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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/32820
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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.

Original score: 2