How to make a psychopath/sociopath likeable?

One comment and one answer have both mentioned Dexter, but it doesn't seem to me that either has explained how and why we sympathize with Dexter, despite the fact that he's a serial killer.

The store of Dexter is very long, so there is lots of time to present different facts about Dexter and different aspects of his personality to create a more complex character.

Here are some things that we learn early on about Dexter that help us understand he is "evil":

• He murders people, and he doesn't let them go quietly, they are conscious, restrained, and in terror when he slowly plunges a knife into them. They feel tremendous pain and terror before they die.
• As a civilian employee of the Miami police, he undermines their efforts to catch both him and other criminals, from time to time.
• He lies constantly to cover up his criminal side. The narration of the character talks about wearing mask all the time to impersonate a normal (i.e., not evil) person.
• His involvement in criminal activities endangers those around him, and lead to the deaths of several people who are primarily good, sympathetic characters.

So that's pretty straightforward. Now let's look at all the ways that we are made to sympathize with Dexter, or at least understand him in a way that helps us want things to work out for him:

• Having Strong Morality: He is a vigilante who only kills criminals whom he has "proved" (to himself at least) are guilty of their crimes. He particularly targets those who have evaded the legitimate authorities in one way or another. (We appreciate his sense of justice)
• Showing Universal Positive Emotion: He cares for his sister and works very hard to protect her, and he misses his father who passed away before the events of the show. (We can identify with his love of family)
• Being An Innocent Victim: At a very young age, he witnessed his mother's brutal murder and repressed the memory. (We can believe that his murdering is not his fault, he must kill and at least he is killing "bad" people)
• Showing Self Sacrifice: He sometimes risks being caught or killed to avoid endangering the ones he loves. Also he represses his urge to kill for periods of time when he otherwise would have killed in order to help raise his son and care for his wife and stepchildren.
• Facing An Inner Struggle: Like everyone, Dexter just wants to be happy, and believes that it's never possible for him, but he refuses to give up. He constantly works to follow his code, appease his "dark passenger" as little as possible, and help others around him.

Despite all of that, Dexter never changes into a "good guy" from the point of view of the audience. There are certain things that audiences will never forgive. Causing the death of an innocent will usually be a permanent stain on a character. Sparing the life of the guilty, while still bringing them to justice, might be the opposite, but it really doesn't cancel out.

There are so many examples of "good" characters that we can see the bad side of and "bad" characters that we can see the good side of. Reviewing works that have such characters and really looking for the reasons of why you feel the way you feel about the characters will be your best teacher. Some examples that spring to mind:

• Anything since the 1980s related to Batman - Not only is there darkness in Batman's character, but we are sometimes made to sympathize with the Joker, and there are other characters who fall somewhere in between good and evil.
• The movie Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood) - It's a cops versus crooks story where pretty much everyone is evil in a way, and yet we are led to care for some characters and despise others.
• The Usual Suspects - We follow a career criminal trying to go straight for much of the story. Just the fact that he's trying to go straight is enough for us to give him the benefit of the doubt. This movie also features a character who works to gain sympathy from other characters, and we are led to sympathize with him for the exact same reasons! It's almost a lesson in emotional manipulation.

posted almost 7 years ago

CC BY-SA 3.0

Todd Wilcox‭

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People are unlikeable when they harm others (emotionally or physically) for their own gain (financially or emotionally; e.g. they may just enjoy hurting people).

A psychopath/sociopath harms others without compunction or thought, they treat other human beings as objects to be used and discarded, they don't even think about whether their actions cause others to suffer. Or they may find suffering and people screaming in pain funny or entertaining.

If there is a difference between them for the purpose of writing (I am not talking about clinical diagnoses) I would say psychopaths feel no sympathy or guilt for the harm they have done, and may consider acts like torture, rape or murder fun for their own sake. Sociopaths, on the other hand, simply put themselves and their goals relentlessly first, even over the lives of others. It is plausible a sociopath would plant a bomb in a daycare and pity the families that use it. But there is a politician they need to kill and the daycare is the most accessible place where she is bound to appear, sooner or later.

Many psychopaths/sociopaths get past the impulsiveness of their youth, and learn to disguise their personality to appear caring, honorable, trustworthy, etc.

The scales for sociopathy and intelligence are also independent. Sociopaths do not lean either dumb or smart, their IQ is normally distributed as it is in the population. That said, social outcomes are disparate: Average to low IQ sociopaths preferentially end up in prison, while high IQ sociopaths can be more careful and succeed in business, politics, religion, crime, law enforcement and the military. They will tend to seek power and wealth. This makes them privileged citizens, difficult to prosecute or convict, often legally (and socially) immune to laws that apply to the rabble they rule. As you can see in America: The wealthy, celebrities, politicians and top tier corporatists are seldom held criminally liable for anything. Corporations can knowingly make decisions that will kill people, and pay only a fine. Huge benefits of doubt are given to police, that are almost never convicted (or even prosecuted) for acts that are clearly unnecessary murder.

I cannot imagine a plot in which a true psychopath/sociopath becomes a good guy. Such people are (IMO backed up by medical research) literally brain damaged, they are missing connections in their neural makeup that prevents them from ever truly caring about other people.

An alternative plot would be to have a guy raised by a sociopathic parent that teaches the kid to suppress the sympathies they feel and act like a sociopath. The parent (a true sociopath) is grooming the kid for some project as an adult, a "retirement project" that will produce millions of dollars.

But something happens, the parent dies or gets killed, or the kid is smarter than his sociopathic parent and realizes what is going on and runs away. He is unlikeable, his lifestyle is sociopathic, but in time, without the constant reinforcement of his parent, his sympathies emerge. He realizes he is doing harm, and becomes more likable for refraining from obvious opportunities, then perhaps even makes amends. He eventually becomes a good guy that truly understands sociopathic criminals. Perhaps a Robin Hood story (steal from the sociopaths to give to the needy), or he somehow works to bring such criminals to justice.

posted almost 7 years ago

CC BY-SA 4.0

Amadeus‭

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