Writing MC as a peasant/ villager

[NotaNuffian]

This might sound odd, but I hate the idea of the MC being an ordinary villager/ peasant in a remote town.

Because judging from the actual history I read in order to build up my own MC, I discover that they are never the star of the show because:

1. They are uncouth/ illiterate.
2. Their tough life has grinded off most of their passions, turning them into your typical Japanese workers.
3. They have no chance to grow/ level up in the society, like the caste system makes them one tier higher than serfs but in the eyes of those with power, ie nobles, merchants (which the peasants MIGHT have the chance to join the guilds, but still) or rogue knights, they are both the same.

And in novels, the status of the villager will often be kicked away by the MC as soon as they have power.

How true do you think? Being a villager sucks.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Being a villager indeed sucks.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

This might sound odd, but I hate the idea of the MC being an ordinary villager/ peasant in a remote town.

Because judging from the actual history I read in order to build up my own MC, I discover that they are never the star of the show because:

1. They are uncouth/ illiterate.
2. Their tough life has grinded off most of their passions, turning them into your typical Japanese workers.
3. They have no chance to grow/ level up in the society, like the caste system makes them one tier higher than serfs but in the eyes of those with power, ie nobles, merchants (which the peasants MIGHT have the chance to join the guilds, but still) or rogue knights, they are both the same.

And in novels, the status of the villager will often be kicked away by the MC as soon as they have power.

How true do you think? Being a villager sucks.

There are two types of people. Those accepting of their place in society and those ever seeking their place. I am of the former and you are of the later.

 

[Amok]

They might be very handy with an axe, be adept at tracking and archery, owe a wagon, oxen and horses with which they can outfit a caravn/merc band; a peasant's revolt with a charismatic leader is nothing to scoff at, with an enraged populace rushing positions and tearing apart their oppressors by the simple mass of their humanity.

I guess it depends on the economics of your world and the culture of the peasants. If they are all just above the poverty line and paying great tithes to their rulers, the scope for a MC might be limited. If you take folk from desert villages or jungle tribes, you may in fact have scattered communities of hardened warriors able to wage a guerilla war against a larger, better-armed but maybe poorly provisioned/unused to terrain army.

 

[Kilolo]

I mean, even in those bad written webnovels, the villager has to found an ancient relic or a legendary artifact for them to actually move ahead from their lives.

not even in world of capitalism a normal villager could make a huge leapt with just hardwork alone.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Villagers become MCs because it helps the Author introduce the Character and the Reader to the world at the same time. It's usually just an excuse for how ignorant they are compared to other characters.

Sometimes though, as mentioned, it establishes why the character has certain skills. Hunting, sowing, animal handling, etc. These are skills that some noble brat probably won't have, or may have in a less than useful manner.

Whether it sucks to be a villager or not though... Yeah. Then again, it really depends on the setting. Even the nobles won't have an enviable life in a medieval setting, but a 'villager' would be the average middle class person in a modern setting. So...

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Sometimes though, as mentioned, it establishes why the character has certain skills. Hunting, sowing, animal handling, etc. These are skills that some noble brat probably won't have, or may have in a less than useful manner.

Btw, this is one of the most stupid things in Chinese cultivation novels.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Btw, this is one of the most stupid things in Chinese cultivation novels.

I'm gonna need some more context on that one, since I don't read those stories.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I'm gonna need some more context on that one, since I don't read those stories.

Lazy writing. If mc is a peasant, mc has one skill, and the author uses it to solve every mc's problem.

 

[vaurwyn]

I don't think being a villager sucks. They just have very different lives from what we are accustomed to.
First, they are not automatically illiterate (and when some of them are, it is a big problem, as they often get scammed in unfair contracts). It is not that they have no education, it is that their educations are given by their parents, which is often more effective that a big public school where 30 kids are expected to learn at the same rate. Here is a video with more arguments

Secondly, living a tough life does not mean you are passionless. They had a very different living style from ours, but they were accustomed to it. It also wasn't always very though. If you were a hunter, you needed a lot of skill with a bow and arrow, but it was not very physically demanding. If you were a farmer, you had the very hard task of uprooting stumps, toiling the soil and everything, but that was only at the beginning of the season. The rest of the time, you were mostly waiting for your crops to grow.
I also disagree that they were passionless. They had very familial lives, with is a very effective to stem depression. Japanese salaryeman not passionless because they work hard, it is because they have nothing but work in their lives, and they are bearing their mental torment alone.
In western developed countries, we live very, very comfortable lives, but that does not automatically makes us happy. When you travel to less developed countries, you will see that despite having objectively poorer living conditions, they are often full of smiles, taking joy in the smallest things, and are generally happier.

Thirdly, about classes restrictions. I think villagers could become merchants if they wanted, and they certainly could enter guilds. For example, the masons guild that built all of the cathedral was filed with almost nothing but villagers. Why would they want a noble skilled in territorial management or a merchant skilled in accounting and haggling int their ranks, when they were meant to cut stones and carve designs?
As for becoming a noble, (Knights were nobles), I don't know. It must have been possible, otherwise there would be no nobles, but it might have been so infrequent as to be insignificant.

In short, I don't think being a villager sucks. Now, does that mean I would want to be a villager? No, but then again I would not want to be a king of the medieval era either. I don't think I could stand living in the medieval times at all, as I am too accustomed to my modern comforts.

Lastly, the fact that villagers are such a "low" starting point is precisely why it is so often used to write a hero's journey. In web-novels we prefer an everyday modern man, so that the reader can project himself in the story more easily, but in published novels it is very common. (I am thinking of Eragon, Wheel of time, technically Lord f the Rings...)
Since they have had quite a limited worldview until now, we can accompany them as the discover how huge the world is, and how marvelous/horrifying it is.

 

[Varstark]

The variation of suck-ness will depend on the level of agricultural development in your part of the world. If you're producing enough that you can go the bed most nights with a decently full belly, you might have the time and energy for leisure. Still sucks, though.

They have no chance to grow/ level up in the society, like the caste system makes them one tier higher than serfs but in the eyes of those with power, ie nobles, merchants (which the peasants MIGHT have the chance to join the guilds, but still) or rogue knights, they are both the same.

What's a rogue knight? Mercenaries?

 

[RepresentingWrath]

What's a rogue knight? Mercenaries?

Ronins?

 

[ThrillingHuman]

they are never the star of the show because:

1. They are uncouth/ illiterate.
2. Their tough life has grinded off most of their passions, turning them into your typical Japanese workers.
3. They have no chance to grow/ level up in the society, like the caste system makes them one tier higher than serfs but in the eyes of those with power, ie nobles, merchants (which the peasants MIGHT have the chance to join the guilds, but still) or rogue knights, they are both the same.

But, but, that's just your view of it. He's somebody who is still worth something, and dismissing him because you see him as some sort of second grade citizen subhuman just because of his status is awfully snobbish of you. I'm sure it's possible to write an interesting story with a villager mc

 

[LordJoyde]

This might sound odd, but I hate the idea of the MC being an ordinary villager/ peasant in a remote town.

Because judging from the actual history I read in order to build up my own MC, I discover that they are never the star of the show because:

1. They are uncouth/ illiterate.
2. Their tough life has grinded off most of their passions, turning them into your typical Japanese workers.
3. They have no chance to grow/ level up in the society, like the caste system makes them one tier higher than serfs but in the eyes of those with power, ie nobles, merchants (which the peasants MIGHT have the chance to join the guilds, but still) or rogue knights, they are both the same.

And in novels, the status of the villager will often be kicked away by the MC as soon as they have power.

How true do you think? Being a villager sucks.

I think people set their mcs as a villager because that allows them complete freedom as a writer, not because they want to add something to the character.
Think about it, if the MC is born a noble, he will always have to go back there someday to inherit and rule, doing their duty as a noble.
As a merchant, they'd be expected to follow their parents wherever the caravan goes or keep still in some shop for the rest of their life as that's just a merchant's lot.

This is why you get ridiculous crap like Mushoku Tensei's massive mana calamity or whatever that conveniently obliterates the MC's entire livelihood up to that point and sets them free, which is why it was mostly sensical for the MC to suddenly go on a journey of the demon continent. However, this is just a milder example as people tend to use a lot more tragic events to give their mcs freedom or in the case of a lackluster writer, they may simply leave as their family is somehow okay with it.

I have to disagree with the peasants life sucking ass. They're not just illiterate, they're also uneducated, possibly inbred and dumb as a bag of rocks. In other words; they're born ignorant of the many reasons why their lives suck, therefore allowing them to be happy and content with what they have.
Its only when a peasant also happens to be a reincarnated person with modern day knowledge that they experience the suffering part of a peasants life in full.

 

[NotaNuffian]

What's a rogue knight? Mercenaries?

Knights who had the training but not serving under a lord/ serving as a sellsword.

But, but, that's just your view of it. He's somebody who is still worth something, and dismissing him because you see him as some sort of second grade citizen subhuman just because of his status is awfully snobbish of you. I'm sure it's possible to write an interesting story with a villager mc

I think people set their mcs as a villager because that allows them complete freedom as a writer, not because they want to add something to the character.
Think about it, if the MC is born a noble, he will always have to go back there someday to inherit and rule, doing their duty as a noble.
As a merchant, they'd be expected to follow their parents wherever the caravan goes or keep still in some shop for the rest of their life as that's just a merchant's lot.

This is why you get ridiculous crap like Mushoku Tensei's massive mana calamity or whatever that conveniently obliterates the MC's entire livelihood up to that point and sets them free, which is why it was mostly sensical for the MC to suddenly go on a journey of the demon continent. However, this is just a milder example as people tend to use a lot more tragic events to give their mcs freedom or in the case of a lackluster writer, they may simply leave as their family is somehow okay with it.

I have to disagree with the peasants life sucking ass. They're not just illiterate, they're also uneducated, possibly inbred and dumb as a bag of rocks. In other words; they're born ignorant of the many reasons why their lives suck, therefore allowing them to be happy and content with what they have.
Its only when a peasant also happens to be a reincarnated person with modern day knowledge that they experience the suffering part of a peasants life in full.

Not to throw shades and no, I cannot write an interesting character, be they from fanfic or a villager because I make no effort in doing so.

Depending on @TrashyHuman 's context, I have no idea how to make a mundane life into an interesting one other than a slice of life style that I hate or introducing bandits and goblins to buttfuck the villager until he grows into a man. Or sell his butts after getting mindshattered. I dunno.

@LordJoyde went down another route but categorizing the peasants as subhumans... I am petrified.

The only reason why I state villagers being the most uninteresting bunch is because they represent the ordinary people in our lives. We don't have to know them personally, we know they exist. People that works at a different department from yours, studying in the same hall but you don't know them. That sort of thing. That mundane, common and completely stale life.

That life that I might enjoy. It is peaceful at least.

Which is completely hard for an action MC to come from.

Like, most villager MCs actually "grow" out their profession because of influences, if not they will just continue on with their lives as farmers, hunters and etc. Sure, in their lives they might face life or death, but how many times do they have to actually face off with a bandit and his sword? Once... and they are dead.

 

[LordJoyde]

Knights who had the training but not serving under a lord/ serving as a sellsword.


Not to throw shades and no, I cannot write an interesting character, be they from fanfic or a villager because I make no effort in doing so.

Depending on @TrashyHuman 's context, I have no idea how to make a mundane life into an interesting one other than a slice of life style that I hate or introducing bandits and goblins to buttfuck the villager until he grows into a man. Or sell his butts after getting mindshattered. I dunno.

@LordJoyde went down another route but categorizing the peasants as subhumans... I am petrified.

The only reason why I state villagers being the most uninteresting bunch is because they represent the ordinary people in our lives. We don't have to know them personally, we know they exist. People that works at a different department from yours, studying in the same hall but you don't know them. That sort of thing. That mundane, common and completely stale life.

That life that I might enjoy. It is peaceful at least.

Which is completely hard for an action MC to come from.

Like, most villager MCs actually "grow" out their profession because of influences, if not they will just continue on with their lives as farmers, hunters and etc. Sure, in their lives they might face life or death, but how many times do they have to actually face off with a bandit and his sword? Once... and they are dead.

Bruh, I'm just being realistic.
There's no way that a regular human being with even a modicum of intellect would allow itself to be ruled over by 'nobility'. The revolutions that brought the old bloodlines down only happened when the peoples education level caught up to that of the nobles, which is to say; at the height of Napoleon's power.
That means the entire medieval era passed by, thousands upon thousands of years, during which peasants were practically subhumans. :D

A completely stale life is not something you'd get from being a villager, methinks. There will always be the threat of raids, bandits or monsters or even your local lord deciding to slaughter your entire village because one of your girls has particularly big boobs and he wants to violate her without anyone knowing so he'll just say he came across your village that was raided by 'orc's'. Sniff sniff, what a tragedy!

And one meeting with death is all you'll need to bring an end to that peace, so what would be the point of living like that? The sheer paranoia would eat my soul!

 

[RepresentingWrath]

There's no way that a regular human being with even a modicum of intellect would allow itself to be ruled over by 'nobility'.

 

[Zirrboy]

There's no way that a regular human being with even a modicum of intellect would allow itself to be ruled over by 'nobility'.

Then are you paying taxes?

 

[vaurwyn]

There's no way that a regular human being with even a modicum of intellect would allow itself to be ruled over by 'nobility'. The revolutions that brought the old bloodlines down only happened when the peoples education level caught up to that of the nobles, which is to say; at the height of Napoleon's power.
That means the entire medieval era passed by, thousands upon thousands of years, during which peasants were practically subhumans. :D

Why would they reject being ruled over by "nobility"? Do you reject being ruled by your government? The only difference is the philosophy behind how you chose your rulers. In modern republics, we think there is a right man for the job, and we try to find him using elections. In a system of nobility, we have someone train all of their life to inherit a responsibility. you can prefer whichever system you like, but do not start claiming the other point of view is stupid.
Education and intellect are very different things, and you should not imply that medieval humans were stupider than us, as that is demonstratively false.
There are also multiple developed countries that still have a monarchy, like japan, the UK, the Netherlands... are those people dumb?

Might I also remind you that there was a republic before napoleon, and that he asked the french whether or not they wanted him as an emperor, and the overwhelming majority said yes?

 

[Lloyd]

my mc is a villager