Need help on making a prideful, vulgar, shit-talking MC likable

[Deleted member 93348]

My “hero” also goes further beyond what you can consider as bloodthirsty; he heals a horde of city-level threat monsters on the brink of death just to beat the light off their eyes again—singlehandedly. His reason? Having a damn good time, of course. Coupled with him being the most powerful “hero” prophesied in his isekai realm, and you have a non-Saiyan Goku who would’ve force-fed Cell a bag of Senzu beans with each consecutive round.

Simply put, we’re dealing with an MC who says, “Show me more!” whenever he gives opponents a second chance—or thirteenth, depending on his enjoyment.

So far, I’ve given him enough depth in the first chapters by letting him interact with his non-related siblings very early on, and they themselves are strong, prophesied “heroes.” He shows a more caring, big brother-esque side to them at home, but for his comrades, he learned to sit down and watch their “just desserts” unfold (read: losing against apocalyptic enemies) compared to when he always stole their glory uninvited.

All in all, my MC has enough character to not make him one-dimensional while still keeping his core personality consistent (I’ve even planned him to have a master’s degree on biology and human anatomy). But that’s where the problem begins; I’m not sure how to make him more likable, let alone relatable.

I have two options in mind:

1. A super, ultra, depressing, mega tear-jerking backstory.

2. A humble pie moment that he’ll remember until the end of the story.

Any thoughts?

 

[AnonUnlimited]

How about making some good face slapping moments where his arrogance runs rampant like crazy? People love arrogant characters with a good slogan as long as it's funny.

 

[georgelee5786]

Option 2. Past tragedies don't justify present actions.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

What I mean by that is have him get his face slapped too due to that arrogance.
Edit: Misunderstandings work too. People could interpret his arrogance or pride as a facade to keep people from getting hurt by his enemies... etc.

 

[Jemini]

My advice on this one is to take notes from the Freeza-Goku fight on Namek in Dragon Ball Z. That fight did a lot of things right in terms of setting up the villain to be the type that will make even Vegita likable just for the fact he's opposed to Freeza.

In other words, in order to make a bastard character likable, he needs to be the kind of bastard that beats the everliving shit out of villains that deserve it. That whole healing the monsters in order to fight them again would be an acceptable thing if and only if you have one or both of two possible scenarios in play. One, the monsters are sapient enough to have some very nasty intentions and have expressed them in such a way that makes the audience absolutely hate them and want to see their suffering prolonged, or two, the hero intends to let the monsters live for some sort of greater purpose, but in order to do that he first needs to psychologically scar them so badly that they will never mess with a human city again.

To sum it up another way, you can make the bastard hero likable by either having a relatable reason behind his actions the audience can approve of, or if he's dealing with bad guys who are even worse than he is. Or both, both is also an option. Both would go quite a distance toward letting the audience forgive his shortcomings and actually find him likable. (those two things can't do the job on their own, but they would definitely go the distance.)

EDIT: It's also important to note, an earlier comment mentioned that "past tragedies do not justify present action." This is absolutely spot-on. A painful back-story or a vengeance plot will NOT serve as sufficient justification for the "relatable reason the audience can approve of" that I mentioned. It has to be something in the present, either due to the target's evil intentions or because the hero is keeping the villain from doing some kind of harm to an innocent. Or, it is in retribution for something the villain did very recently and the vengeance the hero is dishing out is for something rather fresh on the time-scale.

 

[Deleted member 93348]

How about making some good face slapping moments where his arrogance runs rampant like crazy? People love arrogant characters with a good slogan as long as it's funny.

Well, I guess I’m in good hands, lol. My first novel had the same MC, and he very much justified why he was the strongest character in the story. He trounced a Kirito expy when the latter didn’t like his attitude, but in the end, he earned his trust and merged his family with his own (also expies of Asuna and Yui, because duh). But after some feedback on this very site, I realized I didn’t execute it very well. Imagine befriending the guy who just battered you with an inch of your life not one hour ago.

So now, I’m giving my Kirito expy a much better reason to fight the MC, and it all has to do with my MC reading another prophecy that foretold their inevitable battle. The former begs him not to follow the prophecy, almost defensively, but the latter draws blood on his palm—signifying an unbreakable vow with real consequences—just like how fate is treated in my upcoming novel. Fate and prophecies are very much tangible concepts in the story.

 

[DiscoDream]

If he has any principles, make him fight an enemy that causes him to want them to succeed. Use his willingness to heal his enemies as an excuse for him to feel something for the enemy and take them under his wing.
Can't do it too early, otherwise it looks oike you're trying to tell the readers how to think.

 

[FaustVoncleave]

I suggest reading Goddess of Ice; Reborn as Naruto’s twin sister, as it does what you're asking for pretty well. Having a good relationship with the siblings is a good start though, honestly so long as a character is likeable in mundane day to day settings they tend to get forgiven for whatever they do out on the figurative or literal field.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

search Married with children

 

[ForestDweller]

Make him a rapist.

It worked with Rance.

 

[Deleted member 93348]

Make him a rapist.

It worked with Rance.

Hahahahahaha… no. My MC doesn't even use weapons except for the right hook and left hook, and several roundhouse/flying kicks. His ultimate move is a good ol’ lariat.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Double turn? A good and likable guy\girl absolutely hates MC and orchestrates a situation in which MC's powers won't help. Something atrocious with a lot of innocent people dying because he\she think MC is garbage(rightfully so), perhaps trying to set MC up. MC acts heroically and tries to save the day. Refuse to give up but fails. Something along these lines. But you would have to tweak MC's personality ever so slightly after such an event.

 

[Sabruness]

I suggest reading Goddess of Ice; Reborn as Naruto’s twin sister, as it does what you're asking for pretty well. Having a good relationship with the siblings is a good start though, honestly so long as a character is likeable in mundane day to day settings they tend to get forgiven for whatever they do out on the figurative or literal field.

totally agreed. you want an example of a great lovable prideful, vulgar, shit-talking OP MC, go read Goddess of Ice.

but in general, dont try and be too serious. trying to have a serious story and yet an MC that you want just doesnt work so have fun and go ham if you want it to work.

 

[Deleted member 93348]

totally agreed. you want an example of a great lovable prideful, vulgar, shit-talking OP MC, go read Goddess of Ice.

but in general, dont try and be too serious. trying to have a serious story and yet an MC that you want just doesnt work so have fun and go ham if you want it to work.

Dunno about Goddess of Ice yet, but if I were to describe my prideful and overpowered MC, imagine Goku but with a personality akin to Kenpachi, Gilgamesh, and Yujiro Hanma. Imagine Goku’s love for battle turned to eleven and a half. Now imagine Vegeta, of all people, calling him out just when he’s about to give Frieza his twentieth near-death experience.

 

[Premier]

No amount of backstory is going to change people's opinion of how a character acts in the moment.

If your character does unlikable things, people will not like them. You can't really trick them into doing it.

The main way you make someone who does nasty things likable, is he does them to nasty people. As long as the targets deserving people won't mind he's a dick.

 

[Le_ther]

My “hero” also goes further beyond what you can consider as bloodthirsty; he heals a horde of city-level threat monsters on the brink of death just to beat the light off their eyes again—singlehandedly. His reason? Having a damn good time, of course. Coupled with him being the most powerful “hero” prophesied in his isekai realm, and you have a non-Saiyan Goku who would’ve force-fed Cell a bag of Senzu beans with each consecutive round.

Simply put, we’re dealing with an MC who says, “Show me more!” whenever he gives opponents a second chance—or thirteenth, depending on his enjoyment.

So far, I’ve given him enough depth in the first chapters by letting him interact with his non-related siblings very early on, and they themselves are strong, prophesied “heroes.” He shows a more caring, big brother-esque side to them at home, but for his comrades, he learned to sit down and watch their “just desserts” unfold (read: losing against apocalyptic enemies) compared to when he always stole their glory uninvited.

All in all, my MC has enough character to not make him one-dimensional while still keeping his core personality consistent (I’ve even planned him to have a master’s degree on biology and human anatomy). But that’s where the problem begins; I’m not sure how to make him more likable, let alone relatable.

I have two options in mind:

1. A super, ultra, depressing, mega tear-jerking backstory.

2. A humble pie moment that he’ll remember until the end of the story.

Any thoughts?

You can make a tsundere prideful character like vegeta or a unique circumstance that makes/turns him/her into a arrogant character

 

[TheEldritchGod]

How? I doubt you can.

Here's the thing, he either needs to be dumb as a rock, or playing 4d chess. If he's dumb, then we assume he does stupid shit because he's stupid.

If he's smart, then you need a good reason.

Your scenario seems like he's dumb, or he's got plot armor, or he's so powerful he can't lose, which is boring.

You want me to like someone who wastes time and risks innocent lives for the sake of a meaningless fight?

How is he even enjoying these pointless fights? Dopamine is very predictable. At this point he's an addict and I find addicts pathetic. Addiction is a flaw to overcome, but he's embracing the addiction.

 

[Deleted member 93348]

How? I doubt you can.

Here's the thing, he either needs to be dumb as a rock, or playing 4d chess. If he's dumb, then we assume he does stupid shit because he's stupid.

If he's smart, then you need a good reason.

Your scenario seems like he's dumb, or he's got plot armor, or he's so powerful he can't lose, which is boring.

You want me to like someone who wastes time and risks innocent lives for the sake of a meaningless fight?

How is he even enjoying these pointless fights? Dopamine is very predictable. At this point he's an addict and I find addicts pathetic. Addiction is a flaw to overcome, but he's embracing the addiction.

Don’t worry, fam, I avoided all that shit covered. My MC is far from dumb, and I mean far, but it’s not the usual “Oh, he’s actually a genius!” twist either. He’s just intuitive to a fault right from the start, all with a surprising emotional intelligence once people get to know him. The real twist of his character is something I can’t tell anyone yet, but there’s a reason why he stopped stealing the glory of his strong comrades (established as early as chapter 3) and instead let them fight their own battles—even if it’s because he also likes seeing other people’s comeuppance as a giddy spectator.

Basically, my MC’s still human at his core, and that’s enough depth I can give him for an isekai protagonist. He already lived his first life to the fullest as well, dying at the ripe old age of 100. It’s like writing Connor McGregor behind the scenes; you’d never expect a loud, cocky guy like him to be more than just an arrogant provocateur toward his opponents. But that’s not what humans truly are, so who’s to say my MC can’t be a little more interesting and a little less one-note?

Simply put, yes, my MC’s playing 4D chess even before he got reincarnated. All you have to know is that he always lived his life seeing the world as his oyster—capable of so much more than people could ever expect from him.

 

[StainedGlassThreads]

The best way to make him enjoyable would be to make him funny to the audience somehow, in my mind. Either by allowing him to make jokes and observations that the audience thinks are accurate and hilarious, or to make him the butt of the joke.
If you want to make him empathetic through a tragic backstory, then foreshadow what happened early and often, make it clear he has his reasons for Being Like That, and consider either having him slowly learn to get better, or make it clear that this is a tragedy where he doesn't learn, allowing others to call him out on this behavior and be correct.

Alternatively, perhaps you could alter his relationship with his comrades so his actions and perspective seem more understandable. His comrades keep insisting on getting into unnecessary fights with opponents outside of their league, he tells them they're gonna lose in the rudest terms possible, he watches things play out precisely as he predicted. Do a reversal by making him, surprisingly, the most reasonable character despite his attitude, when you consider his actions. Or make him more pathetic, in that he's demanding round two or thirteen because he feels he's pathetic too and desires the pain. Whichever you go for, giving him reasons for doing as he does, and at least hinting at the 'why', is a good choice.

No matter what you go for, tho, I'd recommend looking up similar 'messy and unlikeable characters' and observing what audiences like about them, and what audiences dislike.

 

[Deleted member 93348]

His comrades keep insisting on getting into unnecessary fights with opponents outside of their league, he tells them they're gonna lose in the rudest terms possible, he watches things play out precisely as he predicted.

Well, about that, I just cooked up a scenario that I found even better, fitting very well for my next chapter:

My MC stands before a desolated district of the capital, overrun by the horde of city-level monsters I just mentioned. Behind him are one of his comrades, sitting against a wall and clutching their long gash in the gut. His comrade complains if he prayed for their failure to occur just to prove his new philosophy in battle correct.

He chuckles and turns around. “Nah, fam. I didn’t pray shit, cuz I would’ve jinxed it.”

Cue my MC leaping unto the horizon in a single bound, rippling the ground beneath his feet—skyscrapers and spires tumbling—and painting the entire district with splattered blood and organs everywhere he sprints.