The Unsympathetic Protagonist Problem: Making Unlikeable Characters Compelling
Walter White cooks meth and poisons a child. Amy Dunne frames her husband for murder with sociopathic precision. Jordan Belfort defrauds thousands and revels in his own depravity. And we can’t stop watching. This is the paradox of the unsympathetic protagonist: characters who violate our moral codes yet remain narratively compelling. They shouldn’t work—but in the right hands, they become cultural phenomena. The question isn’t whether you should write unlikeable protagonists. It’s how to make them watchable without sacrificing moral complexity. ...