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Unlikable Characters - Drawing the Line

Mido

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Unlikable aspects and qualities of characters often serve as detriments to a final opinion of a product in media. In some cases, such traits can derail the momentum of a piece of media's potential good standing. While unlikable qualities tend to be an obstacle for main characters/heroes in endearing themselves to a respective audience, villains traditionally require a great deal of unlikablity. Nevertheless, sometimes the argument comes up as to whether villains become too unlikable. What are the merits of this argument? Can heroes still garner the good grace of audiences through an unlikable nature? Do these traits add depth to such characters or only hold them back? I suppose to cut to the chase, my question is this:

Where do you draw the line on unlikable qualities of characters in media, whether good or evil? What sort of qualities of characters do you find unlikable? Have a go, folks!
 

Spiritual Mask Salesman

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Well look at a movie like Goodfellas, or The Godfather, it's about criminals but the characters are liked regardless of the bad things they are doing. I wouldn't even go as far as to say they are all straight up bad, there can be some sympathy in their struggle. Take Vito Corleone, he became The Godfather for admirable reasons, in a sense. Don Fanucci was an inconsiderate tyrant, basically just going around and demanding money even if the citizens couldn't afford it. It was unfair, and Vito saw how it was such a negative effect on the community.
 
The line for me depends on my relationship with the characters already.

I have a few examples, I'll list them so that i can better get my point across.


Dante in Devil May Cry
So, i like the games. They're great. But oh my god Dante is a frigging prick. I used to hate him soooooo much. I really didnt like his cocky attitude, he reminded me too much of people i disliked in real life who had egos way bigger than themselves.
I liked him a little better in Devil May Cry 4 (probably because he wasnt in it much and because Nero was boring as hell). But still, Dante really pushed it for me and made me not wanna play the other games for a while.

The Joker in Batman
This one is pretty lopsided. There are so many stories and versions of this character and sometimes he is dumb fun but other times he sees the line and jumps over it.
I remember seeing Batman of the Future/Batman Beyond Return of the Joker. And IMO he goes too far when he tortures Robin, body mods him and hurts him to such a degree that his mind breaks. This level of physical and psychological torture to the point the victim can no longer retain their sense of self is always too far IMO.
His unhealthy relationship with Harley is the stuff of nightmares too and can be pretty damn offensive.

I'll probably be back for more.
 

Castle

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You're not supposed to "like" a good villain, but you can enjoy a good villain. The Joker, for instance, does bad things you're supposed to dislike, but he is such an endearing character; fun and entertaining.

The baddest villains to me are the ones that have no likable qualities like that. No charisma or entertainment value, just bad. These are villains in the same vein as real life villains. Real bad people have no endearing qualities, and fictional villains written to be that way are among the most unlikable. Most book villains, I've noticed, are like this. Whereas movies tend to go for the charismatic type.

Some books and movies are unwatchable/unreadable for me because the bad guys are so disgustingly nasty I can't take it.

Otherwise, unlikable protagonists are usually the result of poor writing or characterization. Sometimes a writer tries to write a fun or quirky character who just comes off as being insufferably obnoxious like Buffy's sister or that gothic broad from NCIS or CSI or whatever. Other times a writer tries to construct a "strong independent" type who just comes off as being a self aggrandizing knob or insufferable cow. Many writers who try to create strong female characters fall into this trap, with a tendency to want to make their protagonist a b* who don't need no man and is just rude and standoffish to everyone. The worst protagonists are the ones that channel the writer's insecurities because they keep having to overcompensate.

Claire Faron aka Lightning in Final Fantasy XIII is like that. She's tough, sure, but she's also this angsty borderline sociopathic edgelord with zero redeeming qualities and spends her entire existence being cold and standoffish and punching dorks in the face.

Of course there are also the protagonists who audiences aren't supposed to like. This is a quintessential aspect of noir, where at times the protagonists are straight up villains or heroes with so many vices and so few admirable qualities they're basically despots. Jessica Jones, almost any Tarantino character, Ulysses McGill from Oh Brother Where Art Thou are just a few examples.
 
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The best thrillers (does not have to be violent, and some of the best are not) don't differntiate who is good and who is the villian until the end. Keeps the audience thinking who is really evil and who is just pushed to do immoral acts because of the situation but still has a good heart.

Also a well written villian does not just fight the hero. The villian gets unter the hero's skin, torments, makes life hell for hero. The Michael Keaton Batman vs the Joker is a good example of this. The final fight was only good because of the whole story before it. The Joker tormented both versions of the hero, Batman and Bruce. This goes totally against making the hero totally violent or disgustingly nasty.

I think a villian that is more cunning and sly instead of brutal and voilent makes for a better villian.
 

YIGAhim

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Well look at a movie like Goodfellas, or The Godfather, it's about criminals but the characters are liked regardless of the bad things they are doing. I wouldn't even go as far as to say they are all straight up bad, there can be some sympathy in their struggle. Take Vito Corleone, he became The Godfather for admirable reasons, in a sense. Don Fanucci was an inconsiderate tyrant, basically just going around and demanding money even if the citizens couldn't afford it. It was unfair, and Vito saw how it was such a negative effect on the community.
I love the Godfather tie in, and absolutely agree

SOmetimes you are supposed to sympathize with them (Thanos, Vito, ect), and sometimes you are supposed to dislike what they do, but appreciate who they are (As mentioned, the Joker)

As for what qualities I find unlikeable, I usually hate stereotypes unless they are done that in a comedic and ironic way (almost like Spaceballs), but I can always see how a twist can turn someone flat into someone good
 

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