The Unlikable Protagonist

So, for my main project, my protagonist is pretty unlikable. Not Patrick Bateman, or even Tony Soprano levels of unlikable, he's just kind of a weak willed, misanthropic dickhead, and I'm getting mixed reactions at to whether he works or not. Does anyone else have a protagonist like this? If so, what do you think the key is to making them work? How do you make the audience care about and relate to this character, if not like them? (I recently watched Rushmore, I consider that an example of how not to do it)

edited 11th Jan '11 8:41:24 AM by tilitzd

Make 'em funny and charismatic? Heath Ledger's Joker, for instance, is in no way sympathetic, but the fans love him anyway.

The problem is that The Joker is unlikable in over the top, horrific ways, whereas my protagonist is unlikable in more everyday, petty ways. Also, The Joker is very much the antagonist, so he can get away with being unlikable far more easily.

Whether or not the readers find him unlikeable is their opinion. I think that you should just write the character as you see him.

You will NEVER achieve this. Because you know what happens if you figure out how to do it? Neo-nazis start worshipping him and shit like that.

I think Comedic Sociopathy might be helpful. What type of story is this?

Actually, no, there is a way to do it, but it would involve completely ruining the quality of your novel.

Give him a companion who can successfully reason with him.

Eh, I don't want to be a jerk, but I usually find it to be a huge turnoff if a work has an unsympathetic protagonist, to be honest. That doesn't mean he has to be an exemplary human specimen, of course, it just mean that you need to include SOMETHING the audience can relate to, or else they'll simply stop caring what happens to said protagonist, and then lose interest in the story. He can be something of a jerkass and still likable, though, particularly if you make him a deadpan snarker or a heroic sociopath. He can also start out unlikable but go through character development that makes him more sympathetic over time. You could even go the Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia route and have horrible things continually happen to your awful protagonist, but played for laughs. But if he's a kharma houdini that the audience is expected to root for for no reason, people may lose interest.

I think I might not have communicated what he's like properly. When I say unlikable, I don't mean completely devoid of anything remotely humanizing or sympathetic. He develops a romantic attachment to one of the other characters (although he's not entirely comfortable with it), he's plagued by guilt, he shows a self destructive drive that implies his misanthropy is more a result of self loathing than anything else, and there are moments of tenderness in the two relationships of his that are shown in the screenplay. However, his cynicism and spinelessness are probably more prominent characteristics than any of that, making him something of an unpleasant person. My issue is I'm not sure whether there's enough there that's redeeming and human to make him interesting despite his unlikability, which is what I'm aiming for, and I've been getting mixed reactions regarding that from the people who have read it. I'm just wondering if anyone here has written a similar character, and if so what they've done to make this kind of character interesting (like what kind of redeeming qualities were given). I guess it would be really hard to give an accurate assessment of the character without having actually read the work in question.

And to whoever said make him a Deadpan Snarker, he has some elements of that, but I tried going full on snarker and it made him simply unbearable.

EDIT: Also, I forgot that someone asked what kind of story it is. It's a psychological thriller with possible supernatural elements (depending on the viewer's interpretation) where the protagonist is experiencing surreal, unsettling visions of his past that may or may not be a result of growing psychosis, and at the end its revealed to be catalyzed by guilt surrounding a past event. Kind of a Silent Hill 2 or Shutter Island type of deal.

edited 11th Jan '11 4:28:55 PM by tilitzd

Noticing the kind of work you're talking about I think unlikable is the only way to go. Of course like always I have to ask: What's the character arc? How does he begin and what's his personality at the end?

First off, if you going to have him go through character development be sure to show that somewhere in the beginning of the story that he can develop. Don't have the development come out of nowhere.

Kind of reminds me a little of Wikus from District 9. He was an extremely unlikeable character, not because he was evil or anything, just... unpleasant in a very average way.

My tip is is to make him exhibit Depressive Realism instead of cynicism. For example:

An idealist says "People can change."

And a cynic says "People don't change."

But someone exhibiting Depressive Realism says "People can change, but a smart man will ALWAYS bet on people not changing." (the bitter truth)

There's a wikipedia page on Depressive Realism that explains what it is.

Focus on the story and how it abuses/uses him, rather than spewing the protagonist's hate everywhere. District 9 focuses on the story and intersperses other characters in it, not to mention it breaks the protagonist quite nicely.

Seconding Jack Mackerel.

You might also want to take a look at this.

One option could be to introduce him through his more likeable or relatable characteristics first while hinting at the dominant unlikeable side.

I suggest making his interactions with other characters interesting. Is there another character, who has some strength and some weakness your protagonist doesn't have?

Think of it from the standpoint of if Squidward Tentacles was the protagonist of Spongebob Squarepants.

I wouldn't worry too much about making him likeable. I don't know about other people, but I will always, always, without exception go for an interesting character over a nice one, or one whom I'd actually like to be friends with. Your guy sounds quite complex, so my guess is that I'd enjoy reading him, regardless of whether he's a dick.

shit, I'd probably give that show a watch.

Thanks for the advice guys, some of it was pretty helpful. I've thought about it and I think he's a pretty decent character as is, I may add in one or two more little scenes to show some of his hobbies/passions that he had before he became the way he is.

And to whoever mentioned Wikus, yeah, they're actually fairly similar in some ways, although Wikus is a bit more morally reprehensible (the egg scene, yikes...)

edited 17th Jan '11 3:27:43 PM by tilitzd

I agree with the above, in that complex characters are always interesting regardless of morality.

edited 23rd Jan '11 5:31:00 PM by darkclaw