There has been trend in our popular media over time. From movies, TV, games, comics, and books. It began as presenting our main characters as flawless good guys. They always did the right thing. They always had good manners. They were kind, but they weren’t realistic.
In rebellion against that, the anti-hero came out. The hero that still liked to murder. The criminal who would fight the bad guys as well as the good. A subsection even morphed into following villain stories altogether. While more realistic, they aren’t hero characters to be admired and modeled after. If taken too far, it glorifies violent behavior. (Note: these can be done right but often aren’t!)
But now we are seeing a shift to a more appropriate middle ground. A hero who is a good person, but also a flawed person. Not in the way that they will shoot someone in the face for crossing them, but flawed in the way that they make mistakes, struggle internally, and let down people who count on them. This is a much more relatable character because they are not perfect superhumans. But neither do they glorify the worst of humanity.
When I see inexperienced storytellers or TTRPG players want to play “murder hobos” or write about a “hardened mob boss” because they say it’s cool, I am left scratching my head. What is cool about that?
In fact, I think good characters are far more interesting than evil characters. And in my research on this topic, I found others that have summed up my whirlwind of thoughts quite well.
“I just think goodness is more interesting. Evil is constant. You can think of different ways to murder people, but you can do that at age five. But you have to be an adult to consciously, deliberately be good – and that’s complicated.” – Toni Morrison
I’d always found goodness to be more interesting than evil, though I was aware this wasn’t the most general view. To my mind, it took more work and more courage to be good, an opinion continually reinforced by my own shortcomings. ” – Dick Francis
The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist; a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain.” – Ursula K. LeGuin
I suppose that is why I like to write about, read about, watch, and play good characters. Far from perfect, certainly. Capable of violence, certainly. And tempted to do wrong while sometimes failing to win that battle. But also marked by compassion, by caring about others, by valuing life, and by still trying each morning to be better than they were the day before. To me, at least, those are the characters I love.
They also mark some of my favorite fictional characters.
- The Doctor from Doctor Who, always wanting to understand and to help. But who is still flawed because he will cross the line in using his power.
- Aragorn from Lord of the Rings, an advocate for peace and diplomacy. Who is flawed because he struggles with taking risks and accepting his bloodline.
- Megamind from Megamind, a supervillain who didn’t want anyone to really get hurt. Who is flawed because he lies.
- Danielle from Ever After, whose kindness and mercy persists even under the worst circumstances. But who is flawed because she carries on a deception for too long.
- Luz from The Owl House, who never judged and always wanted to make friends. But who is flawed because she is too reckless.
What are some of your favorite good characters?