I admit it: many of my protagonists start their respective stories as not-very-likable people. Melvin is a deadbeat dad in Double Entry, Elijah is a corporate ladder-climbing @$$hole who mistreats his wife in Godmode, and Jay is an immature college kid that knows very little about how to act around women in The Hand You’re Dealt. And that’s before you throw in my so-called heroes for my recently finished high fantasy story, who all have feet of clay in some way, shape or form, and my protag from my urban fantasy story who is about as blatant a jerk as I’ve ever written. So this begs the question of why I choose to go this route so often when I’m writing my stories.
Personally, I think Jerks are just more fun to write. They have less filters, and are free to do the things that normal people wouldn’t do. That gives you a lot of leeway as a writer. A jerk can say whatever he or she wants because they don’t care who they offend. You can unleash all of the meanest, snarkiest, most sarcastic quips in their voice. They can exhibit the most selfish, disrespectful behavior, the stuff you know deep down you would love to do if you could get away with it. You can let your imagination run wild, thinking up new and creative ways for your character to be an @$$hole. It can actually be a bit cathartic.
But I learned the hard way that you can’t just make a character act like a jerk just for its own sake. Especially a protagonist. Writing Bad Meets Evil taught me that the reader will find the character’s behavior reprehensible, but without any true connection to the reader, the bad behavior will ring hollow, and quickly lose the reader’s interest. There must be a reason and a methodology to your protagonist being that way, otherwise the reader won’t buy into it.
I once wrote a comic book story about a supervillain called Badside for an Art class. I was trying to push the envelope of what I could do in the class, and the story was pretty vulgar and offensive. And by “pretty” I mean “I’m sure my teacher and most of my classmates lost quite a bit of respect for me when they saw that.” It’s not something I’m proud of or even claim in my body of work. It was from the perspective of the villain, and I portrayed him as a truly despicable character with perverted obsessions like pornography and torture and stuff like that. I’m honestly embarrassed that I submitted it for my peers to critique. I tried to justify it at the time as an exploration into the nature of evil. One of my classmates gave a real astute critique of that, saying he needed some more depth and even a counterbalance to the evil of this character. Other wise the story is (and I quote) “look at all this Evil, now don’t you feel dirty.” And if that’s all the story has to offer, then the story is a failure. It was a real lesson in storytelling…that I totally ignored when I wrote Bad Meets Evil (which is why it is no surprise that book is unpublishable).
So with that in mind, what are some elements of making an unlikable protagonist interesting enough for readers to want to follow them?
Possibility of redemption
The best stories are about the progression of the protagonist’s character (or the lack of which). And a storytelling staple is of having a jerk protagonist grow and change into a better person over the course of the story. They encounter things in the story that make them reconsider their behavior and attitudes, and by the end of the story their behavior is much more positive and reflective of the trials they endured. It’s tried-and-true trope, and readers often look for it when reading stories about an unlikable protagonist. What would it take to make this person want to change and be a better person? So to pull this off, you need to plant at least a seed which shows that the protag is capable of change. Maybe have a glimmer of positive behavior in the midst of all the jerkishness.
Possibility of comeuppance
Sometimes the appeal of a Jerk is waiting to see if they get What’s Coming To Them. A straight-to-D VD movie I saw called “Bad Lieutenant” starring Nic Cage played into that. A lot of the BS he started was starting to collapse around him and he was scrambling to find a way out without giving up his lascivious behavior. What kept me interested was seeing how his comeuppance would play out. Spoiler alert: it didn’t. He got away with everything, and I was rather pissed off to see that. But the narrative gripped me to watch until the end to find out. Once again, the key to pulling this off is planting seeds and elements in the story to make this plausible. Your jerk needs a counterbalance and an antagonist of some kind keeping them in check or working to ensure they pay for their misdeeds. Your Jean Valjean needs a Javert.
Interesting personality quirks
An unlikeable character can often grip a reader on the sheer strength of their unique personality. This means they have some redeeming qualities. Perhaps they are charismatic, or are profoundly intelligent, or have some other notable talent or quirk that makes you want to know more about them despite their selfish tendencies. The Talented Mr. Ripley fits into this category. He is the bad guy in his own story, but his character is very charismatic and draws people to him, so you are compelled to follow him around. Your character development is key in taking this approach. Introducing details and quirks, and truly fleshing your protag out to make them unique and complex can help make them compelling on their own and have readers rolling with their jerkish behavior.
Interesting supporting characters
You can also define your jerk by how the people around them generally react to them. Do they put up with the jerkish behavior, or do they hold them accountable? Do they even encourage and welcome the jerkish behavior, or find it somehow endearing? How do they respond to the jerk and how does that dictate what the jerk does in response to that? Focusing on how the Jerk affects everyone around him helps humanize your supporting characters and flesh out your world, so this may be a great approach to incorporate into your story.
Key interactions
There will be moments in your story where your character will face a crossroads of how they respond to situations. They can either continue their jerkish ways, or they can start doing something better. Or those moments will tease them finally getting what’s coming to them and the question is whether they can get out of that in that moment. You really want to highlight these moments and add extra drama to them, because they are crucial to keeping the reader engaged and interested in seeing which way your protag develops. I admit Bad Meets Evil didn’t have nearly enough of these moments. My despicable characters were never given an opportunity to change their behavior, and I put off their comeuppance until the end of the book, which by then was way too late.
Backstories and motivations might help
An interesting backstory explaining why your protagonist acts like an @$$hole won’t save a bad story or a poorly developed character. But it can enhance a good one, and give the reader some context behind why your protagonist acts the way they act. Elijah was bullied as a child by both his peers and his parents, and responded by becoming retaliatory. He spent time in juvenile hall where he learned how to be vindictive, and that behavior was encouraged when he entered the workforce. I’ve been told that the progression of Elijah’s character in his backstory was actually the strongest element of Godmode. If you can create a compelling scenario explaining why your protag is such a jerk, then along with your other elements, that can make your character more compelling. Especially if you’re teasing the possibility of redemption.
So not only is it possible to write a story starring an unlikable character, there are many ways to do it effectively. My advice is to read up on a few stories with jerks as protagonists like Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, L. Ron Hubbard’s Mission Earth Series, J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace and Alain Mabanckou’s African Psycho. Hopefully these tips can help you get in touch with your inner @$$hole, and bring your jerk to life.
