6 Types of Characters I'd Like to See More Of

I've seen a lot of videos, posts, reviews, and more where "unlikeable characters" made a book less enjoyable for a person. This kind of makes me wonder if the character (especially the main character) was intentionally written as unlikeable or not. If they're intentionally written as unlikeable, then there's a reason for that.

As I was thinking about this, other thoughts began, especially the question of what kind of characters would I like to see more of. Hence, this post was born. Here are 6 types of characters I'd like to see more of in fiction.

Character Type 1: Unlikeable main characters

If unlikeable characters are written well, then they can be, weirdly enough, likable. I'm not talking about the Mary Sues or the Gary Stues (those bland, one-dimensional characters) - I'm talking about well-rounded, well-written characters. It's one of those situations where you have a love-hate relationship with a character: they're unlikeable, but you love that about them, and that makes them a good character. Even if you hate the unlikeable main character, that doesn't make them a bad character for the story and its plot. Good writing evokes emotions, so if you really dislike a character, that's probably a good sign.

Character Type 2: Likable villains.

This is a similar concept to unlikeable main characters, so it's not something that I'll go into much detail about. I'm not saying "likable villains" as in you're rooting for the villains (although this certainly can be part of it). What I mean is that the villain is bad, 100% evil/not good, and you just like them. One character I can think of from cinema is the character Captain John Simcoe from the AMC show Turn: Washington's Spies. He is a villain for the show (based on a real person), and he's just so well written that I have to say "You're a great villain and a likable one at that."

Character Type 3: Morally grey characters.

I feel like morally grey characters have been popping up more in books lately, but I would like to see more of them around. And, for the most part, I don't care one way or the other if the author writes them intending for readers to root for them or not. But morally grey characters are so interesting (especially as main characters).

Character Type 4: Main characters who make mistakes and learn from them.

I feel like there are too many main characters who fall under 2 categories. Category 1: The main character makes mistakes, but doesn't learn from them for whatever reason. Character 2: The main character is incapable of making mistakes. And these two tropes are so annoying in my opinion. I just think that we need more main characters who make mistakes and actively learn from them.

Character Type 5: Characters who are avid readers.

Maybe I'm not reading the right genres for this, but . . . it's not something I see a lot of other readers on social media (Instagram, YouTube, etc.) talking about. You may get some readers in books, but there never seems to be any hints at characters being avid readers.

Character Type 6: Characters who have some sort of disability.

This has been improving over the past couple of years. However, I feel like there is still plenty of room for improvement, especially when it comes to invisible disabilities. As a person who has a relative with a few invisible disabilities, it would be amazing to see their disabilities represented in literature.

There are so many other character types that would be great to see in literature. In some cases, I understand that it's easier to translate certain things through film and cinema rather than books. However, in most cases, characters can be easily translated through the written word without falling into the typical, one-dimensional tropes that happen a lot.