Likeable Characters
Apr. 9th, 2018 12:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis post asks if your main character should be likeable.
Let me be blunt: if I don't like the characters in a story, regardless of its format, I am unlikely to consume it. Why would I spend hours with people I don't like? If I enjoyed that, I'd go to parties. There are better things I could be doing with my time.
That said, my taste in characters is pretty diverse. I don't care for flat or stupid ones. But I like unsullied heroes, and I like antiheroes if they're written well. I like complex characters who grow and change, who face and overcome real problems. I don't want them to be perfect, because I enjoy seeing them struggle with their flaws. I just don't like assholes.
Sometimes, of course, a character grows on me. It was someone else who spotted Shiv's real damage, which got me interested, and the more I explored, the more I liked the pesky litter fucker. And then his fan base grew from about two people, to dozens; he's now one of my most popular characters. He's still kind of a dick, but it's easier to put up with when we know why, and he's actually making effort on a few things he cares about, such as professional development.
You can write unlikeable characters if that's what you enjoy. Just understand that you'll be paddling upstream with many readers.
Let me be blunt: if I don't like the characters in a story, regardless of its format, I am unlikely to consume it. Why would I spend hours with people I don't like? If I enjoyed that, I'd go to parties. There are better things I could be doing with my time.
That said, my taste in characters is pretty diverse. I don't care for flat or stupid ones. But I like unsullied heroes, and I like antiheroes if they're written well. I like complex characters who grow and change, who face and overcome real problems. I don't want them to be perfect, because I enjoy seeing them struggle with their flaws. I just don't like assholes.
Sometimes, of course, a character grows on me. It was someone else who spotted Shiv's real damage, which got me interested, and the more I explored, the more I liked the pesky litter fucker. And then his fan base grew from about two people, to dozens; he's now one of my most popular characters. He's still kind of a dick, but it's easier to put up with when we know why, and he's actually making effort on a few things he cares about, such as professional development.
You can write unlikeable characters if that's what you enjoy. Just understand that you'll be paddling upstream with many readers.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2018-04-10 12:17 am (UTC)Sadly, just as there's been Captain Kirk drift, certain people didn't get that Sherlock Holmes is really only rude (well, he is inconsiderate to Mrs. Hudson also) to powerful people who through moral hazard have endangered those weaker around them. QED rolled around in Arrogant Genius, as did plenty of other shows. (I wonder if that's not catching that Reed Richards, Doctor of Insufferable was a send up of Father Knows Best.)
Yes, I do use Tony and for that matter Janet Van Dyne as an excuse to have the results of very skilled people being paid to do cool things, like design Steve's kitchen without the 90 years of compromises. I assume that in canon there are teams of exceptional janitors who are well paid and they are why Stark Industries will always outdeliver OsCorp- They're the parents of the next wave of engineers.
It assuredly watered my crops.