Dare I do it? Analyzing the "Bad Boy"

I've noticed in a few TV shows how a writer can change a viewer's perspective of a particular character--and not just a slight change--we can go from vehemently hating a character only to decide later that he/she is our very favorite.

And yet this has little to do with character arcs--the true growth of a character. It's something I've seen where the first few episodes we absolutely hate him/her only to love him/her maybe ten episodes later (hardly the end of the story).

Who might I be talking about? I have three characters in mind. And they all happen to be "bad boys."

#1: Damon from The Vampire Diaries






















#2: Sawyer from Lost

















#3: Chuck from Gossip Girl















I absolutely hated all three of these characters from the beginning. True evil, I thought. And when my little sister asked me if I liked Damon yet, I could only think are you crazy? The man is a psychotic, self absorbed killer. How could anyone like him? When my brother and sister-in-law said they absolutely loved Sawyer, again I thought, Are you nuts? The guy is the biggest jerk of the show! And again, when someone said they loved Chuck, I seriously doubted their moral compass or at least their taste in men.

But in all of these cases, these people had watched these shows before me, and could remember very little about ever hating these men. So what happened? How could the writer accomplish such a feat? And now that I absolutely adore all three of these characters I, too, wonder if I suffer from some sort of amnesia that causes me to forget the realities of their past.

But, thinking about it, I have an idea. In my opinion, the writer does two main things to make us love the character (thus making us love the story more! In fact, he/she becomes one of the driving forces behind obsessing over the show). What does the writer to do make us love an otherwise hateable character?

1. They help us empathize--show us why they are the way they are.

Damon was turned into a vampire by his who we think to be saintly brother. He loved a woman only to be chosen second. His nature to feed is stronger than we think, and we see him rejected again and again by his new love interest.

Sawyer's parents were murdered in front of him as a child. He has a gift for lying but feels bad about it.

Chuck's dad sees very little in his son. He wants to succeed in proving himself, but his dad just shuts him down time and again.

2. Show at least their intention to change.

Damon decides to feed on blood from blood banks--not from live humans... at least for the time being.

Sawyer agrees to get along with others and become a team player... but he's not really convinced this will work out in the end.

Chuck claims he truly loves Blair (and he believes it) but there's always another girl tempting him close by.

I'll add a third, because I think this applies, too:

3. We see the character's great capacity to love, but unsuccessfully. Their object of affection is not quite within reach.

Notice I underlined capacity. None of them love perfectly or even unselfishly at first. But the show throws enough obstacles at them that makes them try harder (if they didn't, we wouldn't love them, but they do). Yes, they screw up, but they try again. And eventually they'll do something beautiful--unselfish--for the person they love, and we clap and think, Yay! I LOVE this show!

And that is the extent of my wisdom today. If anything, it's nice to get this down--help me appreciate the creation of such characters and strive to make my own.

Thoughts, anyone? What have I missed?