Your take on "wimpy" characters

[liliput1]

How can a womanizer be wimpy? Isn't the point that he gets women to do what he wants?

People pleaser who will sleep with go out with anyone who flirts with him first?

 

[lc69hunter]

I am thinking here of characters that are not necessarily subby, but exhibit traits like cowardice, indecisiveness, who have a preference for stepping back and letting other characters take the reins. That sort of thing.

Do you ever have fun with characters like that?

Do you ever make them the protagonist?

Do you ever deliberately write them as sexy and desirable, despite or because of their nature?

What does a character like that require to become a character you enjoy writing or reading about?
What would be a red line that makes them insufferable?

One character who meets that definition is the husband in many of the standard BTB stories. Braindead wife says or does something, and the husband, instead of being a man and facing the issue, runs and hides like a little boy whose bully has stolen his ball.

 

[MisterWolf26]

People pleaser who will sleep with go out with anyone who flirts with him first?

I've always questioned why so many bulls are bullies. Why not a nice guy who can't seem to say no? Certainly there are awesome female characters of this variety.

 

[liliput1]

I've always questioned why so many bulls are bullies. Why not a nice guy who can't seem to say no? Certainly there are awesome female characters of this variety.

In fiction, 100%. In reality these people end up in therapy. Tons of therapy.

 

[nice90sguy]

People pleaser who will sleep with go out with anyone who flirts with him first?

A man, in other words

 

[liliput1]

A man, in other words

I know a lot of men who are not people pleasers. Those aren’t interesting stories. We don’t need another story about a narcissist with a high body count.