Yeah, a character introduced solely to annoy/antagonise the cast is...well, its lazy writing. Its unimaginative and it gets very old very quickly. That type of character is a plot device that just doesn't work in the long run or the short run. And if you go down that route, you basically have to change out assholes when they wear out their welcome. Not to mention that kind of character ends up getting abuse hurled at the writer, which frankly they don't deserve.
If you want to bring conflict into a story, Kurt Vonnegut had the right idea "Someone gets into trouble, then tries to get out of it again. People love that story. They never get tired of it". Meaning that there is already the seeds for drama within the comic and it doesn't need a Karen or a Becky or a Chad to draw it out. (Also, I had a look at the male version...Chad is in my age group and fuck, that makes me feel old).
So lets take a few minutes and break that idea down. Conflict in a story is CHARACTER + WANT + OBSTACLE = CONFLICT.
In that scenario, you're using the CHARACTER to explore why they WANT something and how the OBSTACLE gets in their way. We've seen that plenty of times in the comic:
The Talk. CHARACTERS: Marten & Faye. WANT: A romantic relationship between the two. OBSTACLE: Faye's past. Combined, we get The Talk and the resolution of that conflict is that any romantic possibility between the two is given the kibosh in a firm manner.
But more than that, in that conflict, you have the characters reveal truths about themselves and with that comes the realisation that they need to change. In the case of the Talk, its Faye ultimately realising she sabotaged what could have been a good relationship and decides to enter therapy again.
Of course, conflict for the sake of conflict is just as bad as introducing an antagonist that just exists to antagonise. It adds nothing and gets boring.
So what kind of conflict could we see? Well, there are several ideas:
- Character vs Character. This is the most straightforward kind of conflict. It could be the Hero vs the Villain, or in a more subtle vein, family drama, like Faye coming out to her mother.
- Character vs Society. This can be more about the character having to deal with the expectations society has placed upon them. For example, Bubbles trying to reintegrate into society after leaving the military, further showcased by her discussion with Momo.
- Character vs Nature. This could be animals, apocalypses, weather and so on, all of which feature non-human antagonists (Looking at you, Twister, chasing after those Stormchasers!).
- Character vs Technology. Exactly what it sounds like, though its perhaps best exemplified by the arc where Bubbles finds her memories aren't just locked away and are completely gone. But given the level of technology in the QC-verse, this is an easy one to explore.
- Character vs Supernatural. While one might not be able to find an example within the QC-verse, its there, as we've seen with Spookybot. They are beyond the technology of the setting, especially when Station, one of the most powerful AI within the setting has no idea what Spooky could be. At that point, you're leaving the realm of nature and technology, things that can be explained and entering the supernatural.
- Character vs Self. This is when the character is their own worst enemy, where they have to confront their demons and either learn how to cope or else struggle for their lives.
- Character vs Fate. This is related to the Vs Self, where people who can't learn to grow, keeping repeating the same mistakes. But it's mainly the idea that a character's freedom is always just out of reach, that no matter how much they struggle they're always going to end up doing what they're fated to do.
Of course, then that's getting into the types of conflict you're looking for - is it character based or themed based? Is it external or internal? But I think I've said enough on this for the evening.