Seasonal Stirrings: "Good Guy" Protagonists and How to do Right by Them, Their Friends, H

Heroes are, understandably, something of a known quantity when it comes to media. Due in large part to humanity's collective obsession, particularly in western civilization, with the narrative structure of "the hero's journey," most of us have a general understanding of all the different shades of hero that exist within fiction. Though that isn't to say that the well has run dry when it comes to that concept, there are a few standards that stick out. When you want an action story, a guardian hero, the protector of one or many, is what can usually be expected. When you want political intrigue, a weaker but more calculating brand of hero rises up in the form of a strategist. When you want something a little more thoughtful or cathartic, the antihero or heroic villain is pretty much the ideal these days. Then there are, of course, the more down-to-earth and personable "everyday heroes" that can be picked out of even the fluffiest of slice of life shows. My personal favorite, next to the heroic villain archetype, though, has got to be the representative hero, those who are "heroic" only in that they speak to, advocate for, and generally represent certain peoples or ideologies that need and deserve to get proper representation. Now, if it sounds to you like I'm just listing off tropes, then you'd be absolutely right; that is precisely what I'm doing. After all, heroes are one of the oldest and greatest standards of storytelling and something that has proven its effectiveness at getting people passionate about a story--look no further than all the debates on what heroes are the best/strongest and Tumblr posts that pick plots apart to rebrand a villain or minor character as the "true hero." So, I guess it's fair to say that my previous statement that we're obsessed with the idea of heroes might just be the understatement of the century.

Unfortunately, all this obsession with heroes and saving people has led to a few bad trends along the way, especially within the spheres of manga, light novels, and anime. One such trend happens to be a pet peeve of mine and is kinda the central point of this post, is the general concept and execution of the "good guy" hero. The epitome of lazy character writing, "good guy" hero characters are those who act like and are generally considered to be heroes simply because they are "good." These are the paragon characters. These are the JRPG heroes who talk to every NPC in the hopes that they'll get a quest that'll give them purpose. Rather than presenting an ideal, working toward a goal, or simply trying to protect people close to them, these heroes are characters that, unbidden, throw themselves at other people's conflicts and do their best to solve their problems because it's just the right thing to do. Then, against all odds, these are the heroes that succeed at doing just that and end up being praised and loved by everyone around them for being the most cheery suicidal maniac the world has ever known. If you watch any mainstream or long-running shows, you can probably think of a few that fit the bill perfectly. For example, the first character that comes to mind when I think about these kinds of characters is Kamijou Touma from the extensive Toaru-verse (Toaru Majutsu no Index, Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, and the soon to be released Toaru Kagaku no Accelerator). Though he doesn't necessarily start out as a "good guy" hero at the beginning of his heroic career, during which he was the effective guardian hero for Index, his story does devolve into that as more and more female characters are added to the show for him to "save."

Including a fallen angel posing as a young girl with a bizarre obsession with belts and collars.

There are, obviously, a few issues with this kind of characterization and method of storytelling. First and foremost, it's incredibly lazy. Rather than spending the time to write characters with flaws and personal hang-ups or generally believable personalities and motivations, many shows and stories opt for this "good guy" hero character specifically because they require minimal effort and offer a means to keep the story going. Essentially becoming vehicles for the show's plot, rather than actual characters, good guy heroes simply need to be placed within proximity of a problem to justify their unreasonable tendency to white knight their way into entire arcs of material more well-thought-out than they are. Which leads into the other big issue with them tending to be more than a little sexist in nature. For these characters, female characters are reduced to being things to be found, saved, and collected into associated friend groups, harems, or an affiliated band of girls who wish they were the main love interest. Personal distaste for harems aside, though, the main issue with stories that feature this kind of character and "save everyone" mentality often rob other characters of their agency. Rather than people, characters become problems for the hero to solve, functionally removing any negative effects of that character's history, their personal hangups, and anything else that would make them unattractive or unavailable romantically. This, of course, also relies on the lazy presumption that a person's psychological and emotional problems can be instantly resolved the moment another person does something nice for them.

Y'know, rather than being things that take years of effort and willpower to work through, assuming such things can ever truly be overcome.

Here's the thing though: while these kinds of characters and the lazy misconceptions they perpetuate abound throughout the world of anime, there are a number of different ways the "good guy" hero can and has been twisted into something legitimately good. For example, while the concept itself is fairly lazy, the "good guy" hero has gained a lot of ground as a concept through the practice of making them a reluctant hero--someone who always does the right thing but begrudges how fate/friends always turn to them for help. Mileage may vary with this idea, though, depending on how much the character is developed beyond that point. Oreki Houtarou, the main character of Hyouka, for instance, falls toward the lower end of this concept's efficacy. While his reluctance to play the hero is evidenced through his characteristic desire to "conserve energy," he is still essentially a vehicle for each arc's resolution as he magically solves the arc's mystery and thus solves someone's problem. On the other hand, Takasu Ryuuji of Toradora! presents himself as a genuinely well-thought-out "good guy" hero while also being a genuinely good character in his own right. Though he's reluctant to help his fellow characters deal with their relationship and personal issues since they deliberately get in the way of his own goals. Yet, while the show drives him to do the right thing, it adds a layer to it by turning his reluctance into a slow but inevitable move toward him discovering his feelings for Taiga. What makes his story especially compelling, however, is the way in which his "saving" Taiga doesn't rob her of her own self-determination. Rather, he ends up pushing her to progress as a person until she too becomes the "good guy" and decides that she needs to resolve her old problems without Ryuuji's encouragement.

I swear this post isn't just an excuse to hype Toradora!.

Another classic adaptation to the "good guy" protagonist is the addition of turning the protagonist into a trader of good deeds, functionally removing that unrealistic selflessness. This method can, however, be just as bad as, if not worse than, the original concept, as proved by the sexist atrocities that are Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero and The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar. But, despite those risks, there are still some solid examples of this twist at work and they all succeed in different ways depending on what direction they take with the trader hero concept. From a more traditional approach, the recent series of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime does a good job with its character of Rimuru Tempest playing the hero and gaining power as a lord by steadily helping other people and adding them to his collection of underlings as payment for his aid. Though this falls within roughly the same conceptual framework as Master of Ragnarok, Rimuru manages to do this without being nearly as offensive since he isn't just collecting women to add to his harem or even expecting them to fall for him. As far as Slime is concerned, the beauty of his vassals is just an added bonus to their strengths and variety. Trending toward a more personally interested kind of trading, though, Re:Zero's Natsuki Subaru also exhibits this kind of twist through his attempts at humor. While still playing the "good guy" hero role, he endears people to him through his attempts to disarm people with light flirting, bartering his good deeds for little, harmless things like a smile or their name. What makes this format work especially well for this show, though, is the way in which the nature of Subaru's bartering changes as things take a dark turn and he starts desperately bartering with himself and with entropy to see his dreams realized. Yet again, though, it manages to do this without ever taking away or discrediting the feelings and agency of the rest of the cast.

To be fair, though, I'm pretty sure they only keep their agency so they can

all eventually betray Subaru and grind his dreams into dust.

Lastly, there is the simple alteration of limiting the scope of the protagonist's good deeds. Whether it be just restricting it to people who have legitimately earned the main character's friendship and sympathy or only those who arbitrarily are part of their school or club, this concept basically exists to capitalize on the concept of "less is more" and drive home the emotions better than the typical "good guy" character ever could. Hyouka, Clannad, Haruhi, Hanasaku Iroha, The Pet Girl of Sakurasou: all these shows use their main characters to work through the drama and emotions of their stories and arcs to fantastic effect specifically because their scope is restricted and characters are fantastically fleshed out. The current best example of this idea and pretty much all the ideas I've mentioned, though, can be seen in Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai's Azusagawa Sakuta. Though it takes some time to warm up to his particular brand of stoicism and snark, Sakuta's actions and decisions and rationality behind stepping up to the role of "good guy" generally make a lot of sense. Specifically, he limits himself to people he has a stated romantic interest in, people who have landed in a similar situation to what he and his little sister underwent, and those who have already proven themselves to be tried and true friends. Beyond those three categories of people, he makes it clear that cannot and will not be bothered to step in where he isn't wanted and doesn't really want to some kind of paragon of virtue and goodness. All he wants is some semblance to a normal, happy life without any unnecessary frills or half-hearted relationships. Though this might make him look unambitious or shallow, that is actually kinda the point. He's not meant to be a perfect person or even really a hero. Sakuta is just a decently good person who, when the need arises, will step into the role of hero when he knows that it's within his power and interest to be helpful.

To be fair, I do also love the show for its comedic, flirty banter.

I suppose what this all actually boils down to is that I just really hate lazy writing and prefer it when characters are properly fleshed out and have solid motivations driving their actions. The simple fact that I can and need to offer this complaint, though, should say enough. While I spent this time highlighting shows that do a good job with this one lazy concept, there are infinitely more that use and abuse it just because it's easier not to try. Obviously, I don't want or need everything to live up to the quality I'm expecting and getting from Slime and Bunny Girl Senpai this season. There is a place for lazy characters and stories in this culture. I just hate that it seems to the norm.

#Opinion