How to Write the Good Guy?

[Jsc]

So we've had a few discussions, (dead-horse-beatings,) about the moral ambiguity of roleplaying a Force User already. But now I wanted to ask another question of the community.

Q: How do you Write the Good Guy?

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1. To start. Let's begin with your experience over your philosophy. Inside the genre. Tell me how you have actually written your Good Guy characters in the past. Their Character Traits, Profile, and Core Beliefs? Their Goals, Needs, and Expectations? Their Background, Adventures, and eventual Fate? ...Anything that you have actually written yourself.

(That will be for Science.)

2. Then. You can speculate and be philosophic. Following your real experiences, tell us as much as you want about: What makes a Good Guy, Good. In Star Wars. In your opinion.

(That will be for Discussion.)

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This is not a discussion about the Real World.

 

[Grimm]

Easy make him simple minded, can do anything despite being normal, shout believe it many times and always come out on top despite being outclassed!

Lol.

 

[Louise]

I really struggle to write good. I panic and go to this fourth wall natter-zone.

I just feel at home writing the morally bankrupt.

Because I'm an awful person in real life.

 

[Fatty]

Q: How do you Write the Good Guy?

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A: ...Wat...

Seriously, I have never successfully created an altruistically good guy. They all get tossed aside as uninspiring trash, and the closest things to good guys that lasted a while I have made are really just neutrals who are selfish pricks that aren't all that bad in comparision to what they could be.

Although, I did have Hutuun'Kyramud all that time ago... but he was just bloodthirsty and held back only because of honor.

 

[Soeht]

Step 1: Write a Jedi or someone helping them
Step 2: Fight the Sith or someone helping them
Step 3: ????
Step 4: Profit.

 

[Jsc]

It took 5 posts before the terms 'Jedi' or 'Sith' were mentioned. In a discussion about the Star Wars genre, that was very interesting to observe. Great comments guys and gals! Keep it up.

 

[Kiyron]

For me, in Star Wars and related genres, the good guy is a hero. Their primary goals are to protect the innocent and the idea that there is still good in the world, and that it's worth fighting for. They are kind to everyone, and wish those who have fallen into evil can come back.They are willing to die for others, and they do in my stories (but not in rp yet).

I'm the opposite of what some have mentioned. I can write good guys as easily as I breathe. It's the Bad Guys I have trouble writing. They always end up being mirror images of the heroes, except perhaps more ruthless or seeking a different goal.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

It is so interesting. I find writing good guys rather easy, too - especially he ones who are really peaceful and enjoy life and protect others and are kind and ... *sentence of true goodness continues without an end*

But yeah, when I first started with Equa Dominator, I would have never managed writing a Sith or a Neutral character. Then came Malificete and even though she started as a Jedi, she became a Sith. But now my current main character Maria was made to be a Darksider, but then I felt the supreme desire to bring her to the Jedi Order. (it is known as not controlling your character, but the character living her own life).

I have always been against writing Sith (but Malificete was a cool one) because it's so easy to make them OP and so brutal that they lose all morality. Jedi are at least conserved and understand stuff.

To write a good guy - keep them conserved.

 

[Dr'ven Khev'et]

The best Sith I ever wrote was actually a decent guy who just wanted some cash and get back home....

Kinda like me, if I had been continuously stuck Force Screaming at Mandalorians for cash...

 

[Brak'ara]

It's funny how Good and Evil are some sort of religious here. A Sith can be the good guy and the Jedi the bad one. It depends on where you are to see it. As the son of a Sith, the good guy is not the Jedi. In Star Wars (the films) the Siths are described as greed and evildoer. The thing is that many Siths (in the books) studied the philosophy to understand the world. Many Sith don't kill people for the sake of killing people. As well as some Jedi seek power to ascend in power without a good reason. Darth Revan was a Jedi and saw the corruption within the Republic and became a Sith to understand the roots of the force (another story tell he was manipulated by the emperor but yeah..). I think the good is the one who follow what he think is good. The good and the evil are relative entities.

 

[Fabula Caromed]

Q: How do you Write the Good Guy?

According to George Lucas, you just make them infallible in every way, instantly good at everything, and unapproachably pure in both intent and deed. Then, in order to highlight how Jesus they are, you make their enemies Obviously Satan.

(do not take writing tips from George Lucas)

The closest I have to a "good" character is probably the original Anna Sachae, so I'll go with that.

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1) Anna was a pacifist, but she didn't start out that way. She was originally just another Imperial soldier who did her job, and her job happened to be a backline support job instead of actively shooting people for her country. She eventually figured out that she didn't like all of the shooting that was happening for said country, and tried to stop it. She was unrealistic, extremely naive, but she was "mature" enough to fool people into thinking she knew what she was doing. Eventually she wound up sacrificing everything for what she believed in and fell into a slow death from obscurity and motherhood.

The fact that I used motherhood to symbolize and prelude death certainly says nothing about my opinions on women in fiction. No siree.

Another "good" character I wrote was Codi Zrgaat. She was as close to good as I dare to venture any more. A nice girl, who helped people because she thought it was right and actively put herself in harm's way to protect those who were incapable of protecting themselves. She was also a shameless whore, a drunk, her social skills were at best "abrasive," and she waxed between arrogant and paranoid. Still benevolent, still selfless, but selfish in the pursuit of others' safety. A little like Tony Stark; "good is not nice."

Her eventual fate has been largely offscreen. She got injured in the line of duty and her heroic idles were shattered before her eyes. Since then, she's been languishing in her vices. I guess my opinion of heroes just isn't very high, and eventually winds up at "everybody falls in the end."

2) In Star Wars, being a good guy is simple. You're a Jedi, or you're allied with the Jedi in a semi-permanent fashion. Lucas writes in black and white. If you're Psychic Samurai Jesus, you're a hero. If you eat babies for three square meals a day and burn hospitals in your spare time, you're a villain. Star Wars is not a morally complicated place, and really, that's its #2 issue. I could write essays on how its #1 issue is George Lucas' many mental issues, but this thread is not about that.

In my opinion, a "good" character puts the well-being of others above their own, and their first desire is to help. That's how I write my "good" characters. Altruism. Not doing what they think is best for the people they "help." Doing what is needed to prevent present pain. I don't like totalitarian or knight-templar characters who try to enforce their opinions on others. When you go down that road, you tend to be paying more attention to "Lawful" than "Good." Selflessness, sacrifice, and keeping others safe and happy. Naturally, this is boring as all hell, so I don't write good characters very often.

I far prefer the Greek definition of "hero." A hero is someone who is capable of great things, and accomplishes those things. They have with them the ability to perform deeds which normal people would fall short attempting, or simply not attempt at all. This does not make them necessarily "good," though it certainly makes them great. Heroes are more fun to read about than good guys.

 

[Fatty]

^All that. There is no better way to explain my ineptitude for writing "good guys" due to my general distaste of black and white morality...

Then on the flip side I seem to be perfectly comfortable and enjoy writing as a baby eater... Maybe it's because I make him fail so often by his own actions that I find it enjoyable to torture his general corruption as his consequence of being that baby eater? Which now that I think of it would be by my own design, thus kinda making me a fictional sadist... Hell. In that case I'm a freaking god who gave life to fiction merely to abuse it as punishment for characteristics I forced on it to begin with... 0_0

That really makes me question my own morality just a little bit.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

I always like to play the antagonist.

I like to be the villain of the story.

It's just my niche.

 

[Hadraas]

I don't usually, write a "good" or "bad" aligned character... both are a perspective. That being said, I do write a lot of neutral characters who are morally "good", but can be harsh in method.
So Far I've written:

• A smuggler whose very basic as he steals and smuggles for profit, some bounty hunting on the side.

• A Sith lord torture master.

• A (legit) Mandalorian, who spoke mostly Mando'a and was from a clan that revered Mandalores: Ultimate and indomitable. In which killing jedi specifically was his strong suit.

• A Citizen, (this is half life 2 rp now) who was killed randomly by the very rebels he was help/supplying. (Was just horrible Rp)

• And finally THIS character Hadraas, loooong sith descendant of Sobrik (my mandalorian) who killed his master immediately when he could seeing her as a weakness (there was a romance), and whose main goal currently is to gather all knowledge he can find, and become more powerful. (secretly to find a purpose)

 

[Garza]

I rarely write "Good" Characters. Really it matters to me about why they do what they do. For the longest time, Darren used the Dark Side of the force because he needed all of the power and skills he could get so he could find and rescue his mother. It helped him. later on he was "The White Knight" and would be like an Anti-hero that did good things, but with "bad powers" Now as a Sith Master, Darren/Dante uses the Dark Side as a weapon for his gain, but uses it only if necessary. He sees a purpose in everything and tries to keep his temper down, but it's hard with the Dark side of the force is literally tattooed to his chest.

 

[Jsc]

Good reads guys. I'm actually kinda surprised about how many people don't prefer to write a Good-Aligned Character when fashioning their entertainment. Right on.

 

[Bubák]

I don't enjoy writing good guys, at least not the good guys on the good side doing good things working with good people for the sake of good. Boring, if you ask me. Personally, I think such characters are very bland and don't have any character and personality. Same for the eeeeevil bad guys.

Both are extremes and to me feel very ridiculous, so I prefer neutral characters and also think of most characters as neutral, no matter what their writer says :lol: . My Mon Cal Sith is a relatively honorable and peaceful being who wants to make the galaxy a better place to live. He is selfless, helps the innocents, cares for his friends. On the other hand, he wishes to see the Jedi gone, force peace and prosperity upon people whether they want it or not, often turns blind eye to the Sith crimes.

What I am trying to say, I want the reader to decide whether my chars are good or bad. I dislike the characters who are trying too hard to show they are the good/bad guys.

 

[EmKay]

I skipped over the entire thread, so if I end up repeating what someone else says, sorry!

"Good guys" are hard to play. At all. Star Wars has factions dedicated to good, but look at them. Are they really as 'good' as they're supposed to be? While good intentions may be their philosophy, the road to hell is paved with them. To be classified in my mind as a good guy you have to meet very specific criteria. Even Luke Skywalker had his faults, but he was ultimately trying to do the right thing.

But then, what is the right thing?

It's all a matter of perspective. While Whinekin Crywalker said "From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!", that statement has credit. What is 'good' but a popular observation of what's going on? If we stripped away points of view, perceived morals, and belief systems, what is left? Actions, and those who commit them against or with others. And that's what it boils down to.What purpose are people serving with what they do? What is their intent? That is what created a good or a bad guy, but even then it's rather muddled.

As Kreia said, "By acting in a way you believe benefits a person, what if you've merely condemned them to a worse fate?". This statement also has merit. By acting in a way you perceive to be good, what if you bring forth an evil greater than what previously existed? What if you've unwittingly destroyed lives by doing something you thought would be 'good'? It's all perspective.

You could be a Sith Lord and consider yourself a "good guy", if your perspective, intent, and outcome of your actions prove that you are acting for the betterment of goals and people you aid. You could just as well be a Jedi Master and call yourself a villain, if you've done something that annihilated thousands.

 

[Nikolas Faselli]

My goodness, Jay, stop that! All you do is starting these threads which make us think about who is good and who isn't!

 

[Alice Red]

At the end of the day, being the good guy is entirely subjective as far as I'm concerned. No one person can claim itself to be the good guy in a situation, because for other people found in that situation, they are the bad guy. For example, you got a war raging on between two different camps, each fighting for their own goals and/or convictions. One is fighting for, say, independence and the right to govern their own resources, the other is fighting for control over said resources with which to feed and clothe it's own population. The former see the invaders as the bad guys, trying to kill them for resources and imperialistic views, the latter see the defenders as the bad guys for allowing them to starve to death.
A rather shitty example, I know, but that's the gist of it, all a matter of perspective. People should focus less on trying to write their characters as either "good" or "evil" and more on playing them out as naturally as possible given their personality, past experiences, and so on, because at the end of the day, someone is going to see you as a hero while someone else is going to see you as a villain regardless of your choices. The only real thing you can affect is the number of people that see you in a certain light.