How to Create a Likable Antagonist

There are several routes for this, the first and possibly most simple being to have a protagonist that isn't likable (see earlier blog post).


The second is to have one that's freaking hilarious and amazing.  Take Damon in the first Vampire Diaries book (ha-ha, loser!  Yes, I read the book series WAAAAYYYY before ANYONE ever knew it would be a TV show, so more power to me!).  He was all like, "Yo, Elena!  Wassup, homie G?!" and he was all funny and awesome and stuff.  That's how you have to be.  If they're not funny, then they need to be dark and mysterious.


Another thing that sort of goes along with that is that you should be able to laugh AT the villain. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Six, for example, the Trio totally FAILED, but they were epicly beast.  Know why?  They were such nerds that it was impossible not to love them (WARREN!  JONATHAN!  ANDREW!  Yayyy...!).


One other fun thing to do is to make a totally separate character that's all mysterious and such, like Foss on Kyle XY.  For the first season, whenever he came on, everyone was all like, "wtf?  What's up with that loser?"  No one knew WHAT was going on with him, and it created intrigue around the villains - "Who are these people and what do they have to do with the nice security company man?"


Yay.  Have fun with your antagonist.

How to Create a Hate-Able Protagonist

For this post, I will use Bella Swan from the Twilight series, just because I think she's about the dumbest MC ever in the world.  So, besides that...


Personally, I think the simplest way to do this, without having to make character traits for them that really do suck, is to surround your protagonist with freaking awesome people.  For example, Bella had Mike Newton.  Now, most people don't think much of him, but I think he's the best.  Even when Bella wouldn't go out with him and instead appeared to be dating someone two years younger than her, Mike was never mean.  He was never hateful.  He was Bella's friend, and he never, ever gave up on her, which I think was great.  And then, of course, there's Emmett.  *sigh*


Now, to go the other route, there are several traits you could use that will people hate them like THAT.  *snaps fingers*

1. Whiny-ness
2. Haughtiness (Hermione [the difference is that she had a ton of redeeming qualities - but before that, in the first book, didn't you totally HATE her?])
3. Stupidity/Ignorance
4. "Holier-than-Though"-ishness
5. Overly-Niceness (Percy Jackson.  Those books were terrible, anyway, though, so it probably wouldn't even matter)
6. Overall Annoying (Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer [that's right.  I'm the one Buffy fan that doesn't like her.  Know who else I like?  DAWN.  She's the greatest.  So there])

Follow either of these routes and everyone's sure to hate your protag!  :D

Welcome!

Hi!  My name's Casey.  Now, it's possible (only very slightly; I think there were only, like, eleven or twelve followers) that you know me from my old blog that I recently deleted, Musings of an Overly-Unique Teen.  However, I highly doubt it, since, like I mentioned in those lovely parentheses, I didn't have much following, except, for some reason, in North Korea.  Should I be concerned?  Are the U.S. and North Korea, like, buds now, or am I threatening national security, or what?  'Cuz if I am, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to... and I never did.  I just, like, blogged about Buffy the Vampire Slayer and politics and nature and such.


Perhaps what you learned from that random rambling up there (which I also do a lot - be prepared) is that I blog about totally random stuff.  It could be the Tea Party one day and then a tea party the next.  Did you get it?  That was, you know, a grammar joke.  Ha-ha.  Becca got it, I bet.  Didja, Becca?  Didja?


So, anyway.  I can't see this as being much different than my old blog, except that this one kind of has a better title.  The only reason I stopped my old blog in the first place was a) the name of the blog sucked, b) I kind of just wanted a chance to scrap it and start over, and c) the title was really, really horrible.  Did I already say that but with a different adjective?


I like proper grammar.  I tend to use it.  Of course, since I do know how to use grammar and I'm actually really snobby about it a lot of the time, sometimes I'll use poor grammar for the fun of it, or else I'll talk like a Southern Folk (not that Southern Folks have bad grammar - I'm sure it's just as good as or better than people up north) - you know, just using words like "y'all" and such.


Finally, I do a lot of angry ranting, be it about politics, my friends (I don't use their real names, of course; they're always changed to a different name, such as Susie, or else renamed Friend X or Stupid Person B), or terrible movies that everyone seems to love (I'll do a post on Titanic sometime).


This is getting to be kind of long, so... big kiss, class dismissed!  Wait, I accidentally stole that from Paisley Hanover.  Let's try again...


This blog has style; it's got flair!  That's how it became the nannyyyyy!  Do-do-do-duh-duh-duh-do!


All right, that was just... weird.  Because a blog can clearly raise three children properly.  (Although, Fran did a pretty iffy job on Maggie - wanting to move in with her boyfriend after they've been dating for a month... )


Yeah, whatever.  Bye.