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Sep 17

What´s the difference for you?
Do you have a story where the main character is a villain or an antihero?
How to make a hero not boring?

Heroes are (for me) usually the most boring character in the story.
Here are some main characters I found boring when I was a kid,
maybe some stories (like Tintin) need a blank character so readers
can identify with more:

Boring (for me) main character examples:

Mickey Mouse
Luke Skywalker
Tintin
Superman

the list goes on

All side characters and villains in the stories are more interesting and fascinating.
Darth Vader, Han Solo etc compared to Luke.
Donald Duck compared to Mickey Mouse. Does anyone love Mickey Mouse´s character?

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    Sep 5
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    Sep 16
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Ugh yeah, I've always found Luke Skywalker to be so dull, and the most boring jedi. A lot of people hated what they did to him in the Last Jedi, but that was the first time Luke became interesting to me.

How to make a main character intersting, give them an actual personality with glaring flaws. Don't be afraid to give them bad traits.

Taking myself as an example, what I did with Kyara was take this highly skilled fighter/adventurer and make her unbelievably arrogant.

I looove anti-heroes. They're a lot more interesting to write than a regular hero tbh.

I heard with Mickey Mouse, the reason why he’s so flat is because they don’t want to give him negative characteristics or flaws. Which sort of lead to him having no personality. Which is odd because earlier on in the black and white cartoons, he was sort of an asshole. I heard the reason why there are more classic Donald Duck cartoons and comics was because he was more popular in general.

For me personally, I like characters that are flawed and might act in a way that’s selfish or bratty. It also allows them to learn from their mistakes and grow as a character. Or they are always assholes and I find it funny.

I think what makes a hero interesting is their journey. Characters who are perfect, I frankly, almost always hate. It's the character's personality that makes them stand out, and their flaws that allow us to get attached to them. No one can relate to being perfect. For that reason, I think a lot of my 'heroes' at least in my stories released so far, are an odd slurry of hero, anti-hero, and villain. They are human, so not everything they do is good, or even well-intentioned.

What ultimately makes them people I would consider heroes is that their overall desire is to do good, whether or not they always do.

An anti-hero is one who tries to do something they overall consider good in a method they know is not the best way (again, in my opinion)

A villain is one who knowingly makes decisions that are wrong with no intent or desire to do or be better.

To be honest, I think a lot of my leads have anti-hero moments, but the one who is probably closest to this is Mora Glas of "Crystal Blue." She doesn't want to cause others harm but is willing to do so for her own safety. This valuing herself over the life of multiple other people's I think is an antihero mentality, but her sense of fairness that leads her to not WANT to be this way keeps her from being fully villainous in my opinion

Idk if you've ever read my story, so you're the only one who can judge whether a hero has successfully been made interesting in your opinion or not, but each of my leads has a number of flaws in combination with their good traits to help them feel more real and human.

None of my leads are perfect people, and many of them spend as much time doing good as they do bad. Trying to itemize their flaws versus good traits and good moments versus bad ones could make this really lengthy though, so I won't elaborate unless you're interested lol

Edit:

the only morally perfect (as far as anyone has gotten to see) characters I think I've managed to write who I still find interesting are both part of my novel "Damsel in the Red Dress" and I make them interesting by giving them other flaws and quirks that have nothing to do with morality. Melissa Xochitl is a hyper-active little ball of sunshine that my readers love, but it's her rambling nature that never lets anyone else get a word in edgewise (accidentally) that makes her so interesting, along with her little faux pas, like not realizing that squirrels don't eat lettuce and things like that.

Andrew can't gauge his own strength and sometimes hurts people accidentally, as well as being a little annoying to his best friend and older sister at times. He also has trouble reading, which makes him more human. He's "good" but he's still not perfect. He's also part of a character duo and spends almost all his time with his best friend who is so politically INcorrect that Andrew has to try his best to balance him, adding life and dynamic to his character.

I'll make a case for Superman, because it really depends on how he's written. Superman being a Big Good is boring because he's just being a Big Good, there's no conflict. On the other hand, Superman struggling with his identity as a nonhuman living among humans can lead to some really emotionally complex scenarios. Imagine just wanting to fit in with your peers, just to be constantly reminded that you're not like them and you never will be. Imagine having to hide who you really are because people will treat you differently for it, in a way that may negatively impact your friends and family. That sucks.

What makes a hero interesting is the same as what makes any other character interesting: conflict. It's why antiheroes are inherently more interesting, because the whole character type is based on a conflict of interests, i.e. being a "hero" but not being very heroic. It's those imperfections that make a character feel more human, and therefore more relatable and interesting to read about.

The main character of my comic is definitely an antihero, although this doesn’t show much until much later in the story.

This sums it up pretty well.

He’s very flawed, but not necessarily evil. I find characters like this very interesting, which is why I decided to write one ^^

Flawless heroes are boring. Daecon is the hero of my story, but he’s a vapid, narcissistic idiot, especially at the start of it. He gets better, but he’s still an idiot. And a total horn dog.

Society tends to root for the antihero or villain and always has. In the old Roadrunner cartoons we’re all hoping Wile E. catches that roadrunner. We all want Sylvester to catch Tweety Bird. In both cases we’re rooting for the villains. They literally want to kill and eat their prey and will seemingly stop at nothing to do so. Their prey only wants to continue to live. And yet none of us want that to happen. In more modern cartoons, Homer Simpson, Stewie Griffin, Rick Sanchez, Sterling Archer, Bender, Mr Burns, etc: they’re all jerks, and they’re consistently the favourite characters (in Homer’s case, Bart started out being the star of the show but has taken a back seat to Homer). Stewie has often killed people in cold blood (including several unsuccessful attempts on his mother) and we love him.

It’s so ingrained into us to sympathize with the villain that a whole franchise is often built about it, explaining exactly why we SHOULD be on the villain’s side. Look at the Grinch. He literally stole Christmas. In the Jim Carrey movie we’re shown that he is only an asshole because the Whos made him into one. In the end the Grinch ends up changing the Whos’ attitude.



Heroes and Villains are placeholders to make the story easier to understand, imo. Am not even sure if pure versions of them can exist in the real world. Even some of the most detestable historical figures were loving and loyal to their family, and some of the most well-beloved leaders were loathed by theirs.


Antiheroes are where the most realistic ones fall under, I think. Everyone being the hero of their own story and whatnot. What's right and true for them isn't necessarily the same for anyone else. Their motivations and actions can err and be flawed just like the rest of us.


Then there is the extreme perfection that is Mary Sue and Gary Stu. But they're often only used a plot device or a deus ex machina.

aye, I think may kinds of people will do things in not the best way for a number of reasons. Whether they're too lazy, too scared, too selfish etc to do it another way depends on the character. There are lots of kinds of antiheroes, but this is one common kind i think

8 days later

I’ve been an antihero fan, mainly because well that would be what I would be in a superhero supervillain world.

Heroes have a lot of rules that they must follow, they constantly have to be perfect in the public eye. One mistake and their reputation could be ruined.

Villains I have no need to kill innocent civilians, and have no desire to take over the city ,country or world. I couldn’t blame the entire world for a certain few that I’ve felt wronged me.

Antihero is that sweet spot . I can help people in a way that I see fit and if villains have to be killed then it’s for the greater good. If a villain shows promise that they could change and wants to change then I will help them,if not then I’ll kill them.

Alll my characters would fall in the antihero category, my main character is relatively a good person but has no issues of getting blood on her hands.