forum What are some characters in your world that seem evil but actually aren't?

Started June 17, 2019 by @Mojack group

tune

Also known as the characters that might be perceived as bad or evil by most of the population, but in reality, they're doing a good thing.

Well, my main character Hinata could be seen as evil in many worlds, since her job is to keep balance between good and evil. This is because she has to cause some worlds to have bad endings, like permanent dystopian or killing most people.
Trust me, she hates it when she has to do it.

Most of the Eldritch creatures are seen as evil and chaotic, so it would make sense for this one individual to be considered evil. This individual is known as Iavhuidha, known for their bright colours and constantly changing form. Many people fear the Eldritch due to lack of understanding their culture and politics, as well as the fact that they do not obey by (most) of the laws of the "End of Time" universe. Iavhuidha however, wishes to at least change some perception on that, by offering a business to all species of all sizes and shapes. This business is known as to humans as the "arts" and Iavhuidha offers a variety of that. Paintings, sculptures, songs (of the unusual sort). As well as some sort of tourist guide to those willing to ask.
Of course, not many creatures use Iavhuidha's services, since the Eldritch rep. will likely never change. Iavhuidha doesn't really have to say anything on that.

Kyoko Saionji

Everyone kind of views Lavinia as not necessarily evil, but unbalanced and violent (because she tried to knife her abuser) even though she's not.
Meg's seen as standoffish and cold by a lot of people because she's quiet and easily irritated, same with Giana.

In my story, I've got a character named Dr. Charles Moore, who (with the help of a team)creates artificial life. And I'm talking complete humans. Not too bad, right? But then he realizes that the resulting "humans" have no emotions, no complex understanding. He has to teach them everything. He forces them to experience hunger so they learn to want to eat. He teaches them pain so they can learn obedience. He seems like a bad guy for making these poor "kids" suffer. And when it finally comes to it, he decides that each of them (5 in total) must die, because they have essentially lost their minds. They cannot comprehend emotions, like joy or anger. They scream and lash out, starve themselves, lose all progress. They start to hurt themselves and others. So he kills them. He's very hard to like after that.

In his mind, however, he is trying to teach them. To help them. And when they can't handle it, he puts them out of their misery.

While most see him as the man who created the experiments, tortured and taught them, and then killed them, he believes that he is furthering society. He believes he is doing the best for the experiments. And he believes that when he kills them, it is truly for their benefit.

So decide for yourself. Is Dr. Moore a bad guy?

Ummm. I have a character. Her name Lady Lavinia Chekhov. She helps the psycho dictator queen torture her (the queens) daughters so she can get money to survive. She only spends this money on herself and not her family as it is only enough money to sustain one person. She was taught that she had to care for herself before her family by her parents and doesn’t know better.

In my story, I've got a character named Dr. Charles Moore, who (with the help of a team)creates artificial life. And I'm talking complete humans. Not too bad, right? But then he realizes that the resulting "humans" have no emotions, no complex understanding. He has to teach them everything. He forces them to experience hunger so they learn to want to eat. He teaches them pain so they can learn obedience. He seems like a bad guy for making these poor "kids" suffer. And when it finally comes to it, he decides that each of them (5 in total) must die, because they have essentially lost their minds. They cannot comprehend emotions, like joy or anger. They scream and lash out, starve themselves, lose all progress. They start to hurt themselves and others. So he kills them. He's very hard to like after that.

In his mind, however, he is trying to teach them. To help them. And when they can't handle it, he puts them out of their misery.

While most see him as the man who created the experiments, tortured and taught them, and then killed them, he believes that he is furthering society. He believes he is doing the best for the experiments. And he believes that when he kills them, it is truly for their benefit.

So decide for yourself. Is Dr. Moore a bad guy?

I love this so much! I think the way to add depth to his character is to really show him struggling with their deaths. Have him try everything else before killing them, and then finally admit to himself that the only way to save them is to put them out of their memory. The question this raises is what makes a human, a human? Kind of the whole Frankenstein-don't-play-with-nature thing. I really dig the vibe.

Oliver is in the same boat as Meg where he's seen as harsh and standoffish and outright delusional by some people, especially those unsympathetic to the rebellion.
Huxley is emotionally abused, manipulated, and belittled for 10 years and has very little self-esteem and is generally apathetic at best, so he's generally seen as cold and unlikable by the other characters
Nich is kind of an asshole most of the time, but he does genuinely care about people and wants to help them so there's that.

My antagonist Enzo Ramirez at first seems quite evil, because of unreliable narration. Nyir , the protagonist, blames him for stripping away everything she ever loved. Technically, though, he only attacked their base (and thus killed her husband) because they attacked first. He's a bit like Magneto, I guess. He's just retaliating because people assume him and his kind are evil. He has morals that he holds himself to –after the attack and the deaths it caused, he decides to never use his powers on an enemy/unwilling participant again (he has empathy/emotion manipulation abilities). He is really just trying to protect his people and his family, sometimes at the cost of others, but typically just in self-defense. He's done a lot of bad things, but he does them for good reasons, and he really doesn't want to fight this war that's been thrust upon him.

My antagonist Enzo Ramirez at first seems quite evil, because of unreliable narration. Nyir , the protagonist, blames him for stripping away everything she ever loved. Technically, though, he only attacked their base (and thus killed her husband) because they attacked first. He's a bit like Magneto, I guess. He's just retaliating because people assume him and his kind are evil. He has morals that he holds himself to –after the attack and the deaths it caused, he decides to never use his powers on an enemy/unwilling participant again (he has empathy/emotion manipulation abilities). He is really just trying to protect his people and his family, sometimes at the cost of others, but typically just in self-defense. He's done a lot of bad things, but he does them for good reasons, and he really doesn't want to fight this war that's been thrust upon him.

That's my favorite type of antagonist (not that he's evil, just in an 'opposes the protag' way)!

Thanks! I tend to write characters as I view the world, and I love making in depth antagonists.