Qn: How to properly write a Zero Approval Rating MC?

NotaNuffian

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Not talking about Makoto from School Days because he was officially the viewer's proxy until he did scumbag shit near the end that cause him to get a nice boat.

Not referring to Subaru (Re:Zero) and Grid (Overgeared) because their initial shittiness is hitting way close to home and they do get better over time.

And obviously not referring to sympathetic villain protags like Fang Yuan (Daoist Gu) and Griffin because he live in a society slightly different from ours and GRIFFIN DID NOTHING WRONG.

Back to what I wanted to say, what I am referring to is an MC that no one (except for a few with loose screws) likes from the start of the story till the very end. He will kick dogs, murder children and rape every men, women and child and yet, there are still readers rooting for the guy because they think of him as a badass.

Slaughterer Hero comes as one with a chick that he rescued ended up becoming his assistant in fucking the world up because he is bored of the isekai and wants to murder for fun.

In the above case and in JP and CN, mindbreaking side characters via stockholm syndrome, a ton of copium plus storybreaking hypnosis, drugs and BS magic help the MC to live in the world that probably wants him dead ASAP. Those are morally and legally wrong.

I get that it is fun, imagine performing such acts are fun and maybe for the authors who wrote these, it is their own escapism.

Bare in mind, I am talking about scumbag MCs who have zero to little sympathetic pasts or actions throughout the entire work. No act of kindness, no abused history, just a normal-ish person who is an cunt just cause.

Now for those who read the entirety (thank you) and still bother to type out a reply (once again, thank you) , how do you even begin to write such main character and also, why?
 

NotaNuffian

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Ayanokouji Kiyotaka? Mc does not give a fuck, sees everyone as tools.
Have not really dabble on Classroom of the Elite so I can't really say.

But imo, he does not actively fuck with people? Or does he?

... Now that I think about it, even Summoned Slaughterer Hifumi does not actively kill people. At best he just provokes people until they want to kill him and he kills them for "self defense".

Kind of like how all authors unanimously say "we can't have an actively bad MC, we must give him a reason to be bad." And it boils down to the idea of "MC bad? World badder".
 

StrongArm

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hmmmm, I think OJ Simpson wrote a book called "If I Did It"....

other than that i cant think of a villain who doesnt have at least ONE redeeming quality

And say what you want, but the Juice was an awesome football player

hmmmm....

write about a serial killer maybe?

Or a tyrant with brain damage like Caligula
for those that dont know, Caligula was recorded to be a relatively normal statesman until he had a massive fever that caused him brain damage.
After his recorded fever, he then proceeded to go absolutely nuts.

How about a nasty bureaucrat who makes everybodys life harder for no other reason than to be a troll?
 

NotaNuffian

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hmmmm, I think OJ Simpson wrote a book called "If I Did It"....

other than that i cant think of a villain who doesnt have at least ONE redeeming quality

And say what you want, but the Juice was an awesome football player

hmmmm....

write about a serial killer maybe?

Or a tyrant with brain damage like Caligula
for those that dont know, Caligula was recorded to be a relatively normal statesman until he had a massive fever that caused him brain damage.
After his recorded fever, he then proceeded to go absolutely nuts.

How about a nasty bureaucrat who makes everybodys life harder for no other reason than to be a troll?
Problem becomes, what happens when even the author hates this character?

In stories, the main character serves not just as the reader's proxy, but also the author's narrator and guide.

The reader sees what the author writes and what is getting written the most? The MC.
 

StrongArm

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Problem becomes, what happens when even the author hates this character?

In stories, the main character serves not just as the reader's proxy, but also the author's narrator and guide.

The reader sees what the author writes and what is getting written the most? The MC.

Yeah, i cant really think of too many books with just a flat out nasty MC....
Oh wait! yes i can. i forgot that im a degenerate.

How about a NTR protagonist? A real evil ugly bastard.

the only people who read it will be degenerates, but your comment section would be hilarious.

I think, if you write a flat out 100% evil unredeeming villain, it might be fun as an author.
You would get to write down all the most vile twisted parts of your mind for other people to look at.
I think writing something like that would take a good deal of bravery, especially when the haters start in.
 

DiscoDream

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Not talking about Makoto from School Days because he was officially the viewer's proxy until he did scumbag shit near the end that cause him to get a nice boat.

Not referring to Subaru (Re:Zero) and Grid (Overgeared) because their initial shittiness is hitting way close to home and they do get better over time.

And obviously not referring to sympathetic villain protags like Fang Yuan (Daoist Gu) and Griffin because he live in a society slightly different from ours and GRIFFIN DID NOTHING WRONG.

Back to what I wanted to say, what I am referring to is an MC that no one (except for a few with loose screws) likes from the start of the story till the very end. He will kick dogs, murder children and rape every men, women and child and yet, there are still readers rooting for the guy because they think of him as a badass.

Slaughterer Hero comes as one with a chick that he rescued ended up becoming his assistant in fucking the world up because he is bored of the isekai and wants to murder for fun.

In the above case and in JP and CN, mindbreaking side characters via stockholm syndrome, a ton of copium plus storybreaking hypnosis, drugs and BS magic help the MC to live in the world that probably wants him dead ASAP. Those are morally and legally wrong.

I get that it is fun, imagine performing such acts are fun and maybe for the authors who wrote these, it is their own escapism.

Bare in mind, I am talking about scumbag MCs who have zero to little sympathetic pasts or actions throughout the entire work. No act of kindness, no abused history, just a normal-ish person who is an cunt just cause.

Now for those who read the entirety (thank you) and still bother to type out a reply (once again, thank you) , how do you even begin to write such main character and also, why?
Just write with the mindset of a psychopath. What you've described is essentially one. As for why? I'd do it for laughs. Alot of the time I see people boil down complicated situations into just, "He's a bad dude", so I find it cathartic to read something where the guy really is just a 'bad dude'
 

NotaNuffian

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Just write with the mindset of a psychopath. What you've described is essentially one. As for why? I'd do it for laughs. Alot of the time I see people boil down complicated situations into just, "He's a bad dude", so I find it cathartic to read something where the guy really is just a 'bad dude'
Sadly I don't have that mindset or even know how to get into that mindset.

Yes, the internet has materials, but I would be a bit of loony just to get myself loony to write a loony cunt MC.
 

TotallyHuman

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I don't really get what you are trying to say. Do you want to write a cunt mc who the readers will mostly hate but be able to identify with anyway?
Well...
Make an mc who does not have empathy. Like, complete zero. They will understand intellectually that something is socially unacceptable and thus they have to act in a way that will not show it, but have no emotional component to it.
Have them value or love something. That love should not be selfless. They should love out of possessiveness to the subject of love or disgust of not having it.
You can make them hate something. Basically same as above.
That is basically it. You can add miscellanious attributes, but in essence, this is it.
Mc is a cunt and, if you stick to the character logic, will act like garbage. But because they are so simplistic, the reader should understand the values and motivations of mc and, thus, easily emphasise with them. Also, because the character ia so simplistic, they can be seen as strong, because they will generally weather tribulations well and keep on working towards their goal. Should be a plus for readers.
 
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ACertainPassingUser

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Is this the story that you seek for :

Meccha Shoukan Sareta Ken / Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! / Summoned to a parallel fantasy world many times
images (1) (1).jpeg


Description (from Novel Updates) :

"A boy’s whole class gets summoned to another world, except he’s the only who one was transferred to a different one. Just when he gets used to his new life, he gets summoned to another world again, and again."

This is what I would recommend if you're searching for Villain egoistic MC.

It was started as True neutral. After all those summonings ends, he got so powerful and those power made him kinda unstable.

He's no beta male Loser, Because he weren't pushed around by the kingdom, unlike those hero around him, and he was able to leech of the kingdom hospitality with those na'ive loser heroes that were summoned around him.

But he hides his secret that allows him to secretly grow even more powerful without others Knowing, due to the nature of his powers. And although he appear weak and to those around him, he didn't tell them because he didn't need to show his true weakness to kingdom official.

In fact, for people with his power, being able to stay alive, staying kind, and doing those activities while being exposed to his weakness all the time is already achievement. And it's only due to his kindness that he didn't go evil just yet.

The kingdom is petting around a sleepy evil dragon without worrying that one day they might touch that reverse scale and bring chaos.

At that time, MC didn't need to do evil stuff because there's simply no reason to. The kingdom is fine, peaceful and kinda comfortable. The Hero mates around, the nobility and the knights around seems like a nice environment of peoples to be around. Plus MC is content with staying around as freeloader for his own benefit like a pro.

And while trying to resist the urge and changes in his mind due to no longer being a human, he also decides to help those mates and kingdom official to repay their kindness. Their kindness and being good maybe doesn't seem so bad.

But one day, at an official event, there's some major political movement by one of Kingdom official Authority. Those official at the kingdom finally show their true nature and decided to mess with the heroes and the nobles, which just being nice to the MC recently.

Those authorities has finally shown the true nature of this world to the MC. It's always eat or be eaten, The strong survive and the weak perish. No need to hold back his power, no need to stay kind like those na'ive heroes.

They manage to tick the Dragon's reverse scales and wake him up. Its time for MC to finally shows who's the boss around. MC will do what he wants and what he please.

True Neutral goes to True Evil that Night...

Definitely a lot of reviews saying edgy MC and bad personality. Those kind of MC always piss those readers. Especially those who hate overlord and demon lord stuff.

-----------------------
How to write one ?

Just combine all the red flags and negative traits from those villains, give him equally bad and selfish personality, but put him as the MC and tell how he conquered everything in his path while becoming OP now and then.

Don't worry about inconsistencies and unclear growing path, as long they sound powerful.

But make the MC look kind at first if you really want the readers to root for MC.
 
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