u/KadabraTheMagician

What I mean by this is that characters like Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei and Kazuya from Rent-a-Girlfriend are so deeply human that people can get the ick watching them. Not necessarily because they're the worst characters morally, but because they're recognizable. Their insecurities, selfishness, awkwardness, desperation, jealousy, etc. feel like things you could actually see in real life.

And I think that's part of why people sometimes react more strongly to them than to characters who have done objectively worse things.

I'm not defending Rudeus or saying what he does is excusable. Some of his behavior is genuinely reprehensible. My point is that he's uncomfortable precisely because he's written with recognizable human flaws rather than as a straightforward villain.

For a lot of people, fiction is an escape from reality. So when a character gets too close to reality, it can stop feeling like an escape. You're not just watching a fictional character anymore; you're watching something that reminds you of people you know, or maybe even parts of yourself.

Compare that to someone like Eren. His actions become so extreme and fantastical that it's easier to create psychological distance from him. Even when he's committing atrocities, it's easier to perceive him as a character within this huge fictional tragedy rather than someone behaving in a recognizable reality.

Then you have characters like Endeavor and Dabi.

Endeavor is uncomfortable because what he did is much closer to something that can actually happen in real life. A father who abused his family, and his attempt to atone forces the audience to confront something much more real and complicated: can someone who did terrible things genuinely change, and what does that mean for the people they hurt?

Then there's Dabi. He's done absolutely horrific things, yet a huge part of the audience still sympathizes and possibly even "loves" him because they understand where he came from. His upbringing, his relationship with Endeavor, and everything that happened to him provide an explanation for how he became the person he is.

I guess what I'm getting at is that the more human a character becomes, the less "fictional" they feel.

And maybe that's why audiences sometimes prefer characters they can easily categorize as heroes, villains, victims, monsters, etc. It's easier to consume a story when you're being told what someone is. But when a character is contradictory and painfully human, you actually have to sit there and interpret them.

Maybe people don't hate morally bad characters as much as they hate characters who are too recognizable.

Do you guys think there are any other characters who fit this mold?

As someone who has watched and read quite a few different types of manga, and someone who is trying to write their own web novel, I find that I can only read "slop" manga now. Even though they are so unmemorable, they are entertaining, to say the least. And by slop, I specifically mean those ecchi, fantasy, isekai, and sometimes even romance ones. I haven't been able to watch anime in years, which wasn't a problem before, but now it has just turned into slop binging. I wonder if it’s just me?

For someone whos watched and read quite a few different types of animanga, and someone whos trying to write their own web novel i can only read slop manga, and even though they are so unmemorable, its entertaining to say the least. and by slop, i mean those fantasy, isekai sometimes romance ones. I haven't been able to watch anime in years, but it wasn't a problem, but now its just turned into slop binging.... I wonder if its just me lol

Been writing my first novel and i guess my "strongest character" is heavily intertwined with the story. Even though he's a 13 yr old side character, it's already known he will become more than the strongest. (Even though he's blind and deaf). Now im wondering, if it's not a spoiler already. Who is your strongest character, and what makes them that?