A good story has a protagonist, goals, and opposition. Opposition includes obstacles and forces of nature, but typically opposition also takes the form of a character. Sometimes the opposition is another protagonist, leaving the audience to choose who they want to root for, but many stories include at least one villain, a character that is definitively “wrong”. Villains can be narrative or mechanical.
.flaws
Discussing Why We Like Characters
I think if we talked about some of our favorite characters, and why we liked them, each of us would cite different reasons, but I also suspect that there may be an underlying principle or two that explain why we like specific characters, in general.
Lamentable Flaws 102-10
1. Deceiver
Lying is one of the broadest character flaws; ranging from white lies to cruel deception. When it comes to liars there are three parameters that govern whether lying is a minor flaw or a serious transgression: how frequently the character lies, how significant their lies are, and their motive for lying.
Villains 102-8
A good story has a protagonist, goals, and opposition. Opposition includes obstacles and forces of nature, but typically opposition also takes the form of a character. Sometimes the opposition is another protagonist, leaving the audience to choose who they want to root for, but many stories include at least one villain, a character that is definitively “wrong”. Villains can be narrative or mechanical.
Admirable Virtues 102-6
Audiences need to like the protagonist(s), to both relate to and admire them. People often relate to characters that remind them of themselves; characters who face similar types of problems. People often admire characters that demonstrate a skill or proficiency, particularly if that skill demonstrates altruistic motives, such as teaching or medicine, or if it has a strong visual appeal, such as performance arts or athletics. Intelligence is another admirable trait, though when it comes to brains a person can be smart, knowledgeable, or clever.