Why Do I Like These Guys When I Would Dislike Them in Real Life?

[kerravonsen]

I seem to have a Type of character that I fall for, inevitably. Even though, logically, if I met any of them in real life, I wouldn't like them, and they wouldn't like me.

It started with Kerr Avon (Blake's 7).
Anti-hero, cynic, brilliant, snarky, witty, pragmatist, who rolls his eyes at heroics. But also faithful, with a dead girlfriend that he's willing to be tortured for in order to avenge her... only to turn out that she'd betrayed him all along. He needs a hug.

Then there was Methos (Highlander).
Brilliant, snarky, witty, pragmatist, survivor, who rolls his eyes at heroics. Oh, and a mass-murderer who played mind-games with his girlfriend. But he grew up. Probably. He's just this guy, y'know.

Severus Snape (Harry Potter) is next in line.
Brilliant, snarky, witty, liar, spy, but also a nasty piece of work, a bully who holds a grudge like it defines his identity. And faithful. With a dead girlfriend whom he betrayed, but switched sides for and is willing to die in order to avenge her. He needs a hug.

And now Loki (Marvel). The most dangerous and unpredictable of them all.
Brilliant, snarky, witty, liar, manipulator, betrayer, survivor, mass-murderer, with a love-hate relationship with his brother that is as tangled as a hundred balls of yarn that have been played with by a thousand cats. Or possibly that's his mind; he isn't quite sane. And yet he has helped save the world.
He needs a hug too.

They are all quite rude (except possibly Methos). In real life, that would annoy me, if they were rude to me.
They all consider idealists to be morons. In real life, that would mean they would consider me a moron too, and I would not like that at all.
They don't play well with others. In real life, that would also annoy me, if I had to work with them. I much prefer cooperation to confrontation.
Every single one of them is a killer. In real life, that would terrify me. Loki especially.

So why on earth do I like them in fiction?

Comments

[thewayne]

Methos was pure awesomesauce. I always looked forward to eps he was in.

[kerravonsen]

Yeah, Methos was a delight.

[avon7]

I've never watched Highlander, but otherwise - yes. Han Solo too - definitely not for me in RL, but in fiction - oh yes. I remember writing about that in one of my many high school writing books. Rusty from Ocean's 11. I've pretty much backed out of that fandom because I found it such a conflict.

[kerravonsen]

Han Solo not really for me, probably because he doesn't have enough angst. But, "attractive jerk", check.
Kylo Ren, on the other hand... yeah, he should be added to my list. Because I have faith he's going to be redeemed eventually.

Rusty from Ocean's 11.

Haven't seen that.

I've pretty much backed out of that fandom because I found it such a conflict.

Liking the character was a conflict, or was the fandom attitude a problem too?

[cesy]

Probably for much the same reason many people enjoy rollercoasters but don't like falling off cliffs?

[kerravonsen]

Ooh, I like that analogy. Because I was saying in the thread on LJ, that with fiction, there is no fear because there is no risk.

Re: Why you like.....

[(Anonymous)]

wrt Avon's 'anti-heroic' status I'll quite a line from anoth SF franchise
You know the definition of a hero. Someone who get other people killed.
As to why you like hem I'd guess its their ability to deliver verbal gymnastics , to handy out at
awitty reposte on demand. Your attraction to them might be based on your own interest in writing and characterisation. nice people are too nice and bland and up getting killed off in episode 2.

I was wondering who you might have missed off the list..
. Londo Milari
. Michael Garribaldi
. Kosh
. Leonard McCoy
. Malcolm Reynolds
. Zachary Smith

Then there is the dual question that possibly helps in answering your larger self-reflective question
. Which characters do you fall for who you think you would like to meet in life and be comfortable with? And conversely characters that you don't like in media even irrespective of whether you would like to meet them.

shiny!
DJD

Re: Why you like.....

[kerravonsen]

You know the definition of a hero. Someone who get other people killed.
Hmmm, by that definition, the Doctor is a hero, too.

As to why you like them I'd guess its their ability to deliver verbal gymnastics, to hand out a witty riposte on demand.
It isn't just that, though. Characters who fall into this class... also need to be brilliant and angsty, to need a hug but be too stoic to accept one. And also, however much they snark and are nasty, to be very loyal/faithful to the very very few people they actually give a damn about.

I was wondering who you might have missed off the list...
None of the ones you mentioned.
Londo Milari -- I have no sympathy for him.
Michael Garribaldi -- yeah, he's nicely snarky, but he doesn't need my sympathy
Kosh -- um, what?
Leonard McCoy -- which version? Actually, I like the Reboot version a bit more, I like his snark with Jim. But he's secondary in fictional liking, and he's perfectly fine in real-life liking.
Malcolm Reynolds -- he isn't brilliant
Zachary Smith -- who?

But you are right, in that, now that I think of it, there are others I've left off the list:
* Tony Stark
* Kylo Ren/Ben Solo

Which characters do you fall for who you think you would like to meet in life and be comfortable with?

Oh, that's a good question, I think it deserves its own post.

[watervole]

Because we want to be that one person who is so key to them. They're clever survivors who would successfully save us from a anything, while being handsome and witty to boot.

[kerravonsen]

Because we want to be that one person who is so key to them.

True. Not necessarily that one person, but one of the handful that they esteem, yes. To be counted as friend to such a one... yes.

They're clever survivors who would successfully save us from a anything, while being handsome and witty to boot.

Very true. The supreme competence is very appealing.

[jaxomsride2]

I'd agree with that list we'd like them or love them but they would be hell to live with.
Another one I would suggest, if you have seen Sanctuary is Nikola Tesla. His snark and intelligence would fit and also a certain degree of ruthlessness, but oh when he became "ordinary" he definitely needed a hug.

[marta-bee.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of the discussion you see in fanfic circles sometimes, on why people liking certain kinds of content in fiction doesn't make them fans of it in real life. Usually we're talking sexual content, things like noncon or incest or pedophilia, though that's just the nature of fandom conversations, I think the same question could come up in non-sexual contents just as easily.

The best answer I have is humans re psychologically messy and there are all kinds of things we're drawn to and repulsed by at the same time. In reality, that repulsion usually wins out because there are real consequences and we have a toolkit for approaching non-fantasy elements morally and are trained to think in those terms in those contexts. But fantasy makes the repulsion less powerful so that other side, the attraction, suddenly gets the upper-hand. And just because we're completely unable to indulge that in reality, the fantasy becomes more alluring because this is the only way we can play with whatever it is we're thinking about.

Don't know if this helps, but I don't think you're alone in coming across this kind of dual I like this but why do I like this, I wouldn't like it in reality kind of thing.

[kerravonsen]

(I had this long reply I typed and then lost the whole thing when the site was blocked by LeechBlock, an otherwise excellent Firefox add-on. I've now added a form-saving add-on, in the hope that it will rescue me from such things in future. In the meantime, I shall attempt to recall and summarise what I had said originally...)

This reminds me of the discussion you see in fanfic circles sometimes, on why people liking certain kinds of content in fiction doesn't make them fans of it in real life.

True.

In reality, that repulsion usually wins out because there are real consequences

Indeed. With fiction, we feel safe, because there is no risk of being attacked by their devastating wit, or killed for LOLs. Feeling safe, and without fear, leaves more room for sympathy. Even more, there is more likelihood of sympathy because we are told a lot more about these characters than we would ever find out in real life. Once the sympathy is engaged, we are no longer repulsed by the person, we are repulsed by their actions, but instead of hating them, we want them to grow up.

When I first encountered Loki, it was in _The Avengers_ rather than _Thor_, so I didn't know his backstory; he was just some random idiot villain (IMHO most villains who want to conquer the world are idiots, because they never ever think about what they would do with the world once they have it). Then when I saw _Thor_, I got his backstory, I got his angst, he got my sympathy. Even though he needs to be shaken until his teeth rattle and bloody well grow up already. Exasperation rather than repulsion, if you see what I mean.