Discussion Smart Protagonists

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Orris, Sep 22, 2022.

  1. Orris

    Orris 『 最 強 ⑨ ~ 』

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    I'm a huge sucker for smart mcs and characters in general, but I've read far too much and feel fed up with suspending my disbelief.

    How is it possible for someone to suddenly just be capable of mapping out their entire career or pull off some long-term end-goal strategy without a hitch? If I had to compare that journey to something like cooking, it'd be as if someone starts with no ingredients or utensils in the beginning then somehow coming up with this master recipe that because of their galaxy brain worked out some flawless dish in the end with the random items given along the way. It's like presenting to me a character who can simultaneously concentrate on 17 different things when the human brain can realistically only handle like 5 at most and expecting me to think they're believable. It's as if the author's telling me all smart people are incapable of making any mistakes or backtracking.

    I don't see this happen in every narrative, and I appreciate the ones that attempt to distance themselves away from this, because even in real life, you can make the best decisions and do everything right and still fail at something for one reason or another. And I don't think nearly enough stories acknowledge that.
     
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  2. Return

    Return Ṩ͢͢͢aℽonara

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    the characters iq is equal to author iq and being an author for web novels is not a carrier path for smart people
     
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  3. hypersniper159

    hypersniper159 Creator of NuF’s 7th Enigma

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    Another way authors make a “smart” mc is by making everyone else incredibly stupid.

    The real problem is the competency of the mc. Readers like a proactive mc, so the writer will boast it all the way up. In these cases the mc is just a plot convenient thing with no humanity. The mc just moves the plot along otherwise the plot won’t move.
     
  4. Orris

    Orris 『 最 強 ⑨ ~ 』

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    You don't have to be smart to understand that not everything may work out in the end though. Authors have an incentive to drive a plot forward so they may not want to take detours ig but still :blobcry::blobcry::blobcry::blobcry:
     
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  5. Return

    Return Ṩ͢͢͢aℽonara

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    i agree but the sheer size of my reading experience makes me not able to read chinese novels cause of the negative iq that most not all cn novel have nowadays i read KR cause it is the middle ground between alpha killing machine and beta passive piece of sh&&t but there are masterpeices of cn and jp novels i agree but the trend now is garbage advice from me dont read any novel with lower rating than 4 and 5 5 stars reviews

    and read mtl ,mtl is good for health and patience it teaches a lot of patient and helps the brain get rid of useless braincells and generate new ones
     
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  6. Orris

    Orris 『 最 強 ⑨ ~ 』

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    :confusedcatblob::confusedcatblob::confusedcatblob::confusedcatblob: don't braincells not regenerate? i feel like this is a trap
     
  7. Return

    Return Ṩ͢͢͢aℽonara

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    you are imagining it .... [insert evil smile ]
     
  8. armadice

    armadice New Member

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    try warlock of the magus world
    or my researching journey (hxh)
    or 最强尸体作者 i can only find the first 350 chapter of this work the rest I can't find it ( if you find it please post where did you find the rest )
     
  9. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    There are a number of different ways of writing intelligent characters, but most of these ways are hard to pull off. When we're talking about webnovels, we're mostly looking at amateur writers, and amateur writers usually don't have a lot of experience or skill so they tend to opt for the lazier methods. It's not particularly great, but if you're looking for really good material, why are you reading amateurs?

    Anyways, the other side of the equations is that while it's possible to fake characters to be more intelligent than the author, much of this faking is going to feel artificial unless it's handled deftly. For example, a common technique is to have a character hack a computer network effortlessly as a way to show off how skilled he is. The problem is that the way a reader doesn't really have any mechanism for gauging how impressive this feat is, so if it seems easy to do, then it doesn't feel impressive at all. Weak writers don't realize this so much of what they're trying to establish just won't work.
     
  10. Orris

    Orris 『 最 強 ⑨ ~ 』

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    ... I actually hate how accurate that example is so much >.>
    (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

    And like intelligence, it'd be really nice if authors could add a methodology to the character's actions and proficiencies instead of relying on descriptions of character competency without elaborating on anything or presenting proof of it.

    I think it would be kind of funny where a character is introduced as some master of their field, you're told of rather outlandish claims... and you never see them in the story ever.
    :blobowoevil::blobowoevil::blobpats::blobpats::blobpats:
     
  11. preciousmine

    preciousmine New Member

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    I also like that one very much.
     
  12. whimsandfantasies

    whimsandfantasies Well-Known Member

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    This is more common in transmigration novels.

    Seriously, some of these people are so OP, they could rival GOD. I mean, most people in modern society do not know history, polity, chemistry, physics, astronomy, astrophysics, poison, medicine, martial arts, etc all at the same time.

    I mean they can treat patients while poisoning people, beating people up and somehow also knows how to make cement, glass and porcelain while knowing the angle at which an arrow can be shot for maximum efficiency while being incredibly beautiful, knows how to govern the land perfectly at first try, knows agriculture and irrigation procedures and can give amazing idea to build houses and roads, while only being alive for 15 years. I could only bow down to such a person.