Sometimes I read books and the protagonists just leave me completely cold.
The books frequently have plenty of conflict. Bad things happen to these characters and we’re supposed, as readers, to care about that.
But…I don’t. And when I get to that point in a book, I might as well just scrap it, and usually do.
This doesn’t mean the protagonist has to be a really good person. In fact, I can read books like the Dexter series by Jeff Lindsay or The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith and pull for the bad guys. That’s only because the authors are really good at what they do—they’ve made these guys likable in a very odd way. They’re smart and funny and unique.
In general, though, I’m looking for protagonists I can relate to or have some sympathy for.
Problems I’ve noticed with books where I don’t care if the protagonist lives or dies:
The author doesn’t get into the protagonist’s head or POV enough. I’m just watching from a distance and not really understanding what motivates their actions.
The character doesn’t seem proactive, only reactive.
The protagonist has no apparent sense of humor.
The character is selfish and only seems to think about how the conflict affects them and their life. This gets a little boring to me after a while.
The protagonist seems whiny.
The emotional range for the character is limited.
The protagonist has no ideas for getting out of the situation they’re in and relies too heavily on other characters for help.
They do dumb things and I lose respect for them.
They do dangerous things and I lose respect for them.
They’re not brave. Even if you’re scared, you can still show a glimmer of courage. Especially if you’re a protagonist and carrying a whole book on your shoulders!
Although these types of books frustrate me as a reader, I think they help me develop stronger protagonists. Have you got any character dislikes that you avoid?
The protagonist begin reactive really bothers me. I like them to at least pretend that they can take control even if that illusion is shattered the next time something heavy falls on them. Maybe that’s because I find I admire people in life who try to take charge even if they are charging in a very strange direction.
Thanks for sharing this.
Whiny characters are a total turn-off, as are characters who only react, instead of being pro-active. Like you, if I don’t get a feel for the protagonist… then I’m outta there. On to the next book.
To really accept a protagonist you have to know what’s going on with them. Like you said, you have to know how they feel and why they do some of the things they do. If you don’t, then you can’t pull for them – whether they’re good or bad.
Mason
Thoughts in Progress
Thanks for this post, character development is the most difficult for me. I am working on this by getting in their head, having conversations with the protag, and when I see or hear of a situation I ask myself what would my protag do.
Another informative post!!
Teresa
Elizabeth – You are so, so right about protagonists that we care about. It’s important that we find something about the protagonist to like, or at least that we’re interested enough in him or her to find out what happens. As you say, it doesn’t have to be pure likability. It does have to be something that sparks the interest, though.
For me, a real turn-off is a protagonist who dithers around with no idea what’s going on. I’m also not crazy about the protagonist who’s too easily misled. A reasonably good sleuth is going to know that people lie, “plant evidence, etc., and is going to be at least a little savvy.
For me, it’s 99% about the characters. When I write them, I want them to be artichokes–so you peel away the layers until you get to the heart.
As for a specific turnoff–a self-centered hero or heroine is totally unlikeable for me.
When I read a novel with a lot of inner thought and ‘puzzling out the problem/emotions,’ I get bored. I’m always thinking, ‘Oh, just get on with it!’
I’m not a very analytical person; I react and then think after. So the pre-thinking really, really annoys me.
I reckon that makes me reactive rather than pro-active? Sorry folks! :-)
My favorite character ever is the anti-hero Scarlett O’Hara. Melodramatic? Yep. Selfish? Cold?Yep. Prone to making stupid and dangerous decisions? Absolutely. I love her FOR all that.
I think a character can challenge the typical ‘protagonist’ idea and come out tops. I love to be surprised and intrigued while reading.
Immediately behind Scarlett is Jane Eyre. Quiet, sensible, intelligent. See – I like the traditional, too. :-)
Thanks Elizabeth!
– Corra
from the desk of a historical writer
I’m with you, Elizabeth. If I don’t care about the character, I scrap the book. I don’t necessarily have to like them, but I do have to care what happens to them.
karen
a character I’m intrigued with will take me through any sort of book – I was mad for the Millenium series (Stig Larsen) because I adored Lisbeth. I don’t usually read thrillers but I would have read those books no matter what they were because I wanted to know what happened to her. In a mystery series I want to like the protagonist but not be overwhelmed with them. I want their characters fed to me slowly as I plan on staying with the series. Like a nice slow dependable friendship developing. I adored Scarlett O’Hara too but I would have been less amused with her over a series. She does change – if a bunch of things happen to a main character (and they’d bloody well better!) and they don’t change then I will stop reading. I always think of the blindness and constraint of the butler in Remains of the Day – when he finally gets that he has ruined his life with his unexamined allegiance to his master – it is searingly painful. I wouldn’t want to have so much as tea with him yet the book was amazing.
Doing dumb things bothers me, too. Or when they don’t really do anything or react with indifference.
The protagonist IS the book – unlikeable protagonist; unlikeable book. I don’t expect that main character to be a paragon of virtue (because that would be boring), but even if they’re evil, there has to be something about them I like. I despise characters that constantly whine nor can I stand characters that are only shaped by events instead of them shaping (at least) some. Main characters have to lead the story, not have the story lead them.
I agree completely. I read a cozy mystery not to long ago where I just never related to the character. I never understood why she did what she did and didn’t like the book at all. (Don’t worry, it’s not your cozy.) Whiny and stupid are my main pet peeves.
CD
I really work hard to make readers care about the main characters. (Always two in my books.) I let their hopes, fears, and emotions shine whenever possible.
I think the ones that turn me off the most are protags who act stupidly. Like the women in the scary movies who go down into the dark basement after hearing strange noises. Don’t go down there, you idiot!
Helen
Straight From Hel
You pretty much hit every one of my pet peeves. Whiny, reactive, selfish. And I also have no sympathy for poor put-upon characters who put up with such people.
I think, though, that if you have a character you want to grow, and you want to start the out in a more helpless state, you need to put in what Blake Snyder calls a “save the cat” scene – something that lets us know what the character is really made of. (I.e. your character can she he or she is not truly whiny selfish or helpless by pausing to save a cat.)
But of course, you have to come up with something less obvious and manipulative than saving a cute kitten or puppy. Unless you’re going for high comedy.
Great list! I’ve been working on making a character likable, so this is perfect. Something that turns me off is when the character just won’t stop talking! Some people like characters who go on tangents and throw in funny asides, but unless the character has a hilarious voice, often I just want him to be quiet and get on with the story!
The protagonist can’t be abusive or all bad. I need some sympathy or admiration for the MC.
I dislike the too perfect type of character who not only looks perfect but also knows everything and has no faults.
FYI, “save the cat” is supposed to happen in the first chapter. It’s a promise, so the character better live up to that beginning later too.
(Yeah, and I’ve seen a few characters who would have to save not only the gobbets of kittens from the burning house, also the gold fish as well. And do the dishes.)
Jill–I’ve run into so many midlife crisis books (which I keep picking up…maybe I’m having one!) where the protagonist seems whiny. Bleh. Just doesn’t do anything for me.
Cassandra–I definitely admire it in a protagonist. Otherwise, it seems like outside forces are in control of the book and not the character.
Corra–Oh, no, I agree–proactive as far as working to solve a problem they’ve found themselves in–too much internal monologue is boring and action is good! The course of action could be different types of things.
I like some unusual protagonists, but the author has to make me care about them somehow–I’ll respect a smart protagonist, even if they’re a bit amoral. Or a funny protagonist even if they screw up.
And watching a character change is rewarding, if it’s a steady process. I usually don’t believe sudden transformations (too cynical! But I know they happen in real life.)
Jan–I liked Lisbeth, too–admired her intellect and her street savviness. Scarlett–I’m with you. She’d have become frustrating over the course of a series, unless she *continued*changing as a character.
Alex–The bump on a log protagonist…yeesh!
Mason–And if we’re not pulling for them, then what’s the point? Very true.
Journaling Woman–You almost have to really put yourself in their heads. It’s like thinking about our children–we know pretty much what they’ll do in a given situation. With a protagonist, you’re right, we need to have that same sort of insight.
Margot–Good point! Yes, if *I* can see that the protagonist is being duped, then I lose faith in her. Because she’s just not being savvy enough. And I don’t like dithery, either. :)
Clarissa–The motivation just HAS to be there. In a cozy, where you’re dealing with an amateur sleuth, there needs to be a believable reason why they’d get involved with the case to begin with.
Diane–It helps so much when we know what they’re thinking, hoping, and dreaming about and what they’re feeling.
Terry–I like that–artichoke characters!
Helen–There has to be a REALLY good reason for them to go into the basement for me to accept it. Maybe they think they’re hiding from something in the *house*, but the bad guy is actually in the basement. Something like that. Otherwise, it just makes me mad.
Anna–I know what you mean. When the character is just trying to show how clever or funny he is and the dialogue doesn’t serve any other purpose, that is really annoying.
Karen–And there are too many books out there that I *will* care about to waste my time. :)
Mary–I have to be able to admire *something*, that’s for sure.
Jane–Oh, yeah. That’s really annoying. I can’t relate at all–I’m too flawed!
Had I been clever enough to have written this post before you, I would have picked THE EXACT same things–you nailed it! I think the biggest thing is the ‘in the head’ part–if there is a dislikable protag, I HAVE to get why, or my intrest plummets. (Crime and Punishment? fail. Even more dispicable Humbert Humbert though (Lolita)–THAT was a great book because I bought into the fact he was totally deluded)
But the books I’ve truly disliked recently… it is because they lack humor–not just the protag, but broadly–Twilight might have been redeemable had a SINGLE character had a sense of humor, but NO ONE. (me thinks Ms. Meyer doesn’t have one either)
Hart–Humor is so important, isn’t it? And characters who aren’t self-absorbed. Even a protagonist (who’s a big shot in their fictional world) needs to be self-effacing or modest or outward-looking to some degree.
Elspeth–It’s true. I can (usually) put up with a minor character that has those traits(if they’re not on stage too much), but the protagonist IS special.
The Daring Novelist–Oh, the “doormat” character who puts up with obnoxious people? Bleh. I forgot about those. Yes, they’re really horrible.
I think if a character has been whining the whole book, they’re REALLY going to have to prove to me that they’re going to buck up and be a big girl or boy. Maybe they’d have to save a whole houseful of kittens…from a burning house. :)
I recall a fantasy novel by a very successful author that started out with the sentence “CHARACTER was bored.”
I read the whole thing, but how am I supposed to be interested in this character when he starts out as bored? He didn’t get too much more interested in life as things went on, either. All the momentous events of the novel just seemed to happen to him.
All of which is to say that I agree. The protagonist has to “get” me in order for me to really enjoy a book.
Great post, as always, good lady.
I like a protagonist who is in his/her head for part of the book. A writer who does a good job of this is Michael Connelly. The reader really gets to know Det. Bosch–whether or not one always likes him.
Great post! No wonder your one of the 101 WD Best!
Michele
Southern City Mysteries
I recently quit reading “31 Bond Street” because I got to the trial and realized I didn’t care if the person was guilty/would get hung or not. Tough situation for the author, though, because the story is based on real people and a real case!
The Daring Novelist–Oh, I see. Sort of a foreshadowing of better behavior so we’ll stick with it?
And empty the litter boxes! :)
Simon–I think you were good to stick with it. I’d have been at the library, opened the book, read that first line, and put it back in the stacks!
I guess, in a way, the author is laying it all out on the line at the start. Maybe some readers would be curious enough to see if the protagonist can lift himself out of his rut. Which, it doesn’t sound like he did!
Karen–I think that’s when an author should either choose to write “fiction inspired by true events” or pick a more sympathetic person to write about! Although…I read a whole bio on Lizzie Borden. I think it was because I was interested in the puzzle of how she did it, because she wasn’t likable at all.
YES! I’ve read a book with that protag before…
Thanks Michele! I haven’t read Connelly for a long while, but I really did enjoy his characters. Thanks for the reminder to pick up his books again. :)
I agree on all those points. It’s SO frustrating!
A pro-active villain, like Dexter, is far more sympathetic than a simpering wallflower who waits to be rescued. I read a book with the latter recently and breathed a sigh of relief when it was over. Reading is supposed to be all-consuming and enjoyable, not a chore.
Writing your feelings–All the way through? Or did you give up reading it after a while?
Lorel–That’s the exactly the kind of character who has no business being a protagonist. As a reader, I almost want to fire them–you’re outta here! Bring me someone who rescues OTHER people. Or, at least, herself.
Oh yes, the damsel in distress bit. Those stories where the girls just kick their heels and go, “Oh woe is me. I need big strong man to save me.” are so lame. Come on ladies, try to do something for yourselves in case the knight isn’t coming or got waylaid.
But needing rescue is fine as long as they are attempting to help themselves, futile as their efforts might be.
I saw this episode of Bones where Dr. Brennan had been captured. If Booth hadn’t figured out where she was and brought the cavalry, she would have died. But she fought her captor until the end, despite being tied up and panicking. So the moment of rescue was incredibly moving. It would have actually been a let down if she had completely saved herself, because then Booth would have felt foolish for running around with a shoulder injury to find her in time. I totally cried when Booth carefully (and with much agony) lifted her off the hook she’d been dangling from and held her close, whispering, “You’re safe.”
Being helpless is so much different from acting helpless. No shame in having a foe too powerful to handle alone. But the heroines still have to try.
That one about whiny characters strikes a chord. I sometimes read and critique beginning manuscripts, and I often find a main character who complains too much or cries too much.
And I have a manuscript of my own that’s pretty bad — it’s a suspense novel with a wimpy heroine. Totally pathetic and probably destined for the shredder.
I feel the same way. If I’m reading a book and I just can’t get into the MC then I usually put it aside and rarely by another book by that author. I can’t stand characters that are boring or that seem to be going nowhere, as in no arc.