//spoilers From Chapter 662

6 Tips for Writing an Underdog Character

People love reading about an underdog. There’s something within all of us that relates to persevering against the odds, even when they’re crushing. Anything becomes possible—but how do you write that kind of character successfully?

Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Create Their Disempowerment

Underdogs need to lose something or have one thing less than those they fight against. It might be something they hope to gain back or something they hope to gain at all.

Let’s use The Hunger Games as an example for this post. Katniss comes from District 12, but she’s already at a disadvantage when she volunteers as tribute. Restrictions on her district kept her from food security for most of her life. Without a lifetime of basic nutrition, her body is already at a disadvantage in the physically-demanding games.

District 12 is also one of the less appreciated districts in her country. She doesn’t think anyone will care about sponsoring her in the games, which makes survival much less likely.

But we still root for her! She volunteered to save her sister, which is heroic. There’s so much potential for more heroic growth that we keep turning the page, even though she’s not the most likely person to survive.

2. Make Your Protagonist Likable

Getting excited to see a character grow might be something you feel as a creative writer, but the average reader also needs an underdog protagonist to be likable in some way. Katniss will do anything for her family, including hunting where and when she isn’t supposed to. Many people would feel the need to do the same for their families.

She also feels deep compassion for people, which she covers up with her gruff demeanor. We’ve all felt like we got hurt because our hearts opened too wide for someone. We can relate to her building defenses into her personality, which might make her likable to more readers.

Katniss also has the core value of loyalty. People always seek loyalty in new connections. It’s how we trust new friends. It’s also how readers trust characters.

This site has a few more tips on crafting likable characters. Part of that happens while you’re creating the characters during your planning process, but you can also do it while you’re writing. As your underdog becomes more of a real person in your mind, you’ll know which primary character traits make them most likable to readers.

3. Plan Their Rock-Bottom Moment

Underdogs always reach a point where they feel they’re at their lowest. Even when they feel crushed or defeated, they choose to find strength and continue with their journey. It makes readers support them even more, but it’s also the defining moment of an underdog’s arc.

Your underdog’s rock-bottom moment will be the scene where they resist the temptation to give up, change their dream, or change who they are. It will be the choice that keeps them moving toward their end goal, instead of taking the easy road.

You could argue Katniss has a few rock-bottom moments. It might be when she hears her sister’s name called at the Reaping. It could be when Rue dies and she chooses to spearhead a revolution.

There could be multiple moments for your underdog too. It depends on the shape of your narrative arc and how many acts your story has.

4. Show Them Trying and Failing

It’s time for an important caveat—underdogs also fail. If they were perfect, they’d be god-like figures that readers couldn’t personally identify with.

Maybe your underdog achieves their ultimate goal, but they experience failure along the way. Their failure helps them grow or makes them pursue their goal with more conviction and determination.

Katniss begins her journey with a mindset of self-preservation. That makes her slightly selfish and automatically distrustful of people. She makes some choices readers would probably disagree with, but then she learns from them. By the end of the series, she’s as selfless as a human can get. 

Characters don’t grow if they don’t make mistakes. Even underdogs should fail. However, that failure shouldn’t make them quit. It should either motivate them to keep going or give them a new perspective on how they can achieve their ultimate goal.

5. Train Them Along the Way

Underdogs start out as unlikely heroes because they don’t start with everything they need to succeed. That might be a societal problem, like coming from an economically disadvantaged family or a biased society. Maybe they don’t have the skills they need, like the ability to fight in hand-to-hand combat, outsmart their antagonist, or solve mysteries.

Usually, characters learn these things during their arcs. Your underdog will likely pick up what they need to succeed through the relationships they make and experiences they have. 

Katniss already knows how to hunt when she volunteers for the games, but Haymitch mentors her to win over much-needed sponsors to survive. Peeta teaches her how to soften her heart and think outside the box. She wouldn’t have made it through the series without the people in her life. Other underdog characters can’t either.

6. Reward Them at the End

Underdogs work hard and transform themselves to achieve their goals. At the end of the story, they often gain a tangible reward, power, knowledge, a new title or a new community. Your underdog should get what they set out to achieve, plus a few extra things they didn’t expect.

Katniss wins the Hunger Games. She gets her primary objective: to continue living. She also protects her sister. In addition to surviving, she has her (albeit rocky) relationship with Peeta, a new mentor in Haymitch, a comfortable living in the Victor’s Village, and an audience of fans who are another layer of protection against President Snow’s desire to kill her.

The extra rewards propel her through the remainder of her storyline. They also set her up for more success with the new lifepath she sees for herself: aiding the revolution to end the games for good.

A new goal is sometimes a reward in itself. It depends on if you want to continue writing about your character or if you want a one-off story.

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I hope this helps gives you a new perspective on future protagonists! Adding one of these factors into your character’s growth could remove your writer’s block too. They set up a path forward for your protagonist and help shape their journey.

You can also use these resources to learn more about the underdog archetype:

Character Archetypes: The Disruptor and the Underdog

Writing the Underdog: Effort Matters Most

7 Tips to Writing Underdog Heroes

Is it actually possible for people to respect the idea that I’m just not personally impressed with Berdly as a person right now?

I’m not a fan of how he interrupts Noelle constantly, how he spent most of chapter 2 putting Kris and Susie down and call them stupid to their faces, just to turn around and relationship-zone Susie after she turns out to be cool, trying to get her alone constantly and then trick her into giving him a kiss.

He’s going to have to treat Kris, Noelle, and Susie with some actual, non-crush-related respect, as people, before I’m going to consider liking him. That doesn’t mean I want him dead or don’t acknowledge that he values Noelle.

This is not a character everyone has to like or it’s immoral somehow or you get to call them stupid for not liking him. Stop sending me fanboy asks trying to covert me Green Eggs and Ham style.

What part of “there’s nothing wrong with him, he’s just annoying” makes people think harassing them into liking him is okay?

Reasons Cale Henituse is the funniest motherfucker:

*People cheering for him in the streets* Hm. Don’t like that.

His self-proclaimed speciality is just disassociating on command

Someone: *helps him* Cale: *sighs* I guess I have to solve every problem you’ve ever had

When learning a language, memorised all the swear words before anything else

“I don’t like cats,” says Cale, holding two kittens tenderly, plotting a rebellion to instate a third cat as the new emperor

Single father of *checks notes* uh… 3 to 14 children,

All he wants is to retire to the country; can’t stop getting into international incidents

His relationship with the crown prince is basically: *points at each other* Bastard

Keeps telling people not to trust him while saving their asses from certain destruction

This loser thinks he’s ‘quiet’ and ‘good at keeping still’

Cale: *smiles gently* Everyone: oh god stop What the Fuck

‘Accidental Baby Acquisition’ trope but it’s ‘Accidental Family Acquisition’ and they’re all agents of chaos

“I heard you got hurt,” says a concerned child. “Yes, I coughed up blood.” Cale comforts, comfortingly.

[Girl hits on him] No thanks [Guy hits on him] No thanks

Everyone: you’re a good person Cale: incomprehensible, have a terrible day

Named his adopted son, a dragon, ‘Dragon’

Tells people to drink tea before pulling out something that will make them spray it everywhere like a cartoon

*to a 13 year old* No you can’t train to become a knight you’re too young *to a 5 year old* Alright tonight we’re gonna blow up an island and participate in the slaughter of half a race make sure to protect me well

His entire fucking backstory, like what? What???

Raon: I’ve only had this human for an hour and a half but if anything happened to him I would kill everyone on this continent and then myself Cale: That’s terrifying please stop talking

Never thinks, at any point, to tell anyone that he has a healing power 

He’s THE most extra bitch. Orchestrates his b&e’s like he’s conducting an opera, always plans for maximum Dramatic Effect

*The crown prince doesn’t help in a terror incident* That’s fine because he’s weak. *Finds out he’s strong actually* Bastard??????

Gives his kids an extravagant allowance. Doesn’t let them spend it and buys everything for them instead

‘I should have just got beaten up’, Cale thinks, war waging around him. ‘That would be far less annoying.’

original thread by @pukicho and several other users

About Kim Rok Soo’s abilities (spoiler alert for chapters 356+)

Have you guys ever noticed that all of Kim Rok Soo’s abilities that are revealed are related to time?

Record: Allows KRS to have perfect recollection of the past

Instant: Being able to move beyond human limitations in the present

I wonder if his other abilities are also related to time. Maybe he has one that is related to the future.

I despise Venion so much omg

You are an anonymous professional assassin with a perfect reputation. You lead an ordinary life outside of your work. You’ve just been hired to kill yourself.

Where to start as a beginner writer

Are you new to the world of writing? Here are some pointers to consider when starting out your journey!

Define your purpose

A super important first step for any writer is to ask themselves why they are actually writing. What sort of message do you want to put out into the world, what types of stories are you going to tell? Do you want to make people cry, laugh, do you want to inspire them, do you want to shine a torch on important issues, do you want to thrill them or make them feel good?

Familiarize yourself with character arcs

Before plot, there is character! Character arcs are a great way to get yourself started on your writing journey. Learn about internal conflict, misbelief, positive and negative arcs, backstories... Once you know this, the plotting side of things clicks into place much easier.

Understand the basics of story structure

You do not need to be a plot-genius to write a good book. As long as you have a good grasp on your character arcs, and a basic understand of how a story is structured, you’re good to go! It’s great to read about 3-act, 5-act, hero’s journey, and other structures on examples of books you’ve read or films you’ve seen.

Read in your genre

Cannot stress this enough! Every writer should be a reader. It’s so important to read within and outside of your genre, because reading is the best way to learn and grow and improve.

Don’t be afraid to write whatever comes to mind

All writers get stuck into certain parts of their writing, and we all become victims of perfectionism or procrastination one way or another. Don’t let this be a thing to discourage you. What’s important to know about writing is that the more you do it, the more you will improve. So even if you’re writing something for fun, or you’re not entirely happy with the quality, know that actually writing it will help you more than avoiding it.

Did you know I have a free novel plan to get you started on your writing journey?

You can grab it through the [link here] or below!

the-plottery.com

The Plottery Links

The Plottery offers writing services such as book coaching, book editing, novel plotting digital courses, and theory books on the craft of w

Recently reread the scene where we see Yoo Joonghyuk's interaction with Jang Hayoung for the first time and?? Holy shit?? Like, there's literally no other explanation. This man is jealous Kim Dokja made friends and plans with someone who wasn't him.

Like yes, Jang Hayoung pissed him off with her way of speaking immediately, but there have been ruder people. Why was it on sight for her? Why is he so sour over them just chatting? Kim Dokja is like "Hey look! Isn't this guy super useful (for us)?" and Yoo Joonghyuk is like "I'm better than this jerk." Jesus christ.