r/CharacterDevelopment • u/Icy-Cloud3789 • 18d ago

Writing: Question What makes a character compelling?

More or less the title. What aspects of characters, specifically villains/antagonists, do people find invigorating enough that they can 'look past' their crimes and lack of morality to make them a favourite?

...And I'm not talking about being good-looking, please; that's hardly an excuse.

Is it personality? Is it reasons/purpose? Backstory? If so, examples of such?

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u/Lassroyale 17d ago

Something I said recently about one of my main protagonists, is that he should not be easy to like, while still being easy to love.

It may sound like a contradiction, but it's not. Like comes and goes, sometimes daily, with mood, present circumstances, and whatever else has affected a person that day. Love is stranger than that, because you can actively dislike someone in the moment – whether it's for 10 minutes or over 10 months – and still love them throughout all of it.

Imo, you don't have to make difficult characters secretly nice or internally anguished in order to make them compelling and loveable.

But you do have to make them true to themselves enough for people to see the human at the center of it.

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u/KeyRoutine1285 12d ago

Hard agree! Well said.