Methods for creating a likeable character who commits "unlikable" acts?

It would be easier if you would post a snippet - don't be a chicken!

Is this crazy woman funny, cute, snarky?

You can go all sorts of routs. For example, in movie's like "hang 'em high," we love Clint Eastwood's character, even though he's little better than those he's fighting against. that's the cool factor. we like him because we do.

Then, there's characters like the Nurse in Stephen King's "Misery," (whose name I am woefully forgetting now) with whom we do sympathise, because she may be crazy, but in that craziness, she's a sad and scared person, and we feel sorry for her.

(Well. I did.)

Then there's Greg House, on TV, who is a jackass...but we feel bad for him and we love him nonetheless.

so yes, I think it's doable. It just has to be considered first.

Hi,
Just because person does some bad things, that doesn't automatically make them a bad person. Your character only needs you to show her humane and good side.
I have a friend who killed somebody back in the 1970s, she spent time in prison for it; but I know her background and why she ended up on the wild side. However, when she came out of prison, she got married and then nursed her husband's son, whom was sick with Aids, until he died, she also nursed her own mother, whom was dying of cancer, until she died too... so this woman isn't all bad.

Ellie

My favorite example is Hannibal Lecter. He's a monster, but he's also intelligent, refined, and charismatic. Those positive qualities make people empathize with him despite his, um, unique tastes. I think I read in Robert McKee's "Story" that he's the type of character that makes you say, "Hmm, yes, I know he's a cannibal, but if I were a cannibal, I'd want to be like him." (paraphrased)

If your character wasn't a woman, Wack, I'd say you were describing Pete.

**runs from thread**

Keep talking, bucko. I'm just over here.

Sharpening my knives.

Keeeeeeep talking...

WackAMole said:

but id like to start by asking about development patterns to create a likeable character who does dirty deeds.

Any tips?

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Have them rescue a puppy before it gets struck by a car. Figuratively speaking, of course.

I like PeeDee's example of Annie Wilkes from "Misery." She is insane and does terrible things to Paul, but she also saves his life. She nurses him back to health. She lost people close to her, and lives alone with a pot-belly pig. Then again, she's not the hero of the story.

But ani-heroes seem to be rising in popularity. Take Dr. House. He's an ass, but he is also brilliant and has human flaws.

Show us your heroine's flaws so that we can understand why she's doing these horrible things.

I don't know that we actually sympathized with Darth Vader at all, until towards the end when we realized that he was trapped, and then he redeemed himself.

Annie Wilkes! THAT'S her name! *whew*

My head got stuck on "Deloros Clairborne" which I KNEW wasn't the right person....!

PeeDee said:

Annie Wilkes! THAT'S her name! *whew*

My head got stuck on "Deloros Clairborne" which I KNEW wasn't the right person....!

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Same actress.

You're forgiven.

WackAMole said:

Kathy Bates is her real name. The best most under-rated actress in US history

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I agree. She plays psycho nurse better than anyone. Her Annie Wilkes genuinely bothered me when I saw it for the first time, in a way that the novel version didn't. I genuinely didn't want to be around the movie character. She made me very uncomfortable. I loved it.

PeeDee said:

I don't know that we actually sympathized with Darth Vader at all, until towards the end when we realized that he was trapped, and then he redeemed himself.

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This is true but I think Lucas intended that all along. The same could be said about JKR's character, Snape. She seems to have a plan for him building towards the last book.

WackAMole said:

I know I tend to give my characters the same flaws I have which i am really trying to shy away from. I people watch a lot, i try to focus on people i like and dont like and why i feel the way i do about them, but other than that, im no damn psychologist thats for sure LOL

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I think our own flaws are excellent starting points. Twist or bend them as needed to enhance their bad parts. Explore and discover your best attributes to do the opposite. It would make for heartfelt characters which is what we want in the end.

**sigh** I wish I had flaws......

WackAMole said:

Is there a good way for inventing flaws for our characters so that they dont all end up being exactly the same as us?

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Flaws come from any number of things about a person, from their education (or lack thereof), their family background (broke home versus the Walton's), social status, personal fears, tragedies and accidents, and any time they have failed to obtain something they want.

Sit your character down for a conversation. Ask her what she wants most in the world? Figure out something internal that will prevent her from getting it (rather than external, which is what the villian is for).

I'm going to keep using Annie Wilkes for this example: She wants to love Paul Sheldon, and for him to love her. She can't have that because she is mentally unstable and possessive of someone that does not belong to her.

Careful, or this thread will start sounding like the Mary Sue thread.

For me to sympathize with a character who is performing questionable acts, I need to see some reason why the character is acting like they do. Does the character have some method to their actions?

Note that being sympathetic to a character is not the same as being interested in the character. I might want to read more just to find out what's going on, but I still might not sympathize with the character if I don't agree with their reasons.

As for other examples, have you seen the movie "Inside Man"?

Rllgthunder said:

**sigh** I wish I had flaws......

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Just speak through your characters, and they'll do fine in this department.

To see how others have done it successfully, try reading any book with a vampire protagonist where the vampire isn't a superhero in vampire clothing (in other words, not presented as a good guy with superpowers derived from the vampire aspects). There are a lot of such novels ever since that genre took off about ten years ago.

WackAMole said:

Im working on editing a short that I just completed. The character commits some pretty atrocous crimes and I am concerned that I am not generating enough sympathy to make the reader want to follow this crazy woman on her journey.

Is it best to approach subjects like murder and revenge with dark humor? How can you build this character into someone with enough depth that the reader sees through the acts and empathizes with them?

I probably should post a snippet in the post your work part of the forums so its clearer (Im chicken hehe), but id like to start by asking about development patterns to create a likeable character who does dirty deeds.

Any tips?

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In most dark movies like this (Payback, Get Carter), the only way you make a dark hero sympathetic is by making the bad guys even worse.

Alternatively, if you look at the protagonists in Dark City, they were all dark, evil men. But every one of them had a redeeming virtue -- kind of an opposite of Socrates' fatal flaw, I guess.

All this talking about making the character likable, or sympathetic, what it's really getting at is, we want the reader to relate to the character, to understand where he's coming from. That's where the whole, "Oh, yeah, I've had days where I've felt like chopping up my boss into little pieces and baking into a casserole to feed to my neighbors" comes into play. There are moments, sometimes even whole days, where everyone has felt that secret urge to do someone harm, but we've been taught that really bad things will happen to us if we do, so we step back before crossing that line.

So, when a character does it -- and acts like a frustrated commuter on a Los Angeles highway -- it's a type of wish fulfillment, and the reader can relate to it, even if they are horrified at the same time, because, you know, next time it could be our neighbor who is looking for someone to fill the casserole pan.