Is writing sympathetic antagonists bad?

As the title asks, is it bad to write sympathetic antagonists, especially nowadays? I'm not saying that because of my OC or anything like that. I'm saying that because people mostly seem to be drawn to antagonists/villains who are just malevolent forces, large hams, and/or those who might be evil just to be evil than those who are more tragic and/or sympathetic who are more realistic and believable for the most part, based on what I've seen, heard, and/or read. I just don't know why or if that's true. Can someone tell me?

Comments

[wingdingaling]

I think it's more that people like to understand the villain's motives and character, instead of having them portrayed as a victim just to get the audience to like them.

[Heroic412227]

5526243
Oh. Okay, thanks.

[Reactception]

Sympathetic villains are some of my favorite characters non fiction as long as you do it right

[Heroic412227]

5526311
Okay. Thank you for replying.

[SapphireRose87]

I say it can go both ways. Some people might not like a sympathetic antagonist while others do. Some people might not like antagonists that just plain evil and some do. To me, it's about character development whether they be good or bad. If you have a character that's fully developed that's what counts.

[Huk]

Sympathetic antagonists are popular because to write one, you MUST create a believable and non-BS backstory that not only explains why the villain is doing what he's doing but does it in a way that will make your reader feel sorry for the guy. Mix it all up, and you'll almost always get an interesting character - and that's what it's really about.

So no, writing a sympathetic antagonist is not bad in any way. If you can pull it off - do it

[Heroic412227]

5526797
Thanks.

You mean like this backstory for example?:

Many years before the series started, Odium was a young, well-meaning, and helpful pup who was born into an honorable family. They've taught him many different lessons to learn in life in order to be good towards others, but the biggest lesson he learned was that whenever he sees injustice of any kind happening, he should tackle it head on in order to make sure that others don't suffer.

This made sense as his family moved to and lived in a very disreputable town on the other side of the planet named Rogue Town, where injustice and hardships usually happens on a daily basis due to overpopulation, poverty, and competition for years before he was born. This made Odium's family, who are some of the only ones trying to do something about it, create and uphold to a moral code against injustice in order to make sure that life becomes better for others, whether inside or outside their new and current damaged society.

Overtime, in Odium's life, he would follow this code for his family and others in order to make life better out of honor and integrity. He's done things like giving an orphan back some bread after it was stolen from him by hooligans before giving them some bread of his own, told off a cruel and abusive family for yelling and kicking out their child, etc. all in the name of honor and integrity. However, this caused him to be so obsessed, single-minded, and blinded by his family's philosophy to the point of downright hatred, confrontation, judgement, self-righteousness and bitterness towards injustice of any kind, as well as towards those who violate said moral code.

After Odium became old enough to survive on his own, he left his disreputable town and waved goodbye to his honorable and loving family before heading through a cold and barren forest that leads outside of the town named the Black Tree Forest. Freezing from the chilling air without any warm clothes to put on, Odium needed someplace to warm up for a while. Suddenly, his ears twitched as he heard a strange sound from nearby. Out of curiosity, he decided to quickly follow it up to a large, rocky cave that housed an old and mysterious seer.

The seer took him in and gave him some warmer clothes to put on. The seer then insisted that he'd stay with her for more warmth and better shelter from the cold, which Odium hesitantly agrees since he's got nowhere else to go. After a few days have passed, Odium was about to leave, until the seer stops him and tells him that she and others need help. This intrigues Odium with both curiosity and a bit of skepticism, but she assured him that it's truly for the greater good. Seeing this as a necessity to help others out and live up to his family's high moral legacy, Odium listens to what she has to say.

The seer then shows Odium, through her crystal ball, all of the Mane Six, Starlight, and Discord's future wrongdoings and faults; the disasters they're responsible for, the crimes they questionably committed, and even how they've treated each other and others like Spike at times throughout the series while also subverting the good that they've done. She also says that they're manipulative, careless, heartless, and vindictive beings who use their so-called "good-nature" to escape their faults and even excuse them. They will also kill and/or hurt anyone who goes up against them.

This angers Odium while the seer tells him that he's the only one who can stop them. Odium asks why him and not anyone else, but the seer says that he's the most selfless and bravest creature that she's seen who has the most potential and that he has to do it in if he truly wants to do the right thing and live up to his family's moral identity and legacy. Odium hesitantly accepts and the seer decides to help train and prepare him until he's truly ready to face the Mane Six, but also tells him to watch the visions over and over again in order to have a great focus needed for his mission.

After years of training, planning, and studying the Mane Six, Starlight, and Discord while being told to watch the visions over and over again, causing his hatred and determination against the Mane Six and their friends to slowly grow overtime, the seer finally said that Odium is ready and gave him one of her ancient weapons before painfully dying of old age and turning to dust right in front of him. This traumatized Odium greatly before he headed out on his journey against the Mane Six and the others.

During his journey, however, he began to see injustices everywhere he went and decided to stop it with no reward or recognition. Like helping an old lady against a pack of criminals, defeating a giant rock monster for a lost child, etc. Despite his good deeds, however, that still didn't stop his journey to go after the Mane Six, Starlight, and Discord for their misdeeds. In fact, it only strengthened his belief that what he's about to do to them is the right thing to do.

[Huk]

5526818

Well, first... I hope you don't plan to put that - or any other wall of text - as part of a story's chapter explaining your OC's backstory, because I can guarantee you many readers will leave before finishing that (been there, done that). Instead of an info dump, such information should be passed gradually and only as needed (for example, if your OC wins a battle and Twilight demands an explanation of why he attacked them, he could reveal a part of that as his reasoning).

As for the backstory itself... yes, something like that, but I see a few problems here:

• Odium seems to be the reversed cliche villain - instead of being evil for the sake of being evil, he is good for the sake of being good. I would add some real motivation here instead of 'because his family taught him to.' Bruce Wayne didn't become Batman because there was crime in Gotham - he became Batman after getting 'motivated' by his parents' death. If your OC is following some code for the sake of following the code, that sounds pretty unrealistic to me. Not saying it's completely impossible, but that description implies the guy is very closed-minded and morally blind.
• He also seems EXTREMELY naive (which seems rather odd if he had to deal with the scum of his hometown for his entire upbringing - they would eat such a person alive) - some random stranger tells him that mane six are evil and needs to be taken out and he... accepts? And then let the stranger train him? An ordinary person would never agree to such an assignment without asking MANY questions first and probably getting second-hand information. I mean, I guess you can make someone like that, but this sounds like the naivety level of Knuckles from the Sonic series...
• It's also hard to believe that he would not have second thoughts about his assignment during his journey. The creatures who know who Twilight is would definitely point out all the good she and the girls did.

Just to be clear, I don't know what kind of character you want your OC to be. If you want to show him as an extremely naive person that has a closed mind, prefers to follow his own code, and has a tendency to jump to conclusions, that backstory could work. But many people will find your OC's motivation unrealistic .

[Heroic412227]

5526870
He does have another motive besides making life better for others. He wants to live to his family's high moral legacy and identity. Also, he was tricked before the series started on the other side of the planet. Sorry. I was just explaining.

[Heroic412227]

5526870
Still, thanks.

[Huk]

5526901

Well, in that case, it will all come down to how well you'll show it. Good luck !

[Heroic412227]

5527335
Sorry about that and thanks.