Why I Like The Dark Cloud

[Philip Overby]

The main problem I have with the 'good-guy' characters is the simple fact that most of the time I'm not going to be surprised. I know that if they see something bad they are going to be proactive in helping the situation. I know that they are going to win, despite struggles that merely exemplify their moral correctness, because they will do what is right and they're perfect. It's just not that interesting for me, I'd rather read about a character who struggles with himself/herself over what they do, what they've done, and why they've done it. I don't want to read about a saint who floats through the plot as the epitome of righteousness.

I think FatCat encompasses my feeling more adequately here. The "good guy's path" can be predictable at times in most stories of this type. I think audiences may think, "I've already read this story." However, it's really up to the writer to make anything work at the end of the day and not a specific style of writing. If there was a flux of awesome heroic writing at the moment, I'd read it. I just think the darker stuff is more captivating for me right now. Next year I may be singing a different tune. I want to read darkly comic stuff, but only so much of that exists in the fantasy genre. So I try writing it myself.

My wrestling analogy sort of makes that same point about the good guy's path. Hulk Hogan always won, always got the bad guy in the end, and his matches were predictable. I still loved him as a kid and he's still one of my favorites, but too much of that style of character can be overwhelming. Sometimes safeness and predictability in a story can be good, but oftentimes it can lead to reader dissatisfaction.

I do like heroic characters now and again. And I agree that the 1 guy that fights the dragon and the 999 guys who don't fight it is where the story is...most of the time. But what if we have a story where the 1 guy that fights the dragon is killed and then the main character is someone morally questionable (maybe a thief or convicted killer) that the town relies on to now kill the dragon? I want to know what that guy would do. It's all really up to execution though.

 

[Feo Takahari]

There's always the possibility of the darkly heroic (doing the "right thing" long after it's become obvious that this will only lead to horrible consequences), or the heroically dark (making people's lives better purely for self-gain.) Case in point, for both types: Disgaea 3, which I find myself recommending for the second time today.

 

[Ankari]

FatCat raises an excellent point. Take it a step further. I don't mind the "good guy" character as long as the whole world isn't divided into Us (good guys) and Other (bad guys that do not physically resemble good guys, or bare some distinct physical marking indicting they are not from Us).

Yes, you are going to have good guys. Even if you take the stated parallel of using the real world to model a fictional one, you'll end up creating a bunch of "good guys." But just like everything else, we know them as "good guys" because we have a baseline for comparison. Introduce the same diversity in a fictional world. Not only does it give the author a huge tool to create and sustain tension, it allows the reader, even those dead set on loving dark worlds, to overlook the bright spots, maybe even accept them. Contrast does work both ways

 

[Mindfire]

I don't mind the "good guy" character as long as the whole world isn't divided into Us (good guys) and Other (bad guys that do not physically resemble good guys, or bare some distinct physical marking indicting they are not from Us).

There goes every alien or monster fiction ever. I don't have a problem with the "others" being clearly or even physically demarcated from the good guys, or even with them being complete monsters with no redeeming characteristics. I'm thinking about introducing a society of tyrant lizards later on. Sometimes people are just bad (or bloodthirsty reptilian conquerors). The key is execution, making it believable.

 

[shangrila]

I enjoy darker stories. I think I'll just leave it at that.