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One of my MCs is a jerk

OGone

Troubadour
Writing him, I realize it now. He's a womanizing, self-centered idiot who's attempts at humor are vulgar and immature. He pursues a woman throughout the story who's oblivious to this, he's distracted by every other single attractive woman in the novel. He's rude and relatively unintelligent. He changes towards the end of the novel, becoming more driven by his his primary love interest but he also deliberately defies orders out of jealousy (albeit he thought he was doing good) and winds up getting two other (likable) main characters killed. I can write it so the other characters are not aware that he was responsible, but I'm worrying readers themselves have absolutely no real reason to appreciate this character.

He *does* change towards the end and if I ever wrote a sequel I'd show him to have matured. His motivations *are* good, he's not morally evil and doesn't intentionally hurt anyone but he's just... a bit of an asshole...

I'm not trying to change the character, I like him how he is. But how does a reader take to a character they find easy to hate? He is one of two (maybe three) main viewpoints so he takes up a fair chunk of the reader's time. I'm worrying because he's a dick who doesn't really deserve it and yet he becomes a hero and (of all the characters in the story) he gets the happiest ending.
 
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I think you'll get the most mileage out of this character by having his actions come back to bite him. Maybe he doesn't get his happy ending because he got those other characters killed.
 

Taytortots

Minstrel
You'd be surprised how likable these types of characters can be. Generally, people can relate them to those they know, which can be different that the main characters that at times seem to have no flaws or make no mistakes in the way they go about things.
With this guy, you're just showing a different type of character, and i'm sure people will warm up to him and see the morally right aspect of him.
There will always be someone that hates different types of characters, from the near 'perfect' ones to the pure evil ones, and people who love the characters you want them to hate.
Don't worry about how people will see the character because they will really see it however they want to see it. You can't force someone to like a character.
 

Nebuchadnezzar

Troubadour
Agreed with Taytortots. Go with it. It could be a nice change of pace from characters who are too perfect, too noble, too tortured, too dark, too "anti-hero but really cool", too brooding, misunderstood and unappreciated, etc. A good old-fashioned jerk MC doesn't come along very often and you should embrace the fact that you've created one.

And I absolutely love the honesty of your thread title. We should all be so clear-sighted when we assess our creations.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
Give him a sense of humor. And make him charming if you can. We're willing to forgive quite a bit of bad behavior, if the fellow can amuse us.
 

OGone

Troubadour
I think you'll get the most mileage out of this character by having his actions come back to bite him. Maybe he doesn't get his happy ending because he got those other characters killed.

I think the happy ending has to happen. It is, in essence, a good vs. evil story and he does eventually change into a character which is at least a little more likable. Plus I did have an idea for a follow-up novel which I wouldn't write for some time but the good ending had to happen for it to be a real possibility if it eventually did materialize.

Thanks for all of the input guys, I'll try to retain some of his jerk...ness. I know morally grey characters exist but the issue I had was that he's on the "good side" and yet isn't a particularly nice character until towards the very end.

Oh and sorry to whoever edited the thread's title. I thought the word I used was pretty PG, there's another couple in the actual body of the message you might want to remove, which I can't. Couldn't you have got rid of that ugly apostrophe in the thread's title too? It's bugging me :p
 
He sounds hilarious, to be honest. In my experience, that sort of character is really fun to write.

My advice: Don't try to lessen his bad qualities, because they are what's going to make an impression on the readers. Rather, give him a few specific good qualities to balance them out a bit. Maybe he's really brave, or very loyal to his friends, or has a strong sense of justice. (Which is not necessarily the same thing as a strong sense of responisibility.) And like Skip.knox says, lots of charm and a sense of humour goes a long way. Maybe a bit of self-irony, as he becomes more aware of his own shortcomings.
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
I don't have a problem with a-hole characters, but here's the rub, if they don't face their just deserts even a little, what kind of message are you sending? The story sends the message that you can be an a-hole, you can get people killed, and you don't have to face any consequences to these things. If this is the kind of story you want to tell, then go for it. But if it's not, think harder.
 

teacup

Auror
I for one enjoy reading/watching the "bad" characters, even if they don't pay for their acts.
However, this is just me and I'm not sure if other people enjoy reading about an a-hole or not.
 
My concern is just with realistic reactions. If your character is rude, for instance, but the other characters have no reaction to his rudeness, that may ring false.
 
I don't have a problem with a-hole characters, but here's the rub, if they don't face their just deserts even a little, what kind of message are you sending? The story sends the message that you can be an a-hole, you can get people killed, and you don't have to face any consequences to these things. If this is the kind of story you want to tell, then go for it. But if it's not, think harder.

I find the word "consequence" is often used as a synonymn for "punishment," but I don't think that's entirely correct way to use the word. A consequence is just something that happens as a logical result of something else. For example, if you endanger your friends, a consequence may be that your friends die. And sometimes a consequence of that is that you get prosecuted for gross negligence manslaughter. But, you know, not always.

Basically, consequences are what naturally happen, not what we feel should happen. If you cause someone do die, it's very likely the local authorities are going to look into the matter. Or if you constantly act like a collosal jerk, it's very possible you won't make a lot of friends. But sometimes you do get away with murder, and sometimes the world does reward terrible behavior rather than punish it. That's just the way it is.

And really, I prefer that to stories where the universe seems actively jugemental towards people who violate social norms. Beliving that people who do bad things always get their "just deserts" through karma* is really just wishful thinking, and I think most people realize that deep down. Heck, Mark Twain wrote a hilarious short story on the subject. (Or, actually, he wrote two.)

What I mean is, if society punishes a man for being a horrible person, then that is a consequence of his actions. But if the same society rewards the same horrible man and calls him a hero, then that is also the consequences of his actions. It just depends on what makes the most sense in context.

*Nevermind that karma doesn't even work that way.
 

A. E. Lowan

Forum Mom
Leadership
Does your MC have ANY sympathetic traits? Is he kind to puppies and kittens? Small sympathetic traits can be very telling in even the most grating character. It gives us hope that there is more substance to him than he lets the world see.

Is he really a womanizer, or does he just really like women? By that, I mean does he lie to them to get them in bed, or does he mean every word he says and just has a short attention span when it comes to relationships? Is he greedy, or does he leave the ugly ones for the other guys? I had a character a while back who had 13 kids by as many women. Of his own volition, he supports every single one of them and their mothers, draining the entirety of his monthly pay as a guard captain to the point that he's constantly borrowing money from his brother so he can eat. I wouldn't call him a womanizer - he just loves women.

And you say his motivation of jealousy is what gets his friends killed. What is he jealous of? Someone else's success? Is he jealous, or is he determined to prove himself, no matter the consequences?
 

Penpilot

Staff
Article Team
What I mean is, if society punishes a man for being a horrible person, then that is a consequence of his actions. But if the same society rewards the same horrible man and calls him a hero, then that is also the consequences of his actions. It just depends on what makes the most sense in context.

This is true, but important point I wanted to make was it depends on the type of story you're trying to tell, and like it or not, it will convey a certain message that should be thought about. If you want to say the world is unfair and bad people can get away with murder, that's fine, but be concious of your decisions and shape story accordingly. Just as happy endings have to make sense so do unhappy ones.
 
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