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- Apr 2, 2012
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Can an "evil 1%er" be sympathetic? (Or which way should I run this character?)
As the title asks. I have a character I love and who I want to write. Originally, they where designed to be a totally unsympathetic villain in their respective universe who's sole purpose was to make the lives of countless other characters hell. However, the better I got to know them, the more they wanted me to know they where not what I designed them to be, and demanded(very loudly, I may add) that I find a story about them that I can tell. However, the issue is that they are a character that, depending on how I write them and who's reading, they could be sympathetic or unsympathetic and thus I am unsure which way I should run them.
They have two sides to them, a very selfish side that people are likely to hate, but also a very human, dare I say sympathetic side underneath it all. While I want to show their sympathetic side, the issue I am having is that I fear the nature of their unsympathetic parts may strike too many negative chords with modern readers and that they may still come off as unsympathetic despite the fact I try my hardest to show them otherwise. The reason? Despite their sympathetic points, they are essentially a fantasy equivalent of the single most hated group(and for a legitimate reason, I may add) of many, many modern Americans....the "greedy 1%er." I personally feel their human side is sympathetic enough where I could run them as a character readers can at least have some positives they find in them, and perhaps even relate to despite the fact their situation and outlook would be very foreign to a lot of readers. However, at the same time, due to the (partly well-deserved) hate for anybody in the 1%, I am not sure that readers would be able to look past that side of them and see who they really are beneath it all.
So, I am at a crossroads. I can either try to do the impossible, and make readers empathize a bit with the "evil 1%er" or I can go the other route and make them a flat out villain protagonist who, while still understandable and "relateable" in why they do what they do, is not somebody the reader empathizes with and follows because they want to see fail, find them interesting if alien, and/or just because they have a dark charisma about them(Kinda like Richard III, Frank Underwood or Humbert Humbert.) So my question is which way should I go? Do you think it would be possible to run a "1%er" type character as at least somewhat sympathetic, or is the world just to liberal for that and would it be better to play up the whole "villain protagonist" concept with them? Discuss.
As the title asks. I have a character I love and who I want to write. Originally, they where designed to be a totally unsympathetic villain in their respective universe who's sole purpose was to make the lives of countless other characters hell. However, the better I got to know them, the more they wanted me to know they where not what I designed them to be, and demanded(very loudly, I may add) that I find a story about them that I can tell. However, the issue is that they are a character that, depending on how I write them and who's reading, they could be sympathetic or unsympathetic and thus I am unsure which way I should run them.
They have two sides to them, a very selfish side that people are likely to hate, but also a very human, dare I say sympathetic side underneath it all. While I want to show their sympathetic side, the issue I am having is that I fear the nature of their unsympathetic parts may strike too many negative chords with modern readers and that they may still come off as unsympathetic despite the fact I try my hardest to show them otherwise. The reason? Despite their sympathetic points, they are essentially a fantasy equivalent of the single most hated group(and for a legitimate reason, I may add) of many, many modern Americans....the "greedy 1%er." I personally feel their human side is sympathetic enough where I could run them as a character readers can at least have some positives they find in them, and perhaps even relate to despite the fact their situation and outlook would be very foreign to a lot of readers. However, at the same time, due to the (partly well-deserved) hate for anybody in the 1%, I am not sure that readers would be able to look past that side of them and see who they really are beneath it all.
So, I am at a crossroads. I can either try to do the impossible, and make readers empathize a bit with the "evil 1%er" or I can go the other route and make them a flat out villain protagonist who, while still understandable and "relateable" in why they do what they do, is not somebody the reader empathizes with and follows because they want to see fail, find them interesting if alien, and/or just because they have a dark charisma about them(Kinda like Richard III, Frank Underwood or Humbert Humbert.) So my question is which way should I go? Do you think it would be possible to run a "1%er" type character as at least somewhat sympathetic, or is the world just to liberal for that and would it be better to play up the whole "villain protagonist" concept with them? Discuss.
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