How to make an unlikeable character likable?

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  • How to make an unlikeable character likable?

    How do you write an unlikeable character (an arsehole basically) while trying to make the reader sympathize with them?

    Character = egotistical, narcissistic etc.

    [Arc = selflessness]

    Some examples of films/scripts would be great!

    Cheers.

  • #2
    Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

    "As Good as It Gets" would be a good place to start.

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    • #3
      Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

      Originally posted by Chief View Post
      How do you write an unlikeable character (an arsehole basically) while trying to make the reader sympathize with them?

      Character = egotistical, narcissistic etc.

      [Arc = selflessness]

      Some examples of films/scripts would be great!

      Cheers.
      Think "relatable" instead. You can give them a painful past, a reason they hide behind this facade. Give them a beloved pet, a side no one sees.

      If an audience understands a character, they can recognize and empathize even if they don't like the character.
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      • #4
        Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

        i don't make a distinction between "likeable" or "unlikeable" i just try and write the character as true as i can, and trust that it will be dramatically compelling if i do

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        • #5
          Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

          Give him a cat , then have him save it (sorry; couldn't resist).

          I think it depends on whether it's your main character or an important secondary character, because if it's any other character then unlikeable works just fine. If it's your main character, he or she must have a redeeming moment that reveals their humanity and allows us to forgive (or temporarily forget) all flaws. Citizen Kane ain't exactly a likeable pal, but that Rosebud moment allows us to forgive all his shortcomings because for that one moment, we are him and he is us and we know, even if Kane doesn't (or the reporter perplexing over Kane's last word), that the childhood loss of his precious sled is the loss of his connection to family and familiarty. So find the character's redeeming moment, and set up a logical connection between it and his egotism and narcissism.

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          • #6
            Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

            -- Show moral code. Porter in Payback doesn't want more money or less, he wants his money. A guy can be a thief but if you show he only steals from people who have lots of dough, or steals to pay for the sick puppies...

            -- Make the person excellent at something. It helps forgive the flaws if your character is extraordinary in some arena.

            -- Immediately make characters that inhabit the world worse than the lead.

            -- Pet the dog. Save the cat. Give the character some redeeming habit. He Like the sick puppies mentioned above. Or he has an uncle at the old folks home who he spends hella time with.

            Btw, you would be surprised to see how often characters pet dogs. Once I first heard that term, I saw some version of it pop up everywhere. In the original Karate Kid Ralph Machio pets a dog within the first 5 minutes.

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            • #7
              Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

              Have him save a cat.

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              • #8
                Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

                Originally posted by BattleDolphinZero View Post
                -- Make the person excellent at something. It helps forgive the flaws if your character is extraordinary in some arena.
                This.

                House and Sherlock Holmes from Elementary.

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                • #9
                  Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

                  Yep

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                  • #10
                    Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

                    Show us the situation from their POV so that we understand why they do what they do (even if we do not agree with it). The more "unsympathetic" the character is, the more you have to pay attention to making sure the audience understands them.

                    Or make them clever as hell, or funny as hell. I hate Adam Sandler's characters, but they usually make me laugh. The assassin in DAY OF THE JACKAL (orig) is so effing clever that you *want* him to kill the French President.

                    - Bill
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                    http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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                    • #11
                      Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

                      You don't have to make the protagonist likable. A better way to look at it is to make him / her "interesting". Examples would be: Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas, Groundhog day.

                      The term "Save the Cat" actually comes from "Alien". Ripley in the last ten minutes has a chance to escape safely, but she decides to go back and "save the cat" and take it in the escape pod. The theory is that this is the main reason why the movie works. Any reasonable person would understand that this theory is ludicrous. Multiple elements make "Alien" work.

                      Contemporary writers now attempt to have their protagonist "save the cat" in the first ten pages, because the populist book says so. Confusing?

                      A better idea is expressed in "As Good As It Gets" where Melvin (Jack Nicholson) in the first 5 minutes tosses a puppy down the garbage chute. The character is immediately interesting after this. It might be wiser to have a "Puppy down the chute" moment in your script.

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                      • #12
                        Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

                        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashman
                        Always choose cognac over cocaine -- Jon Lord

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                        • #13
                          Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

                          Forget likable, make them FASCINATING.

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                          • #14
                            Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

                            Originally posted by magnet360 View Post
                            You don't have to make the protagonist likable. A better way to look at it is to make him / her "interesting". Examples would be: Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas, Groundhog day.

                            The term "Save the Cat" actually comes from "Alien". Ripley in the last ten minutes has a chance to escape safely, but she decides to go back and "save the cat" and take it in the escape pod. The theory is that this is the main reason why the movie works. Any reasonable person would understand that this theory is ludicrous. Multiple elements make "Alien" work.

                            Contemporary writers now attempt to have their protagonist "save the cat" in the first ten pages, because the populist book says so. Confusing?

                            A better idea is expressed in "As Good As It Gets" where Melvin (Jack Nicholson) in the first 5 minutes tosses a puppy down the garbage chute. The character is immediately interesting after this. It might be wiser to have a "Puppy down the chute" moment in your script.
                            I don't know how correct you are but I like the way you think.
                            "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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                            • #15
                              Re: How to make an unlikeable character likable?

                              Context. Alex in Clockwork Orange is a rapist but the world he lives in is so bland and the people so stupid that his sheer energy engages us. Henry Hill in Goodfellas is a murderer, but he's surrounded by much worse murderers so he doesn't seem so bad. Oskar Schindler is a cynical businessman but in the context of Nazi Germany he's a hero. Richard III is a bastard but everyone else in the play is so hamstrung by protocol and formality that his rebellious, f-you attitude makes him fun.

                              Also - you describe your hero as an arsehole - it's important that even if you the person thinks he's an arsehole, you the writer doesn't. Apart from comic-book baddies, most people don't go out of their way to be a prick. I know loads of people who are, but they walk around thinking they're lovely.

                              In terms of examples, Young Adult has a very unlikeable protagonist but she's interesting, determined and again, in the context of the film's world she stands apart. If you haven't seen it it's strongly recommended.
                              My stuff

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