I've researched but I haven't found anything that helps me overcoming the problem I'm having. Due to some of my characters' personalities, some of them make choices that I know will piss readers off for sure. These characters are supposed to be likeable (the love interest for example) and I feel conflicted between doing justice to their personalities and stories (which generally more what I'd like to do) and losing readers by doing so. So how do I make likeable characters likeable even when they make some really mean/bad choices? Or how can I build up to it, so that the reader at least understands why they made this choice?
Maybe they don't need to be likable? Sometimes they just need to be interesting, and readers will stick with them for that reason. If you understand their motivation, even if it isn't 'nice', they work as characters. Just don't have them do anything that makes them completely despicable. There's long been a debate on this board about whether characters need to be likeable or interesting. Try a search on the board using those as the keywords, you should turn up some really good threads. Maybe add the word characters.
What turns me off as a reader is when a character seems to be on one track then jumps tha rails. Like they do something that is not in their personality. Don't force a character to be good out of fear of losing readers. Stay true to the characters, readers will follow.
As a reader, my question to you as an author is why/how you consider someone who does mean/bad things to be likeable? On the other hand, if the mean/bad choices are unusual and out of character for your MC, then it's up to you as the author to explain why a normally likeable person would make such choices. Someone who routinely makes such choices is not a likeable character.
Hm, I've seen several characters that do bad things but are still very likeable. In fact, as far as I know these are some of the most popular characters of their respective stories, even though none of them are the main characters. I think the key in making these characters lies in highlighting their good side along with at least hinting at the reasons for their behaviour but some of them seem to just be psychotic. These characters are simply intriguing. This character I am mainly concerned about starts out as an antagonist but turns into the love interest. She's kinda complicated and not easy to write. She can be both kind and malicious. She can be cruel, manipulative and cunning. There are several times in the book where this is highlighted. In fact she tricks and manipulates the MC two times at the start/middle of the story before their relationship intensifies. She was traumatized and therefore, struggles with her sense of self. She used to live for her loved ones, but lost them and became suicidal. Due to someone interfering this was substituted by a desire for revenge. That's what she lives for. MC, who she starts to have feelings for, basically pulls her back to her old self, the one that loved. These two also have an unspoken bond of trust even if they always fight. Torn between the two identities she decides to betray the entire group they belong to. She blindsights them all. The MC knows why she does it and while he is angry, he is also incredibly worried about her. He is probably the only one who understands her and he doesn't hold her betrayal against her. Their trust and love for each other remains untouched even though she cut the direct line that connected them. So this character is difficult even though she may be charming and lighthearted most of the time, she kills, manipulates and betrays several people in the story. While she isn't the physically strongest character, she's probably the scariest one.
Ultimately, what makes a likable character versus a dislikable one is how they treat other people. For example, if you make a character who you want readers to find witty, with a comeback for everything, they might instead come off as merely snarky and rude. This is because how they treat other people.
Strictly speaking from the title of the thread, I’d say the answer comes down to point of view. Get this right and the reader stands in the characters shoes or can empathise to some degree. If the reader dislikes a choice the character made they should be so invested too wonder, why did you do that? Notice the ‘you’ and not ‘they.’ When using the you, they should be addressing the character and not the author.
So she is cruel, manipulative, cunning, a betrayer and a killer, but he still loves and trusts her. Does he hold her accountable for her behaviour? Or is he an enabler?
He is not an enabler. On the contrary, he actively tries to stop her but he sees her behaviour as a cry for help rather than that of someone horrible. I don't want to go into the entire plot and all character relations since this is getting off topic but her behaviour is also explained. For example: Would you get it if a father shot the murderer of his daughter? I mean that would make him a murderer too and his behaviour would not be excusable yet we would still understand if he did it. Think along those lines. Btw. she also doesn't go around being a bad person the entire book. I think this is a misunderstanding. Most of the time (I'd say 95% of the book), you won't see a glimpse of her cruel side. There are two (possibly three) scenes in the entire book.
I think most (though not all) readers understand nuance and can accept a character that does bad things sometimes but remains, on the whole, a likable character. Different readers will draw that line different, based on their own beliefs, experiences, etc. In my view, the best thing to do is to stay true to your gut feeling on this, and to your vision of the character. At least get a draft of the work done in that manner. After you have an initial draft completed, you can find readers who can give you feedback on it. If a significant percentage find the character completely unlikable, you can then go back and address problems those readers have. I say significant percentage because you're not going to please everyone no matter what you do and I'd be hesitant to put much stock in what a single reader says. If multiple readers all point to the same problem, it bears a closer look. Since this sort of thing generally comes down to the execution of the work itself, it's hard to give a good answer in the abstract.
I don't think readers expect charters to do everything right. That would be pretty boring if not pointless. I wouldn't worry about creating likable characters as much as interesting characters. That being said, it is nice to give readers a character they can root for somewhere in the mix.
