Typical shonen protagonist

[DubstheDuke]

So, this is going to be a little rant of mine on something that annoys me. That is, the typical shonen protagonist.

What do I mean by this?

Well, there is something that simply annoys me about characters who are just straight up 'good'.

I personally hate it when a protagonist is always doing the right thing, in every possible situation.

They hold no hesitation. They see the situation and their body is acting on its own before they can even think, and they're off to save the captured person and defeat the bad guy- of course by knocking him out, and not by killing him.

I hate this.

It isn't real.

A more grounded protagonist would be distressed.

They wouldn't look at the world as black and white, good guy and bad guy.

And they wouldn't be happy go lucky in every single scenario.

There is nothing I hate more than the saying "Even if there is a 1% chance, I'll somehow grab onto that chance!!"

No.

Just stop.

If the chance truly is only 1%, then you will lose. You will die. However, because an author wrote the story such that you will win, you are guaranteed not to die.

It isn't a 1% chance. It's a 100% chance.

I enjoy seeing characters that are somewhat selfish, or that prioritize their own loved ones over others.

When presented with a choice between saving one person or another, the typical protagonist would say something like "I'll just save both of them!"

But what if you really couldn't save both of them?

I would personally like to see the face of that protagonist as he failed in saving either of them because he tried to save both.

This isn't heroism. It's just naivety. And yet in many stories, this naivety ends up working out, promoting more of this naivety.

That being said, I think this protagonist is actually on the decline these days, so that is a good thing in my opinion. It merely annoys me when the protagonist is able to simply jump into something, go against logic, and somehow everything works out fine in the end and they never have to worry.

 

[Vaxel00]

You'd be surprised how many people actually think like that, how many people are moral absolutists and have no sense for nuance.

Difference is, in real life there's no such thing as plot armor.

It's a "feel good" formula, hero always wins because the audience says so. It constricts authors a lot because they can't take risks. Such is the case with NTR, most readers are allergic to it (myself included) so as soon as it peeks it's head in a story most people will drop it like a hot potato.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

Well, shounen stories are originally marketed for 12-18 boys who are naive about the world around them.

And of course, with the fascination about Japanese culture, a lot of new authors had been influenced by such trope. Even if their story is for adults.

A deeper, and complex protag could be found in seinen stories.

 

[ConTroll]

You forgot how an MC with this character archetype usually surround themselves with sycophants, fanatics, and naive counterparts...just so the MC stands out as a "normal" person.

 

[Alienix]

 

[NotYourTypicalMan]

well,some people love that stuff and some people don't.Just don't ruin their works with bad reviews just because you don't like it.

 

[Leti]

That sounds more like typical JRPG protagonist. When I think of typical Shounen protagonist, my mind immediately wandered to the direction of their OPness and how friendship save the day based from what little Shounen I have read so far. Plot armor is no joke.

If the story is about the struggle between good and evil, it's often obvious which one the hero belongs to. Most authors have tendencies to present the protagonist as a paragon of light incapable of even smallest act of evil. They have no personality, very fitting for followers of light. The light despise free will, anything that goes against its doctrine is treated as evil. What if the protagonist naivety is the result of being exposed to propaganda for generations? The world isn't black and white. There is no true good or evil. Only power. It's a matter of perspective.

 

[gaylolis]

it's one of the reasons why i prefer chinese novels, i couldn't stand JP's goody-two-shoes protagonists

but when it comes to hentai, they're pretty good, especially if there's no guys in it.

 

[MasterHiatus]

Well, it's shounen. I mean, to be honest, that's where we all started. But I would really like to have a protagonist doing the wrong thing for once. Just because he's a protagonist, doesn't mean that he is a good person.
So I think that is why I like revenge type animes and mangas and novels too.

 

[SilvCrimBlac]

This is the main reason I don't watch anime anymore beyond a small collection and I rarely watch anything new because it's only getting worse with time. My ideal anime is Black Lagoon, Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, and S-Cry-Ed, and Seven Samurai. My Top 5. I don't like anything else enough to put into a Top anything list. Xianxia is just as bad but on the total opposite of the spectrum. Japanese stuff is bad...but Chinese is downright horrible. To me, Korean is the best. They somehow normally manage to find a middle ground that Japanese and Chinese don't seem creatively capable of.

I mostly read manga now and if I even find hints of a shounen type protag I drop it before it gets going. Powah ov friendship doesn't exist. No, you don't gain sudden power boost cuz muh feelings. You DO have to kill at some point if you want peace. There are countless historical people from various countries, tribes, and cultures that had no problem saying if you wanted peace, you had to be ready to go through the slaughterhouse to get it. Saying you should never kill is so infuriatingly stupid that I drop stories when protags say this. its bullshit. I wish everytime they said that, they lost someone important to them due to murder by the very person they refused to kill. And rinse and repeat until they got over this idealistic bullshit or they lost everyone and everything. I have no sympathy for these types of people. I've met people like this in real life and experienced immense joy when life kicked them in the nuts or cunt and shattered that idealism. Always though because they tried to push those ideals onto me and then shunned me when I didn't nod and agree like the little automaton they wanted me to be.

I've noticed in life that people who are "good" tend to be more upset that you dont immediately fall in line and follow them, whereas someone who is evil, or just unpleasant at least, are more carefree about who does and doesn't agree and follow them. At least initially. "Good" people are ardent practitioners of the Art of the Guilt Trip. Good thing I'm a master of the Piss Off Style: Get Off My Lawn Jutsu.

The world is gray. Black and White exist sure, but they are the exception, not the rule. Most people aren't overly good or evil. They are a mixture of both that sometimes teeters in the direction of one over the other during certain circumstances.

Basically, I find most entertainment nowadays disappointing except for the most part, Korean. The only problem with Korean is that they for some reason, seem incapable of doing romance without trying to NTR everyone and their mother and sister and auntie and cousin and (insert fifty other female individuals here). So I like Korean, but I avoid Korean romances like the filthy plague that it is unless given absolute assurances by people who have already read something that it doesn't have NTR.

Things like this are why I mostly read so much history I guess.

 

[Arielus]

I like characters who are moral but know what failure and knowing what naivety costs
If you want to see a good story about that try Trigun
Vash is a pacifist and he has the scars to show that yeah he tried to live his ideals in a world that would never support them he lives with the guilt of his failures and does his best even against the constant never ending setbacks he has when pacifism just can't work out

 

[bigbear51]

Honestly, I'm a fan of the so-called "do-goody" shonen mc's. It's enjoyable to read someone overcome the odds, or stay true to themselves despite the circumstances.

 

[Ral]

Well, it is shounen, for very young boys. Being for young boys, they often lack nuance.

Just don't bother with shounen. They are designed to be this way. There is a wider world outside shounen.

It's a "feel good" formula, hero always wins because the audience says so. It constricts authors a lot because they can't take risks. Such is the case with NTR, most readers are allergic to it (myself included) so as soon as it peeks it's head in a story most people will drop it like a hot potato.

What is risk? The possibility of loss/failure. Higher the risks, higher the possibility of loss/failure.

It is not so much as it constricts the authors but that it requires more from them. They rather take the low-hanging fruit.

 

[Bloodysin28]

That's why the it shounen jump manga I'm reading is chainsaw man (which is seriously fucked up and punishing).it's more seinen than shounen.

 

[AliceShiki]

When presented with a choice between saving one person or another, the typical protagonist would say something like "I'll just save both of them!"

But what if you really couldn't save both of them?

I would personally like to see the face of that protagonist as he failed in saving either of them because he tried to save both.

Well, sometimes there just isn't much of a choice other than trying to save both...

I mean, if someone was like... "Choose, who will live, your Significant Other or Your Child?" Would you really blame the protagonist for trying to save both? It's not really the kind of choice you can make...

I wouldn't mind seeing the protagonist failing that and losing both, but I'd be a lot more annoyed if I saw the protag making a choice between them tbh.

 

[BenJepheneT]

It sells, my nigga. and you know which route authors like to take

 

[Wintertime]

Sounds like batman.

 

[Maple-Leaf]

FFF-Class Trashero manwha was fucking gold my dude.

You want more than a typical shounen? There it is.

 

[Sloth-of-Bangkok]

So, this is going to be a little rant of mine on something that annoys me. That is, the typical shonen protagonist.

What do I mean by this?

Well, there is something that simply annoys me about characters who are just straight up 'good'.

I personally hate it when a protagonist is always doing the right thing, in every possible situation.

They hold no hesitation. They see the situation and their body is acting on its own before they can even think, and they're off to save the captured person and defeat the bad guy- of course by knocking him out, and not by killing him.

I hate this.

It isn't real.

A more grounded protagonist would be distressed.

They wouldn't look at the world as black and white, good guy and bad guy.

And they wouldn't be happy go lucky in every single scenario.

There is nothing I hate more than the saying "Even if there is a 1% chance, I'll somehow grab onto that chance!!"

No.

Just stop.

If the chance truly is only 1%, then you will lose. You will die. However, because an author wrote the story such that you will win, you are guaranteed not to die.

It isn't a 1% chance. It's a 100% chance.

I enjoy seeing characters that are somewhat selfish, or that prioritize their own loved ones over others.

When presented with a choice between saving one person or another, the typical protagonist would say something like "I'll just save both of them!"

But what if you really couldn't save both of them?

I would personally like to see the face of that protagonist as he failed in saving either of them because he tried to save both.

This isn't heroism. It's just naivety. And yet in many stories, this naivety ends up working out, promoting more of this naivety.

That being said, I think this protagonist is actually on the decline these days, so that is a good thing in my opinion. It merely annoys me when the protagonist is able to simply jump into something, go against logic, and somehow everything works out fine in the end and they never have to worry.

Dude, cynicism is for the loser.

You should see my protagonist. He is the reconstruction of an ideal hero. The man who literally works himself to an inhuman level to save everyone but still struggle because the enemy is too powerful. He has doubts. He makes hard choices, but he will do the right thing to save everyone he possibly can. His ability is geared toward making that 1% chance real (intense preparation and future modeling) and even he fails because the opponent is too good. But he never gave up because he believes in good and optimism, even when he hates himself for failing to live up to his ideal, he still walks on believing in the better tomorrow. He worries more than anyone because he understands the obstacle, but he also cares more than anyone.

Every defeat made him stronger. Every mistake makes him wiser. Every mission results in one more technique to create to spite his defeat. Until the end he power-creep to the point you have the hero who can save everyone. He turns one percent chance to perfect victory by sheer planning, cheating and raw force of will in both his comrade and his personal power.

Cynic make an easy choice and stagnate. An optimist never gives in and continues progressing until he is nothing short of a god. Making character edgy does not equal depth, making them a cynic only degrade them. There is complexity in good. Because you will only see hell freeze over when a good man go to war. What is more scary? An idle man who does things out of compromises and cynicism. Or a goddamn Ubermensch who is constantly one step ahead of you. Whose motive is a mysterious unpredictability. Who seemingly don't give a shit about anything you can offer. Who unfailingly predict how you will attack and what angel you play.

All because the opponent do not know that the hero believes if even one life is effect the better. It is worth it.

 

[Sloth-of-Bangkok]

Well, sometimes there just isn't much of a choice other than trying to save both...

I mean, if someone was like... "Choose, who will live, your Significant Other or Your Child?" Would you really blame the protagonist for trying to save both? It's not really the kind of choice you can make...

I wouldn't mind seeing the protagonist failing that and losing both, but I'd be a lot more annoyed if I saw the protag making a choice between them tbh.

Both of them are booby trap because he already predict you will ask that question years ago. Attacking loves one is so old only a true cynic will use it. Cynicism never learn. You just drag and exploding andriod your house — enjoy.

(A truly smart and good protagonist).