bonnie and Twill were the two women that Katniss met in the woods outside of District 12. They were escaping from District 8 during an uprising and trying to return back to their homes in District 13. Everyone was led to believe that it was completely destroyed, but their presence revealed that District 13 might still be there, which is kind of a huge turning point. Katniss even considered running away to District 13 in order to avoid another round of the Hunger Games.
It turns out that those two characters were intentionally removed because filmmakers thought it would spoil the plot of the following installment (for those who didn’t read the books). That’s fair enough. But it would’ve been nice to at least have them make an appearance in Mockingjay.
16. Maysilee Donner from The Hunger Games
Speaking of that famous Mockingjay pin, Maysilee (who was Madge’s aunt and Katniss’s mother’s best friend) was the original owner. She also participated in one of the Hunger Games as a teenager and placed 5th out of 48 tributes. At the time, she temporarily teamed up with Haymitch (who was also a tribute) to increase their odds of surviving.
In the books, we only see Maysilee through flashbacks, but she did play a vital role in Haymitch’s character development. The fact that she was also connected to Katniss’s mother and the Mockingjay pin is kind of a huge deal, so it would’ve been amazing to see her influence on the big screen.
15. Ezekiel “Zeke” Pedradhauna from Divergent
He was a Dauntless member and the brother of Uriah (who did appear in the movies). He was actually Four’s best friend and they were initiates together. Zeke was described as being very cheerful and chatty, but at the same time, he was very loyal to the Dauntless. In the books, he posed as a traitor who sided with the Erudites when really, he was an informant, giving useful information to his fellow Dauntless members. He also had a girlfriend named Shauna.
We’re kind of upset that filmmakers didn’t think Four’s best friend was important enough to be included. He was actually one of our favorites in the series!
14. Shauna from Divergent
We see her siblings, Lynn and Hector, appear in the movies, but not her. Shauna was one of Four’s classmates in his initiate class, as well as Zeke’s girlfriend. She was shot in the back during an attack, which unfortunately caused her to become paralyzed from the waist down. And although she was confined to a wheelchair, Zeke encouraged and helped her to move on from it. It was also known that Shauna had an intense dislike of Divergents, so it would’ve been intriguing to see her relationship with Tris play out on the big screen.
13. John Quinn from True Blood
John Quinn was a weretiger who first appeared in Dead as a Doornail. He worked as a supernatural coordinator for Extreme(ly Elegant) Events and he dated Sookie for a little while. He was a total “babe,” with his olive skin, muscular build, and purple eyes. But aside from being the best eye candy, we feel like Quinn could have added so much to the show as one of Sookie’s contenders. In fact, he was by far one her best matches, even though things didn’t quite work out.
12. Bubba from True Blood
How cool would it have been to see a vampire version of Elvis Presley?! For those of you who aren’t familiar with the books, Elvis was actually turned by a vampire fan when he was dying. So he became a vampire (known as “Bubba”) who feasts on cat blood, and it apparently ticked him off whenever people asked him to sing. Producers actually decided to not include Bubba in True Blood because it would be too costly to use Elvis’s image. So unfortunate…
11. Diantha from True Blood
In the books, Diantha was a semi-demon who basically talked at lightning speed – or as some would say, as if she never breathes. She was Mr. Cataliades’s niece and she had a sister named Gladiola (who unfortunately died while delivering a message). But like her late sister, Diantha worked as a messenger for Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq, and her fashion sense was quite… unique. We’d have loved to see such a character portrayed on screen.
10. Appius Livius Ocella from True Blood
Ocella was a pretty ancient vampire who got turned in the same era when Jesus walked the earth (before he turned, he was a Roman soldier). So because of his age, he was known as one of the strongest vampires in the world. He made two vampires of his own: Eric Northman, whom he trained for centuries on how to be a vampire, and Alexei Romanov, who was so off the rails that he killed people and badly injured Ocella. He was such an important character, especially considering the fact that he was the most experienced vampire in the world. It’s weird that he was never even mentioned.
9. Victarion Greyjoy from Game of Thrones
On the show, we see all of the Greyjoy siblings with the exception of Victarion, which is kind of odd. In the book series, he was one of the main characters, as the Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet. He always went sailing in full plate armor and he carried a huge axe (because he was that confident that he’d never drown and, well, he was a badass). He was a powerful warrior but he kept a calm demeanor, and he was extremely loyal to his family. It would’ve been so great to add him to the mix and see the dynamic between him and his siblings.
8. Strong Belwas from Game of Thrones
The former slave turned fighting champion is by far one of the most memorable characters. He had nutty-brown skin, a bald head, a giant chest, and a huge belly. Belwas earned quite the reputation, mainly due to the fact that he never lost a fight (or so he claimed). He also had this signature move where he’d let his opponents to cut him at least once before defeating them. It’s safe to say that omitting his character just felt like a huge disservice to the show.
7. Lady Stoneheart from Game of Thrones
In the books, Lady Catelyn Stark came back from the dead as Lady Stoneheart while on the show, she remained deceased. Fans were excited to see her appear on the show because they thought they’d gotten a glimpse of her in one episode. But sadly, it was a false alarm.
Regarding the decision not to include her, George R.R. Martin, said: “I think one of the biggest [changes] would probably be when [the producers] made the decision not to bring Catelyn Stark back as Lady Stoneheart. That was probably the first major diversion of the show from the books and, you know, I argued against that, and David and Dan made that decision.” So not fair.
6. Kelsey Pierce from Pretty Little Liars
In the book Ruthless, Kelsey was introduced as Spencer’s classmate over the summer. Both of them used drugs at one point, but Spencer asked Hannah to plant drugs in Kelsey’s room in order to save herself. Kelsey got arrested as a result, but she had no clue that it was because of Spencer.
The two saw each other again months later and this made Spencer paranoid, because not only did she suspect that Kelsey knew she was framed, but she also thought that Kelsey was the new “A.” We won’t spoil it all by explaining what happened next, but Kelsey was such a fascinating character and she deserved to be included in the show.
5. Zach and Amelia Pennythistle from Pretty Little Liars
Zach and Amelia were the kids of Veronica Hastings’s ex-fiancé, Nicholas Pennythistle. Zach, the eldest, was flirtatious and friendly. He immediately hit it off with his soon-to-be step-sister, Spencer, but their relationship took a rocky turn when they got drunk together. Amelia, on the other hand, was a bit more reserved. She was one of Kelsey’s friends and she initially didn’t like Spencer when they first met. Adding these two to the series would’ve definitely spiced up the drama.
4. Tabitha Clark from Pretty Little Liars
Tabitha was introduced in Twisted while the foursome was vacationing in Jamaica. She looked so much like Alison that when the girls spotted her, they believed she was the real Alison. Tabitha met the girls individually and gave them the impression that she knew their darkest secrets. And as if that weren’t suspicious enough, she acted in a way that closely resembled Alison’s personality and she had burn scars too. It would have been so fascinating to see this plot twist play out on screen!
3. Nick Maxwell from Pretty Little Liars
Nick was essentially Alison’s partner in crime. He was Ali’s boyfriend and he was revealed to be the third “A.” He actually helped Ali murder her twin and stalk Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna. He was also mentally ill and he had many aliases, including Jackson, Phineas, Olaf, Tripp, and Derrick. But unfortunately, all of his hard work and dedication went down the drain because Alison turned on him after he got caught by the police. We honestly still can’t believe that his character never showed up on the show.
2. Courtney from Pretty Little Liars
Courtney was Alison’s sweet, adorable, and popular twin. But Alison’s jealousy drove her to frame her sister for being mentally ill when in fact, she was the mentally unstable one. Courtney got sent away for a little while until she got the opportunity to return for a short visit. It was then that she switched places with Alison and tricked their mom into sending her sister away instead. This ultimately caused Alison to murder Courtney. The fact that all of these details got left out is just nuts.
1. Isaac Colbert from Pretty Little Liars
Emily had a pretty serious relationship with Isaac. They fell in love and she lost her virginity to him, but then they broke up. After the split, Emily found out that she was pregnant and she gave birth to a baby girl. But she secretly gave the child up for adoption without telling Isaac a thing. She and Isaac never really worked out, but he clearly played a huge role in her backstory (they share a daughter, for crying out loud). Cutting him out of the show entirely was like erasing an entire chapter of Emily’s life.