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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35075
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35075
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

 **tl;dr:** Due to the long nature of this answer, you can skip to below the line below. If you want the explanation, you will have to read the whole answer.

Some of these answers have suggested that we secretly enjoy reading about murderers. I find this preposterous, and I will present an example to show you why.

In Eoin Colfer's popular series, _Artemis Fowl_, the MC, is a criminal. He's no murderer, but he does steal purely for power and money, and has even gone so far as to kidnap an innocent, all within just the first book.

Knowing only that, can you honestly say you would like to read about this character? There might be some passing interest and tension in the heist (if Colfer focused on it, which he does not), and a reader could be interested in the clash of wits during the kidnapping, but all that interest is passing. In the end, you are reading about a character who cares only for himself and those he knows, and doesn't care who he hurts or steals from to get more power and money.

The authors of certain answers can try to explain how all readers secretly want to read about such a character. I do not, and I find it hard to believe that I am alone. We want to read about characters which we seek to emulate. That's the simple truth of character development.

Mark Baker suggested that we all want to read about the character who rebels against the rules we see as unjust, and maybe that's true. But a criminal is more than a rebel. He's someone who hurts others, purely for personal gain, without a shred of remorse. Is it being suggested that we all want to read about someone like that, as well? Even to emulate them? I certainly do not.

_Artemis Fowl_ is in fact a very successful series, and to me it is obvious why. No novel can last with a MC no one wants to read about, so clearly Eoin Colfer knows how to handle such a dark protagonist. Assuming we all do not secretly wish to hurt others for personal gain, what is his trick?

Artemis is a thief, and cares only for the family fortune. No way around it. Neither does he show any desire to turn from his dark path. He does, however, have a mother. His mother is ill in her mind, confined to her bed, seeing and hearing things which aren't there. Sometimes she recognizes her son, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she thinks he's much younger than he is. Sometimes she thinks her husband - missing for years now - is with her.

This by itself might create some sympathy with Artemis - simply because we see him as the victim - but that sympathy will vanish when he turns back into the predator he is. Colfer knows Artemis needs something more, and he delivers it in one line. Artemis has just returned from another criminal enterprise, and visits his mother.

> "Artemis, darling. Where have you been?"
> 
> Artemis sighed. She recognized him. That was a good sign.
> 
> "School trip, Mother. Skiing in Austria."
> 
> "Ah, skiing," crooned Angeline. "How I miss it. Maybe when your father returns."
> 
> Artemis felt a lump in his throat. Most uncharacteristic.

In that final line, the reader suddenly sees the light at the end of the tunnel. Artemis is not all dark, no matter how much he thinks he is, or even wants to be. That one line gives the reader **_hope_**. And throughout the series, Colfer continues to reinforce that hope. Artemis continues his criminal underlife, but we stick with him because we now know he is more than just a criminal. Even when Colfer introduces the 'police', we stick with Artemis. Not because the 'police' are evil. Simply because we already can see that Artemis is a better person than he would like to admit, and are cheering for him to win out over his own darkness.

* * *

So, why do readers enjoy reading about bad or evil characters? They don't. The only way to make these **Dark Protagonists** work is to give the reader a glimpse, a shred of evidence, that the character is not as dark as they seem.

A murderer can feel remorse over what he's done, even if he continues to do it. A thief can feel guilt over what he's stolen and the people he's helped, even if he steals night after night. In Artemis' case, a criminal can even _want_ to be cold-blooded and dark, but if you show that they _aren't_, at least not entirely, the reader has hope.

The same holds true for every criminal. Without that light at the end of the tunnel, the reader would quickly grow to dislike the character, and discard the book.

You of course have already done this in your book, as your murderer is remorseful. That's all you need. The reader will sense that there is hope for this person, that he is more than just a cold-blooded killer. Recognize that hope. Bolster it to the reader. Even if the character remains a killer for the whole novel, keep that hope alive. Do that, and you keep the reader.

Original score: 2