DubstheDuke
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 19, 2020
- Messages
- 301
- Points
- 103
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.
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.