How necessary is fanservice in making a likeable character?

I'm currently having a discussion with a fellow writer about the practicality of fanservice in writing. In following the Sex Sells doctrine, how necessary would you rate fanservice?

Please note that this is not inherently about highbrow entertainment or pornography. Both of those are defeating the point. Highbrow entertainment is created more for the art and the message than it is for the audience; porn is made entirely for the audience's satisfaction.

I'm talking about "popcorn" fiction and lowbrow fiction. Things that are equal parts art and entertainment, meant to appeal to as broad a market as possible.

edited 28th Feb '12 6:16:16 AM by KingZeal

Fanservice does not make a character more likeable. When a Mr. Fanservice walks around shirtless, I do not suddenly start liking his character more. Though I might start linking the SHOW more.

edited 28th Feb '12 6:44:56 AM by fanty

Yeah, I'm with fanty on this one. Just because a character is hot or nice to look at isn't a substitute for good characterization.

It would probably make them less likable, for some.

At least in Real Life, being too focused on one's appearance has implications of vainness or shallowness, as in the Valley Girl and Alpha Bitch character types.

edited 28th Feb '12 7:03:57 AM by CrystalGlacia

Well, what I'm specifically trying to figure out is what is the magic value? Assuming the characterization is adequate, how much fanservice will enhance the character and how much will hurt him/her?

For example:

1. Batman is awesome.
2. Shirtless Scene Batman is even more awesome.
3. Batman in a thong is ridiculous.

Speaking as someone whose main character is pretty damn fanservicey: you're doing it the wrong way 'round. Good fanservice — not cheap titillation, but the sort of fanservice that sends your fan base off to write X-rated fanfics and draw dirty pics — comes from good characters, not the other way around.

edited 28th Feb '12 7:06:32 AM by KillerClowns

Now, this is more about tastefulness. I don't think anybody wants to see a man in a thong.

edited 28th Feb '12 7:08:34 AM by CrystalGlacia

...Google Image Search. Safe Search off. God have mercy on your soul.

Anyways, I suppose I should delve into my specific thoughts. As said good characters make good fanservice.

They should have a reason for every fanservicey act they engage in, one where it doesn't feel like the author is saying "you should wear less now!" And "distraction bonus" can only get you so far, unless you're really going for Refuge in Audacity.

They should have chemistry with others — even fully clothed, salacious banter can be great fanservice. And add to that even more intimate moments...

Finally, keeping your fanservice sparse, unless it's a character who is naturally very flirty and/or promiscuous, makes it all the more delightful.

Well, one of the things I've found here is that this is a slippery slope. A "reason" is arbitrary. There's ridiculous crap like a Stripperiffic meant to "distract" opponents, or a Cleavage Window added because the character "has a hole in her heart". (Both of which were used to justify Power Girl's outfit.) Even characters like Black Cat and Catwoman, who are overtly sexual and fetishize what they do, look silly when they're fighting people in Combat Stilettos and Absolute Cleavage.

I was just reading an article in which a number of women basically stated that most ladies do have these sorts of urges to be sexy and uninhibited, but not around people they don't know or feel safe around. A committed boyfriend or husband may be lucky enough to peel away that side of themselves, but even then, it might take years before getting to that point.

Now I am curious.

Are we talking about visual or non-visual mediums?

Both.

I brought this up because one of the two Female Leads in my current novel is a Shameless Fanservice Girl. Her basic characterization is that she hates most societal conventions and actively ignores them. So her clothing makes absolutely no attempt to hide her "naughty bits", but doesn't go out of the way to show them off, either. She specifically designs them for "beauty efficiency" with nudity being a non-issue.

I got the idea from the Zulu tribes in South Africa, where single women use clothing mostly as decoration. What they wear is determined by how well it enhances their natural beauty and physical fitness (for example, beads that emphasize the naked breast or hips). Engaged women and married women, however, cover themselves up entirely because they are "owned".

Originally, my intention was to have the character be sexually prudish, but as I began characterizing her as more alien and foreign, it seemed to make sense that even the way she dressed would make the male lead uncomfortable.

edited 28th Feb '12 8:26:40 AM by KingZeal

Probably the best way to write that then is to give other character's reactions to that. Fan service of the type you're thinking of is nearly impossible to write, especially if you're writing for a male audience.

Yeah (ironically, I just edited that in—she makes the male lead physically uncomfortable). But, this isn't just about my character. She's just what sparked the topic.

Even in a really lowbrow, action-oriented, fundamentally silly work, I don't think that fanservice of the sexy variety is really necessary. Fanservice of the "cool things" variety, however...

Fanservice of the visual variety just doesn't work in writing. Bad writing tends to try for it anyway, and you can really tell that it doesn't work.

In terms of writing, I think it's pointless. Writing, to be really fanservicey in a sexual manner, has to veer all the way into pornographic. Having a Batman shirtless on the written page ain't the same as having him shirtless actually illustrated. And by the time you've gotten the idea he's doing all this completely shirtless fixed in the reader's mind (shaped by the fact Batman isn't shirtless very often and they won't picture him that way) you've veered off the cliff into softcore.

edited 28th Feb '12 8:38:09 AM by Night

@Night: can't say I agree. Clever dialogue, just the right amount of description, and knowledge of when the metaphorical camera should or shouldn't be rolling, can do wonders.

edited 28th Feb '12 8:40:42 AM by KillerClowns

Written and visual fanservice are of totally different styles.

Fanservice, or even good looks, have absolutely no impact on how much I like a character. The depth and well-roundedness of the characterisation does. I'd rather read about a well-characterised seventy-year-old with disfiguring burns than about a sexy cardboard cutout.

It depends.

Fanservice is always one part descriptive, one part contextual.

One of the reasons why I find the "if you want Wonder Woman in a thong, just go watch porn" argument stupid is because it's not just about the woman being in a thong. It's about Wonder Woman being in a thong. Possibly while going UFC on the Hydra.

In a written medium, this is even more true. Some of the best fanservice moments, in my opinion, are written at a moment where it's unexpected, and thus most stimulating for the reader.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying that this justifies it or makes it good—just that the argument is unsound.

edited 28th Feb '12 8:41:16 AM by KingZeal

So nobody else while reading completely forget that a character is wearing a thong just after it's mentioned?

@Killer Clowns: Maybe you don't have my built-up tolerance to sexual material!

But honestly I think it's instructive to consider things where writers have deliberately attempted sexual fanservice in written works. Romance is an obvious genre, but even outside of it people tend to take "sexy fanservice" in writing to mean "softcore porn" because saying someone's topless is simply not going to provoke the same reactions in a person as actually seeing them topless. Written information does not compress detail as efficiently as visual information. More description is required, and that in itself tends to cause you to veer pornographic because the "camera" is lingering.

edited 28th Feb '12 8:49:26 AM by Night

(Note that when I differentiated "sexy" and "cool/nerdy" fanservice, I was going by the original usage. Which is kind of a broad term.)

The "magical value" of needed fanservice is pretty damn close to zero. It tends to distract from the writing/characterization more often than add to it.