The beauty of weak characters

[DiegoPalacios]

I want to know how people create a balance of giving character growth to become OP without it being so Mary/Gary Sue. I never been a fan of - oh, you just happened to come across Excalibur because it's fate trope. I may be the minority on this.

There are many ways of making this growth a satisfying and believable experience.....

-Many people mentioned that it often involves a struggle and effort. The growth in power can be gradual, involving training and hardwork. Perhaps the hero needs to learn how to properly use a sword, even if he was lucky and found excalibur, or he needs to study magic to catch up with people who developed powers naturally and so on....

-Another satisfying way to make a character gain a boost in power is by making them work smart: Maybe their magic is not that powerful, but they may figure many clever uses for basic spells or a game breaking spell combination for example......

[kitkatxk]

This is what I am doing. Suffering causes growth, its hard and painful and our characters don't want to go through it. But in life thats what makes people admirable.
If you heard about someone who sat around having someone feed them hand and foot, giving them their every desire and then they are mean rude people. You don't care about their story. But if you hear about a boy who was hurt locked up in a dark corner. Told they were worthless and then they become someone who is strong enough to be there for others and not afraid to ask for help when they need it. That is a strong character. Strong enough to save themselves, strong enough to be there for others. It makes them someone worth standing with. Someone you can get behind. Someone you want to cheer for.

[monotone_ink]

Weak characters don't have to become OP for a good story

[WistyWrites]

Make them suffer. Emotionally. Physically. Mentally. Make it difficult in some way for them to reach their goals.

This is what I like to see. Honestly, be as brutal as possible, and then, I don’t know, the world get better, but they are still suffering. If a loved one dies, show off their weak side, and let them be selfish, mean, and unhelpful, because of their grief. Or, you know, just make them go through some trauma.

[WistyWrites]

Agreed! I like to have a little balance by having weak and OP characters, but maybe that’s just me.

[SleepingPoppy]

I love an underdog, so yes to beautifully weak characters, and just generally struggling against impossible odds~

I think the way to avoid Sues has more to do with making sure the character is dimensional, has flaws, has problems that can't be solved by being the most powerful or most beautiful person in a room.

Though personally I can't think of any of my own OCs where the story involves a character going from a weak power level to a stronger one. Changes tend to be more about addressing flaws, growing as a person, finding something that's missing. For me, I think you're more likely to see a weak character finding inner strength, or a strong character revealing vulnerability or struggling with a flaw.

[DiegoPalacios]

Another way to make weaker characters satisfying is by them relying on strategy and wits over raw power.

[Kuma]

Characters shouldn't be too strong they can solve anything they encounter with ease or so weak that you need a Deus Ex Machina to save them 90% of the time. They need to be strong enough to face the challenge and weak enough for it to be challenging.

Is a narrative tight-rope but is worth the effort.

[rajillustration]

I like having weakness there as a restriction, so that way it helps funnel my story towards a goal better. If my characters can do everything, then it's hard to decide where the story is even going. Too many possibilities. So, kinda like how in art we put in restrictions like limited palates and medium restrictions...I think it makes storymaking just a lot easier when I don't have to juggle as so many different possible threads bouncing around in my brain.

[Beppobear]

Honestly, I love when other characters hate the weak MC and bully them. It feels soooo good to read how their asses get kicked or how the MC gets stronger and just doesn't spare them a glance because they're the better person.

As for the sudden growth of strength, instead of eating All Might's hair, maybe they're born with some attribute that seems boring or useless but they wield it differently and thus utilizes every single use of it, potentially making them the 'strongest' just because they are the only one able to do something as crazy as that. You get where I'm coming from?

Like keep them weak, that's the plot. The charm comes from how differently the MC thinks compared to the normies who are already strong. The MC is just intellectually built different.

[Flug]

joanne and monotone mention an important aspect - humans are dependent on being a team from the first to the last minute - and especially in those minutes. This IS their superpower and in times also their super crisis, no matter their personal strengths or weaknesses. The drugged young man diving the sky near London in a burning machine has only limited influence and insight into the drama he is part of.

[oshirockingham]

The beauty of weak characters.
They're more relatable to readers than powerful characters who beat enemies without sweating a bit.
Just like a generic bully scene, more audiences will relate more to the victim than the bully.

[Jwebtoons]

I personally enjoy seeing a character grow in terms of character development and their powers. Getting more creative or increasing their raw power. There is just something amazing and fun about it. Kind of like a video game. You spend the entire time trying to improve your character to take on obstacles because it's fun, so reading about a character is a similar experience. Basically you are enjoying a journey with them.

Watching a character be op can be less interesting because nothing feels like a threat, so any sense of danger or high stakes will vanish. I've seen stories that have an op character with no flaws and can basically just snap their fingers to defeat their enemies. The protagonist is most likely not scared or concerned, so why should the audience be? If they're is no conflict then what is the purpose of the obstacles.

It's okay to have an op character as long as the conflicts they face are something they can struggle with. Whether there is a rule stopping them, some form of trauma, or the new threat is just stronger in some way, as long as it is not something that can be easily solved then all is good.

[IamKeeks]

Personal Opinion
Depends what you mean by weak. I personally prefer variety in the character's interactions. I'd recommend gradual growth and strengthening. Sudden and immediate growth can be really fun in comedies, but I personally can't stand it in action or more dramatic series.

One of the tropes that I don't love, but find reasonable, is when they accidentally tap into some power or ability and become unable to access it later. It's usually proceeded by an arc of figuring out how to access that power. It's kind of boring and predictable, but it's a reasonable move for character development.

I prefer when the character is shown that he's not the "strongest." Occasionally tossing in a parallel rival that can be a villain or anti-hero who appears inconsistently and frustrates the endeavors of the MC.

Another option is to emphasize non-traditional strengths. The character uses knowledge, faith, friendship or another quality that becomes their identifying strength.

It would help to know what genre you're writing because unless you're doing some kind of battle tournament novel your options are pretty endless.

[R.n.P]

what he said @NinaWrites

[indagold]

I mean your character doesn't need to be strong, sometimes they can be an anti-hero. Or they can be weak but have other characters be support characters to boost them up.

[diamondactor]

Well, I have an interesting take on this. I believe strength can also be a weakness. If you have an OP character it doesn't make them off the bat a bad*ss. If they don't know how to use those abilities they can be beaten by someone much weaker. If they don't know how to use teamwork they can be taken down by getting in the way of teammates. If you are so strong you feel you don't need to train others can surpass and take you down.

[Dialusion]

A character too strong and played straight would suffer the same faults as a character too weak played straight. With characters like that, creativity is essential. Sure, this character can basically one-shot everyone without trying, but that's the joke, they aren't trying to. The action could be intense, but as a comedy, it's fast paced. I know this character wins, how do you make it entertaining?

Similiarly, if a character is just weak and that's it, then how do you keep me entertained? Cinematic feats of force aren't going to happen, so mix it up. Show off tactics and creativity. Demonstrate this character, who's absolutely pathetic physically, can outsmart even the most capable and seasoned opponents. And not just little tricks, I mean fully thought out plans that can backfire. This is my bias showing, but I'm way more invested in a smart as hell character compared to one with crazy physical strength or magical abilities.

Growth with weak characters are all in their responses and mentality. Mistake they made in the past are corrected (or overcorrected depending on personality). Things that beat them badly before, they account for and have a strategy against. With experience, all of this can become second nature. But ultimately, mistakes are still going to happen, misplays and getting outplayed are common no matter the mental discipline. Growth can be shown like that.

[FafasMcMelt]

I really enjoy the underdog MC, and I don't really look forward for them to surpass their peers. An underdog story, to me, is about a character that achieves their goals despite their situation, and not about a character that start off in a bad spot to then become the ones with the advantage at the end. That's how I see it, at least.

Nothing against the zero to hero trope on a fundamental level, but I find it hardly as entertaining as the underdog

[Ranty-cat]

Imo, here's how it works.

We need conflicts. Weak characters are perfect for producing many conflicts.

OP characters are predictable = no fun = no no.

Weak character = struggle = conflict = relatable = less predictable = yes.

The only way to handle an OP mc is by NOT focusing on the mc him/herself.

You focus on the struggles of all the side characters and their stories.

Then, only let the op dude save the day like an angel when our struggling side characters reach the ultimate breaking points.