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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/32177
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/32177
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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.

Original score: 2