The Secret Formula for 'Likable' Characters

In the world of storytelling, some of the most captivating characters are those who, despite their flaws or challenging personalities, manage to win over the audience's affection. Think of characters like Tony Stark from the Marvel Universe, or Sherlock Holmes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous series. These characters are not traditionally 'nice', yet they remain incredibly likable. This phenomenon can be better understood through Eric Edson's theory of character likability, as presented in his book "The Story Solution."

Edson proposes that a character becomes likable by possessing at least five out of nine positive traits. These include: courage, suffering an unfair injury, skill, humor, being nice, being in danger, loved by friends and family, hardworking, and obsession. The combination of these traits creates a complex and relatable character. This framework helps explain why even morally ambiguous characters can be appealing.

[_magnify]

I wanted to clarify that characters don’t need to be likable! Stories about tyrants and maniacs can have their own goals in mind.

[mygirlfriendsnameisramen]

My psychology teacher once said: “the character doesn’t need to be likable, but relatable to like them anyways.”

[helmenhjelmen]

Now i want to write a story where the villain has 5 of these nine and the heros has the remaining 4 of these 9 and see who is the most likable.

[chadalpha]

How can anyone not like the guy that figured out how to put chocolate strawberry and vanilla ice cream in the same box?

[Baycompany]

Wrong. Walter was not in danger, he was the danger.

[mighty_spirit]

This really explains
Dr. Doofenschmirtz. He is:
1. A character with a unfair ”injury” with his whole childhood being more traumatising than anything he ever does in the show
2. Funny as all hell which is probably his biggest strength
3. Very much loved by his family and friends in Perry and his daughter plus kinda his ex-wife if I remember right?
4. Super hardworking and always puts his mind to what he does both evil and sometimes good like with his daughters birthday party.
5. Absolutely obsessed with taking over the tri state area which kinda ties into the last point.
Makes sense now why he is the most likable character in the show!

[regis_c]

"Sir, Rotten Tomatoes is saying you're not likeable. What do we do?"

"There is nothing we can do."

[_quidd]

You’re telling me they made a Napoleon without skill? He’s Napoleon! A tactical genius!

[MarioFRC]

They made a whole-ass movie about the guy who tried to conquer Europe and didn't put a single map in it

[Biggest]

"Sir they dont like our movie"
"Well, there's nothing we can do"

[loggingfire]

As someone who's spent was too much time researching the type of dude napoleon was, they're missing SOO MUCH, he was bullied for having an accent in school, he was obsessed with the roman empire, so much so that when he was in power he braught back the classical style of Italy, aka, neoclassicism, he'd read constantly and hated stuff like sitting for pictures because he just wanted to work and go to battle, when he was younger he trusted his men and was ACTUALLY in love with a few but stopped trusting them the second he got poisoned, he had a painter so obsessed with him that the day Napoleon died, that painter took his own life by drowning while wearing the uniform Napoleon gave him. His men loved him, especially his generals, even years after he died.

There's so much more I found in the letters people wrote about him and his journals, and I know you can't pack everything into a 2 hour film but doing all this research about him made me understand why people adored him, especially the ones who were closest to him.

[ilubmiself]

They hyper focused on his relationship with his wife and, while it was important because he needed an heir, they didn’t delve deep enough into just how powerful and terrifying he was to his contemporaries. He displaced other nation’s heads of state and replaced them with his family. He was a lowly Corsican minor noble that rose to take over the entire French empire. But most of what we see is him being in a loveless marriage and losing 500k men in Russia

[hintofinsanity]

I think Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender actually ticks all 9 characteristics. Courage and skill speak for themselves, as does hard working, just plain nice, and in danger. He has a good sense of humor.He is loved by his Nephew as well as people who are presumably his enemies. He is Obsessed with tea, and his unfair injury is the emotional scarring he has as a result of failing his only son, resulting in his death.

[superbeltman]

Which is weird because you’d think it would be really easy to show display history’s most successful MILITARY leader as courageous and skilled

[ZCasPlays]

Thanks for making this. As a writer, I don't think I've ever seen a list of attributes assembled this way. I'll keep an eye out during the next show or movie I sit down to watch.

[Tacospaceman]

*The companion cube in the portal games has zero of these things and is loved by everyone because it’s a box. that’s the exception.*

[noname-fvkn]

I read that to make a ‘bad’ character likable is to make him just slightly more humane than his counterparts

[fatitankeris]

For anyone looking for some great Napoléonic era movies, although not about himself directly, then please watch "Waterloo" (1970) and "War and Peace" (1966), the latter being one of the largest productions of those battles ever.

[Bornchristmas]

“I’m not in danger Skyler, I am the Danger.”

[X]

How do you make a Napoleon movie without him having courage or skill? Man conquered most of Europe.