Writer's Workshop: Nice-Guy Main Characters · 12:35am Apr 8th, 2017
Oh, sure, I could use a nice literary term like "cipher," but why not use the most inflammatory term I can think of? 
Let's talk about bland, faceless characters and how to give them the color and flair they need to be interesting characters.
For those of you unaware of the term, a "Nice Guy" is a particular brand of person who struggles to find people willing to date them. There's this meme that women only date assholes, abusers, and other rough-and-tumble types. This is perhaps true, but not strictly so--it's the "only" that's the problem here. (I'll explain this more clearly in just a bit.) In any case, those who buy into this meme put themselves on the opposite end of the spectrum: they try to cultivate an inoffensive, kind personality. If they had a girlfriend, they say, they'd treat her with respect! They'd resurrect chivalry, they'd shower her with presents, and they'd empower her to do whatever she wished. And yet for some reason, nobody ever wants to date them. This only reinforces their previous notion.
But the issue was never the kindness or the abuse. Treating someone decently is laudable, of course, but it's not enough. There are millions of people who can do that. No, what made those aggressive types so desirable was that they had a story. They have something of value they bring to the relationship, even the thrill of danger. And this is the true answer to the meme, and why so-called "Nice Guys" finish last: if you have a story, there's a woman out there who will love you for it. Some women love humorous people; others love the adventurous type; others love intellectuals they can have passionate debates with. But if you have nothing, just a vague promise of nicety, then don't be surprised when the fish don't bite on a hook with no bait. (Note of course that this whole discussion is symmetrical. I only gendered this discussion because the meme itself is gendered.)
So how does this apply to storytelling? Well, I've tried to explain this a few times (Quirks and Quandaries, Powers and Flaws, The Flame Within, Up With the Establishment!), but I'll say it again: do not let your Main Character be a Nice Guy. If all you have written next to your Main Character's description in your bible is: "They're a good person who always wants to do the right thing and never gives up on a friend," you have not characterized your MC enough. If your character responds to crises the exact same way any reasonable person would, you have not created a character; you've created a placeholder for one. The proof of a character is not in how they do the right thing, but how they don't. Do you understand? It's their character quirks that drive them to unusual places that make them worth reading about.
And if you think you're safe because you're writing fanfiction, think again. These characters you've picked up are a complex and interesting bunch, sure, but do you intend to use the full breadth of their characterization, or are you implementing a sanitized version of them? Twilight Sparkle can be a neurotic, self-important, professorial, naive, hapless, adorkable companion, or she can be that Nice Guy description I used last paragraph: "a good pony who always wants to do the right thing and never gives up on a friend." And surprise, surprise, that description matches Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy equally well. Again, it's the break from that formula that makes those characters interesting. Fluttershy's depiction in "Spike at Your Service," where she makes nondescript comments about the situation: pretty forgettable. Fluttershy's depiction in "Dragonshy," where her cowardice and panic cause trouble after trouble for the party: much more interesting.
Actually, a quick caveat. You are allowed to give a character the "Nice Guy" attributes I described above, on one condition: that the setting and plot make it exceptionally difficult for the character to do so. Take Rainbow Dash in the pilot, for example. Rainbow Dash's trial is specifically "she does not give up on her friends," but there's a clause after that: "she does not give up on her friends, even if it would mean sacrificing her greatest dream." At this point, we're no longer talking about a character being "nice;" now they're heroic, principled, virtuous. (The other characters' trials do the same thing.) This is how you make all-powerful supermen like, well, Superman work: you put them into a world where being the Big Blue Boy Scout is extraordinarily difficult. You show all the sacrifices they have to make to maintain their virtue.
So what if you want your character to be an everyman? Well, hate to break it to you, but no, your character can't be an everyman.
...Okay, fine. Your character can start an everyman, but they don't get to end that way. As soon as possible, they've got to start diverging from the formula and show signs of virtue or vice. (And no, it can't be "I care too much," like this is a bad job interview.) Once your everyman starts facing the conflict of the story, what traits come to represent resolution, and which ones represent destruction? Is it the character's innocence, or their groundedness, or their good heart? These are all technically "everyman" traits, but they're different sorts of everyman, and they make the character feel like a person rather than just an archetype.
...Sigh. This came out a little more vitriolic than I intended. These Nice-Guy characters are just so boring! You plonk one into the story, and it just sorta runs on its own, like a clockwork robot. All of my favorite characters from fiction are bold, idiosyncratic personalities, and I'd wager yours are, too. So when you write your stories, why would you leave your characters in that same uncharacterized limbo? Make them more than just generic nice characters; give them an actual personality. Your story will thank you.
An additional example of this that I think is extraordinarily well done: Vash the Stampede. His goofy, carefree attitude masks a long, long lifetime of living by a strict set of principles, and he's paid the price for it. In one episode, a gang leader takes a friend of his hostage and forces Vash to strip and act like a dog. Being the constant hero, he does so willingly, but his body is so scarred even the hardened criminals are taken aback.
Of course, Vash isn't the memetic "nice guy" in any real sense. He has plenty of other character traits, but all the same serves as a fantastic example of "suffer for your virtue."
Great post, Priest.