Into the Fire

Okay, yesterday I gave you a brief description of what I don’t like in female characters, at least in female heroines. Today let’s explore male protagonists.

Protagonists need to have some redeeming quality right from the start. The first line or chapter can present an angry man, but if there’s a reasonable concern at the root of that anger—better yet a noble one—anger can be good. He’s got to be a man, though. Not a wimpy whiny guy whose concerns center on himself, an unjust world, some woman who did him dirt. Don’t get me wrong here. Hurt can be admirable. Pain is real. Just don’t give me an emotional pansy protagonist. Sensitive is fine. Tender-hearted is good. But namby-pamby: no way.

Men who’ve loved hard and lost tend to put up barriers to their hearts. Sometimes those guys make great characters because there’s always an opportunity to penetrate that shield which makes for a good story.

Men who stumble awkwardly through situations involving females can be done well with humor, quirkiness, or good ol’ fashioned reality, but if the awkward men come off too weak-willed, yuck. High-maintenance men don’t work well as protagonists but do nicely for either serial killers or ordinary peripheral characters.

If you portray Christian men for your protagonists, they have to be real for me. Devoted, struggling, passionate. All of those things make for good characters who love the Lord. Facing the same things all men face in this world, they have to want to do the right thing even if they fail. Fake or faulty weak-willed Christian protagonists gag me. Unless you give a weak-willed man a heart after God. If they love the Lord but face huge personal challenges, depending on the skills of the writer, I will view them with unconditional love, but it’ll take some good writing to pull it off. I’m tired of Christians being portrayed as weird, soft, about as deep as a mirage, especially when they’re males.

So. What do you prefer in male protagonists?

Lord, thank you for making the two sexes different. For the unique chemistries and biological fingerprints that mark them with your divine hand. It was all “good” until we ruined it with sin. Thank you, Jesus, for saving our souls.