Main character not likable.

[Samuelx]

Make them a villain

 

[SimonDoom]

I think about Tony Montana in Scarface. He's a despicable, awful person in almost every way. And absolutely, thoroughly enjoyable to watch throughout the movie. Pacino hams it up the whole way through. It's an incredibly entertaining movie. So, yes, you can write a great, enjoyable story with a main character who is not likable. Make the character interesting and fun to watch/read, and readers may not mind that the character is bad.

 

[MrRandyWatson]

Ask yourself why you don’t like your MC. Is it because they’re an asshole, but are an interesting asshole? Play the anti-hero angle. It’s OK for the main character to be an anti-hero. House is one of the most memorable TV series of this century, and the main character was a misanthropic SOB - but he was interesting. People will even root for flat-out villains - Walter White, Tony Soprano, Joe Goldberg - if they’re compelling.

If you just can’t get into your main character, try changing their development. Give them different motivations, a different backstory, even try seeing if they need a complete overhaul.

 

[Maxiine]

Adolph and Joseph, a love story...

 

[LdyHoneybee]

I'm almost 19,000 words into part 2 of a story I published here and came to the conclusion that my MC isn't very likable. I'm starting to think that may be a theme on a lot or most of my 20 stories published so far. It's not a romance story, more of a coming-of-age theme, with a light incest/taboo theme. So should I just make him a full-on man whore, or try to humanize him somewhat. It's been several months since I wrote part one, but I did it as a stand-alone story back then in case part 2 never happened.

A lot of my stories are in the BDSM and non-consent categories. I avoid the loving wives and romantic themes since my personal experience in those areas is fairly shallow, or let's just say hard to remember how that works. This particular part 2 would be tagged as coming of age(if that's a category), lesbian, exhibitionism, masturbation, hetero sex, and incest categories so far.
Maybe I just need to finish this part, and not beat myself up on whether readers will like the MC or not. I've only ever written one story(IIRC) where one of the MC's was a villain. This MC isn't a villain, maybe just not very likable.

Perhaps I'm just overthinking this?

I have this problem as well In something I am working on offline (and a big part of the reason I am here). My main character (and favorite “child”) is a complex person whom I know fully (the prince in the little segment I shared earlier). I struggle with the fact that because of some of the things he does he could turn out to be very unlikeable, especially right now. Although he predates The Branaugh/Hiddleston Loki by many years, that is probably a good way to elucidate the problem. I want the reader to like him because I do and because he is at the center of the story, but I worry that, before they do, they will just stop reading because they won’t. I am trying all kinds of things: giving him a point of view, giving a point of view to characters who don’t hate him, describing as the author behavior that is sympathetic. But I also don’t want to violate his character by going too far, giving too much, and turning him into a milquetoast. Marvel is really a plot oriented franchise with side benefits to character so the Loki arc worked fantastically up until his first death at least, but I am character oriented. Thus the problem.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I have this problem as well In something I am working on offline (and a big part of the reason I am here). My main character (and favorite “child”) is a complex person whom I know fully (the prince in the little segment I shared earlier). I struggle with the fact that because of some of the things he does he could turn out to be very unlikeable, especially right now. Although he predates The Branaugh/Hiddleston Loki by many years, that is probably a good way to elucidate the problem. I want the reader to like him because I do and because he is at the center of the story, but I worry that, before they do, they will just stop reading because they won’t. I am trying all kinds of things: giving him a point of view, giving a point of view to characters who don’t hate him, describing as the author behavior that is sympathetic. But I also don’t want to violate his character by going too far, giving too much, and turning him into a milquetoast. Marvel is really a plot oriented franchise with side benefits to character so the Loki arc worked fantastically up until his first death at least, but I am character oriented. Thus the problem.

I think the first thing is to be clear in your own mind about why you like him.

Secondly (to chime in again on the topic from the other thread), I think that structure is your friend here - if you want him to be liked, maybe start the story when he is at his most likable and have him descend throughout the story. If he does bad things make sure these are called out in the story and appropriately forshadowed. Work out a chapter structure whereby your thinking about not only about what happens, but what the reader are currently expected to think about the character in this section.

Obviously it's hard without knowing the plot your thinking of, but it could be something like.

1. MC is about to be executed for unspecified but obviously severe crimes and is considered the worst villian in the world's history. He's there with two 'ordinary' prisoners, one who spits in his face and the other who praised him as a hero - at this point the reader is primed that the MC will do questionable things, but doesn't necessary hate them and hopefully is interested.
2. (Flashback) The MC is young and is a nice well-balance lad with an idyllic life. Bad men come and do bad things - the readers hopefully like and are sympathetic to the character.
3. In grief the MC does the first morally questionable thing to the bad men, maybe out of grief and maybe in order to survive - the reader may think it was a bit extreme but basically understands...

and so on.

 

[Maxiine]

True. Although, I dismissed Red's crimes in the movie. It's hard to be mad at Morgan Freeman.

Just because he is God?

(Bruce Almighty, 2003)

 

[Maxiine]

Once I wrote a story, deleted during the partisan political story purge-- although my story predated the real politician's rise... Hey. that means he owes me royalties doesn't it -- where a totally self-centered lawyer plants evidence to free a debutante who committed murder, and then marries her and proceeds climbing up the political ladder to become President, after two terms he helps his wife become President and she nominates him as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

People loved him. He was pure-- not pure evil, but a pure opportunist, he never took one step to the left or right to hurt or help anyone unless he benefited in some way-- and I think a lot of people wished that they were just like him.

"Do you think God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he's created here on earth?" - Robert Rodriguez (Bexar County native)