What is harder to write, a likable hero or a sociopathic protag?

The Necromancer's Lair
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Something they don’t tell you when you get into mecha anime is that the great-grandaddy of them all, Getter Robo, has protagonists which, to say the least, exhibit behavior like that of antisocial personality disorder.

I watched New Getter Robo and compared it to Voltron: Legendary Defender and I really thought about how you can argue if Ryouma is a protagonist you would be able to tolerate, he is consistently sociopathic. A lot of characters don’t have this sort of consistentcy in VLD, and while Keith is arguably a mix of Ryouma and Hayato into a more normal archetype of a hothead loner hero with mommy issues, his arc doesn’t really go anywhere or do anything for audience’s understanding. It’s a case of the plot needing x character to participate in y plotline rather than anything genuine.

I don’t know about you, but I’d take a consistent sociopath whose actions make sense over a dynamic character with more likable traits that is shuffled around by a plot with no direction.

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Basically Rod or Pissy?

I know people like Rod more than Pissy. Off the bat–no pun intended.

He is easier to write, though because he’s an everyman. Pissy is more unusual.

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People can still find ways to screw up writing Rod type characters, unfortunately.

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How?

That makes Rod sad!

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Believe in Hack Writers! Their power is beyond mankind’s comprehension!

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I am gonna unleash Santi on them. And he will BBQ their smooth watery brains.

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I prefer a sociopathic character who is consistently such. That doesn’t mean the protag can’t have character development, but it shouldn’t erase their disorder. “Likeable” characters that don’t have such flaws aren’t dynamic at all usually and I find them flat. Your protagonist should always be just as flawed as anyone. In fact, the more flawed they are, the more opportunities for conflict to keep things interesting.

Some could say my MC is a sociopath. I haven’t studied it enough to know for sure if he consistently fits the disorder, but I know he certainly isn’t neurotypical. I also have a secondary character that is definitely a psychopath. I did my research to make sure on him. I find these sorts of characters to be far more interesting than a “perfect” character that is always morally correct and “likeable”.

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Why does a likable hero character have to be conflated with being someone who is morally correct and likable? Rod sure as heck isn’t morally correct, or perfect. And why are morally correct and likable exclusive? I have another character who is morally correct and pretty much everyone dislikes him

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To add, “morally correct” villains can be some of the most intriguing well-rounded types of villains out there. There’s so much you can do with a “morally correct” protagonist and them being so doesn’t mean they have to be disinteresting. Standing beside one’s morals and goals is honestly one of the strongest things any character can do and, imo, is a trait that many “likable” protagonists share (Peter Parker/Spiderman is a good example).

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I’d like to know that too, because most of the characters people refer to as “likeable” are the ones I can’t stand because they are terribly bland. That’s why I kept putting “likeable” in quotes. I don’t get it.

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I used likable here as in a character having “normal” non-sociopathic traits like not manipulating people into embarrassing themselves or being violent.

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It really depends on the person. A natural marshmallow has a hard time playing a badass nutjob. Someone with a strong streak of chaos has a hard time playing a saint. This also bleeds into writing.

It really shows up in morality games. For instance fable: before I take the first quest I’ve got horns and lava flowing g from my hands, flies are swarming me. Why? Because I’m “crazy” and don’t see the need for holding morality in a game when there’s no consequences. So I off the guards and they respawn and as soon as I go a coupe areas away from that spawn, all goes back to normal.

But I hate empty worlds.

So when it’s time to make decisions that kill off characters, or won’t grow an area to it’s full potential, I’m far less likely to kill permanent cheracters. I default to good behavior.

So in the real world, I’m generally a good person because I understand total consequences. But I’m no marshmallow.

My husband was a total marshmallow. He struggled with writing and playing darker characters. Honestly he didn’t deal with much of that until he got older and couldn’t sustain the marshmallow personality against the weight of this world. Now he can write a darker character.

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Specifically I thought about the layers of darkness you get in protagonists until you just have a villain protagonist.

You have marshmallow on one end, carolina reaper on the other. Closer is marshmallow is the peppermint candy, and a few notches from that is siracha cookies. They’re both spicy, but one is more painful than the other.

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Depends, imo.

Writing a likable protagonist requires you to make them human. Likable protagonists are likable because of the way we’re able to relate and empathize with them. So, in that strain, creating a (mostly) universally liked character is a tough go because you have to make them realistic.

Why, with writing a sociopathic protagonist, you could essentially do anything. You could make their backstory brutal, tragic, have their motivations aligned, etc. But doing this doesn’t mean you’re writing a good sociopathic protagonist.

If you were to write a well-researched and psychologically layered sociopathic protagonist, I’d say that they’re a lot tougher to write about because of the amount of research and thought that goes into that character. Not only is psychopathy as a whole heavily stigmatized against and misunderstood, but it’s a complex psychological state of mind that has many layers. Many usually have their own set of moralities/rules, even if these moralities/rules don’t align with society. More importantly, why we all face antagonists in our lives, many don’t actually have a good example of what a sociopathic human-being is like in your day-to-day, so many are working based soley off of research and some experience.

Why, if you were to write a well-researched protagonist who is more likable, there’s more life-experiences and people in our lives we’re able to take inspiration from. On top of this, we have many issues ourselves, and in the people around us, that we can find relatable. A protagonist who is well-liked but suffers from depression is hard to write because you have to research that, but meeting someone like this or being this type of person is far more common.

So, in conclusion: If you’re going to write a solid, well-rounded “sociopathic” character then it’s going to take a lot more time, consideration, and effort then if you write a relatable likable character.

Ofc, this is all generalizations. Our life experiences give us many different perspectives, so for some writing one or the other may be easier depending on their own backgrounds, studies, and situations.

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