#you'll see patterns emerge - i guarantee it :D

[not-poignant]

hi pia

do you have any advice on writing about controversial (but likeable) characters?

for some context, i'm writing a fic where one of the characters does a lot of horrible things do the other but i want to humanize him so he can eventually redeem himself later on in the story, leave the antagonist role behind & build a healthier relationship with the other character.

i know there's a difference between villains/antagonists/anti-heroes etc (atm i'm not sure which one he is) but i do know that i want my readers to forgive him in the end.

how would i go about doing this?

thank you in advance. i can't wait to read your new series!!!

Hi anon,

You can't make your readers forgive a character. All you can do is present the evidence and see what happens.

Do you know how many people hate Augus? Just hate him? Completely hate that he exists and believe he's just the worst? It's a lot of people!! Anon, I'm here to tell you that while some people enjoy my bad guys / antagonists / anti-heroes, there's plenty who are like 'fuck that guy how dare you write a whole story about an asshole like this' and either don't read, feel angry, feel disappointed, etc.

My expectation wasn't that people would 'forgive' someone like Efnisien and I still don't expect them to! Firstly, he didn't hurt them, so the concept of forgiveness from readers is really weird to me, and secondly there are a ton of valid reasons to not give Efnisien the time of day as a character.

There is no guaranteed way to make your readers do anything. Anon, I have written characters I hated more than anything and wanted people to hate, and some folks desperately wanted to fuck those characters literally immediately. Readers are amazing. :D And also pure chaos.

So let's get all of that out of the way. I can't teach you how to do something that - to me - doesn't exist (i.e. making readers do stuff - they do what they want, as they should, and I can hope for certain responses but honestly I like all the responses except the 'this is boring' response lmao), and is kind of weird to expect from readers in the first place (I have never, in my life, expected 'forgiveness' from a reader to any of my characters).

Anyway, now to the part of your question I think I can actually address:

do you have any advice on writing about controversial (but likeable) characters?

As always, feel free to ignore this! This is just what I personally recommend, and you don't have to do it, lol.

* Look at the characters you find controversial but likeable in the movies, TV shows, webcomics, fanfics, novels etc. that you enjoy. Write down a list of about five of your absolute favourites. Write down the things that you think make them controversial, and then write down the things that you personally love about them.

That's your compass. That, more than anything, matters most here. You need to have a solid internal idea of what makes a character likeable to you.

* Next, see if there was a turning point for you. Did you love them from the beginning? Or did you come to love them over time? Why? I loved Silco from the beginning of Arcane, but I loved him even more once he met Jinx (specifically the moment where he holds her in the rain). Family bonding / found family was a turning point for me.

Look specifically for characters that you've had internal turning points for. Write down what caused that turning point for you. It isn't always something that makes sense, and sometimes it's as simple as 'wow that villain was really hot and charismatic in that scene' and has nothing to do with an emotional moment or soft connection. But see if there are any similarities. Chances are you want to write the kind of character/s you enjoy seeing or reading most, you want to attract the kind of people who enjoy that too!

* It can help to give your character an actual motivation, and a meaningful one ideally. Maybe they're acting out due to past trauma, maybe they're being cruel or evil because they are angry due to how a loved one was treated, maybe they genuinely believe all rich people deserve to die, etc. 'Character does chaotic horrible things for no reason' gives readers absolutely no reason to like them. (Though some still will if they're charismatic enough).

* It can help to 'punish' your character somehow. Augus was brutally assaulted by Gwyn while trapped in a prison, and most people do eventually feel sorry for him. Efnisien lives a bleak life with fairly significant disability. The Raven Prince was depressed and suicidal and later heart-broken, and spends an awful lot of time trapped in the form of a raven.

* Redemption to the readers does not matter as much as redemption to the other character. I cannot stress that enough. If you write a fairly realistic redemption story where your other character can slowly come to believe what's happening, where your other character can realise they're more human, in a way that seems realistic and leaves room for their full scope of emotional responses, and doesn't force them to 'forgive' or do any of that nonsense (that can seem kind of didactic, be wary of didactic writing where you're trying to make your reader believe something), then a reader is far more likely to accept that, even if they still don't like the villain/antagonist.

As a case in point, because Jack really loved Gavril throughout The Golden Age that Never Was, even though Gavril was one of my most egregious and evil villains ever, a lot of people a) didn't want to believe Gavril was evil for a long time and b) a lot of more people than usual made excuses for him! Way more than if Jack hated him from the outset. Look at how your other characters are responding to the antagonist.

People came around to Augus in part because a) he was suffering a lot lmao and b) because Gwyn started to feel like maybe Augus wasn't entirely in his right mind and is clearly suffering. Gwyn's shift represented a shift in most readers. If your readers are really sympathetic to your other character, they will generally empathetically shift as that character shifts. But not always. And, frankly, some people will hate a 'sympathetic character' for liking an abuser or a villain or an antagonist. There are people who hate Eran for putting up with Mosk, people who hate Gwyn for letting Augus treat him badly, etc. (And there are people who hate Eran for abusing Mosk, and so on and so forth).

But by and large, if you can make a character's humanising journey visible to your other character, the readers will often see and respond to that.

* A final note, it can help to show - sometimes - a character trying to be kinder or more understanding and getting rejected because no one trusts them yet. I don't use this technique very often, but other people do, and it can be successful. I think you can see this happening during the end of Arcane vs. what Jinx thinks she hears and acts on (due to lack of trust) vs. what's actually being said.

***

I hope that helps! I definitely suggest getting a good collection of 'resources' or reference characters that suit exactly what you love about a good villain/antagonist-turned-anti-hero and what turning points have worked for you, and what techniques you've seen used to really help with sympathy. I actually think Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender is a really sophisticated example of redeeming a character.

I also think it's worth putting the concept of 'making your readers' do anything and the concept of 'reader forgiveness' in the bin. You don't need either, lol. You can encourage them! And you can just present an interesting story that you believe in and hope for the best. I love that I can't make my readers do stuff. It makes it very exciting when a writing technique works, and super interesting when the unexpected happens, and frankly, it's made me look at some characters twice when I wouldn't have even looked at them once.

Remember, I only ever ended up writing Game Theory because a couple of people were interested in the pairing at a time when I had zero interest in a) the pairing or b) keeping Augus alive. Sometimes your readers doing the unexpected and paying attention to that when it happens opens up big doors. :)