Randomness

Liking the Antagonist is Not Always a Bad Thing

Written August 5, 2021.

When I was actively writing Remnants of Reality, I got a lot of messages about this.

People who had read School of Secrets still thought of Yumi as an antagonist, even as she became more conflicted about her position in the sequel.

Readers would ask me if Yumi is still technically an antagonist in Remnants of Reality, and when I would say that yes she is, some people would automatically assume that they were wrong for liking her.

In some cases, sure, it can be bad to say that you like an antagonist. If that character is a truly horrible one, with no redeeming qualities, then sure it's not considered acceptable to like them.

However, if there's something redeeming and/or relatable about a book's antagonist, then they may be likable in a way.

I don't want to provide any past or future Perkins School spoilers here, so the first explanation may be a bit vague here.

In my series, Yumi starts out firmly on the side of evil. However, near the end of School of Secrets in the epilogue, readers find out that her position is a bit more complicated than that. In Remnants of Reality, while Yumi is nowhere near heroic, readers see her through a more humanizing lens.

Since she is shown to have some redeeming qualities, readers have a chance to understand more about her character. Some people, seeing her situation and understanding her newfound need for change, may begin to root for her.

This ability to sympathize with an antagonist may also lead readers to like a character. If we can sympathize with a character and root for them to make the right decisions, then we can easily become invested enough in their struggle to begin favoring them.

This next example is a bit controversial.

In the Harry Potter series, a lot of people think of Professor Snape as an antagonist. While Snape spends a decent portion of the series being cruel to Harry, some people believe that he ends up redeeming himself by the end of his life. Some Harry Potter readers may accept that Snape did the right thing in the end. Others, however, will continue disliking him because of his extensive past.

Neither reader would be wrong in this case. Just as some people may dislike a story's protagonist, others may like the antagonist. I think that, if a writer can create an antagonist who is worth rooting for, this is an accomplishment in itself.

Different people will be drawn to different personalities in different stories, which is always something to be celebrated.