Character Flaws

I once read a romance I absolutely loved, except for one problem. I didn't even realize at first what it was that bothered me about the story. Finally it dawned on me. When we read a romance, we want the heroine to be someone we'd love to have as a best friend. And the hero should be someone we can fall in love with, and who, in our fantasies, would fall in love with us.

In this particular story, the hero was everything a hero should be: proud, courageous, intelligent, invincible, incredibly handsome, a fabulous lover…  He held himself as well as others to the highest of standards.  He was wonderful in every way, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with him.

Bingo. He was too perfect. So perfect, in fact, that I had trouble imagining such a paragon ever being able to love a flawed creature such as yours truly. He made me feel like I could never live up to his standards – never be smart enough, brave enough, awesome enough…no matter how awesome I might be on any particular day.  This guy was so flawless I had no choice but to write him out of my daydreams.

One of the best examples I can think of to illustrate what I'm talking about comes from real life: Princess Diana. She was beautiful, poised and gracious, and as she came into her own as an individual, she used her celebrity to make the world a little bit better as well as to reach unapologetically for her own happiness. We admired her for all those things. But I believe what made her so loved by so many people were her flaws. Because happiness didn't come easily for her, and she struggled with confidence, self-esteem, image issues, depression, etc., just like so many "normal" people. She might have been a princess, might have had every advantage wealth and status can provide, but she had needs that made us able to relate to her on a very human level.

Characters should be like that. There should be lots to admire about them, but the reader should also, on an emotional level, feel needed by those characters. That's how a story engages our sympathies and keeps us turning pages. We should want to heal the hero's pain. We should feel eager to see how the characters will grow, how their experiences will change them, and how, in a romance, they'll ultimately find the resolution they've been seeking through love: two imperfect people coming together to form a perfect couple, the sum being far better than its separate parts.

So what kinds of flaws are we talking about? Emotional baggage is good. Maybe the character was betrayed in the past and has major trust issues.  Maybe life itself has been cruel, forcing the character to armor-coat his or her heart. Maybe the character feels responsible for something bad that once happened (rightly or wrongly), and is secretly short on confidence. There are also phobias - fear of heights, tight places, the dark – which stem from an earlier trauma but which the character MUST overcome in order to win the day and find love.

But be careful, because there are also unforgivable flaws - just as in Harry Potter there are the unforgivable curses – because in my opinion, there are some characters that cannot be redeemed and are forever consigned to the role of villain: anyone who has committed rape, child abuse, animal abuse, any form of unprovoked violence. I'm leaving things out but you get the idea. Thievery to feed one's family is forgivable. Stealing from a starving family for any reason is not cool!  

So am I right? Can a character, especially a hero, be too perfect?

Tagged: character flaws