Wanara009
Troubadour
Hey guys, do anyone know the trick to make a psychopath/sociopath likeable without resorting to comedy-psychopathy?
Thank you in advance.
Thank you in advance.
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How to make a psychopath likeable?
- Thread starter Wanara009
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Feo Takahari
Auror
If Archive of Our Own is any indication, the solution is to make him young and physically attractive. 
Seriously, there's a reason so many writers fall back on black comedy. A few go for wish fulfillment--the character kills people who're supposed to stand in for folks who annoy many readers--but frankly, that creeps me the hell out. The only other approach I know of to make a likable antihero is to give him something or someone he cares about, and that somewhat compromises the "psychopath" approach.
What exactly do you need? If you need a likable character who kills people, he doesn't have to be totally amoral--for instance, maybe he cares about his friends and family, but is largely indifferent to strangers. If you need a likable character who lacks a conscience, he can be largely amoral but still avoid actions that could get him arrested.
Seriously, there's a reason so many writers fall back on black comedy. A few go for wish fulfillment--the character kills people who're supposed to stand in for folks who annoy many readers--but frankly, that creeps me the hell out. The only other approach I know of to make a likable antihero is to give him something or someone he cares about, and that somewhat compromises the "psychopath" approach.
What exactly do you need? If you need a likable character who kills people, he doesn't have to be totally amoral--for instance, maybe he cares about his friends and family, but is largely indifferent to strangers. If you need a likable character who lacks a conscience, he can be largely amoral but still avoid actions that could get him arrested.
Myth Weaver
Terry Greer
Sage
It can be done - I've always taken lessons from good examples such as Dexter, Hannibal and the Talented Mr Ripley.
They don't have to be 'comedy psychopaths' but a sense of politeness (As ThinkerX says), humour and irony are great ways of making him seem more human and likable.
This is really important as they are generally very self centered and absorbed making them unlikable so any leverage for reversing that is useful.
Dexter is particularly good at this - partially because he does so much soul searching as well - I'd recommend reading the first couple of books as well (rather than just the TV series) as you get his inner voice and concerns far better in that than the voice over in the TV series.
They don't have to be 'comedy psychopaths' but a sense of politeness (As ThinkerX says), humour and irony are great ways of making him seem more human and likable.
This is really important as they are generally very self centered and absorbed making them unlikable so any leverage for reversing that is useful.
Dexter is particularly good at this - partially because he does so much soul searching as well - I'd recommend reading the first couple of books as well (rather than just the TV series) as you get his inner voice and concerns far better in that than the voice over in the TV series.
Nagash
Sage
I believe the greatest way of making a sociopath - or even a generic villain, for that matter - likable/sympathetic, is to resort to tragedy. The overall feeling being that, while you're character is as psycho as it gets, the obvious loneliness or the harsh past he went through (for instance) makes it pitiful rather than horrifying. One should get the impression that being the blood-frenzied character, rests a lost soul, staring in the abyss. Why not give him a few extra phobias in bonus for his mental illness or what have you that will make him a sociopath - agoraphobia being on of the most popular in this specific scenario. Point is, depict your character as something more than a killer and madman/madwoman : show the hurting soul under all these layers of repulsive and horror, and give it a tear-jerking story.
Spider
Sage
Usually, making a character likeable is associated with making a character relatable and connecting him/her emotionally with the reader. But look at the Joker from The Dark Knight: what makes him compelling, to me, isn't because he has any emotional weight, nor is he very polite. It's because he's an interesting and brilliant character.
Give your psychopath a goal, and make his journey of achieving that goal an entertaining one.
Give your psychopath a goal, and make his journey of achieving that goal an entertaining one.
The two examples I can think of off the top of my head are the above mentioned Dexter, and John Wayne Cleaver from Dan Wells' trilogy.
In his podcast, if I remember right, Wells says one of the things he used to make Cleaver more likeable was he gave him a sense of humor.
Another thing I noticed is both characters Dexter and Cleaver have family they "care" about, they have a set of "moral" codes they live by, and finally, they struggle with their darkside and with the decisions made because of it. Just as I'm writing that list of commonalities, I realize these are things most have in their lives and struggle with. I mean, we may not have to struggle with dark impulses to the level of what a psychopath might have to deal with, but we all have moments where we struggle with morality. Do I give back the extra 5 dollars the cashier gave me in change? Do I leave a note on this person's car after I dented it?
Maybe the way to make them likable is to just make them people with problems just like normal people. The difference being they're psychopaths and their thought process and conclusions may not match those within the social norms. On the otherside of things, parts of them may and will fit within social norms.
my 2cents
In his podcast, if I remember right, Wells says one of the things he used to make Cleaver more likeable was he gave him a sense of humor.
Another thing I noticed is both characters Dexter and Cleaver have family they "care" about, they have a set of "moral" codes they live by, and finally, they struggle with their darkside and with the decisions made because of it. Just as I'm writing that list of commonalities, I realize these are things most have in their lives and struggle with. I mean, we may not have to struggle with dark impulses to the level of what a psychopath might have to deal with, but we all have moments where we struggle with morality. Do I give back the extra 5 dollars the cashier gave me in change? Do I leave a note on this person's car after I dented it?
Maybe the way to make them likable is to just make them people with problems just like normal people. The difference being they're psychopaths and their thought process and conclusions may not match those within the social norms. On the otherside of things, parts of them may and will fit within social norms.
my 2cents
Trick
Auror
My MC is, what I like to call, a near sociopath. I think I've made him likeable even though he is self centered, dangerously impulsive and criminal. For one, he is somewhat funny even if he doesn't intend to be. He also has three meaningful relationships that make him feel emotion, as far as he is capable anyway. None of this has served to make the author, me, more likeable since he will lose two of those relationships in terrible ways and another will be damaged forever. By then, the reader should be on his side though, and root for him through the remainder of the book. He can lose the niceties and just be himself while he achieves goals that someone with more emotional acuity might fail at accomplishing.
I guess what I'm saying is, your character only has to be likeable at first. Pull in the reader and then have some justification for any worse actions and we'll stick with you.
I'd also recommend Prince of Thorns. The MC is clearly a psychopath and, at first, I hated him. Then I felt bad for him, then respected him and finally I rooted for him, even though I felt queasy about it.
I guess what I'm saying is, your character only has to be likeable at first. Pull in the reader and then have some justification for any worse actions and we'll stick with you.
I'd also recommend Prince of Thorns. The MC is clearly a psychopath and, at first, I hated him. Then I felt bad for him, then respected him and finally I rooted for him, even though I felt queasy about it.
psychotick
Auror
Hi,
If he's not your POV character then the way to go in my view would be to make him charming - i.e. good looking, big smile, sense of humour, wry point of view and lots of manners.
If he is your POV character than you have to go beyond this superficial likeableness, to getting inside his head an finding some humanity. Maybe a tragic reason why he's like this, some positive traits etc as the others have mentioned.
Cheers, Greg.
If he's not your POV character then the way to go in my view would be to make him charming - i.e. good looking, big smile, sense of humour, wry point of view and lots of manners.
If he is your POV character than you have to go beyond this superficial likeableness, to getting inside his head an finding some humanity. Maybe a tragic reason why he's like this, some positive traits etc as the others have mentioned.
Cheers, Greg.
Trick
Auror
This may be useful for you as well:
welcome to neverland, Masterlist of Resources: Sociopaths, Psychopaths, and How to Write Them
welcome to neverland, Masterlist of Resources: Sociopaths, Psychopaths, and How to Write Them
C
Chessie
Guest
I recommend reading some online articles about Sociopaths, Narcissism, etc. Been reading a ton about narcissism for a character in my WIP, and the information has helped me at least get to a psychological/emotional understanding of such personalities. Education is power, and also any real life examples you may be able to draw from.
Dexter is a good example.
Also, read Nabokov. Humbert Humbert may not be a psychopath, but he's thoroughly deranged in many ways, and his acts are aggregious, but Nabokov pulls it off, primarily by making Humbert smart and witty.
Also, read Nabokov. Humbert Humbert may not be a psychopath, but he's thoroughly deranged in many ways, and his acts are aggregious, but Nabokov pulls it off, primarily by making Humbert smart and witty.
Dexter is great. Another good example is Breaking Bad - not that Walt was a sociopath, but his actions gradually grew more heinous. If you started the sociopath's story early enough - everyone likes babies? - then you can show that gradual progression into the character's increasing atrocities. Some of that early likability will stay with the character.
Ruby
Auror
Hi Wanara009,
I can't help wondering, do psychopaths like each other?
I can't help wondering, do psychopaths like each other?
psychotick
Auror
Hi Ruby,
Actually I can answer that - no they don't like each other. There may be reasons why they might work together - eg the Washington Sniper, and they might understand one another a little better, but by and large the key feature of a sociopath is a complete lack of empathy, understanding, liking of others. In general they like themselves and that's fairly much it.
Richard Kuklinski (the iceman) the mafia hitter who killed over a hundred managed to straddle a double life, contract assassin and being married. However records show that his marriage was far from one of love. He beat his wife, trie to kill her and threatened to kill his kids. To ad to that he once shot a man in the head with a crossbow simply to see how deadly one was.
Trying to make someone like him likeable would be a tall ask. However, the one thing that the OP may be able to use is the way that he was able to hide what he was from the world. In essence he devised a series of rules to live by. (The mafia's code in other words.) Things he just didn't do (in theory). He needed the rules because he didn't understand people the way that others did. So one of his rules that he mostly obeyed was that he didn't kill his wife and kids. Not because he loved her in any way, or even understood what love was, but simply because the rules were what people in the circles he moved in live by and he understood them.
Cheers, Greg.
Actually I can answer that - no they don't like each other. There may be reasons why they might work together - eg the Washington Sniper, and they might understand one another a little better, but by and large the key feature of a sociopath is a complete lack of empathy, understanding, liking of others. In general they like themselves and that's fairly much it.
Richard Kuklinski (the iceman) the mafia hitter who killed over a hundred managed to straddle a double life, contract assassin and being married. However records show that his marriage was far from one of love. He beat his wife, trie to kill her and threatened to kill his kids. To ad to that he once shot a man in the head with a crossbow simply to see how deadly one was.
Trying to make someone like him likeable would be a tall ask. However, the one thing that the OP may be able to use is the way that he was able to hide what he was from the world. In essence he devised a series of rules to live by. (The mafia's code in other words.) Things he just didn't do (in theory). He needed the rules because he didn't understand people the way that others did. So one of his rules that he mostly obeyed was that he didn't kill his wife and kids. Not because he loved her in any way, or even understood what love was, but simply because the rules were what people in the circles he moved in live by and he understood them.
Cheers, Greg.
Terry Greer
Sage
yes - Walt's arc in Breaking Bad is a great example. I love the way that you start out empathizing with him - and gradually you begin to dislike him. Those special moments when he just steps over the line and you feel guilt for having liked him at all are superbly handled.
AbrasiveAuthor
New Member
Would you be willing to replace "likeable" for "rootforable?" (Shh. I know it's not a real word.) I can think of very few psychopaths that I've "liked" in fiction, however the Dexter series (books not show) does a stellar job of making us root for the protagonist. Giving your psychopath a moral code like "Punisher" and going the vigilante route, is one way to do it. Since comedy is off the table, making the character funny/witty is another way to go. It wouldn't have to be comedic, but we as human beings are generally impressed by wit and charm. We are more likely to root for someone who exhibits the qualities that we wish we had in ourselves.
Beyond that, psychopaths can have redeeming qualities as well: a powerful sense of loyalty, dedication to a certain cause, confliction over moral ambiguities (imagine someone trying to be religious or noble who was also a psychopath.) Or someone who you would normally root for, where their ambiguous moral constraints (and by ambiguous I mean non-existent), wouldn't limit our fondness for them. Think of lawyers like in Primal Fear or think of certain military leaders, or geniuses or how about a psychopathic magician (either fantastical or stage). It comes down to this, in my opinion: ordinary person psychopath = kind of bland and hard to root for. Larger than life (impressive) psychopath = a lot easier to forgive their flaws. (There is a reason we love James Bond, despite the astronomical body count he leaves in his wake.)
Beyond that, psychopaths can have redeeming qualities as well: a powerful sense of loyalty, dedication to a certain cause, confliction over moral ambiguities (imagine someone trying to be religious or noble who was also a psychopath.) Or someone who you would normally root for, where their ambiguous moral constraints (and by ambiguous I mean non-existent), wouldn't limit our fondness for them. Think of lawyers like in Primal Fear or think of certain military leaders, or geniuses or how about a psychopathic magician (either fantastical or stage). It comes down to this, in my opinion: ordinary person psychopath = kind of bland and hard to root for. Larger than life (impressive) psychopath = a lot easier to forgive their flaws. (There is a reason we love James Bond, despite the astronomical body count he leaves in his wake.)
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