How To Write The Perfect Protagonist

Guts, Musashi, Thorfinn. Analyzing what makes "the perfect protagonist" using examples from anime and manga to look at what goes into writing a great main character, and clearing up any misconceptions surrounding this topic.

edited by : Romario Villalobos

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[RiverdudeCovers]

In my opinion, Thorfinn will always be my favorite protagonist. His journey from an innocent child, to a hate filled teen, and eventually to a peaceful man who strives to be a true warrior resonates with me far more than others.

[jacksonios]

Put them on a farm and they are quality protagonists.

[AnimeBallsDeep]

Guts theme in the background hit me too hard

[ihatetobethatguybut...]

The perfect character is a imperfect character

[ZROMyth]

Characters like Thorfinn and Guts are great examples of protagonist that have a lot of dynamism to them in terms of their character writing and goals.

[MonkeyDLuis-jhsg]

It's scary how well written these three are. They got everything and more

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

One can never achieve true perfection per se, but a lot of manga characters surely comes close to that goal

[yacineboudella]

Make the reader feel like the protagonist is a REAL PERSON

[bongobingobango]

I'm a simple man, I see Thorfinn, Musashi, AND Guts in a thumbnail, it's an instant click

[MA-yuss]

I think having a revenge motive and developing from there is part of what makes characters like Thorfinn and Guts amazing

[thunderbruh]

I love protagonists like Mushashi and Thorfinn because they start off wild and believe being strong in fights is the only strength you can have. But later, as they go through many hardships they figure out there are many different strengths in the world.

[mr.sadist]

Masked : protagonist needs goals
Gintoki : I just want sweets

[UhhEscapee]

musashi is my all time favorite protagonist and character in general. vagabond impacted me like no other, it truly changed my life

[omegazx]

"the main goal is to give your story life"

shows Death Parade

[cbaltblue]

"each protagonist isn't going to connect with every reader" please send this to western comic book writer where, according to them, everything has to be relatable and NoT oFFenD anyone

[HeyLookItsThatGuy]

I absolutely love Gon's character development throughout HXH! You think he's gonna be another traditional innocent, overpowered, righteous and dumb protagonist but that all gets flipped on it's head! He's intelligent, loses more than he wins, doesn't really care about right vs wrong, and shows how a terrible world would actually affect a child and how trauma can completely change someone. The chimera ant arc is one of my favorite arcs from any anime and the stark difference between Gon and Meruem's character development is not only shocking, but truly engaging and I hurt for both of them! Oh and Killua is a bad ass..

[Anme]

Yona from Akatsuki no Yona is sooo underrated. She goes through so much change internally and externally. A Really good mix of Shojo and Shonen. I really recommend it👍🏾

[MD-dyvw]

My favorites are Musashi and Gintoki. Musashi for obvious reasons. For Gintoki I could write a poem, but if I had to say 1 thing is that he is the only shounen protagonist that carries his own show. He is funny, mysterious, has a lot of strength potential and he never gets annoying.

[Osama-KIN_TMZ]

Be it more humane and grounded protagonists like Thorfinn, Mob, Guts or Eren, more interesting ones like Masashi, Lelouch or Araragi, larger than life and inspirational ones like Asta, Luffy and Naruto, or ones that act as the other side of the chess board like Ainz or Light....

Either way, it is the progression and ideologies of those characters; what makes them intriguing to watch and see how they develop from the ground up, be it a positive or negative change, or just continuing on a flat character arc and focusing on other aspects of their persona.

[MA-yuss]

Stories like Thorfinn’s just makes you want to be a better person. I really love mangas like that