Writing Antihero Characters

(TX)

Question: I really enjoy writing antihero characters, ones that are so cynical and evil you cant help but love them but I'm not sure I'm doing it right.

Answer: One definition of an antihero is someone who does the right thing for the wrong reasons. That doesn't mean antiheroes are evil. I think many of them a strong moral sense, though their moral code may be something they have created for themselves, rather than something they share with a community.

Often, antiheroes are characters who have become jaded for one of two reasons. See my article on the Byronic Character for more about this...

https://www.how-to-write-a-book-now.com/to-write-a-byronic-hero.html

Sometimes antiheroes are jaded because...

a) They discovered their leaders were corrupt or incompetent. They feel betrayed by their community, so their response is to reject the community, live as outcasts, and in some cases seek revenge on the community. (A TV example: Malcolm Reynolds of Firefly. His side lost the war, and rather than accept that he backed the wrong horse and adjust to the new reality, he rejects civilization (Alliance) and lives on the fringe of the 'Verse.)

b) They were forced into situations where holding to their strict values didn't work, so they compromised and now are in the position of trying to do moral things by immoral methods. (A TV example: Detective Gordon on Gotham.)

In either case, these people are bitter over the fact that the world did not live up to their ideals -- ideals which they are unwilling to surrender.

In many cases, one could debate whether the ideals held by such heroes are really correct, and whether it would be more rational for them to let go and make peace with their communities. But what makes them admirable is their dedication to holding those ideals.

It feeds into most people's secret desire to be proven right.

Of course, there are some antiheroes who skirt pretty close to the edge of evil. I'm thinking here of Rorschach from The Watchmen. His saving grace is that the people he wrecks violence on are mostly hardened criminals and sexual predators. Nonetheless, there's no nuance in his view, no room for redemption or mercy. He is as bloodthirsty and ruthless as the villains he fights.

So, another way of describing the antihero is that he has too big an ego. He believes he alone is right and the rest of the world is wrong, which is an unlikely scenario in the real world, no matter how smart a person is.

Of course, many of us have experienced being disillusioned by people or groups we trusted. So we get a certain gratification from watching an individual triumph over such a group.

How Evil can an Antihero Be?

by Xristie
(Svit, Slovakia, EU)

I want my main character to be an antihero, and I want to know... how evil can an antihero be? It is more difficult than I presumed. He will be a powerful king, but he will not hesitate to kill, rage wars and so on… He will actually like war and power. He will be a recognized tyrant.
The story starts when he abandons the throne and lets the kingdom fall. He sets on a journey, where he meets a woman… I want the woman to bring him back to his old position of the tyrant king, because the only one who is capable of holding the kingdom together is he and it has to be done by measures which cannot always be justified. He won’t always fight because he wants to save his kingdom but will have his selfish motives, but in the end he will be the one who takes on the responsibility of a king - a forever lonely man.

1. I do not know how much I can make him bad, selfish and cruel so that he won’t be hated by the readers. How evil can an antihero be? The reader should pity him a lot and forgive him his selfishness because he has to take on the status of the forever hated and forever lonely man.

2. The lover of the antihero. First I planned to make her a really lovable fragile girl, but recently I through whether she shouldn’t be less lady like and betray him at least once.

Thanks
Xristie

Response: Hi Xristie,

I can't tell you how to write your story, but I can share some thoughts.

First, I feel obliged to point out a couple of contradictions in your plot summary that you might want to think about.

If the hero is the tyrant you describe, why does he give up his kingdom? The fact that he gives it up suggests that something has changed in him, that he perhaps has come to decide his life no longer satisfies him in some way and he wants to search for something new - whether or not he knows what it is.

This suggests that when he returns to the throne he will not be the same man he was before the journey began - he will be older and wiser. Some fundamental change will have taken place. Perhaps his motive for holding the kingdom together will be different?

This relates to your first question: how bad, selfish and cruel can the hero be. Generally, the key is that the villain must be even worse. The hero must have some quality that makes him a better ruler. Perhaps he rewards those who are loyal to him. Perhaps he keeps his word. Perhaps he ensures law and order. Something must make him the better choice, otherwise who would support his return? (In fact, people may only support his return if he can prove he has changed for the better.)

Second, it seems clear that the lover will be the impact character - someone who illustrates or argues for a way of being/acting that is different than the hero's. He has to decide by the climax whether to learn from her, be more like her, or to remain true to his former self.

If he is to end up lonely and hated, that suggests that he will ultimately reject her and remain the same. In that case, the reason he abandoned the kingdom, whatever he was seeking will turn out to be a fruitless endeavour. It suggests a tragic ending. The kingdom will be no better off.

On the other hand, if he learns something of value, becomes a better ruler, finds more meaning in his life, perhaps even finds love in the end, that would give you a happy ending. I suspect it would also be a more satisfying ending for the reader.

Finally, if you want the woman to betray the hero, the question is why? Does she do so for the greater good - and so teach him the value of selflessness? Or does this event show him why he should not be treacherous like her?

Alternatively, you could give him relationships with two women with different personalities, so that by realizing who he loves more he realizes how he must change.

Best of luck.

How to write a villain protaganist that's evil but somehow likable?

by Luke

This type of story focuses on a villain who has an "interesting" moral compass, one vastly different from the rest of society. Because of this, she views most people beneath her ethically and acts such as robbery, murder, extortion, human trafficking, etc. are perfectly legitimate in her eyes. But we can all agree those are pretty heinous actions, right?

Problem is how to captivate reader attention while she's doing these things, and I'm not exactly sure how to do that.

Answer: Your challenge certainly is to make the reader sympathetic to this character, but it can be done.

One way is to make clear that the protagonist, while not a good person, is better than the people she is doing bad things to. An obvious example: soldiers kill, but their killing is justified when it is clear to everyone that the enemy is worse. Enemies are always de-humanized to avoid moral qualms. This is why the Sheriff of Nottingham is always portrayed as more evil than Robin Hood.

A variation is to give your protagonist a noble cause that justifies their actions, such as caring for an innocent person.

Another approach is to make the character charm the reader. This is particularly effective in first person narration, where the character can treat the reader like a confidant (which is flattering to the reader). An example of this would be A Clockwork Orange. It helps if the protagonist is witty and a good storyteller.

Of course the other technique used in A Clockwork Orange is to give the protagonist some redeeming quality which the reader can sympathize with (Alex's love of Beethoven).

Finally, it helps of you can make your protagonist an underdog, always fighting bigger opponents and never quite winning.

Not a hero and not a villian

Question: The main character of my book is not a hero and not a villain either. She's killed people, has done horrible things, and will do whatever it takes to get what she needs. But she doesn't do anything for herself, she helps other and will do whatever it takes to protect those she cares about, and most of the horrible things she's done she did to survive. So what does that make her? Is she a hero? Is she like a vigilante? What would I describe her as?

Answer: Dramatica says that a traditional hero has three main traits:

1. She is the protagonist--the primary pursuer of the story goal.

2. She is the main or principal point of view character--the person through whose eyes we view the story.

3. She is someone the reader has empathy or sympathy for. Usually this means she is likeable, admirable (being moral or holding strong values we agree with), or someone the reader can identify with.

Assuming your heroine qualifies on the first two points, it is the last point you have to consider.

Obviously, if she puts others needs ahead of her own, then she has certain moral values, yet I'm inferring she does not extend that moral protection to those who would threaten her or the innocent.

Often such characters are referred to as Byronic heroes (after the writer Lord Byron). These are characters who are emotionally damaged. They tend to be proud, clever, aware of their superiority and also their faults. They tend to be outcasts who avoid society and relationships. They are cynical, rebellious, and move in circles where "nice" people would not go. Batman in his "Dark Knight" incarnation would be an example. So would Rorschach from The Watchmen.

Antihero is another term sometimes used for such characters, because their morals are imperfect. However, an antihero is a hero who may lack any of a number of traditional qualities of a hero. Byronic is a more precise term.

The key to writing such a heroine is to show that...

1. Bad as she may be in some ways, her crimes are understandable given her circumstances.

2. She is more moral than the actual villain or villains of the story. In other words, there are lines she will not cross (such as harming or exploiting the innocent).

Such characters have a tendency to blame the world for making them who they are or for forcing them into making tough choices that compromise their former ideals. However, they don't come across as dodging responsibility. Rather, the reader can empathize with them and see that they may be justified in their view that the world is at fault for allowing immorality to win so often.

It's also common for such characters to seek a generalized revenge against the evils of the world, which is why there are many Byronic, vigilante crime-fighting characters.

Traditionally, most of these Bryonic heroes have been male, but you see more female versions these days. Of course, they tend to be single and childless--like their male counterparts.

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