What do you like/dislike in a protagonist?

[Thomas Barnsley]

Like a lot of you dreamers out there, I've been thinking for a long time about writing and publishing my own work of fiction. Gotten a few mind maps and lists going for worldbuilding, side characters, and plot archs, but there's one fairly important thing that I've neglected so far...

The protagonist.

I believe it is time to start building a lens through which to view everything that I envision, and what better way to get started than a group brainstorm with anonymous internet users? So tell me, what do you like and dislike in your protagonists? I'll start; I often enjoy protagonists who act more as vectors for other characters and elements of the world to shine through. Perhaps this is why I haven't thought so much about one so far, I view they themselves as secondary to their experiences. It could also be the reason I tend to have no problem with silent protagonists in games.
A few examples of this would include Artyom from the book Metro 2033, who has just enough personality to be likeable without eclipsing the metro itself. A lesser known instance might be Bar Woten in Greg Bear's Hegira (it's debatable that he's the protagonist but he's important enough I'd say). Terry Pratchet also does this a lot. Really it's not a very common approach, but I'm a fan.

Something I'm not a fan of in protagonists, however, would be a lack of self awareness. Not breaking the fourth wall self awareness, I more mean the abilitiy to laugh at themselves, or at least for the book and the reader to laugh at them. A character who's too serious or emotional will get irritating quickly if we don't ever get a chance stop to take in the big picture. It can be forgiven in other character since we don't have to ride around in their heads for pages at a time. I often found Eragon to be a bit like that, seems to be a trap that a lot of young adult writers fall into.

So that's me, what about you guys?

 

[Zhukov]

I can't stand infallibility in protagonists.

I remember Chris Pratt's character in Jurassic World pissed me off because of this. Dude was constantly proven 100% correct about everything.

EDIT: As for things I like in protagonists, can I point to Discworld and just say, "All of that"? Except in the last couple of Sam Vimes books where he started to come down with a case of the aforementioned infallibility.

 

[Queen Michael]

Being Natsu from Fairy Tail. As peeves go, that's a pet one of mine.

Seriously though, the usual idiot hero from sh?nen manga. Not too intelligent--except maybe in one subject that the story's about--or mature, and not the kinda guy who'd read a book for fun.

 

[JoJo]

I find the 'loser protagonist' archetype annoying a lot of the time, particularly if it's something like the Transformers film where it's too obvious that we're meant to identify with them. It's not so much the failure aspect, as much as it starts feeling like some young adult's self-insert fanfic when the loser guy just happens to get with the inexplicably hot girl.

Edit: first time around I somehow missed the part asking what sort of protagonist you like. I like protagonists who are proactive, who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. Personality is preferable over a blank slate, provided that personality isn't too annoying (subjective I know).

 

[Scarim Coral]

Being Natsu from Fairy Tail. As peeves go, that's a pet one of mine.

Seriously though, the usual idiot hero from sh?nen manga. Not too intelligent--except maybe in one subject that the story's about--or mature, and not the kinda guy who'd read a book for fun.

Same here althought my beef isn't with Natsu (he still bad thought).

The main protagonist from Digimon Data Squad is just the worse example of an Shonen protagonist! He is just so bland and stupid (he had a fighter with his Digimon partner and later on proceed to fight a wild Digimon with his fist). He was just stupid but a tough fighter for the sake of it as in just filling into the usual boring archtype!

 

[Igor-Rowan]

According to TV tropes, the name of my biggest gripe with a protagonist is a "red string", what's that? Well, imagine one of the main character circles of the early 2000's: main protagonist, best friend and best friend of the opposite gender. Now imagine the main and the main and the one from the opposite gender hooking up at the middle/end of the series when the only thing that even remotely hinted at this is how they kept saying "it's not going to happen" whenever it was brought up. And they follow with that romance no questions asked.

That is lazy writing, you're supposed to develop characters and create chemistry between them, not "shock" the audience with a romance that came out of nowhere.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Surely it changes for everyone, i.e. it depends on the work, and it depends on the use of the protagonist?

I can say I like characters who evolve and change - but that doesn't mean I can't really enjoy characters that do not.

I like smartass, quick witted characters - but have no issue with the opposites.

I like proactive, assertive characters - but also those who are simply reactive or even passive.

It's a bland answer... but it depends.

I do have a fondness for the anti-hero, and complexity and faults are always welcome to humanise a lead (or any character, frankly). David Gemmell typically used anti-heroes in his heroic-fantasy; Rek/Regnak the Wanderer in Legend, or Skilgannon the Damned in White Wolf (Book One of The Damned) are two obvious examples.

Gemmell also gravitated towards quite introspective, reflective leads, too (although arguably his most iconic and famous character, Druss, is the absolute opposite, spurning introspection for the sake of simple answers and actions. he was a character aggravated by complexity and a lack of moral black and whites. that made him heroic given his principles, but also ultimately doomed him to a life of death and violence). So I suppose doubt and self-doubt would rank high in terms of what I want out of leads (not always, though, as the top of the post elaborated on).

Being unlikable isn't necessarily a negative, but those kinds of characters need to be crafted and written carefully. J.G.Ballard rarely seems to present protagonists that are particularly good company or praiseworthy... but they're so far utterly perfect for the themes and ideas he wishes to explore in the setting or premise. I'd never cite his leads as examples of characters I like, but they are a crucial element of why his books work so damn well.

Characters who can take a good kicking are quite endearing, too[footnote]Physically, yes, but also mentally and emotionally.[/footnote]... Be it Buffy Summers, Mal Reynolds (yes, I'm a Whedon fan... ), or Netflix's first season of Daredevil. If leads aren't challenged - and their strength/superiority is a major element of the story or their character - then their ensuing accomplishments aren't especially engaging.

I think Whedon spoke about that aspect of Mal Reynolds on a Firefly or Serenity commentary; Mal would often avoid a fight, or just take the hit, but if you kept pushing then eventually he'd push back - and when he did, he pushed back hard. That tension of how far a character will go before they start to give a little back was interesting.

And lastly whilst it's clearly not a requirement at all, I do particularly enjoy female leads, as there still aren't enough of them around, and the classic conventions of heroism are typically male/masculine.

I can't stand infallibility in protagonists.

I remember Chris Pratt's character in Jurassic World pissed me off because of this. Dude was constantly proven 100% correct about everything.

Ah, the Mary Sue, apparently. I can only suppose there was a massive outpouring of derision, bitterness, hyper-analysis and scorn at this horribly written character...

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Protagonists that would be the villain I kill in other games. Looking at you, Kratos.

Protagonists who are stubborn beyond reason, to the point where they are endangering other people. Naruto really comes to mind here, seeing as his ninja way evolves into "I'm going to keep yelling at you until you see things my way instead of just ending you".

Mary Sue has already been mentioned I see, so I'll add my vote to that too.

 

[Baffle]

Like: Beards
Dislike: Nigel Farage.

 

[Elfgore]

I have a soft spot for the charismatic and goofy protagonist who is still competent at what they need to do. People like Star Lord, Sima Zhao, and the like.

At this point I really can't stand the super serious business all the time person.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

I don't have a specific rule or set of things I hate or love. What makes me dislike protagonists is a general feeling of them behaving in incomprehensible ways but the story expecting me to associate with their behavior. That breaks the cohesion of the scene.

As for protagonists I like, again it's the same story. I just like it when protagonists behave exactly like how I would. An example of those that work for me would be Rentarou from Black Bullet or Lawrence from Spice and Wolf.

Being Natsu from Fairy Tail. As peeves go, that's a pet one of mine.

Seriously though, the usual idiot hero from sh?nen manga. Not too intelligent--except maybe in one subject that the story's about--or mature, and not the kinda guy who'd read a book for fun.

See, I'd tend to agree, but at the same time I can list a few of those I also love (Luffy is great and bordering on retarded) so this is why I avoid being specific since I think I can find someone I like out of pretty much every trope one can think.

 

[Queen Michael]

I don't have a specific rule or set of things I hate or love. What makes me dislike protagonists is a general feeling of them behaving in incomprehensible ways but the story expecting me to associate with their behavior. That breaks the cohesion of the scene.

As for protagonists I like, again it's the same story. I just like it when protagonists behave exactly like how I would. An example of those that work for me would be Rentarou from Black Bullet or Lawrence from Spice and Wolf.

Being Natsu from Fairy Tail. As peeves go, that's a pet one of mine.

Seriously though, the usual idiot hero from sh?nen manga. Not too intelligent--except maybe in one subject that the story's about--or mature, and not the kinda guy who'd read a book for fun.

See, I'd tend to agree, but at the same time I can list a few of those I also love (Luffy is great and bordering on retarded) so this is why I avoid being specific since I think I can find someone I like out of pretty much every trope one can think.

I was gonna say that I can't stand Lawrence, but then I realized that it's the light novel series that he's in I can't stand. Lawrence himself is acceptable.

I like ole Monkey D. well enough too, but let's be honest--he doesn't feel like a regular shounen hero. Not the way that Uzumaki Naruto or Hikaru from Hikaru no Go does.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Not sure if this is protagonist, writing, or gameplay restrictions but nothing pisses me off more when you get dialogue options, ie Mass Effect, Morrowwind, Skyrim, Witcher, KOTOR, etc, and not a single choice sounds like something a real person would say, let alone what I want to say.

Also its already been said, but the pathetic loser protagonist that everyone and their dog just walks over. I mean psychopathic level of bullying, where it doesn't even make sense. Bullies who spend hours stalking the protagonist just so they can put laxatives in his doughnut he gets from the bakery on the way to school on Wednesday. Like, what was the point of that?! You spent more time building the prank than he'll be inconvenienced by it.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Like: moral ambiguity, knowledgeability and the capacity for ruthlessness. There's a satisfaction to having a protagonist who's willing to do the right thing (well, not always), but who's also grizzled and tough enough to know when to take the silk gloves off. When that ruthlessness becomes gratuitous, however, we're dealing with a villain protagonist. Kratos is a good example.

Examples include Frank Underwood from house of Cards, Guts from Berserk (well, up to around volume 17), Tyrion Lannister from ASOIAF, Walter White from Breaking Bad, Billy Butcher from The Boys (a curious case of the protagonist and actual main character being two separate characters), Caiman from Dorohedoro, Joel from The Last of Us, and Rust Cohle from True Detective. Hell, even Nausica? (the manga version), a literal savior figure and one of the most goody two-shoes protagonists ever, has guts and resolve, and isn't above using violence and standing her ground when necessary.

Dislike: naivete and lack of balls. I've found these qualities most prevalent in several manga I've tried to read and stopped. For example, the protagonist of The Breaker was an especially unbearable case of this.

In short, I don't like chronically "good guy" wimps as protagonists. Villains and villainy are much more interesting anyway. That's why I play Chaos Space Marines. Characters skirting the edges of morality are infinitely more satisfying than ones totally on one side or the other.

 

[mtarzaim02]

Chemistry: all depends on how the protagonist blends within the story.

I have no issue with infaillibility, when the prota does it the glorious way and despite all odds (Keima in World God Only Knows).
I have no issue with lazyness, when the prota still becomes proactive at one point (Re:Zero, Freaky girls, Bakemonogatari).
I have no issue with stereotype when it's used cunningly (Rudy in Log Horizon, Kaede in Shuffle).
I have no issue with morons when they do act as good people when needed (Blue lion in the Netflix Voltron, Harima in School Rumble).

And I especially love when secondary characters steal the show (Krillin in DBZ, Yue Ayase in Negima, Holo-Doctor in Star Trek Voyager, Donna Noble in Doctor Who, Mayoi in Bakemonogatari, Chamber in Gargantia on the verdurous planet, the robot in Moon).

What I hate the most... Perfect characters who get handed everything to them without effort (Harry Potter, especially in the first movie) or hypocrites (009 in Cyborg 009 Call of Justice, refusing to fight right from the beginning, triggering more meaningless death and destructions).

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Oh right, we all seem to hate the eunuch-wannabe protags in a lot of harem-style shows but there is one with a normal person as the protag which I would be remissed not to mention in this topic. That being the main char from KissXsiss. The series is pretty run of the mill ecchi comedy but the protagonist acts like an actual human most of the time when presented with situations that make others blush or run away or have a nosebleed and faint, which was refreshing.

I was gonna say that I can't stand Lawrence, but then I realized that it's the light novel series that he's in I can't stand. Lawrence himself is acceptable.

I like ole Monkey D. well enough too, but let's be honest--he doesn't feel like a regular shounen hero. Not the way that Uzumaki Naruto or Hikaru from Hikaru no Go does.

Haha, I'm about 9 books in atm and I'm loving it. Ah well, tastes and whatnot.


Luffy is the quintessential shonen protagonist while Naruto is a derivative tropey specimen of one that you get when trying to make one through amassing various tropes into a being, so, yeah, I get what you mean, I'd just argue that Luffy is true shonen protag in the vein of Kenshin or Negi or even someone like Chrono from CT.

 

[RedmistSM]

I like it when they're proactive and do stuff in the world rather than be all introspective.

 

[lionsprey]

it's not a very common character but the powerful characters that can do something about a bad situation but doesn't. at least if the main character is supposed to be a hero.
and another uncommon protag i hate is the harem protag that is also a giant asshole but still somehow gets all the attention. i can buy that the bland but nice guy gets a bunch of girls for no reason but if the guy isn't even nice? that's when my suspension of disbelif runs out.

 

[MeatMachine]

Like:
-Protagonists with a good redemption arc, where they overcome their own internal villainy.
-Protagonists who are genuinely tempted to betray their values by an equally rational villain.
-Protagonists who don't inevitably come out on top in every single story, regardless of their losses/sacrifices.

Dislike:
-Protagonists with a simplistic, one-dimensional motivation or driving philosophy.
-Protagonists who adopt a new partner/sidekick/party member/love interest in every game/episode/movie/season, with the casual regularity of changing out one's underwear.
-Protagonists who never shut the fuck up about LET ME EXPOSE TO YOU WHY I AM SO MOTIVATED TO DO GOOD.
-Protagonists who never reconsider their worldview or principles.
-Protagonists who are essentially defeated by an overwhelmingly powerful villain, until they witness the death/sacrifice of a partner/sidekick/party member/love interest, then suddenly explode in a vengeful burst of grief-based adrenaline, which carries them to an "unexpected" victory over said overwhelmingly powerful villain.