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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/27449
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

How psychopathic should a character be especially if they are one of the "good guys"?

So, due to some vicious trauma in the past, the character has developed some pretty sadistic merciless tendencies that come out in specific situations: they are more than lovely when it comes to family and friends but a bloody psycho when it comes to their "enemies". Is that creditable? Or psychologically correct?

The character is so caring to a fault, most times they are known to be saints, a perfect human being . . . That is until they, as I'd like to call it, "switch". For one second they're putting babies to sleep or baking blueberry pies, the second they're licking fresh human blood of their hands or laughing their heads off while deciding which limb to cut off first.

The change is so sudden and so outrageous that even the one whom they are closest to are taken by surprise every single time.

Should I go with a risky plot like that? The character doesn't kill (though that's because they think death is too easy) so they aren't a "bad guy" and is very, um, _motherly_ when it comes to someone they are fond of. It takes a lot of character planning a whole lot of brainstorming-- I can do that, but as a reader is it readable? Or is too corny?

Other questions I'd like to ask (don't know whether to leave them here or ask new questions):

1. Should I include graphic description even if I'm a bit of a beginner when it comes to gore?
2. How much or far should they get away with?
3. Should I include real psychological illnesses that supports the character's actions or do I leave it as it is?
4. How scary should that character be if I still want them to be likeable?

Original score: 2