All 6 Friends Characters, Ranked by How Mean They Can Be

The six characters from the popular NBC sitcom have very different personalities. Some are smarter. Some are bolder. Some are funnier. And some are quirkier. The same gradation applies to how mean the characters are.

Joey

Joey may not be the smartest of the bunch, but he's definitely the nicest. He's never said a rude word to anyone, let alone his friends. He's always very sincere and sarcasm doesn't seem to work on him. Even when Joey is offended, he doesn't act out and remains a nice man, so it's no surprise that he's the ultimate fan favorite on the show.

Ross

Ross may be the most annoying character on the show, thanks to his mood swings and man-child behavior, but he's not particularly mean. Sure, when he and Rachel broke up, he was as bitter around her as he was with his ex-wife's girlfriend Susan. Or when he and Monica resumed their sibling feud, he also said nasty things about her. But this meanness is uncharacteristic of Ross.

Monica

Monica is not a fan of verbal confrontation. If she wants to do something, she does it behind people's backs, often insulting them. The only time she was really mean verbally was when she and Rachel were fighting. In addition, Monica can also be quite mean in her back-and-forth with her husband Chandler, but the two of them seem to enjoy it.

Chandler

Chandler is not particularly mean. In fact, he is a very amusing person and probably the funniest of the gang. But some of his jokes at the expense of his friends or other people are quite direct and mean, which he only realizes after saying them out loud. Also, Chandler can be a little arrogant, which comes across as mean.

Rachel

Rachel may be one of the most popular characters on the show. But she's also very mean. When she and Ross broke up, she didn't hesitate to drag him around in front of their friends and often made fun of him, demeaning him as a person, which was very rude, though well deserved. With Phoebe and Monica, Rachel doesn't hold her tongue either, teasing her friends when they fight and using their biggest secrets and insecurities against them.

Phoebe

The Sheldon Cooper of her time and her show, Phoebe Buffay was 'so wonderfully weird,' as her husband Mike put it in his wedding speech. Maybe that's why the rest of the gang doesn't mind her being so mean all the time, just taking it as one of her quirks. Phoebe doesn't seem to care about other people's feelings, and her brutal honesty is nothing more than meanness most of the time. She also doesn't bother to hide when she doesn't like something or someone, which can be very hurtful – just ask Chandler.