The Grinch

"Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot... but the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not."

- Dr. Seuss

The Grinch is the titular protagonist and antihero of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. He is a green hermit who used to hate the Whos and the season of Christmas even more. So, the Grinch planned to "steal" Christmas by sneaking out in the disguise of Santa Claus and stealing all of the Who's stuff. In the end, after seeing the Whos sing (even without their presents), the Grinch's heart softens and he becomes a much nicer person.

The Grinch later appeared in Halloween Is Grinch Night (where he tried to terrorize the Whos into bringing his Paraphernalia Wagon on his way) and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat as the main villain. (where he tried to do so).

He was voiced by Boris Karloff in the Christmas special, Hans Conried in Halloween is Grinch Night, Bob Holt in The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat and portrayed by Jim Carrey in the live-action movie. He was advertised as the main antagonist of that movie, but this was a misinformation campaign to hide the true main villain.

Personality
"It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

- Dr. Seuss

In the live-action film, the reason for his hatred of Christmas was because of him being bullied by other kids for his appearence.

As a baby, the Grinch arrived in Whoville by mistake and was adopted by two elderly sisters. However, he was an outcast at school and was bullied by his classmates, especially by Augustus Maywho. The only student to show the Grinch any compassion was Martha May, whom the Grinch had a crush on. Around Christmastime, the Grinch felt excited about Christmas for once and made a gift for Martha, but attempted to shave his beard, accidentally cutting himself all over his face. When the school saw the Grinch's face covered with shaving tape the next morning, they laughed at him. At this point, the Grinch finally snapped and destroyed everything in the classroom (including the very gift he made for Martha) and threw the Christmas tree at the kids, sending them into panic. Declaring that he now hated Christmas, the Grinch left Whoville and ran away to live in on Mt. Crumpit.

Trivia

 * The Grinch is constantly believed to be the main villain of the book, 1966 cartoon, and film. However, this isn't true as the Grinch is simply an isolated, grumpy antihero.
 * Unlike the book or 1966 cartoon where the Grinch is a smart, scheming individual, the film shows him to be a comical insane person with the scheming qualities.
 * In some ways, the film shows that the mayor is just as much a villain as the Grinch, maybe even worse. It's because of the Mayor's bullying, that caused the Grinch to become cold hearted.
 * The story The Hoobub and the Grinch that's included in Horton and the Kwuggerbug and more Lost Stories implies that there is more than one Grinch suggesting that The Grinch may actually be a species.