The personality makes the character.....right?

I've already spoken in the GD and elsewhere about how Naruto is the most grimdark anime of all time and basically the ultimate crapsack world.

Anime: Where the heroes use child soldiers like it ain't no thang.

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Originally Posted by Kodos

Also the UC stuff seems to be aware, at least some of the time, that child soldiering is a fucking abominable practice. I mean I haven't watched the original Gundam since like 2004, but I seem to recall it having at least a little self-awareness to the fact that children + war = horrible idea.

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Yeah right from the start they talk about how awful it is that the commander of the ship is only 19 years old.

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Originally Posted by Fenn

I'm noticing a theme with some of your responses here: "unrepentant," "arrogant," "careless," "asshole," "badass." Most of these traits are considered undesirable by modern-day society. What is it about these insensitive, do-what-I-want types that attracts so many fans? I find myself intrigued by them too.

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Because you're a pussyfart and can't stand up like a man

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Originally Posted by Fenn

I'm noticing a theme with some of your responses here: "unrepentant," "arrogant," "careless," "asshole," "badass." Most of these traits are considered undesirable by modern-day society. What is it about these insensitive, do-what-I-want types that attracts so many fans? I find myself intrigued by them too.

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I think that mostly these traits are something that has to do with society. When someone sees a character ignoring the laws, it stirs something inside of them, making them wish subconsiously that they can do that because society looks down on it. Have you ever disobeyed your mother just because you didn't like what she was telling you to do? Didn't you get a small thrill out of doing it? Have you ever snuck out?

These feelings build up and by seeing someone doing something rebellious, one subconsiously remembers those feelings and it triggers in their mind the urge to like the character and to be excited by what they are doing because they wish they could do it themselves. It helps them to relate to the character.

Many socially inept people could take this to heart, changing how they act to normal people so they can better relate to the character. There are many people who see these characters and feel they deserve to act that way. Some even think they are that character. Yes, this is an extreme, but hey. I like extremes.

Now, a character needs a good background and a good story for it to stick in the minds of the viewers/readers. Even if they have a good personality and would be really likeable characters, they need to have a background and a part in the show that the viewers can kind of relate to in different ways. If they didn't you wouldn't have a show that people are willing to watch, much less learn about the characters enough to like them.

I kind of agree with what jaidrun says but I think its more than just a simple sense of rebellion that these characters spark. I think 'unrelenting' is a good word for these types of characters but I think uncomrpromising is a better one. These characters have clear values and goals and they do not yield or change for anyone and I think that is why they are so compelling. Watching them we can imagine that one day we will have the courage and power to stand up for exactly what we believe and take what we want, no compromise for anything. Although the bad guys are often the kind of characters with these traits a good example that springs to mind is edward from full metal alchemist. Even though eveyone tells him and his brother that they can't do this or that and they can't be unwilling to kill they are uncompromising in their quest and in their morals, making Ed a very appealing character.

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Originally Posted by Sylux

Because you're a pussyfart and can't stand up like a man

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Ignoring the blatant gender stereotyping, save this shit for CB. I swear something cracked up in your head; all your posts have been obnoxious for the last few months.

Thank you jaidurn and Inksprout for actually replying.

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Originally Posted by ClockHand

I think kids like their character "badass" because they are kids, they want someone rebellious, arrogant or careless, because its what they want to be, even if the character is just cartoonish or plain.

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I don't associate with that sort of character because of their 'badassery': most characters who are portrayed as badasses are ridiculous and absurd (I spent 20 years training with sensei to learn kaki-mo-hara technique - what is this shit). I prefer characters with a somewhat complex personality who are individualists for certain reasons of their own, but mostly out of a romantic sensibility for the conflict between the individual and society. From the top downwards, a brief summary of the characters I listed:

- Johann Liebert is an enigma until very near the end of the series. He was described as "like an ancient dark god" in a review of Monster, and that's what lends him his power as a villain: he subverts the institutions of a somewhat familiar society (Germany shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall) to achieve his goal of erasing his existence from history. He doesn't particularly care who's killed in his quest to murder everyone who was responsible for him and commit suicide. He knows he's a (the) monster and hates himself for it.
- Patrick Bateman has no personality. He's defined by his consumption of consumer goods and useless luxury products, like all the other yuppies in American Psycho. However, while other characters in the story accept this blindly consumerist and meaningless lifestyle, Bateman rebels against it in the only way he feels able: serial murder. Which is why I say Bateman, aside from his secretary Jeanette (who's just an insecure young woman), is the only genuinely human character in the story: his murders make him the only yuppie who isn't a braindead drone.
- McMurphy is an anarchistic criminal, and the hero of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. While some of the characters say he's a psychopath, later in the story he's shown to be a caring, if rough-hewn, character. His rebellion against the mechanistic rule of Nurse Ratched is symbolic of a broader movement to take back a human spirit from the mechanisms of an oppressive society and the rulers of that society.
- Grigory Alexandrovich Pechorin (here represented by a portrait of the writer of the novel he appears in, A Hero of Our Time) is a disaffected soldier. Throughout the course of the novel we become closer to his mind, until he admits several things: that he glories in power; that he was a shy youth, but was twisted by the lack of affection of others; and that he felt he was born to be a hero, but was never "drawn to that calling". Largely this is because of his boredom and apathy to the feelings of others: he's a fairly archetypal Byronic Hero.
- Don Giovanni is a depraved libertine and all-around douchebag.

While these characters are different (Johan is well-educated and handsome, McMurphy is working-class and ginger), they all feel constrained by society. Which is why I like them. Eh.

Since when has badass been a bad descriptor? Being a badass doesn't make someone a bad person. Badass just means over-the-top-awesome. And in a very vaguely related note, I've been told I'm similar to McMurphy far too many times to give a shit about anything anyone says when comparing IRL people to works of fiction.

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Originally Posted by Bacon_Barbarian

Since when has badass been a bad descriptor? Being a badass doesn't make someone a bad person. Badass just means over-the-top-awesome.

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Dinosaurs with lasers are badass

Try making a good show starring dinosaurs with lasers

I think it could be done.