Making Unlikable Characters Likable

Making Unlikable Characters Likable

It’s almost a truism in writing, that your characters have to be likable. Honestly, it’s not a hard and fast rule, and there are certainly plenty of exceptions if you look around. That said, it’s a plus. I know I personally have a hard time reading a book if I can’t find at least one character I like and want to succeed. If you are a beginning writer or at least unpublished, it would probably be best to have at least your main character be someone that audiences like and cheer on. After all, you are asking the reader to spend time in your world, living in the main character’s skin.

But sometimes, that’s hard. If your character is too perfect, we don’t like them. They’re boring and unrealistic. Too flawed? No sympathy. Flawed in the wrong ways? Nope, not interested.

What’s a writer to do?

First, you have to honestly evaluate your characters. Is this character one that will appeal to readers and elicit their sympathy? If not, why not? Are they too mean? Too cruel? Too arrogant? You get the picture. Okay, but the character is going to change through the story, and work through their flaws! Fine, but what are you giving us to hold on to until then?

In one of my works of progress, I knew I had an issue with one character. He starts the book arrogant, cowardly, and greedy. He’s not happy to be in his current circumstances and spends a lot of time looking down on and sniping at the other characters. Yes, he gets better by the end; but I wanted to give the reader a reason to hold on until then. In my case, I decided to have him raise pigeons. We never actually see his pigeons, but he instructs someone else in their care before he goes on his quest, refers to them, and semi-adopts a hawk that follows the party. Also, the person he snipes at the most, gives as good as she gets. Is it enough? I don’t know. I’ll have to have someone else read it when I’m done.

Showing kindness to animals is actually a well-known writing trick to show that your jerk character isn’t all bad. TV Tropes calls it Pet the Dog (Site contains NSFW language). There’s a screenwriting book called Save the Cat that suggests similar. I read Save the Cat Writes the Novel, which I do recommend.

Also common, show them with people they love. This could be romantic, familial, or platonic. Very, very few people go about life without someone they love dearly.

Have a character do something unexpected. The star quarterback drops football to be in the drama club. The neat freak joins a mud wrestling team. If you can show a rational reason why they made these choices, it can show hidden depths.

One of the books I read for school is V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton. In addition to Kinsey, our main detective, we are also following Dante who is a loan shark and a gangster, though he dislikes the term, and Nora, a bored socialite in her second marriage. In many books, they would simply be unlikable, but not here.

Dante has style, charm, and a sense of ethics, even if it is a little askew. Also, while he is involved in organized crime, it’s a massive shoplifting ring. Not drugs, prostitution, or weapons. To the reader, it’s a little easier to brush that off as not too bad. In fact, Kinsey has to specifically tell someone just how damaging shoplifting can be to a store, because it’s so easy to brush off.

Nora is a little more complicated. She comes off as a little less likable than Dante, even if she’s got the moral high ground. She’s classist and elitist. Catty and a snob. When she finds out her friend’s husband is unfaithful, she is at first sympathetic, but eventually simply gets bored and doesn’t want to be around her anymore. None of these traits are evil, but none of them make us like her either. To be fair, her life hasn’t been easy. Her first husband died suddenly leaving her in desperate straits. She married again, and things seem to be going okay with her second husband, an attorney for the rich and powerful. Then her son dies suddenly, two years before the story.

So, what makes Nora a likable character? It starts when she learns her husband is cheating on her. Her friend leaves an entertainment magazine where Nora finds a picture of her husband at a gala with his secretary, wearing Nora’s designer dress and expensive jewelry.

Marital unfaithfulness is something we’ve all seen again and again. But the way Nora dealt with it was one of my favorite scenes. Her husband had been using their second house for a love nest, which was also where Nora stored her fancy dresses. The day of the next gala, Nora goes to the house and removes every single one of those gowns, ensuring that the interloper has nothing appropriate to wear. By the time the figure that out, it will be too late to fix it.

Why does that work? One, we love a good vicarious revenge and this one is perfect. No one got hurt. Nothing was broken. She didn’t break any laws, or even act in a way that could be considered inappropriate. And we are rooting for her! She still wasn’t my favorite character, but that scene made me want her to succeed.

It’s possible to write a story without likable characters that readers will enjoy anyway. But why handicap yourself that way?

 

What makes a character likable to you?