Pet Peeves about Characters and Character Development

I think my biggest pet peeve is when the character development happens too fast, or is explained really sloppily. For example, a villain turning good suddenly just because the hero said something nice to them once. Like, no, a complete paradigm shift is going to take some time?

Also, related to what @eliseswarren said, when characters go through a lot of really traumatic/gruesome stuff for no particular reason. I love me some good angst, but there's a point where it starts to feel really gratuitous, like the author's just throwing in trauma for trauma's sake.

I got one-- protagonist-centered morality:

It's just dawned on me that I never even knew this was a problem until I encountered how it affects RWBY. ^^; I feel like most authors who are inattentive/ignorant enough to fall into this trap don't bother trying to write convoluted stories like RWBY is trying to be. They just write simple good vs. evil where the badguys are mean and the good guys are nice, even if they have to follow overdone stereotypes to do it. And maybe it's lazy writing, but at least it works.

This, on the other hand, does not. The heroes are never in the wrong...but not because they happen to be unrealistic angels who always choose the most helpful and least harmful options. Nah; they're never wrong because the story dictates that whatever they feel like doing is automatically right. And the unrealistic part is that the audience is expected to believe that, and never question the reasoning behind their actions OR the consequences thereof. =/

I was bitching about something else today. I think it's an age(mine) and culture thing, But I can't watch romance with boneheaded characters like:

"she only walks home with me. what does that mean!?? huh you confessed your love to me, what does that MEAN?"

Or the lack of skinship between couples of any kind. It drives me up the wall. There's not one couple I know, one! even the ones that fight that don't subtly flirt and tease each other in public, are stuck together so hard that their molecules created new bonds or make fun of each other.

I would absolutely love to see stories where characters like these get abandoned and people move on. Even better if they move to that "enemy" character. "Enemy of women" or the one that's always portrayed as the NTR hentai protagonist.

Heck, I should do this as a oneshot if I get the time. A story about a man who's seen as an absolute dick through the eyes of the harem protagonist and his girls. Until one of them gives him a chance and the filter gets taken down.

Yeah, although I choose my character names by etymology or having a long scroll through the naming list. And man, I often can't take the character seriously it's like I'm numb to these names in particular.

Same, I find it kind of weird to be honest, even if I were to create character sheets, I'm just drawing the line at briographies, and their professions, the rest I like to leave it up to the reader to decide.

I agree actually, my characters do have a very strong support network, and even for characters with less than stellar backstories, I never leave them completely alone. It's just unrealistic and well, it would make them really antisocial, with humungous trust issues and also a complete lack of willingness to accept help. Or they are likely to be absolute martyrs. And probably because I've seen enough of it that I don't want to write it.

Although they have their traumas and they have lost their parents but their parents have been around in their lives up until their teenaged years and they are in a loving stable home till then, but they have a lot of other people supporting them and they are the furthest thing from being abused and all that. In fact, I just let them be regular young adults who are probably most likely definitely creating their own problems and committing their own mistakes.

I guess one pet peeve is when girls are not really given female friends or even get along with other girls. I guess that what usually happens to token girl characters. Added that they are usually framed as the "not like other girls" or "the smart girl that everyone hates because she is smart", and I generally just end up finding them annoying. It's strange that she usually has enough patience to put up with the chaotic or moronic actions of the male lead but putting up with a girl who wears pink is just too much for her.

I love nuance. My biggest all-encompassing pet peeve about characters and their development is when they think they and their actions are more nuanced than they really are.

This is not like when they learn they overlooked things, they grow from their mistakes, etc. No. They truly think they're so nuanced and complicated and grey all the way throughout the story when they're actually doing some of the most messed up things. Most of the characters around these said "nuanced" people either 1) eat it up, or 2) don't eat the BS, but do forgive these "grey" people for all of their trespasses because good intentions.

this is because you are human being, and not some badly written character. Everyone has few different interests, you can love fishing and make up, these two things don't go against each other.
Media (not always but quite often) likes to label people (not only but usually girls/woman) ,there always needs to be dumb,mean, girly character, mc must be not like other girls, even if said stuff is normal stuff that everyone does,for example she would like to read, almost everyone i know likes to read,some prefer classics, some comics ,etc.

I'm glad to see that you try to fix this problem, maybe if enough of us do so, media will stop with "make up means dumb bitch"

I don’t like it when an author tells me what a character’s personality is. If your summary and first chapter are “I’m a shy, nerdy MC who no one likes”, I’m probably not gonna keep reading. Show me what they are like, don’t tell me. It’s particularly egregious when a character says in the first chapter “I’m not normally like X, but...” I hate that. If you are normally a fun, outgoing person, but then in the first chapter you meet your crush and turn into a simpering fool, imma call BS. I particularly hate it when the scary big guy is described as a “total teddy bear”, but then he actually isn’t. He’s actually a super possessive, creepy stalker. Yeah, that gets on my nerves.

My single greatest peeve every time I see it is a simple one, but complex at the end of it.
Romantization.

Particularly I hate it when the story makes a terrible situation into a positive thing by the means of showing it's better than it actually is, and telling you 'don't think too much about it'. There are thousands of examples I could give here, but I'll focus on four in specific.

1 - Romantization of Violence - Do not get me wrong, VIOLENCE CAN BE FUN, but there is a big difference between a story that puts those elements as their core, and one the taps into that pool just for shock value, and it becomes blatantly obvious... When the 'seemingly good' character goes on a passion fueled killing spree you can usually tell it was done as sort of a tribute to violence itself and not as a meaningful development.
The characters need to experience violence as a more realistic thing... Sure, some people don't break down and cry when they make someone bleed or even kill, but what any sane person will tell you is that violence has internal consequences for you as well as the person who you hurt. The leap from 'I want to help people' to 'i'm okay with killing people for the people I care about' is HUGE and should not be downplayed.
Expressing that is key to not romanticize violence... Especially when a story dabs a lot into the moral grey area of 'hurting people for the right reasons', that violence has to be well explored... either that or the story needs to be set up for it to fit like the horribly deranged and desentized world of Dorohedoro, no one bats an eye for violence there because it is absolutely everwhere and its a horribly gruesome but fun spectacle.

2 - Romantization of Envy - The big breaking point for me and most love stories out there... Envy is usually never done correctly in any story, with very rare exceptions.
There is certainly value in envy, like any feeling it doesn't come from nowhere... A personal insecurity, abandonment issues, overbearing family, all can be the source of envy in one way or another, but it few are the stories that care to explore that.
A lot of times envy is portrayed as the best emotion to display when in love, to the point some people actually say 'its not true love without it' like... How arrogant is that view? If you don't objectify the ownership of your partner you are probably not in love with them? WTF is that logic?
Sure envy is a natural biological reaction to some people, but not all, and even then a runny nose is also a natural biological reaction and you don't see people proudly presenting theirs as a good character trait or something positive do you?
Working on that envy, learning to trust and moving past those hurdles can be amazing development, but more often than not it gets 'side-resolved'
Like the person causing the envy was 100% trying to steal the partner and they get rejected making the whole thing justified... Or the partner apologizes and somehow is forgiven for a crime they never comited in the first place... And the story moves on like nothing happened because the writer was too lazy to think up a better plot.
Don't romanticize jealousy people... its annoying at best, toxic and destructive at its worst and it most definetly is NOT a quality.
Don't believe decades of media telling you otherwise.

3 - Romatization of trauma and medical conditions - Don't... Simply don't...
Like i'm not a better person because I suffer from anxiety and criplling depression, it doesn't make me stronger or braver to go about my days suffering... And I don't want people telling me otherwise or pitying me for it.
It is ok to display those conditions and trauma, and it is perfectly fine for the characters to break down, cry and curse at the wind, just never make it seem like they somehow grew a superpower BeCAUSE of it... They grew a super power IN SPITE of it.
Bruce wayne is not better because his parents died
Toph is not better because she is blind.
Edward Elric is not a better fighter because he lost his arm and his leg.
People are not better because they have a condition!
So many times have I seen this horrible trope where like a character loses a limb and gains a superpower in return, or they are seen as highly senstive because they are blind and became bat like... It is perfectly fine for those things to arise, but never make it seem like that terrible condition somehow made them 'better' than someone else.
Disabilities should be treated as disabilities... It is perfectly fine to showcase that the character has an admirable will and personal strenght for moving past their disability, its a whole othey thing to say being crippled is awesome because you get superpowers.

4 - Romatization of poverty - It is a horrible trend i've seen lately to romaticize poverty and shitty life conditions... Like somehow it is better to live a dirt covered life in an area with no basic sanitation because there are birds are flying around, or because you have really nice neighboors who are a comunity and appreciate you.
It is important to say the whole 'money is not everything' but we in the real world know money would solve a significant chunk of our reasons to worry... And it's not like everyone gets 'corrupted' by money, it is not a magic demon like the greeks believed.
I sure as hell would love to provide a good life for my family and my partner has a mother who is suffering from some life long conditions and having money would mean he could spend more time with her as well as take better care of her... And I am sure anyone reading this can think of at least a few problems that would disapear from their lives if they had sufficient money.
Like the above point... poverty is a condition, it is not to be celebrated and not to be made into a happy musical number.

5 - Romantization of duty - Hate this one with a burning passion... The whole 'die for your country/clan/group' thing, it is not so much bad as it is naive for me.
You care for the people you care about, but at some point someone might try and bundle those people into groups to make you think they are your loved ones too... That is disigenous and manipulative, and characters not seeing that makes me roll my eyes.
If the character is the type that would fall for that, i'd believe it, i'm not happy with it, but i'd believe it... Call my cynical if you may, and this is the least relatable point I am making here, but I just don't buy it.
Duty is a complicated thing, but a characters loyalty should be made clear, and why they believe anything is the best path should be explored... A character that just goes ahead on a suicide mission because their 'lord/commander/ruler/authority figure' said so is not relatable to me at all... And most definetly should not be put at the helm of a story.
At some point that loyalty has to be tested, that faith in the system, that resolve... Otherwise it feels shallow and pointless.

Anyway, I already have a big enough wall of text, so I think that's enough to make my point
TL:DR - Don't romanticize bad shit.

Introvert evil, extrovert good:
The hero has a lot of friends that like him, but the evil guy is alone, even the minions don't like him. The same way extroverts are away portrayed as good, while introverts are seem as flawed, or Bad, like the introvert character is never alone because he wants. like i am introvert and am not mean or making evil plans to take over the world.

Just wanted to say thank you for this post and everyone who has posted. Im brand new so this is valuable info!

I dont like..

• Instant Romance. Fill to the line with a little kindness, cover, wait 3 minutes and BOOM, they're in love forever despite having the mental emotional capacity of a cucumber

• Overpowered MC because they got isekai'd. You know, the guy that can use 7 elemental magic while everyone else can only use 1.

• Hot people are good, Ugly people are bad. If you're evil and hot, then that's ok, you're a sexy bad boy now for committing genocide

I kind of see the "Loser in real world become a winner once isekai-ed" formula with disdain. Especially when they're just happen to be granted a special power and being instantly more expert than everyone else because "I was a gamer" or coming from modern society; without any meaningful character development or struggle whatsoever. The character stays with their 'loser' mindset and personality, while unlike in real world they got no setback from it. It's just trash and uninteresting in my opinion—the reason we are invested in a story is we want to see character growth, not how they obtain a new plot armor.
Writing technicalities aside, it kind of perpetuate the idea that someone does not need to grow or actively pursue something just wait for a chance to be granted something great and everything will be solved. No need to overcome or get help with depression or anxiety or trauma, you'll be good in RPG world and those mental problems will be cured. I might be reaching, but I feel a bit iffy when those kind of isekai involves death and reincarnation. Things will get better when I die? Oh thank god this rat poison is on sale. Also this kind of series are aimed at young readers.

Other thing is Isekai sometimes undermined the psychological aspects of transported between words or being reborn. It's like in one chapter they are already comfortable with that fact and even fit in. Also being physically a helpless baby with the mind of an adult must cause some change in your psyche or something (and you have to bear with it until about one year, or whenever you can talk and your physical development catch up). I might be wrong because I don't know psychology, but human mind is very fragile as far as I know.

A lot of points have already been said but one thing, that also annoyes me to no end, is the "you two are meant to be toghether! So you HAVE to love each other now"- trope. This made me despise brother bear 2 sooo much althought i loved the first one. The boy and the girl were basically forced by the plot to love each other because the spirits were like "it was meant to be"... Like why should the spirits care?? And of course the guy, who originally should marry the girl wasn't as nice as the mc...

So, rant over... I am kinda guilty myself on forcing my MC to be togheter (one of those "pretend to by my GF so my mum is impressed"- thing). It kinda is an experiment for me as I try to focus premirely on character developemet. The future will tell, if it works out xD