Yuffie's Writing How-To's

How to TURN A BAD CHARACTER GOOD

WrittenDarkness asked a great question that I think is worth sharing:

"How would you go about turning a bad character into a good one. I see it happen a lot but the bad character becomes good so easily it seems so unnatural"

So here's my reply:

"You have to make them struggle to be good. There has to be consequences/obstacles for them to do the right thing vs. the wrong thing. Doing the wrong thing is usually easier--that's why so many characters fall back on using the dark side of the Force or dark magic or whatever. It's simpler, more powerful, and gets them to their goal faster. That's why the transition from evil to good should usually take a long time--the character has to struggle with the consequences of each option, weighing both of them, sometimes slipping and falling back on the evil/wrong thing, feeling regret and remorse for that slipup, wanting to do the right thing but not knowing how or thinking they can't for some reason.

Zuko from ATLA is a fantastic example of evil-to-good transition done really, really well. He slips up a LOT and makes terrible decisions half the time because he thinks that's the only way to get what he wants, and his goals are constantly shifting--he doesn't always know what he wants--his father's love, his honor, a good relationship with his sister, doing the right thing by helping the Avatar, saving or condemning his uncle, etc."

There has to be a huge benefit to doing the WRONG thing, which is why that person is doing it in the first place. But there's also some consequence, which is why the character is like: "wait, maybe I shouldn't be doing this.... This is wrong." The consequence could be hurting someone else, losing your own soul and humanity, going against your morals and values, etc.

So if you're trying to nudge your villain character into a hero role and transition them from evil to good, wrong to right, make sure you develop consequences and benefits to both doing the right and wrong things. That's why their transition will be bumpy, why it's such a hard choice for them to make. The harder the decision, the more it'll make them grow as a character when they finally pick a side. And those dilemmas usually don't happen in like two sentences. It takes a long time--chapters, sometimes even several novels. It's a long and arduous struggle--that's when the character feels well developed. Just like with your heroes and protagonists, the more you make a character struggle, the harder it is for them to make a choice, the higher the stakes and the more exciting the story.

Ultimately, they benefits of doing the right/good thing will outweigh that of the bad, which is why they become good. Or the consequences of good are less than that of the bad.

If you're trying to do the opposite and turn a good character bad, the benefit of the bad option will outweigh the good option. Or the consequences of doing the bad are less than that of the good.