Creating a charismatic unlikable character

[Steerpike]

This pertains to a story I am working on now.

As a frame of reference, in my mind, I'm using Nabokov's Lolita. The narrator of Lolita is a witty, charming, and well-educated. What he does during the course of the story, to Dolores and others, is nothing short of reprehensible. Yet Nabokov manages to carry a whole story with him as an unreliable narrator precisely because he is charismatic and witty. If he were just a nasty sort of person, I think the story would fail and I doubt so many people would have read the whole thing, or that it would be considered one of the great works of literature.

Enter, my character. She's young and uneducated (and thus can't have the kind of worldly charisma Nabokov gives his character). She's a drug addict, thief, and part-time prostitute. She suffers abuse at the hands of her sometimes-boyfriend and doesn't defend herself. At least at the start. Over the course of the story, she transforms and in many ways becomes an admirable person.

My problem in reading through the initial bits is that I'm not sure she's likable enough through the first part of it to create much empathy on the part of the reader. She is interesting, and there is some mystery about her established early on that I hope will keep a reader's interest, but I'm trying to decide now if I should go back and do something more in the beginning to make the reader like her a bit more.

 

[Ankari]

I think the premise already grants a measure of empathy. The suffering and abuse alone will win over readers. The question, I think, is will the targeted audience that would appreciate the end stick through the beginning to get that far?

 

[Steerpike]

That's a good point, Ankari. I guess part of the problem is that she's not a nice person at the start, either. If she were in a relationship where the other person was the weak one, she might just as easily be doling out the beatings instead of receiving them. To make matters worse, her 'boyfriend' plays an ongoing role as well, though his transformation is going to be more difficult. In one scene, while he is beating her he is aroused by the bruises and blood and takes advantage of her. I can't think yet how I'm going to bring him back from that. He has things in his backstory that aren't told at the beginning that shed some light on why he is this way, but while I do like the main character, I don't even like the boyfriend myself.

 

[Anders Ämting]

I think the thing that makes unlikable characters so damn likable mostly amounts to katharsis: They are the people who say and do things we can't, acting with a freedom most of us have surrendered in exchange for being socially well-adjusted people.

When I was writing my "Harry Potter clone", the character I took an instant liking to was actually the bully. She was just very, very fun to write because she never had to restrain herself and whenever she met a person she didn't like or had no particular reason to respect, she never tried to hide it. I liked her so much I ended up giving her more depth and a bigger part.

 

[TWErvin2]

While readers can take their cue and form opinions about a chracter from what a character says, acts and/or what she does, a reader can also be influenced by how other characters respond and act toward a the character in question. A reader my have an initial dislike, but call that into question by how other characters respond to the MC the story.

I don't know if that might directly help in this situation, and using other characters to influence a reader's possible view or opinion is a difficult thing to pull off reliably, especially if the effort is to go against the natural flow of reader thought/view based on the initial character, as opposed to going with and support that flow. But it can reliably place that bit of doubt in the reader's mind, leaving open the chance for likeability based on the potential for change.

 

[Aidan of the tavern]

I agree with Ankari, if you can get sympathy on the side of the protag you should be alright. If we at least have some indication of why she turned out this way, that would work. Plus it sounds like the other characters are so unpleasant I for one woud certainly empathise with the lesser of the evils, which it sounds like your protag is.

 

[Xaysai]

Thinking back on the charismatic unlikable characters I've enjoyed, all of them had a genuine vulnerability which I could empathize with. This vulnerability was illustrated through decisions the character is forced to make.

I found Tyrion Lannister to be a charismatic unlikable character, especially at first.

Nicomo Cosca from the first law trilogy is a great example of a highly charismatic but mostly unlikable character. He is the leader of a ruthless band of mercenaries, but he himself isn't much of one. He often turns his army on his friends when the "other side" pays more simply because he fears his men will turn on him if he doesn't take actions which will make them richer and more famous. He does some horrible things just to stay alive, and in power, but you kinda feel bad for the position he is in.

The good fun of the character is that when the "good guys" are relying on him to save them because they've paid them to do so, is wondering if the "bad guys" have paid him more to turn on them.

I think that Durzo Blint from the Night Angel Trilogy is another charismatic mostly unlikable character.

Not sure this is relevant, but it got me thinking about it.

 

[Amanita]

I've had to read a few books about drug addicted people at school and those were often behaving in ways quite like your protagonist. Sympathizing with them still hasn't been a problem.
I think most people who are interested in this subject matter know that addiction will have nasty effects on someone's personality. At least the bits your describing sound like a typical drug situation with a woman being forced to do anything to get her drug and lacking the strength to fight off her violent boyfriend as a result. Sympathy for the boyfriend is harder to achieve in my opinion but I don't think it's impossible either if your backstory is convincing enough. I at least tend to be quite forgiving towards fictional characters if the author is describing their reasons for acting the way they do in a believable manner.
In case of the female character I don't even see a real reason why I would dislike her as a reader. It's quite possible to sympathize with characters you wouldn't want to meet in real life.

 

[Xaysai]

Just a quick nitpick, but people keep saying "sympathy" for the character, but I feel that "empathy" is more exact.

Thoughts?

 

[Penpilot]

Just a quick nitpick, but people keep saying "sympathy" for the character, but I feel that "empathy" is more exact.

Thoughts?

Yeah I think this more apt. They more the reader can put themselves in the shoes of the character, no matter how despicable they are, and understand why they are the way they are, I think the more likely the reader will be engaged with the story.

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Xaysai,
Sympathy is the "writerly" term that is used to describe a reader's growing (or diminishing) connection to a character.

Steerpike,
In my mind, you don't want too much sympathy at the start for characters like this. Having a long path towards redemption makes the character arc more powerful.

If it were me, I'd choose one aspect of her life that can gain sympathy...something current. Not something that explains her past. For example, maybe she has a mother that hasn't given up on her yet and struggles to rescue her any chance she is given (something the MC could even take advantage of). Maybe, she has a little sister she is trying to shield from the life she herself fell into.

Point being, there are many ways to increase sympathy. One of the most impactful, in my opinion, is to show that even nasty characters can be loved or love someone. The desire to give or receive love is a commonality that binds us all.

Pick a single sympathetic trait and play it up. Let it do battle against the bad.

 

[Feo Takahari]

Pick a single sympathetic trait and play it up. Let it do battle against the bad.

While I agree with this to some extent, I don't think it's a full solution to the problem. I'll let Insert Author Here make the argument:

One of the most common ways of saying a character is "not so bad" is to give them some virtues in addition to their vices . . . The problem is that the positive traits do not cancel out the villain's actions, nor do they serve as justification for why they should be redeemed later on. Simply having some shreds of decency doesn't make you good, it makes you human.

(The full article may be useful, although the examples it gives are specific to a particular fandom.)

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

While I agree with this to some extent, I don't think it's a full solution to the problem. I'll let Insert Author Here make the argument:

(The full article may be useful, although the examples it gives are specific to a particular fandom.)

I never mentioned anything about positive virtues vs. negative virtues or positive virtues canceling out the negative, thereby making redemption acceptable. The thread is not even about paths to redemption. The OP asked about ways to ensure enough empathy so that the MC isn't entirely repugnant at the start.

My point addresses sympathy & ways to increase sympathy only. The redemption doesn't rest on this sympathy. It's only a measure used to improve initial likability. Further, this doesn't mean a character becomes likable. It is a device meant to keep readers from being repelled by the character...to keep them reading. This is why I suggested picking one sympathetic tool to use. If we want a character to be likable, we'd need more than one or two.

A sympathetic trait, that lends to a character's initial likability, doesn't have to be a character virtue either. Often it can be a small similarity or identifier that gives the reader a bit of sympathy. Having a mother that loves me isn't a virtue of mine but it is a sympathetic trait...readers can identify with receiving a parent's love (not all but most).

These sympathetic measures can do battle against the overwhelming "badness". It doesn't have to win the day and make redemption acceptable all by itself...that's the responsibility of the story.

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

My reaction was: drug addict, thief, part-time prostitute and (most importantly) abused by her boyfriend and doesn't defend herself -- I will never like this character. She is so clearly being set up by the author for redemption that I'll never be able to buy into it. No doubt the redeemed character will in future seldom give any indication that they were the kind of person who would become a thief, drug addict, whore and victim of an abusive relationship. That's just the way these kinds of character arcs seem to turn out.

Obviously I could be wrong -- I would hope that the future redemption arc and "brand new person" arc doesn't whitewash who this person has proved themselves to be in the past.

 

[wordwalker]

I'd say the usual tools for sympathy with an unlikable character are to focus on how many other unlikable people (or harsh circumstances, but mostly people) are kicking that person around; he looks good in comparison, and his flaws look more like frustration or necessity. Note, the character has to be mostly on the losing end of things to do this; it's much harder to work it for a nasty boss than for a nasty guy in the cubicles where you can see how enough people are abusing him. (But, it's harder still if you forget the moments where he's trying or succeeding in taking some control; he absolutely can't be a full-time doormat either.)

Another tweak, often used to tip the balance after setting up some of the former, is the one person or good cause he cares about. He may not be able or willing to treat most people the way he does his "little sister," but it shows he can mean well, and maybe that's driving him through all the rest.

 

[SineNomine]

I'm working on a redemption story myself, so I certainly feel this conflict strongly. I certainly don't have all the answers.

What has already been said sums up a lot of my thoughts on the matter, so I will try and keep it short. One possible path is to make the antagonists even worse. If people truly hate the people she has to deal with, there is this innate "enemy of my enemy" thing that goes on and you are more willing to let negative traits slide, just because she is the lesser of two evils. The main risk there is that you might end up making everyone involved so repugnant that people simply get turned off to the entire thing, so it probably isn't wise to rely solely on that.

Making her more relatable is a great way, and the best advice I can offer there is to not just rely on positive traits, which can sometimes create a distracting character who seems to be comprised of contradictions and people could become pulled out of the story if it is apparent that it is a narrative technique just to try and get the reader to like her. Rather, give her some pretty important neutral traits, or quirks. I don't know why, but little oddities of behavior seem to be incredibly effective at making a character sympathetic. I suppose it just humanizes them.

Secondly, and this is so obviously basic it seems silly to even mention it, make sure she is proactive from the start of the story. It's hard to do when you are setting up a character arc where someone goes from passivity in the beginning to being assertive in the end, but you know what everyone says, people like proactive characters. Give her something to do unrelated to her main character arc where she can be proactive about it from the very start. Which also ties in well to giving her quirks.

 

[BWFoster78]

It's not possible to please everyone. Some readers simply aren't going to like the character. In the end, I think you'll create an inferior product if you do try to please everyone.

Most people who read the story are going to want to like the POV character. Take the new show, The Americans. It's about Russian spies working against the American government during the cold war. Despite this, most of the time, I find myself rooting for the this couple who, despite being spies, are struggling with relationship issues just like anyone else.

It seems to me that the key, if we assume that most readers are going to be actively trying to like the character, is to just give them something on which to hang their hats. It doesn't have to be a lot, just a little, tiny thread of something that hints at this person being redeemable.

In The Americans, it's the man and woman trying to figure out their complex marriage in extraordinarily harsh conditions. Even though they're doing horribly bad acts, seeing that humanity in them makes them sympathetic.

I haven't read your story, so I can't offer a specific suggestion, though.

Did this help any?

Thanks.

Brian

 

[Steerpike]

Thanks, guys. I appreciate all the good feedback (looks like I have to wait a while to 'thank' the last two posts).

I think it is true that I don't want too much sympathy at the beginning. She's not meant to be likable at the start; she doesn't even like herself. I also think it is true that I can provide just enough of something for a reader to empathize with, something that any person can empathize with. Whether she's a good person or not, at the beginning, she's going to experience things that are common to the shared experience of human beings...the need to eat, to feel safe, to love someone and be loved, etc. So I think bits of this can be pulled in to the story to create a basis to identify with her as a human being, even while recognizing that she's not a very good one. Honestly, I don't want the reader to necessarily like her at the beginning, but to be interested enough in her to go along for the journey.

I also think that I can make her look somewhat better by contrast to those around her. In fact, this is already done to some extent, both with her boyfriend, and with other characters in the story, who might at least on the surface appear to be better than the MC, but who are shown through their interactions with her to be as bad or worse, despite the veneer of civilization and society they wear.

 

[Anders Ämting]

Just a quick nitpick, but people keep saying "sympathy" for the character, but I feel that "empathy" is more exact.

Thoughts?

We could just skip the technical jargon and say "understanding."

 

[Jamber]

Will this all be in first person (like Lolita)? If the narrator is pompous or learned then I guess you might have the character say acute and incisive things, (winning the narrator's grudging admiration as well as ours). You could have her surprise the narrator in a way that makes his unreliability leak through. We might gradually come to see her as a pretty good person even if we'd dismissed her as a bit of a 'type' early on.

John Lanchester's 'The Debt To Pleasure' is a blazing example of unreliable narratorship, taking Lolita's Humbert to an extreme (and showing how to cook bouillabaisse on the way). It's worth a read if you're going down that path.

If not, hope you don't mind the few extra thoughts on the topic of unreliability.

best wishes

Jennie