How to make a deceitful trainwreck of a character likeable
So, due to a smaller miracle, a scrapped concept, a badly timed Eragon review from Nostalgia Critic and the SAO abridged came together and created a good "filler" episode concept and a character in my mind for the story, however, there is a small problem:
The story takes place in GURPS' Banestorm setting, conveniently renamed "Shitstorm". Basically, a remake of Saint George and the Dragon, with a twist, and Pedobear Slenderman, oh and the dragon is really on the "good side", that's where the problem starts
The dragon, Saphire No-last-name-given (according to the Most Generic Fantasy Names for all Fantasy Races 3.14th edition) is supposed to be on the good side, but her character traits...
She never really excelled at combat, relying on traps, tactics, and manipulated people as ablative meatshields. Once she runs out tricks and safeguards, Saphire goes into an unstoppable crying/sobbing/pleading for life trio, and though she doesn't antagonize humans directly, being busy with amassing knowledge, is very condescending when speaking to/about them, almost always boasting about her (actually existing) intellectual superiority, which is surprisingly absent when talking to someone who could easily kill her (a strangely long list, by the way).
To make things even worse, her goal is to once use the before mentioned knowledge (military tactics, agriculture, economic theories) to rule over, pretty much the entire planet, because she thinks that everyone else is too stupid to do and succeed in it.
TL; DR:
An antisocial fuck-up who's cowardly, hypocritical, manipulating, pompous, pathetic and really more of a loose collection of the most hated character defects and the Napoleon complex than anything else.
I mean, how is anyone supposed to like her, it's the type of character that everyone hates, kinda like Umbridge.
How could I at least make the reader "understand" the character, it's not about deeply sympathizing with it, just not wanting to murder it so hard that it reincarnates as an abortion?
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/32329. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
If she really does have intellectual superiority and knows it, then it is not pompous to tell the truth, and in fact would be deceptive to deny it. Nor is it "condescending" for a highly intelligent person to try and speak to less intelligent people on a level they can understand.
Who is to say that the smartest being in the world would not have a better plan to rule over the entire planet? If she really is the smartest, then it is a fact that everyone else is stupider than her, and would most likely do a worse job of it!
You want to put her on the good side: Then make her good! Not at social interaction or making people feel better. You don't mention what she wants, so make what she wants an actual better world for humans: She wants to eliminate poverty, slavery, subjugation, and maximize safety and opportunity for all. She wants children to be safe and educated. She wants crime minimized and criminals punished. She wants to minimize misery and war and violence, she wants everybody fed and sheltered, with all those that have nobody and need care, cared for.
Make her an altruist that wants to save you whether you like her or not. Then she can be an unpleasant person, even a coward in battle, abrasive and superior in conversation. But readers can still know that behind that flawed personality what she really wants is what is best for everyone, if she could acquire the power to make it happen.
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