Being Mean Is Not Enough

So here is this character. He's a good guy, obviously. The scene opens with him being beaten to a pulp, and then – shockingly – rising up to outwit the bully and scrounge of the underworld. True, our hero is a thief and a criminal, but he's also kind. Despite having next to no possessions, he took in two other children who needed protection. He is loyal. He offers those orphans a future. He pursues justice even to his own detriment. He abides by the honesty of thieves, always repaying his debts.

Essentially, he is a wholesome, lovable bandit with absolutely no prospect for character growth. He's boring. He meanders through slews of cliché, picking each one up and trying it on until he emerges on the other side of the store looking exactly like every other swashbuckling, witty underdog to ever walk this beat.

There is an adage in writing that instructs writers to be mean to their characters. Yet, based on this wonderful character (who is also the reason I haven't managed to finish a single book this month), I am here to start the campaign Being Mean Isn't Enough¹.

He has faced his fair share of pain and disadvantage: Things aren't going well for him. He doesn't need any more oppression or deprivation, what he need is few damn flaws. I don't want to read about a fellow so benign that at any moment he may stop the enemy to apologise for taking their time before he runs them through with a sword. Can he maybe be a selfish manipulator who has enlisted the underdogs for his own shady ambitions and now, for some inexplicable reason that he keeps denying to himself, feels a degree of responsibility and affection towards them?

Because right now I'm bored with this single dimension paper doll who is not even a character. He is not a character, he is a daydream.

Dear writers out there: Please never make me suffer like this again.