Deal Breakers for Fictional Characters
Jan. 19th, 2011 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rheasilviaA good author – or even a mediocre one, if I am invested in the story and/or characters – can get me to forgive a character a great many things. But there are also things that are deal breakers for me; things that will render a fictional character irredeemably unlikable in my eyes.
Excessive self-pity and/or drama-whoring.
This is, of course, very subjective. *g* But many, many characters have put me off by their totally absurd, masochistic "oh woe is me!" antics. NO, dear character, chances are that whatever your oh-so-Horrible Pain (TM) is, it does not justify wallowing about in woefully overwrought, dramatic self-pity for chapters on end. Even less does it justify being a total asshat, or ignoring the misfortune and pain of others (because of course nobody else can ever be remotely as badly off).
There's even a next level, although I've only encountered it once: Conscious self-sabotage motivated by absurd (because completely unnecessary) self-pity, leading to an even more intense round of "oh woe is me", now about the consequences of the events actively brought about by the character in question. (I couldn't get past the first chapter of that novel, but it's very well-liked. Evidently, other readers are not as put off by this as I am…)
Rape.
You'd think that an author would realize rape will make a character irredeemably disgusting, repugnant and hateful – and yet, there are characters the reader is expected to identify or sympathize with after they rape someone. Maybe some readers don't find this the deal-breaker that I do? I honestly don't understand this. To me, it doesn't matter if the rape is 100 novels, years or lightyears away, or how much the character in question has suffered before or since. That character will never recover in my eyes.
The classic example is, of course, Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. WTF, am I supposed to pity him (when nobody else could possibly pity him half as much as he himself does)? "Nobody Else Can Possibly Have It So Bad Except Of Course All Of Those People I Can't Pay Attention To Because I Am Suffering So Horribly! I Will Rape You To Express My Tragic Pain! Oh Poor Poor Me!!!!"
Self-righteousness.
Characters who measure with two yardsticks – one for others, one for themselves. A major squick. This is what put me off a series which to me was basically Imperialism in Space, along with all the usual imperialistic, high-handed and self-congratulatory abuse of weaker societies. Of course the "heroes" had the right to do all those things they utterly condemned others for! Duh, they were The Heroes! It's totally different.
Endangering Others for Stupid and Selfish Reasons (often a.k.a.: Betrayal).
Another especially subjective one. The most extreme form of this that I've encountered is a character (I'll call him C) who was the commanding officer on a military mission, and at the same time the only person capable of operating the escape vehicle, without which everyone on the mission was dead. When it came time to determine who'd be the one to make an almost certainly suicidal foray, C wanted to go himself. A subordinate reminded C that he was the only one who could get them out of enemy territory again; C responded by ordering him to stay by the vehicle, and then rushed off on said foray.
Uh. WTF? How am I supposed to ever respect this character again, let alone believe him someone who is capable of leading people responsibly? But again, many people did not seem bothered by this, so it seems to be less of a deal breaker for others.
So, d'you have any deal breakers, too? What are they? I want to know! :-)
Excessive self-pity and/or drama-whoring.
This is, of course, very subjective. *g* But many, many characters have put me off by their totally absurd, masochistic "oh woe is me!" antics. NO, dear character, chances are that whatever your oh-so-Horrible Pain (TM) is, it does not justify wallowing about in woefully overwrought, dramatic self-pity for chapters on end. Even less does it justify being a total asshat, or ignoring the misfortune and pain of others (because of course nobody else can ever be remotely as badly off).
There's even a next level, although I've only encountered it once: Conscious self-sabotage motivated by absurd (because completely unnecessary) self-pity, leading to an even more intense round of "oh woe is me", now about the consequences of the events actively brought about by the character in question. (I couldn't get past the first chapter of that novel, but it's very well-liked. Evidently, other readers are not as put off by this as I am…)
Rape.
You'd think that an author would realize rape will make a character irredeemably disgusting, repugnant and hateful – and yet, there are characters the reader is expected to identify or sympathize with after they rape someone. Maybe some readers don't find this the deal-breaker that I do? I honestly don't understand this. To me, it doesn't matter if the rape is 100 novels, years or lightyears away, or how much the character in question has suffered before or since. That character will never recover in my eyes.
The classic example is, of course, Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever. WTF, am I supposed to pity him (when nobody else could possibly pity him half as much as he himself does)? "Nobody Else Can Possibly Have It So Bad Except Of Course All Of Those People I Can't Pay Attention To Because I Am Suffering So Horribly! I Will Rape You To Express My Tragic Pain! Oh Poor Poor Me!!!!"
Self-righteousness.
Characters who measure with two yardsticks – one for others, one for themselves. A major squick. This is what put me off a series which to me was basically Imperialism in Space, along with all the usual imperialistic, high-handed and self-congratulatory abuse of weaker societies. Of course the "heroes" had the right to do all those things they utterly condemned others for! Duh, they were The Heroes! It's totally different.
Endangering Others for Stupid and Selfish Reasons (often a.k.a.: Betrayal).
Another especially subjective one. The most extreme form of this that I've encountered is a character (I'll call him C) who was the commanding officer on a military mission, and at the same time the only person capable of operating the escape vehicle, without which everyone on the mission was dead. When it came time to determine who'd be the one to make an almost certainly suicidal foray, C wanted to go himself. A subordinate reminded C that he was the only one who could get them out of enemy territory again; C responded by ordering him to stay by the vehicle, and then rushed off on said foray.
Uh. WTF? How am I supposed to ever respect this character again, let alone believe him someone who is capable of leading people responsibly? But again, many people did not seem bothered by this, so it seems to be less of a deal breaker for others.
So, d'you have any deal breakers, too? What are they? I want to know! :-)
no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 06:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-20 06:21 pm (UTC)Lack of communication as a handy plot device is often the source of intense annoyance for me in other ways, too... An interesting new (to me) twist I've run into lately: I've been watching a lot of Korean drama lately, and there, it seems to be almost the standard reaction to finding out you're seriously ill to a) break up with your significant other without telling them that you're sick; b) go to a distant foreign country for treatment; and c) return after years of total radio silence and try to rekindle the relationship.