I think I shot myself in the foot.

Okay so I am working on a story. And I recently made a dramatic change to a main character. He was always a chessmaster and manipulator, but I wanted to elevate him to Magnificent Bastard. I read the writing MB page and several things made me cringe.

The first thing was they never seem to lose their cool. To make a character human they need to lose their cool at appropriate moments, doubly so for a main, but having a main MB, if I do they lose the MB status, and if I don't then they become a sue. I want to know how I can keep an MB that happens to have the main char spotlight.

The second thing was, they can't fail completely. for a mc failure is an important option, but because I want mine to be an MB that mucks everything up.

I am not concerned with my Big Bad being one, because he is the only character who can go toe to toe with my main on equal footing. In my story, most of the foes are competent but my main can usually outsmart them. In the verse I set up, everyone has powers, so the truly unique thing about my main that made him so dangerous was his mind. Both my big bad and main are chessmasters and they have considerable ability and whit. In fact they are practically one in the same, the main thing that separates them is a core motivation. the big bad is driven by lust, where as the protagonist is driven by love. They both do reprehensible things, but the big bad would sacrifice any and all required to attain his goal while the protagonist would fight and die for any of his underlings and friends. I wanted both to be M Bs because it would be interesting to see these two trying to outgambit the other.

When I was describing my plans to a friend, he recommended I watch Code Geass. I did, and I loved it, and I usually don't watch much anime. CG gave me lots of ideas and tools to work with and helped the story I am making dramatically. Though at first I was worried my work would be compared to Harry Potter, but I made it favor CG to deter that even though that's almost just as bad. It won't be a rip off of CG but there is a war, and giant mechs, and lots of bloodshed.

Lelouch was interesting, he defied what I read M Bs to be, while still being categorized as one. What exactly can I learn from Lelouch in regards to a main character being an MB? I know this is difficult to do right, and should be avoided at all costs, and that I shot myself in the foot with this change.

My plan is to not have my protagonist be as dark as Lelouch, but still a very pronounced shade of gray. He even fights a big in verse taboo and uses "dark" powers. I always seen my protagonist as a chessmaster and manipulator, and before this elevation I desire, his main unique/noteworthy trait was his sharp mind. In the old plan, he was just strong enough to not die at the hands of his foes, but get injured frequently and his power level was above average but nothing spectacular. When I wanted to elevate him to MB(which isn't too radically ooc) this means making him a pretty competent fighter too. Of course his two best friends are female and power buffs would be handed out to them as well as him. The plan was his female friends can overpower him when it comes to powers, and only 1 of them can physically outfight him too.

If the subject of Lelouch comes up too frequently, just give me links to older posts I should read regarding him. But the main concern isn't about him, rather what can I learn from him exactly? He is the only Main character MB I seen. I need to know what was done poorly as well as what was done right. I am not here to sing Lelouch's praises, I need to learn from him and I want your help.

Oh and, my protagonist had alot of these traits before I watched Cg, I didn't model him specifically after Lelouch at first, though I did take great strides in doing so to deffer the work from HP territory.

I wonder if this doesn't belong in Writer's Block, but it's not really misplaced.

First thing, don't try to write your characters to fit specific tropes. Write them in a way that makes internal sense for the story. Writing them just so they fit specific tropes can easily lead towards a Mary Sue, as the goal changes from writing an interesting character, and towards ticking off traits supposed to make the character cool.

Second, a Magnificent Bastard can lose in physical battles, as well as the occasional strategic battle. It especially important for a protagonist, since having an protagonist who's unbeatable can easily become boring, while having one who fails and then rises to the challenge is usually more interesting. MB is more about the overall characterisation, about being on top of almost any situation, where setbacks are either planned or taken into account, so they don't harm the overall goal.

Never losing their cool isn't actually true for all MBs who eventually fail against the protagonist. They can face their loss with dignity, but many don't. However, it's very rare in the overall story, and only for the most extreme circumstances.

edited 12th May '15 11:29:13 PM by AnotherDuck

Also, it says right at the top of the page that Magnificent Bastard is based on opinion. Making your audience hold the same opinions as you is always a tricky proposition. Perhaps Guile Hero is more of a concrete goal to aim for?

I think as long as your protagonist is genuinely fallible, they won't be a Mary Sue, and as long as they triumph through their own wits (rather than author contrivance or the antagonists being dumbasses), someone in your audience will think "Yeah, that's pretty cool."

edited 13th May '15 4:56:47 PM by MetaFour