The phrase "a problematic figure" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe a person or character who is controversial or causes issues in a particular context.
Example: "The author presents a problematic figure in the protagonist, whose actions often lead to moral dilemmas."
Alternatives: "a controversial figure" or "a contentious figure".
His expulsion by the orthodox church makes him a problematic figure for the current regime.
Meanwhile, Livni herself had proved a problematic figure for some more moderate voters.
Though Mr. Sun's outspokenness makes him a problematic figure, they say China's leaders could still embrace his model to address endemic poverty.
White critics viewed her as sex-crazed or degenerate, and her desire to speak for others made her a problematic figure in the black community as well.
Some of his supporters are pushing the move as a way of ensuring a heavy black turn-out; others worry that Mr. Jackson remains a problematic figure among Jewish voters, who remain a sizable factor in Democratic primaries.
(An animated film made by Likud showed the co-leaders behind a desk with a ringing red phone, quarrelling over who should answer and speak to Obama). Meanwhile, Livni herself had proved a problematic figure for some more moderate voters.
"If you look at this as making Alaska's image important in the nation's consciousness, she's a fairly problematic figure," said Mike Doogan, a Democratic state legislator who for years was a columnist for The Anchorage Daily News.
If Archbishop Marcinkus emerges as almost naively free of conspiratorial aims (yet still a man whose eyes could make a visitor uneasy), John Paul I's secretary, Don Diego Lorenzi, changes from an innocent aide into a more problematic figure as his story of the final papal night fails to jibe with that of other members of the household.
When a politically problematic figure disappears or is disappeared in China, a dark uneasiness falls, though usually accompanied by a glum sense of the inevitable.
When a politically problematic figure disappears — or is disappeared — in China, a dark uneasiness falls, though usually accompanied by a glum sense of the inevitable.
J. T. looms as a towering, problematic figure.
