Creating Unlikable Characters That Really Work

Whenever I teach my screenwriting class I always get a few students who want to push the boundaries. Typically they say traditional characters don't appeal to them. They're more interested in creating unlikable characters. I usually oppose this for two main reasons: a writer must understand character identification before attempting to subvert it, and most of the time, these writers create unlikable characters that do not work. Oh sure, they succeed in creating unlikable characters, but the characters are so unlikable that they lack audience identification. Subsequently the entire script fails because the writer, in an attempt to be different, has alienated the audience. To create successful unlikable characters requires a mastery of the special techniques used to make these characters work.

Voyeurism
In most screenplays, writers attempt to engage the audience with a likable main character. This creates identification with the character, which in turn pulls the audience into the story. With unlikable characters, writers can't rely on identification for involvement, but rather, they rely on voyeurism.

Hitchcock was the master of this form. While he did want character identification, he also wanted the audience to look at his characters from a detached view. Hitchcock's approach was that of a peeping tom, staring at the characters on the screen with a voyeuristic interest, unable to look away for fear of missing what these people would do next.

To achieve a voyeuristic level of involvement requires putting plot before character. The plot will drive the narrative and the characters on the screen are machinations of the plot. Relying on voyeurism, and not identification, also has a subtle implication. If we, the audience, do not care directly for the characters, the characters must care for each other. In other words, they must identify with each other.

The True Self
Another way to make an unlikable character work is to give that character a chance to reveal his or her true self. Everyone wears masks. We have a public face and a private one. With an unlikable character, give this person some moments to reveal their true feelings. The tightwad bank president drops a few bucks in a beggar's cup, then looks around to see if anyone saw him do it. Moments like these give the audience a glimpse inside the unlikable character and heighten the audience's curiosity. What happened to this guy to make him so miserly?

The Tragic Flaw
Sometimes a character is likable except for a hideous tragic flaw. Hannibal Lecter would be a great guy except for the fact that he eats people. Greed, arrogance, rage, homicidal tendencies - all of these traits that repel an audience can be used to create an unlikable character that works because the audience can see that except for this flaw, the character is a good human being. Whether or not the character succeeds at overcoming the flaw becomes a focal point of the story and can provide considerable narrative drive.

Charisma
Chances are if you have ever found an unlikable character engaging, that character had charisma. Now, the right actor can bring this element, but you, the writer, can also create it.

Irvine Schiffer, in his book Charisma: A Psychoanalytical Look at Mass Society broke charisma down into several elements that writers can use to create charismatic characters. They include a degree of foreignness; a subtle imperfection; a sense of mission; intensity; an element of sexuality, and an ability to convince others. Wrapping up an unlikable character in these elements arouses an audience's curiosity. This character, however unlikable, is different than the rest. A natural inclination is to want to know why. A charismatic character also attracts us with his or her intensity or sexiness. They have a slight flaw that renders them less than perfect, but like the proverbial beauty mark, the flaw only accentuates the charismatic nature of the character. Take a look at Hannibal Lecter, one of the most successful unlikable characters in movie history, and you'll find that he has charisma in spades.

When creating your unlikable characters ask yourself one question - are you creating this character just because you want to be different? If you answer yes, please don't proceed. However if you are creating an unlikable main character because the story you want to tell requires this kind of character, then by all means have at it, but remember you've created some big hurdles to overcome if you want to create a successful story.