I have noticed a lack of tension when I read novels lately, and it has left me feeling a tad bored. Most novels the protagonist always wins and comes out unharmed in conflicts. If the protagonist does lose in a novel, it's usually only once or twice and tends to be a major turning point. As a change of pace, I was hoping to find one or more novels where the protagonist will frequently be defeated and only seldom wins. The novel doesn't necessarily need to be a fighting or action novel, I like almost all themes, I just want something that loosely fits the description above. Instead, it could be about an actor that tries to become the main lead in movies, but often gets secondary roles or none. They aim for first, and get disqualified, maybe they lose their house because they can't pay the mortgage on time. Whatever, as long as it's interesting. I also don't want any cultivation novels where the protagonist beats up someone, only for their master/relative to come to kill them, and having to runaway every thirty chapters before coming back to beat them.
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Hm, that's a quite hard trope to search for... All I can think of is About the Reckless Girl Who Kept Challenging a Reborn Man Like Me, but that just slightly fits your request.
Why would you want something like that, that is just torturing the MC... speaking of which, there was a novel about an MC who is a gambling addict who kept losing and messed up his life but didn't give up on gambling, I don't remember the name of that novel tho, maybe someone else here knows the name of it Btw, there were threads asking about similar thing before, like this one
You sure? If you find which fits your bill, I think you would die of anger before you finish the novel. You can try, "My Fiance is in Love with My Little Sister"
i can understand what you mean but in webnovels i have read, it's difficult...The ingredients are quite common, the recipe, simplistic. So I just recommend a novel I REALLY liked and some that interest me : Gu Fang Bu Zi Shang ; not too long with a lyric story between a wise woman and a strong man in ancient china. not sure it willfit your taste but have a look! there is another novel that seems a little different with tortured characters and a scenario not all white or black: Ingrid the white deer. but be careful, i didn't read it yet so i'm not sure about the ending. ah and have a look at this one : The bird and the sword it was recommanded by 2 readers I was chatting with. It seems nice with good reviews, i didn't read it yet. or else, treat yourself to classics, greek or nordic mythology must be able to meet your criteria
Never mind there was one I liked try Renegade Immortal https://www.novelupdates.com/series/renegade-immortal/ he gets beat up again and again and even loses his body at one point
The Skeleton Soldier Couldn't Protect The Dungeon protagonist is repeately defeated and killed, but gets set back in the past for each death. Only know the manwha being translated.
If I remember well the MC in Nagai Koto ( https://www.novelupdates.com/series/isekai-tensei-kimi-to-no-saikai-made-nagai-koto-nagai-koto/ ) lost a good number of fights, got some friends and important secondary characters killed, and most of his wins was by the skin of his teeth (sometime quite litterally) so it wasn't the usual OP deathball you see in most webnovel just a hard challenge where sometimes he won, sometimes he lost, on this point it was quite refreshing but the harem and love interrest parts weren't good.... Its translator quitted the community in 2018 and no one took it over so it's up to you if you want to try reading it, but it probably won't be completely translated ever. If you want something depressing, you also got Kuro no Maou ( https://www.novelupdates.com/series/kuro-no-maou/ ) where everything and anyone is dogpiling on the MC, seems the author has a never-ending sadistic streak against the MC and every positive character in this story as even most of the "supportive" secondary characters are manipulative yandere and murderous psychopaths... But it get tiring and repetitive in the long run and most of the secondary characters end up feeling the same... My Fiance is in Love with My Little Sister ( https://www.novelupdates.com/series/my-fiance-is-in-love-with-my-little-sister/ ) is also a sadist's (or masochist's if it's your fetish) wetdream... Just a MC bashing fest over and over again... Unfortunately I don't think I read here many balanced stories where there is real difficulties and interesting setbacks for the MC but the author isn't just playing the tragedy card over and over again abusing the living daylights of the MC until the readers (or the author) get bored and drop it : In most JP stories the MC just pile on more girls/boys in his/her harem and the problem is solved (romcom, romance and magical/normal highschool stuff), is simply overly OP and just roll over anything or OP enough to win without that much of an issue (maybe a itty-bitty teeny-weeny struggle if the author is really motivated to put some work in it) or after a short training montage (shonen/shojo style isekai/fantasy)... In most KR stories the MC grind like a brainless Wow gold miner bot to get money and/or get OP and win (game system stuff), or the ML/stalking horse always come at the right time save the day (revenge or romance)... In most CN stories usually dummy thicc plot armor and stuff added by the author at the last minute resolve all issues (almost all of them), the MC is just on a psychopathic death roll and all problems are solved by killing a ridiculous number of people (Xia stuff) or the overly OP ML save the MC and then rape him/her (abusive/toxic relationship story tagged as romance, you just have to change gender/sexual position/hole used between yaoi and straight stories)...
Thats quite hard to find but Doomsday Wonderland 's protagonist is the type of protagonist that barely makes it out alive after a battle, she wins but only by an inch.
Hmm, @Ice Demon , there are two notions you talk about: - the lack of tension in novels. I've tried diving into this topic and exploring the notion. The basics of the narrative structure is: setup, conflict, resolution. The lack of tension you feel may be that the novel's conflict isn't strong enough or doesn't get described well (or just a lack of plot structure). In my opinion, there must be a balance between the difficulties oppressing the main character (and those that surround him) and the rest of his life. For example, having an antagonist that threaten his life everytime he joins the battlefield. But outside the battlefield, in the city, his life has a semblance of peacefulness and there can be positive interactions with other characters. A good example of this for me is the webnovel Terror Infinity. There were times when the despair was at its highest and the conflict the MC had to go through was horrifying. But once he left that world, peace returned. The point is that the MC was still competent, his failure to complete a mission did not turn the novel into a gloomy cycle where every action he took resulted in misery. As soon as he left that mission world, he regained his halo of OPness. -the other point you may have talked about is repeated failures, or,a a future painted with gloom and misery for the MC. So, kind of a drama style where the MC do not succeed and is often betrayed/pictured a weak person (either mentally or physically). That style isn't really popular so it's a lot harder to find. But it's interesting in its own way, cause' the MC starts in a lower point and stay weak much longer with an emphasis on the pain he goes through.
It's hard to look for novels where the protagonist often loses rather than winning. I suggest you look for protagonists that wins with his/her skin on his/her teeth. Winning but only by an inch. I think that's pretty close with what you're looking for
Dont know if it fits all your criteria, but these ones are good: "Death is the only ending for the villain" "I don't want to be loved" " I swear i won't bother you again!" "Kuro no Maou" "I Kinda Came to Another World, but Where's the Way Home?" "I'll live mye second life!" Just a couple of recommendations
I'm not an expert in the area but I suspect that some of the yaoi novels will fit your request perfectly. Protagonists will be defeated in various ways! On a more serious note I can recommend these ones: Player Who Returned 10,000 Years Later - though MC wasn't really defeated here but nothing goes his way. If something can go wrong - it will. The First Order - MC was painfully done in twice in ~300 chapters. SSS-Class Suicide Hunter - Kim 'Zombie', a protagonist who is dying every several chapters.
A Practical Guide to Evil is pretty much the only one that comes to my mind. That theme isn't really popular in web/light novels especially when compared to traditional novels since the audience generally comprises people who want to escape reality or just get the enjoyment a wish-fulfillment story provides. Edit: Oh oh! Re-Zero kinda fits that bill. Edit 2: My autobiography if I ever write one.
Only thing I could think of would be Blessed Time the story has 40 chapters so far. Spoiler: slight spoiler It seems like he is going to become majorly OP later in the story but so far he has failed his main goal once and it seems like he is on his way to fail again. Not really my cup of tea normally but will try to remember some more. Edit: thought of another that might fit. The Gilded Hero not straight up failing but not winning either. Edit2: hmmmm The Rig Mechanist's Maintenance Report shoud fit too Edit3: I Play the Role of (Villain/Heroine) in a Japanese-style Otome Game probably fits