Creating Likeable Characters
Make characters instantly likeable (or dislikeable!) to your audience.
Okay, I can’t guarantee instant, but… gotta have those attention-grabbing titles, folks.
Em, didn’t you tell us this in the previous guide? A likeable character has agency and reason.
Yes, a likeable character, which is necessary if you want readers emotionally invested. But now I’m talking about making the person behind that character likeable or dislikeable. This isn’t about investment, this is about good ol’ fashioned first impressions.
So, it’s great to effectively introduce a character or get emotional investment in one chapter, but how do you get readers to like or dislike a character within a few lines of meeting them? How do you convey to readers “Hey! We like this gal!” or “Hey! We hate this guy!” almost immediately?
Again, it’s not a matter of whether the character is a good person or not. They could be a perfect saint and still be hated. (Actually, by default they might be because perfect people are annoying). But I digress.
Like everything else, there isn’t a singular method or a one-size-fits-all way to do this. Every story requires different approaches to each aspect of its construction, otherwise it wouldn’t be very fun to write or read any story.
But there are some tricks that can be finagled into just about any genre or character archetype.
Making a Character Likeable
1. Relatable Flaws
As I said above, making a character “perfect” tends to make them annoying. (Mary/Gary Sues anyone?) The true trick is the opposite: flaws.
Give your character relatable and grounded flaws. No, not “quirky” or “cute” ones—real ones: a hot temper, severe pessimism, a tendency to lie, a superiority complex, indulgent vanity, etc., etc.
Don’t go overboard. The difference between a relatable flaw and an annoying one is typically how often it comes up. If a character is always stubborn to the point of derailing others’ plans or ideas at every turn, that can be frustrating and turn your reader off the story entirely. Decide what makes the flaw emerge, don’t make it their whole personality. Or, if it is their whole personality, decide what stifles it and incorporate that where you can.
For example, a character who is always stubborn as above can easily be disliked. A character who is always stubborn unless they’re with their partner, who they defer to because they love them and trust their opinion, allows that flaw to be well-utilized instead of overdone.
2. Inner Conflict
Everyone has a rich, deep inner life that is rarely glimpsed by the outside world. One of the biggest advantages of literature over visual media is the ability to consistently convey this to your audience. (And is why “the movie is never as good as the book,” but maybe that’s a topic for another day). Use this advantage for all it’s worth. Make sure your readers have a front row ticket to the thoughts and emotions inside your characters’ heads.
Whatever your POV, this can always be done for at least your protagonist. Allowing readers into your character’s mind forces them to see that character as a real person with justifiable (at least to them) opinions and world views. It’s difficult to dislike someone when you have unfettered and unbiased access to their thoughts and justifications, even if they’re heinous. The book and TV show “You” does this well with the protagonist “Joe.” He is an unforgivably creepy stalker and serial killer, yet the audience can’t help but root for him because they constantly hear his point of view from his narration.
3. Just make ‘em snazzy
You know those characters, usually anti-heroes, who don’t necessarily have any redeeming traits but they’re just enjoyable? It’s easier to do than you might think. All it takes is:
Authenticity | Wit | Resourcefulness
The one who stays true to themselves, even if it means hurting others. The one who takes situations maybe not with a great attitude but with a great lot of witty remarks along the way. The reluctant one who is forced to come through in a clutch. The “rogue,” the “bad boy,” the “trickster.” These characters tend to be universally liked. It’s a triad of complimentary traits: humans are hardwired to appreciate authenticity, humor, and survival. Put those three together and you have a pretty strong formula for likeability.
The trick to this is making it effortless. Don’t force situations or dialogue to “prove” how witty or cool the character is. Let it flow, let the character react naturally to whatever comes their way.
Now, you can incorporate all this and show what a good person they are because they… I don’t know, give a puppy a million dollars, but you shouldn’t have to “prove” that your character is good in order to convey that they’re likeable. And they don’t necessarily have to be good in the first place: [insert scrolling list of endless villains the internet drools over here].
Making a Character Dislikeable
It can be difficult to pin down what makes you dislike a person. Maybe they’re gross, or have a habit that overstimulates you. They might be a horrific, evil person, or maybe they’re so good at everything that it pisses you off. Sometimes, people just plain annoy you because your personalities don’t jive.
You’ll never be sure whether a character you tried to make unlikeable will end up a fan favorite. [Insert scrolling list of endless villains the internet drools over here]. And of course, some people might dislike a character you wanted everyone to love for the tiniest or pettiest reason, and vice versa. You can’t read people’s minds, and a trait that you despise might seem harmless or tolerable to someone else.
That said, here are a few reasonably guaranteed ways to make a character disliked.
1. Persistent/Unforgiveable Flaws
Yep, opposite of what makes them likeable, who could have guessed. You can make them gross or annoying with no reprieve, or make them a heinous person who does terrible things for the fun of it. Just keep it obnoxious, incessant, and/or unforgiveable.
2. Anti-thesis to the protagonist
A person who is the opposite of your protagonist, and especially if they are seen through your protag’s eyes, might be automatically disliked if the protagonist is already liked. If your character is an athletic high school girl who struggles to get good grades, having a character seen through her eyes as a slacker who doesn’t try but still succeeds could be annoying to both the MC and the audience.
3. Agency without understandable reason
Now, agency without reason makes it difficult for emotional investment, but it doesn’t necessarily make the person dislikeable. What makes them dislikeable is agency without understandable reason. To use AtLA again: Firelord Ozai wants to conquer the world and routinely commits genocide to accomplish this. His reason? He… wants power. Maybe there’s a deeper underlying reason (like we see in Azula’s arc), but it’s not shown and therefore it is easy and, quite frankly, natural to hate the guy.
4. No agency at all
A character who does absolutely nothing, and especially one who complains or is miserable without any attempt to improve their circumstances, is dislikeable. But even a happy character can fall prey to this: think of the “deadbeat dad” stereotype, the father who lazes around all day watching television. Even without a bad temper or drinking habit, that kind of character grates on people’s nerves. If a person drifts through life with no discernable goal or motivation or even hobbies, it’s hard to find anything to like about them.
Now let’s talk about conveying all this in a few lines.
First Impressions
It can be overwhelming to make a character come off the way you want them to throughout the whole story—let alone accomplish it within the first few sentences of meeting them. All you need to remember is that the first impression is not the whole picture, and you can use this to introduce them effectively by introducing just two traits.
Take the virtues and flaws of the character and pare them down to two that are the most defining traits of this person and/or will give the impression you want readers to have. Then showcase just these traits. Don’t worry about the others, they can come later as readers get to know your character more.
For example, say you have a character who is bold, clever, and confident, but is also a deceitful swindler who only does something if it benefits themselves. You want this character to be liked, but you also want readers to know that they’re not exactly a good person. Let’s take two traits - clever (asset) and deceitful (flaw), and incorporate that into the introduction.
“Beautiful fabrics for sale! Fit for a king but priced for a pauper! Ma'am, would you like to take a look?” A woman halted as Lyka stepped into her path and held out the bundle of cloth. She politely looked the wares over before lifting a palm.
“No thank you,” she replied, brushing past to continue down the street. Lyka smiled after the woman, then turned when Ral popped up beside her.
“Twenty-five kwall,” he said, bouncing the coin purse in his hand. “Not bad.”
“I told you she’d be an easy target,” Lyka bragged.
What if we want this character to be disliked on first impression? Then use both flaws—deceitful and selfish—for the introduction.
Lyka stumbled, ramming into the man trying to skirt around her.
“Sorry, so sorry, excuse me,” she said, fumbling to get her feet under her and smooth the creases she’d made in his clothes.
“Are you alright?” he asked. She nodded. “Try to be more careful.”
Lyka continued the opposite way, smiling to herself as she felt the weight of his coin purse in her pocket. She’d be feasting tonight.
“Excuse me, miss,” a small voice piped from her left. She glanced at the scrawny urchin holding his hands out to her. His too-big clothes couldn’t hide the evidence of starvation on his gaunt face. “Do you have any tithings to spare?”
“No,” she said curtly, shooing him off with a wave of her hand. “Go bother someone else with your stink.”
Don’t worry about getting everything about the character across. Pick the bare minimum of what you want readers to know and go from there. It’s easier than trying to condense every single aspect of a multi-faceted person into as few lines as possible: don’t condense, whittle. Consciously consider what first impression you want your audience to have and construct your choices and introduction around that instead of focusing solely on the character.
This is a perfect use for betas: gut check. Ask them for their immediate gut reaction and first impressions of characters they meet. It’s best to ask them this before they start reading, so they can notate in the document as they go. That way you know it’s their real first impression, unclouded by future discoveries or development.
I hope all this has been helpful! Again, if you disagree with any of these suggestions or techniques, don’t use them! Write your story the way you want to. But I do hope this has given you a useful resource if you ever get overwhelmed by first chapters or character introductions.
What makes you like (or dislike) a character within a few minutes of meeting them? Tell me in the comments!