Villain protagonist

[Anonymous No.17559512]

Tell me about the sociopathic villain protagonist, /lit/. I've been reading a few books that have them, and I'm always surprised that the author has to go out of their way and establish that they have a "moral" compass even though being a sociopath means that they either don't have a conscience or their conscience is weak, to begin with.

[Anonymous No.17559566]

>>17559512
the wasp factory

[Anonymous No.17559572]

>>17559512
Have you read American Psycho?

[Anonymous No.17559578]

>>17559512
HOGG

[Anonymous No.17559783]

>>17559572
I think OP is referring to modern day sociopathic villain protagonist, which for reasons unknown, always have a sort of moral pet. Even though it’s illogical for them to have them. The psychopath/sociopath, of American psycho are becoming extremely rare, I don’t know if it’s just one of the many signs that literature is in a downward spiral.

>>17559512
To answer your question OP, I believe audiences want a protagonist that they can either sympathize and/or root for. So having a main character that’s unashamedly evil would put an end to that. So, they have to have some sort of moral compass, no matter what. It’s why so many of the serial killer novels go after other killers or criminals, instead of you know, innocents. Or better yet, not kill at all. Honestly, I don’t think traditional publishing can handle darker themes unless if it’s from someone famous.

[Anonymous No.17559808]

>>17559512
If you want absolutely evil sociopath MC, then read 'The Dwarf' by Par Lagerkvist

[Anonymous No.17559826]

>>17559808
Though I appreciate the input, I do not want an evil sociopath at all, only an amoral one. I hope you can understand the distinction between the two.

[Anonymous No.17559828]

>>17559512
Berserk (manga)
Lolita
Crime and Punishment

[Anonymous No.17559843]

>>17559828
>Berserk
Guts is not evil though, deranged sure, but not evil, and he gets way better later on.

[Anonymous No.17559853]

>>17559843
I’m talking about the main character and hero, Griffith

[Anonymous No.17559855]

>>17559512
Read Maldoror

[Anonymous No.17559859]

>>17559853
Oh, so you're one of those, alright then.

[Anonymous No.17559915]

>>17559859
Is there something what I typed?

[Anonymous No.17559926]

>>17559512
To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway.
The protagonist is a criminal because of the great depression, but he is not moral at all or really evil either.

[Anonymous No.17559968]

>>17559855
>Maldoror
>French
>Poetry

Gay and useless.

[Anonymous No.17559969]

>>17559512
The Stranger by Albert Camus

[Anonymous No.17559973]

>>17559915
Griffith isn't the main character, nor the hero, but I assume you know that and are trolling. Weak effort if so. If not, you're just stupid.

[Anonymous No.17559976]

>>17559969
Not a sociopath at all. More like a depressed man-child. I used to love that book but really it's just a person without faith going about life talking about how mundane and dull everything is, and looking for adventure and thrill.

Used to be great to me, now I find it meh. Camus has a nice prose and I like his stories, but the absurdist philosophy stopped being cool after I got out of high school, or maybe by mid-twenties when my frontal cortex fully came online.

[Anonymous No.17560034]

>>17559828
>Crime and Punishment
Not a sociopath, but he is a villain protagonist

[Anonymous No.17560083]

>>17559828
Y'know I used to have a girlfriend who loved Nabokov, and loved Lolita, and every time I have tried to read it I just feel uncomfortable. I watched the movie, which was easier to get through, but the book always just makes me feel unsettled. THIS is coming from someone who had an ageplay fetish in the bedroom for awhile.

But because I am a masochist I decided I wanted to know what other literature got officially published over the years that was similar in vein to Lolita, to know how far people pushed boundaries.

Then I discovered Marquis De Sade. 120 Days of Sodom. Try that. Then after you try that, go to his most putrid of works, Justine and Juliette.

Be warned, it's disturbing and disgusting and there is debauchery and decadence abound.

[Anonymous No.17560363]

>>17560083
>Be warned, it's disturbing and disgusting and there is debauchery and decadence abound.

[Anonymous No.17560418]

>>17559512
>I'm always surprised that the author has to go out of their way and establish that they have a "moral" compass

It's far more common for books to have an antihero (say, a criminal) than a true sociopathic villain protagonist. Maybe you're mistaking books featuring the former for books of the latter variety?

[Anonymous No.17560447]

>>17560363
Not sure what this is supposed to mean, but it's a lame troll or attack. Use your words, faggot. This is /lit/, at least have the decency to roast me with prose and not cringe imagery. Crimagery.

[Anonymous No.17561170]

>>17560418
>It's far more common for books to have an antihero (say, a criminal) than a true sociopathic villain protagonist.
No, anon, the books I read, are about true sociopathic villain protagonists. Which makes their display of a moral compass all the more jarring. I'm starting to believe what this, anon said >>17559783


>Maybe you're mistaking books featuring the former for books of the latter variety?
I thought so too, but no, the villain protagonist of the stories I've read are sociopathic, or at least, display sociopathic tendencies.

[Anonymous No.17562077]

>>17559926
Thanks for the recommendation.

[Anonymous No.17562304]

>>17559512

Depending on how you look at them, Tony Soprano and Dexter are either sociopathic villains or more in the nature of criminal antiheroes, since each has a moral compass.

The Killer Inside Me has a true sociopathic villain protagonist, I think. But that's kind of a hard thing to pull off.* Thompson makes it work with a lot of antic, black humor and shocking violence.

*It's hard to pull off because most stories turn on creating a narrative that puts the protagonist's moral compass, or at least their moral character, to the test in some way or other, thus giving the story a character arc. This is such a basic dynamic of storytelling that if a writer has a sociopathic villain protagonist, he's probably going to try to come up with scenes and situations that somehow press the limits of that, as when, say, Dexter is tempted to act against his code. This arises just out of the inherent dynamic of what makes for good and interesting storytelling.

A straight villain, by contrast, doesn't have to change. A villain is just a bad guy. Thus, a villain makes for a perfect antagonist.

[Anonymous No.17562340]

>>17559808
Great rec.

[Anonymous No.17562391]

>>17559512
>ebiblue
This nigga cringe

[Anonymous No.17562923]

>>17562391
Yeah OP is pretty cringe.

[Anonymous No.17562947]

>>17562923
I meant the artist.

[Anonymous No.17563133]

>>17559512
>gesugao
HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGH
Also about the moral compass thing, I am pretty sure people do this because a villain who always acts villains is as boring as a hero who is always perfectly kind and moral.
>>17560083
I will never understand what compels people to engage with disgusting and vile material.