In one of my stories there is this guy , very sexy , but extremely unstable - he's gullible and vulnerable , gets tricked and used ( especially blackmailed into unwanted relationships.) His past is filled with horror stories of abuse and neglect and frequently he tries to commit suicide. He's not the main character , he's the best friend of the main character. The main character is always pulled into bailing his friend out of some bizarre situation and over the course of the story the sexy guy starts to go insane. Would a reader just say - I'd wish he'd ditch this character , or maybe I wish he'd croak so that the main character can get on with his life? Is it too much?
It is certainly a risk. Think of 24 and whatever her name was (Kim?). Fans of the series were begging for her to be killed off.
It depends on your writing. If you make the reader care about your character, become fascinated with him, it doesn't matter whether they would murder him if they were confined in a small room with him.
I suppose it would get annoying if he kept bailing his friend out every few chapters. As long as you moderate, things won't be so bad. As to him losing his mind, he seems to have had a hard past. Considering he has tried to commit suicide on several occassions I'd find it strange if he wasn't odd in the head. It depends on how you write it as well. If the character isn't written down on the page well, people won't like him. It's the same for any character. Written well even frequently used ideas can be given a fresh feel to them. I make a habit of not judging a character by the description in a character sheeet. It actually sounds quite interesting. As long as you don't make him getting bailed out a constant thing you should be fine. Bella from Twilight and Elena from Vampire Diaries are always getting bailed out by the Vampires. (My sister's p'd off becuase she doesn't like Elena and now she's been made a Vampire)
What is your audience? I can say with certainty that if I knew someone like this in real life, I would roll my eyes at their "problems" and ignore their whining. Oh he's hot and has relationship issues. So sad. If he kept expecting me to rescue him, I would eventually advise him to man the **** up and deal with his issues. Especially if this is an older guy and not some broody teenager. There's a difference between helping a friend/lover who is truly in over their head and having an emotional parasite latch onto you. Then again I am probably not the target audience.
Thanks for the advice! The story is sort of a phantasmagorical version of earth. When I designed the book - it was prior to the uprising of vampyr fiction. I thought after the Interview with the Vampire movie came out, there would be this flood of vampire fiction, and I didn't want to be one in a thousand, so I went a different route - similiar in idea - dark creatures battling against unsuspecting humans - but no vampires , warlocks or werewolves. Some of the sympathy thrown to the hot guy and the reason for most of his breakdown is - he's one of the few people who can 'see' and understand what the other unsuspecting humans can't , and he can't quite explain it - it just sounds like more of his insanity.
The way you describe the actions and how they seem to revolve around him, (with your mc being unable to "go on with his life") I would say your mc has a serious reason to worry about someone wanting to steal that title away from him.
In point of fact, I know this guy. He was the best man at my wedding. I often stated that, "We destroyed a lot of stuff, mostly mine..." He was your typical rogue. Lived a lot by his wits, always looked out for himself, cheap onto niggardly, was tossed out of a motorcycle club (and that takes some doing), and married a woman that another guy tossed off his bike and into the street. *sigh* But you had to be there. Lots of laughs. I helped bail him out of jail one time, but cannot remember if I ever was paid back. I could never stay mad at him--until the end. And then we went out with a bang. After what he did, I told him I'd put him in a hospital or worse if I ever saw him again. But then, isn't that the life of a rogue? In many ways, your guy might be the high point of your story. (BTW, his club nickname was "Lucky." It figures.)
I don't know if you watch House, but this is the relationships between House and his best friend Wilson. They're like Sherlock Holmes & Watson (I'm pretty sure that's who they based the two characters off of). He's highly intelligent, successful in his profession, but extremely self-destructive. I think this is the plight of intelligent people -- socially awkward/inept and self-destructive. And I feel like these self-destructive people tend to draw friends who thrive on these tendencies. That is, people who like to "save" other people. So they develop this odd codependent relationship where they thrive on each other's "bad" behaviours. Now whether a reader thinks, "man I wish this jerk would just successfully off himself already" all depends on how you write him. Does he have any redeemable qualities? He has some sort of "sight" as you mention, so obviously it's a strain on him psychologically. That makes him more likable (I think). He seems like he has a potential to be a good foil for the MC. Your MC must be the "all around nice guy" if he keeps saving his friend and I wonder if more people would find him less likable for being such a martyr. I don't know if this is helpful, but I always feel for the self-destructive character (i.e. I love House and get where he's coming from).
I don't know if you watch House, but this is the relationships between House and his best friend Wilson. They're like Sherlock Holmes & Watson (I'm pretty sure that's who they based the two characters off of). He's highly intelligent, successful in his profession, but extremely self-destructive. I think this is the plight of intelligent people -- socially awkward/inept and self-destructive. And I feel like these self-destructive people tend to draw friends who thrive on these tendencies. That is, people who like to "save" other people. So they develop this odd codependent relationship where they thrive on each other's "bad" behaviours. Now whether a reader thinks, "man I wish this jerk would just successfully off himself already" all depends on how you write him. Does he have any redeemable qualities? He has some sort of "sight" as you mention, so obviously it's a strain on him psychologically. That makes him more likable (I think). He seems like he has a potential to be a good foil for the MC. Your MC must be the "all around nice guy" if he keeps saving his friend and I wonder if more people would find him less likable for being such a martyr. I don't know if this is helpful, but I always feel for the self-destructive character (i.e. I love House and get where he's coming from).
Any character can be annoying if poorly written and not if well-written. The big thing to explore is why the mc keeps bailing him out. It may be a good idea to give this guy some positive traits which help to explain why the mc likes him so much. Given your description, for example, you could try making this guy an extremely empathetic person, to the point where it gets him into trouble. But at the same time, his empathy towards the mc helps the mc through some of his own rough times. (It so often seems like some of the nicest people are the most miserable, because they care too much about everything.)
My suggestions: 1.Either kill the character off and have the main character develop from that. 2. Describe what it is about this friend that makes the main character stay friends or even care about him so much. 3. Have the friend end up saving the life of the main character so as to keep something fresh and explain why they owe each other so much.
It would depend on how well he was written. I would probably be a little annoyed by him but feel sorry for the character.
As long as the character is interesting, then I don't think it will matter to your readers. A boring character who acts like that would certainly get on my nerves.
