Making a Dark Character Likeable through Vulnerabilities

How can you make a dark character likeable? Through giving them vulnerabilities. Mary Papas, my guest today, shares three ingredients for creating appealing characters with a dark streak. All yours, Mary.

I love dark characters. I don’t like calling them “bad”—I prefer the term “dark,” as I feel they are in fact characters that have not seen the light yet (and maybe they never will). There is a problem with dark characters though. They can easily turn into cartoon characters if they are presented as too evil and, of course, it is impossible for readers to like them.

So what can be done? How can you make dark characters likeable? There are several ways, but as a writer, I choose the vulnerability road. Show the vulnerabilities the dark character has and your readers will like him. But you have to do this the right way.


Find the Right Vulnerabilities

You can’t make your dark character vulnerable to anything. His vulnerabilities have to make sense. They have to be based on his personality and his life journey. For example:

  • A powerful dark character may be shown to be vulnerable to kids and stray animals, because he doesn’t feel antagonistic towards them (they need him, so they can’t hurt him).
  • A dark character may not like kids, but he may be shown to have a soft spot for a particular kid because he reminds him of himself in his age.
  • A dark character may avoid intimacy in general, but fall in love with a person who treats him kindly and therefore become vulnerable to that person.

Related posts: What’s Your Character’s Love Style? and Where Do Your Characters Fit in the Triangular Theory of Love?


Don’t Use Vulnerabilities to Excuse Everything

Using a dark character’s vulnerabilities to excuse his actions and his overall attitude is a recipe for disaster. Readers don’t like feeling manipulated into liking a character; they want to be given the freedom to come to their own conclusions. What you can do as a writer is show the character’s vulnerabilities and hope the readers will sympathize with and like him.

Want help creating dark but likeable characters? Check out The Balancing Act: Writing Unlikable Characters.


Show the Struggle

A dark character does not want to show his vulnerabilities—he wants to appear strong, powerful and untouched—so as a writer you will have to show him struggling to hide his vulnerabilities from others. Those vulnerabilities can be shown when he is:

  • Alone
  • Dreaming
  • Daydreaming
  • In danger
  • Forced to make a serious decision

Even then, the character needs to struggle to hide his vulnerabilities from others—and sometimes even from himself.

Hope the above tips are helpful!