Discussion Character Flaw

What I'm mainly talking about is the intentional weakness of a character such that he does not become the idealistic perfectionist state.(Aka Overpower without any reasoning) It could be either in the form of a power that negates or diminished the Protagonist as his Achilles heel to a unrecognizable state. Or a ideology, philosophy, maybe a belief that is constantly being question by himself as he loses what he had once perceive as correct. Some example of what i'm talking about,

Superman and his Kryptonite, So While he is strong, if his enemies properly uses Kryptonite in a strategy they could deal a crushing blow against a once thought invincible protagonist.

A protagonist that was innocent, naive believing in that the world was fair and justice was upheld throughout the land. But than reality hits him, and while there still many that upheld justice. His First view changes as his position in life changes with it, For while still trying to save as many as he could, he is confronted by some bitter choices in life. Whether to save a thousand innocent villagers and risk causing a catastrophic event upon hundreds of thousand of others, or to killed the one thousand for a guarantee safeguard of the many.

Honestly, Having a good character flaw makes for really good character development and avoids the inevitable power wall. Where the only way forward for the ridiculous overpower protagonist is to bring a even more overpower villain. Personally I detest whenever a character whether its a superpower or a system, that they're able to received it without any ramification or any effort what so ever. (Aka 99.99% of Isekai) Give a reasoning for the power system for god sake, you can't just say "Wow I'm going to make you the hottest shit cause you totally deserve it.". The only instance where its acceptable for a protagonist to be overpower without reasoning is when its the focal point. (One Punch Man)

Any thoughts about this? Btw I'm talking about novels in which the character flaws persist as a character development for a long period of time, or if its resolve than it had already taken a huge portion of the novel.

 

Character flaw, is a unrepentant pervert
op CN harem MC'S
>_>
<_<
Or dense for JP MCs

 

welcome to the forum of novel updates. very soon, you will notice that the trend here is overpower without any reasoning. its what gets popular and more importantly, its the only novels that gets translated. perfect snowflakes everywhere!

 

MC: My only character flaw is I'm too perfect.

 

I'd argue that JP novels character flaw is that they're weak beta, and CN character flaws is that they are walking trouble magnets. Honestly, a JP MC may be the most undeserving of their power ever, whereas a CN MC is so easy manipulate since they are all weak against aphrodisiacs and being insulted.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of character flaws, because they often become the dead horse that gets beaten down on in every plot. Like your superman example, you'd think after the 99th trap involving kyrptonite, they would do something about it, not to mention how the world even gets sooooo much kryptonite. I find a lot of the time character flaws are a weakness used to make any plot work hence they never get truly improved or worked upon, making them a permanent fixture in the character.

Also, I read these web novels for the op-ness and wish fulfillment. If I was really that interested in flawed people, emotional drama, and the boring tediousness of reality, then I'd read a real book and not a web novel. Reality is already all around me, I read to escape it and to entertain myself, even if it is just a little.

As an aside, but also somewhat on topic, I like happy endings. I hate it when the author tries to pull some "deep" or "unique" BS by making a bad or twisted ending. Honestly, it is done so much that it has become a cliche of its own. I don't want to invest myself in hours of reading or watching just to watch Ash fail the indigo league and not even make it to the finals or semi-finals, but within the top sixteen instead. What was the point of the multiple episodes of growing and learning if it all goes to shit. The journey is just as important as the destination, but that means the two are equal. If ending is shit then you just invalidated the entire journey, you made it pointless. Why write a story about the guy in second place? If I wanted mediocrity then I'd just live my ordinary life instead.

 

Narcissism could be a decent character flaw.

 

You sir, Have been reading webnovels for too many years I fear.
Alright on a serious note, Yes, if its done improperly or its bad writing than it'll always be bad. The novels you read seems to be simply bad writing if they're trying to pull a fast one at the end. Btw Wasn't necessary talking about web novels but rather novels in general. Perhaps a better example for the first one would that you would know would be Re:Zero. He receives the power of immortality however at the cost of his slow descent into madness. Honestly As for Author trying to cover plot holes, Author use anything they can to Cover those plot holes the best they can, so its ambiguous to say its mainly Character Flaw. As for your reasoning for reading Webnovels, I'm not one to judge. And Yes If the ending is shit than it definitely can deny many part of the overall enjoyment.

 

Just reading cn novels complaints and noticed that for all the Japanese passivity even on people who should be killed, it is one principle they hold on to consistently. There isn't some preaching about peace loving they are or they do not kill innocents and then does the exact thing 100 chapters later.
Then there are a couple edgy JP novels where they introduce the mcr as some killer who slaughtered people on sight but then 10 chapters later they don't kill people who stiff the mc.

 

what?

 

I deserved that.

First part, character flaws of Japanese Mc's are the foil to the cheat isekais. They are given overwhelming power and instead they just want to live a slow life, which is one way to avoid overpowered villain as the story can be about dealing with local problems through godly powers. However action oriented isekais fail at this since they always become reluctant janitor to whatever ails the world. The mc may want anonymity but the author wants them famous.

Then throw in the no kill morale they have even when it's appropriate to just kill the thug, it's regarded as a flaw by readers. Yet this allows recurring villilains, frustrating but it's slightly better than just executing and throwing in a newer more powerful villain since you can see the villain's progression from street thug to overlord. It's also an alternative to plot armouring the villain, at least the mc has agency in creating the repeating villain by allowing them to live.

In Kumo desuka, Nani ka the designated hero actually has a character alignment that forces him not to kill, he was struggling with the concept he needs to kill someone while being unaware of the alignment trait. Not sure how that went since I stopped reading.

The no kill morale is a clear flaw, it might be abandoned as the story progresses or mc might continue to hold on to it. It might be considered a virtue since he is holding on to a principle no matter how dumb the decision is.

Contrast that with CN mc, in one chapter they may moralize on how benevolent they are at not hurting innocents then 100 chapters later they straight up do what they decry against, and it's not because they grew to accept their choice but the mc is a hypocrite or author simply forgetting what was written earlier. The CN author's shuts down any exploration of the hypocrisy by framing it as the fault of the victim. IE. They did nothing to the mc, probably not even aware he exist but they were tyrants to their people so the mc can kill them.

And then a jab on edgy Japanese Mc's whose quirk is they are indiscriminate thoughtless killers and then they fail to uphold that quirk. Indiscriminate killer is a flaw right? And it's the bait for the whole story so it should be upheld at every opportunity, but doing so could cause the story to stagnate so they would need to pause on the killing, however given that they are indescriminate thoughtless killers there's no plausible reason for them to not kill. Using a flaw as centerpiece may end up being a dead-end.