Well, I've already done a thread about this character, but I recently had an epiphany about him. The idea is that he is perceived as a "loser". But the more important thing I was neglecting is, why is he perceived in such a way? I came up with two basic reasons. One, he is very socially unintelligent. So when people interact with each other and with him, he has trouble knowing what is going on. Or, he is very socially intelligent but feels a disconnect with his peers. So, he knows whats going on but because he is unlike and chooses to be unlike his contemporaries, he has a hard time forming connections with them. The things he is interested in are very different from others. Then, I suppose that I could do a kind of combination of the ideas. What route do you guys think you would enjoy the most?
Whatever best suit your story/plot will be the route we will most enjoy. You know your story best so you should decide. I think it is also important (perhaps more important) to consider how people's perception is affecting the character, conflict and the plot. The perception itself may be link to some silly reason like peeing in his pant in front of everyone when he was younger.
The one which is better written. The one which better fits the needs of the story. These are decisions you, the writer, need to answer. And you had better get used to it, because you will make the same kind of decisions for every character you create,
I don't have much context of your story either. Whatever the story is, it could probably happen to the former character just as easily as it could happen to the latter character. I personally find the latter character much more interesting and I would be more sympathetic to him.
How about a combination of the two? Perhaps he has social difficulties as well as having interests that are very different from the interests of his peers. Perhaps he's autistic and struggling to understand social nuances and, having interests that are so different, can find nothing in common with the people around him. This could be only one of many problems he would encounter dealing with a largely confusing and unsympathetic world, perhaps.
The former is better, because it allows more character development. The character struggles against his stigma and still tries his hardest to connect with people who may or may not reject him. It's almost a classic trope, but very effective nontheless. The latter is more difficult. The character has chosen his own social standing and thus feels no need to change. No conflict, no development. A hybrid of the two is certainly possible, though... How about a character who has willfully separated himself from the social hierarchy of the school because of some past incident? Maybe he stood up to a schoolmate who was bullying some poor soul. When he did, his pals began to dislike him and he began to dislike his pals. So he chose his path because he thought it was right, but he doesn't need to like it. Then again this character would seem like a super-lawful-good paladin right now...
