How to Write a Sleazy Male (Villain/Bad Guy)

EelKat on Character Creation


By EelKat Wendy C Allen

POSSIBLE TRIGGER WARNING

This article deals with the topic of creating a rapist character.

How to Write a Sleazy Male

How to Write a Sleazy Male

Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Georgie S., Thursday at 1:27 PM.

So I'm trying to write a sleazy male character who has a girlfriend that he loves but to whom has a lot of trouble staying faithful. He kissed someone else a few months earlier and even full-on cheated on his girlfriend about a year before. He is attracted to the waitress at the diner he goes to and has trouble hiding the fact that he is infatuated with this new girl he meets. He also has sexually assaulted someone while drunk (which was the time he cheated on his girlfriend). The problem is I want him to be believable, but I feel like a guy this sleazy and horny just isn't. I also want to make him somewhat redeemable while still showing this major character flaw, because it's a big part of who he is in this story.


Any tips?

Wow, thanks for all the responses everyone! I guess I should have clarified: this guy is not the main character, but the person he sexually assaulted is... somewhat. If you want all the details, read the most recent posts on my thread "A little help?" The guy is somewhat of a main character, along with others, who are trying to find the identity of a mysterious person to whom they are all connected. The guy was blackout drunk when he assaulted her, and she was too afraid to press charges (tying it back to the concept of a power move). He does feel remorse once he realizes what he's done (because for the former part of the book he just has no recollection), so there's that, but the thing is, the story isn't just about him, so I don't want to get sucked into a rabbit hole of consequences. Don't get me wrong, I totally agree that he's a criminal and that he needs to be punished, but that's a later problem right now, and at the moment I want to make him seem normal and not fall into the cliche of "all men are attracted to all women and simply because he's a man he is a sexually deviant pig."

You bring up another important point. He was drunk and she was not. I am well aware that alcohol can bring out the worst in people, and this was my plan to segway into this happening; he is a sexually deviant man but is sometimes better at hiding this, such as from his girlfriend, but when alcohol gets mixed in, the very very worst of him comes out. So I want to help develop this subtle characteristic of being attracted to many different girls and having trouble keeping his feelings to himself, which is then amplified when he gets blackout drunk. Does that make sense?

ChickenFreak said: ↑Yes; I'd like to know if we're talking groping or rape.

I'm not 100% sure which one I'm going to go with, but I'm fairly certain I'm going to make it so that he groped this girl repeatedly and was then trying to have full on sex but she managed to push him off of her

That's not the point I'm trying to make. This is a really touchy subject and this thread has really veered off topic from what I originally wanted to talk about. My point is trying to make this character believable while still having this part of his character be there. I want him to act this way so that it's believable that he would do this to someone when it's revealed later on in the story. My goal is to create a somewhat sexually deviant character that way it doesn't completely come out of nowhere with the reveal while also not making it seem like he is the walking cliche of "every man can't keep his d*ck in his pants and can never be faithful, and also is a rapist"

Cave Troll said: ↑The way you represent him as I have seen, he is a Tom-Cat that becomes Mr. Grabby when on the sauce. What exactly are the readers suppose to take away from that?

Yeah, that's the main issue: there's nothing that makes him a decent character and not the worst person in the world if that's all there is to them, which is why I created this thread. But pretty much all of your responses have been very helpful, so thank you. I have a pretty good idea of how I want this guy to be. Let me know if this is alright, and if/how I need to alter this:


So this guy, his name is Calvin, has been in a relationship with his girlfriend for a few years now and has "feelings" for her, but not in the same way he does with other girls. He is mainly with her to throw people off the scent of his true behaviors and treats her more like a friend with benefits than an actual romantic relationship. He cares for her and doesn't want to make her upset, but that is mainly because he feels that if she leaves him, people will start to catch on to what he is really like. He has a type, which will help avoid the idea of him being attracted to LITERALLY EVERY GIRL EVER, but never really sees them as people he wants to get into a deep relationship with; to be a little crude, he's more interested in humping then dumping them. A few months prior to the events of the story, he was caught making out with another girl and insisted it was all her to avoid his girlfriend catching on, but that's not entirely true. Later on in the story, his best friend (who is complicit and that is one of his major "character flaws" –aka what makes him a bad person) reveals to him what he did one night when blackout drunk (groped a girl repeatedly until she managed to get away), which he feigns horror at, but actually doesn't care, because he does not respect the girl's body or feelings like he pretends he does. He still doesn't want to come out and tell other people, because deep down he is aware that what he does is wrong, but simply doesn't care. Throughout the story, we get little hints to this via third-person limited narration with him as the pseudo-narrator, and this whole concept is revealed at the end, where he is then dumped by his girlfriend (and possibly gets some other comeuppance? I dunno, I'm not sure yet).


What do you guys think? Thanks for all the help!

Perhaps my next door neighbour can help you:

First encounter: I'm attempting to go in my front door when out of the blue an old drunk man I'd never seen before, grabs my arm, and starts dragging me to the alley between the buildings while saying: "I need some loveys and kissys"; I kick him and run away.

A few days later: a woman I've also never seen before, very drunk, stumbles over to me and says: "My uncle has come to live with us, he's just out of prison, but he's harmless, don't call the cops on him okay"

A few days later: My boyfriend is working on my car, the same old rummy, a man I assumed to be in his 70s, comes stumbling over, says to my boyfriend: "You get away from her you hear." My boyfriend stands up to see who's talking to him, and the old drunk says: "I'm a Gnome!" then runs off laughing hysterically

The next day he's back, does the same thing, this time, he hands my boyfriend a knife (big 10" blade switch blade). He's holding it by the blade aiming the handle at my boyfriend. Before my boyfriend has time to respond, the man starts yelling hysterically, screaming that my boyfriend pulled a knife on him!

Every night for the following month, when I get home from work, I am unable to get to the apartment on the 3rd floor because the man is hiding under the stairs, and as soon as I start to go upstairs, he starts stabbing his knife through the stairs and grabbing my legs, while screaming: "I need loveys, Jesus came to the white room with me tonight and told me to get some loveys"

After a month of this, he's waiting on the 2nd floor one night and grabs my by my hair and drags me back down the stairs, holding the knife to my throat while screaming: "God told my he don't like ya hair none, nope he don't, Jesus says ya has to cut it cause ya won't give me loveys."

At this point I push him down the stairs and run away. Next thing I know there's a big black dog chasing me with the man yelling to the doog: "Go get her, get her good!"

I run 4 blocks until I get to the police station (note that I am crippled, have a lame leg, and walk with a cane, so running this distance is no easy feat for me). At the police station I tell the first officer I see what has happened. He says a name, "Is it Guy Gammon?" I don't know the name, He asks me if I can draw what the man looks like... well, I'm a artist by profession, so, yes I can and I did. The officer says: "That's him!"

5 officers leave the stations while a woman officer explains to me this man is wanted for 27 rapes, and I was lucky to get away from him.

He's arrested.

About 6 months later, he's back... officer stops by to tell me, that the man is out of prison on a technicality and they are watching him, but to be careful as he's in the area again... turns out, though he was a wrinkled old rummy, who we thought to be in his 70s he was only 46 years old. Never would have guessed.

A grand jury trail is set for 2 years away.

2 months pass, and a new girl moves in next door, claims to be his girlfriend. 

On a weekly basis he gets drunk, drags her out onto the sidewalk and beats up up. On 4 separate occasions he siced the black dog on her. On one occasion the dog tore off most of her face and she had to have plastic surgery.

On each occasion the police BEGGED her to file charges. Maine law, only the victim can file charges. The police could do nothing. In spite of dozens of witnesses to each event, he could not be arrested because of Maine law stating only the victim can press charges.

March 2, 2016... the worst fight we've ever seen takes place and the man and one of his friend, beat the girl up again, on the sidewalk. 3 police officers BEG her to press charges. She says to the officer: "It's okay, he's just drunk. He loved me. He'll calm down in a few hours."

March 5, 2016... the police are roping off the street. The building is evacuated. Me, my family, my neighbours, we are all standing on the sidewalk at 5AM wondering why the police woke us up and asked us the quietly and quickly get the hell out of the building.

A hearse drives up. They carry the dead girl out. The man is arrested. He's now in prison on murder charges in addition to the 27 rape charges.

..........

When you ask the habits of a sleazy man, one who'd commit sexual assault, and how to make it so no one is too surprised when it happens... that man, the one who attacked me, he's what I think of.

A violent drunk, with a history of grouping women, chasing them into their homes, sicing his dog on them, swearing, drinking, pulling out knives... that was my personal experience with that type of man, so, if I ever had to write a sleazy man who will one day sexually asult the main character, I would base him off that man who had attacked me and then murdered my neighbour.

Not sure if that helps you any or not, but, that's what I think of at least, when I think of a character like the one you are considering writing.

I do in fact write this type of character.

Unicorn. Primary character of the Quaraun series.

He's not a good person

It saddens me when people read the Quaraun series and then hail it "The best gang bang erotica ever written".

Sadly there is a large group of people who are fans of the Quaraun series specifically BECAUSE of Unicorn and his deviated sexual behaviour.

Unicorn is a serial rapist.

While Unicorn vocally jokes about his raging sex addiction, the reality is Unicorn is an extreme self conscious person with a low self esteem. When he feels threatened by someone, he forces and exchange of power by raping them.

He uses sex to control people.

Unicorn is a bully.

He is also fully aware of the fact that forcing sex on someone humiliates, traumatizes, and victimizes people. He uses sex as a weapon to render his enemies powerless.

Unicorn is a sadistic villain. Many readers seem to forget that he is NOT Human and sees Humans as prey. He is a monster in the truest sense of the word. 

Of all the villains I have ever created, Unicorn is probably the worst. 

Point of note "he was blackout drunk when he assaulted her" Depending on what he did I very much doubt it, if you are blackout drunk your chances of overpowering anyone are pretty slim, not to mention whether you are sexually capable..... "I was too drunk to control myself/remember what I did/ know it was wrong" is a pretty common excuse by sleaze bags but its not generally an accurate description of circumstances

that aside ' Sleazy guys' are generally one of two character types (massive generalisation)

You have Mr Horndog/Bad boy who's superficially attractive and knows it, this is the guy who tells girls he loves them to get them into bed but in the morning can't remember their name, he gets lots of female attention in the scene he moves in but he's incapable of fidelity. At the far end of the spectrum he doesn't think of his partners as people but just as a method of sexual recreation. If he assaults someone it will be because he thinks he has a right to their body (brock the rapist - doing an unconscious girl behind a dumpster and then claiming it was okay because she didn't say no, fits this model).

The other type is Mr stereotypical loser, this guy isn't attractive at all, and knows it, he doesn't get female attention and probably resents women because of it, he'll say crude stuff and talk a good game about sex but in reality is probably either still a virgin in love with his right hand, or he pays for it. If he assaults someone its probably driven by rage over rejection or a perceived rejection, or it will be about power

big soft moose

If you want to help Wreybies and his community, go to https://www.gofundme.com/family-and-neighbors-in-moca-pr

I'm going to agree with big soft moose's comment here.

If your character was blackout drunk, he'd be passed out on the floor unconscious, thus the term "blackout" for having blacked out. He likely can't get his dick up either and isn't able to rape anyone.

A blackout drunk is someone who drinks a lot all at once, but doesn't drink the rest of the day, and probably only has one night a week that he drinks at all.

If he's raping people while he is drunk, in more likelihood he is like Guy Gammon and is always drunk, all the time. Someone who drinks a glass here and a glass there, all day long. Someone who has a beer with breakfast and 2 or 3 more with brunch, another for lunch, and couple more before dinner, some wine during dinner, then some light beer to finish off before bed.

The rummy style drunk, never sobers up and always walks around with his head in the clouds, and ALWAYS feels big and bold. He thinks he is invincible. Thinks he can jump off a cliff and fly to the moon. Thinks every woman is crawling at his feet begging for cock.

This is the type of drunk who rapes women, on a frequent basis, and it sounds like the type of character you are describing your character to be.

Also adding to moose's comment...

Unicorn falls into the Horndog stereotype on some levels, but not so much. When he was younger he had several wives, one after the other, and was unable to stay in a stable relationship. This was mostly because of his violent, obsessive personality. Everything has to be his way or no way and anyone who challenges him is swiftly smashed to the floor and has their face pummeled.

Most of his life, he is the bold self important type who thinks everyone should love him and becomes violent if someone does not.

Born Gwallmaiic, Unicorn came from a hostile home, never had a strong relationship with either of his parents, and was abandoned by them as a young child, simply because he was sick and they had the "survival of the fittest" mindset to an extreme. He was literally dumped on the roadside and left behind.

The young boy ran after them for miles, until he collapsed. They did this to him in the dead of winter, assuming the sick child would freeze to death in a few days. He survived through the cold for months, nearly starving to death.

The story of Gwallmaiic's survival become legendary throughout the land, as the young boy came across the body of a dead Elf, which he ate to avoid starving to death. When the Elf flesh ran out he sought out an Elf village and set about killing Elves in order to survive Pepper Valley's harsh winter. Because of this he became known as The Elf Eater of Pepper Valley.

He continued to live on his own in the wild, becoming deadly and feral, hunting Elves as his primary food source. His isolated youth left him wild, feral, and undomesticated, with no social interactions, no education, and growing up illiterate and brutal.

He took his parents "survival of the fittest" attitude to heart and turned himself into a killing machine that could survive anything just to prove them wrong. 

As an adult he set out to find his parents to show them he'd survived, but upon finding them, found his father to be an evil tyrant Necromancer king of a small tribal band. Hellbent on becoming a Lich, his father murdered his mother and most of their tribe, and attempted to murder their son. 

Realizing how utterly evil his father really was, Gwallmaiic murdered his father and ate him, then systematically murdered all of his father's soldiers, army, and supporters, and eat all of them.

Crowning himself King in his father's place, King Gwallmaiic set out to kill all the evil in the world. His vendetta against abusive parents turned into a blood frenzy as he gathered up an army and marched across the planet slaughtering anyone who even raised their voice at their children.

What started out as him getting back at his parents for abandoning him, quickly spiralled out of control as he became more and more violent. Soon he was slaughtering entire villages for no reason at all, other then as he put it: "It was a joy to hear them scream."

He quickly became a sadistic monster, razing every village in his path, letting his soilders rape and plunder along the way.

All the while, Gwallmaiic was haunted by the fact that his parents abandoned him as a child and had no love for him. This spurred him to seek love, but to do so in a manner that was horrific, because he had no real concept of what it meant to either love or be loved.

He began gathering up women as slave brides, raping any female that crossed his path and passing a law that decreed all virgins belonged to him. He soon had more "wives" than he could count, fathering hundreds of children with them over the next few decades, but never finding love.

Because of the forced marriage by rape, he was unsuccessful in finding any one to love him. This lead to him declaring he hated women and instead set out to raping men.

His vicious, brutal violence was a result of his desire for some one to love him, but his lack of a mental understanding of what love was or how one goes about finding love.

You see, his brutal reign of terror end, when he encounters what is the equivalent of a "screaming fangirl" ... a masochistic Elf who has followed reports of King Gwallmaiic's career for decades and lives in a fangirl's fanfiction rape fantasy world of hoping to meet and be captured by the Evil Faerie King.

In one of the very first scenes to show Gwallmaiic in the Quaraun series, you see, him and his army riding North, and encountering a young Elf camped by the road for the night. The group of Fae immediately respond as they always do, to attack the Elf and rape it to death.

The scene however, ends abruptly with the King NOT raping the Elf and instead ordering his men away from Quaraun, when he realizes, Quaraun is not putting up a fight and is not trying to stop the attack.

His attempt to rape Quaraun, is the first time he encountered someone who does not try to resist him and he does not know how to deal with this. Gwallmaiic has encountered someone who loves him, and while it's a twisted love, it's still love on some level and he doesn't know how to respond to someone who loves him.

So, Unicorn does not quite fall into either of big soft moose's descriptors, which tells us that, there are more then two general types of rapists.

In general, "bad people," come in two varieties:

Some have a skewed moral compass and think that the things they do, like cheating, aren't really wrong. Not only are they not wrong, or less wrong than depriving themselves, but hiding it to avoid hurting people is "good." This can apply to killers who think they are justified, rapists who think their victim was asking for it, thieves who steal from their corrupt bosses or people who have "too much and won't miss it." You also have people who benefit from other people's evil, such as the citizens of a corrupt democracy who enjoy plundered wealth without dirtying their own hands.

The other kind are people who have some guilt about it, and may even have self-loathing, but value their indulgences more than their self-respect. Someone who kills for the drug cartel might fit this model if he believes he lives in an eat or be eaten society.

So, your sleazy male is probably one of those two. Either he's a fiend who hates himself, or he thinks everyone else has the wrong idea on right and wrong. In either case, he probably hides it from anyone he needs to respect him or who would be hurt by his actions, and he values. Most sleazy people love to talk about their exploits with co-workers, internet buddies, strangers, or anyone else that won't connect back to their lives.

John Calligan

www.winocthetraveler.com

I like how John Calligan's comment was posted immediately after big soft moose's comment, and both said there are 2 types, yet, each described two different types, giving us 4 types total.

While some of what big soft moose said fits Unicorn, I feel more of what John Calligan says fits him better.

In Unicorn's case, he sees nothing wrong with killing and raping his victims. He feels justified. In some sick, twisted way, he almost feels he's doing the world a favor. He does not consider himself evil, either. He has a skewed sense of morals. He often says his victims were asking for it, usually states the men and women he's raped both wanted and deserved it.

In short, he does not see that he is doing anything wrong and if someone was to tell him what he was doing was a crime, he'd simply law and say he's the king so his word is law and whoever he kills was kills by the law.

He feels no guilt or remorse for the things he has done.

And when he dies... he is cursed to roam the world, haunted by the souls of them he's killed... told he was too evil even for Hell itself and cast into a Realm of nonexistence, where he has no corporeal body and can not satisfy his hunger, thirst, or lusts, but feels them all the same and is driven mad by the eternal torment of his lusts for food and sex.

Believing himself lost in this cursed existence for eternity, he is stunned when on the 100th anniversary of his death, he finds himself again alive (undead) living in a physical body, once again able to eat and drink and fuck.

Confused as to why someone as evil as he was in life was given a second chance, he finds that it was the little Elf whom he had not raped and let go, whom had resurrected him. His little screaming fangirl, brought him back from the grave.

This is when you see Gwallmaiic cast aside his past, become Unicorn, and devote his new life to the Elf, and no more killing and raping every one he meets, but instead now protecting the Elf that gave him a second chance at life.

Thus you see the horrificly evil, totally unredeemable King Gwallmaiic, evolve into the much more relatable, and sympathetic to the readers, Unicorn, now somewhat repentant and on a road to redemption.

It is difficult to take an unredeemable character and redeem them. 

But it sounds like for your story, redemption is not the direction you are headed?

Sexual assault isn't just a character flaw, and it's certainly not "cheating"; simple cheating assumes consent, and using the word for a major crime doesn't work. I think that if you want this story to be about anything but the fact that this guy is a serious criminal, you may need to leave that part out.

I'd like to know if we're talking groping or rape.

You're running into the question of whether rape is (1) result of a man (edited to add: Yes, or woman) who is a helpless victim of overwhelming feelings of sexual attraction, or (2) whether it's a crime of power and violence. 

You can probably tell from my phrasing that I absolutely don't go with interpretation (1), whether the rapist is drunk or sober, and the same is likely to be true of a lot of readers.

"Trouble keeping his feelings to himself" could, say, result in inappropriate remarks. A violent attack? That's beyond feelings.

Let's imagine that I really admire someone's jewelry, and wish I owned it, and I express that feeling by attacking that person with a baseball bat and taking that jewelry. I don't feel that that could be legitimately described as me "having trouble keeping my feelings to myself". A violent attack? That's beyond feelings.

ChickenFreak

While some of what big soft moose said fits Unicorn, and more of what John Calligan says fits him better, I think ChickenFreak describes his personality type best of all when s/he says this:

>>"Trouble keeping his feelings to himself" could, say, result in inappropriate remarks. A violent attack? That's beyond feelings.

>>Let's imagine that I really admire someone's jewelry, and wish I owned it, and I express that feeling by attacking that person with a baseball bat and taking that jewelry. I don't feel that that could be legitimately described as me "having trouble keeping my feelings to myself". A violent attack? That's beyond feelings.

Unicorn is DEFINITELY the type of person who would see something he wants, and violently crack your skull in to take it from you, giving no thought to how badly he injured you, and in fact, he'd be just delighted if he killed you, because then he could rip out your entrails and eat them. Keeping in mind that he is a Phooka and eating Humans is something that Phookas do, so Phookas tend to look at Humans the same way Humans look at cows...tasty served with ketchup.

While he's no longer raping people after he's been resurrected, he's still killing and eating people, something that Quaraun is constantly chiding him for. While Unicorn has learned not to hurt people, he has trouble differentiating between hurting someone and killing them. In his mind he is not hurting them, seeing how they are dead and no longer feel pain. Also, as he is a predator and Humans are his natural food supply, he had trouble understand why he's not allowed to kill a thing that is only there for him to eat to begin with.

ChickenFreak said: ↑Sexual assault isn't just a character flaw, and it's certainly not "cheating"; simple cheating assumes consent, and using the word for a major crime doesn't work. I think that if you want this story to be about anything but the fact that this guy is a serious criminal, you may need to leave that part out.

Yes! Thank you! For the last time, people. Sexual assault is not about sex, it is about power. 

Getting back to the OP, here's a story line you can use from something that happened to a friend in real life. Make the guy not just a cheater, but have him juggle an entire double life that even his best friend didn't know about. Have him take a second "job" that doesn't exist, and have him use this time to cheat. (The guy's best friend was so disgusted, he ended their childhood friendship and took the side of the girl who was cheated on, by the way.) Throw in a gambling addiction or something--clearly this guy is a guy who likes living on the edge.

Shenanigator

>>Sexual assault isn't just a character flaw, and it's certainly not "cheating"; simple cheating assumes consent, and using the word for a major crime doesn't work. 

........

>>Yes! Thank you! For the last time, people. Sexual assault is not about sex, it is about power. 

Yes.

Again, this is something I find troubling.

There is nothing Erotica about the Quaraun series, and yet so many fans of the series, specifically call it Erotica and say they love it for it's sex scenes.

Well, if you've gotten this far reading this page, you know wgat the sex scees are like... Unicorn attacking someone and literally raping them to death, then eating them.

Yep. That's it.

The fact that Quaraun, is lovestruck by King Gwallmaiic and wants to be raped by him, is me writing satire about the girls on fanfiction.net who write rape fantasy.

I assume it's those same girls who read the Quaraun books and then call them Erotica. They are probably the same ones who read 50 Shades of Grey and call it Erotica too.

Make sure the character has dimension. He can do all of those things, but people in real life (even assholes) have more to them than just one dominating trait. Maybe he takes care of his grandmother and that's a priority in his life, or while he's sleazy, he's still a friendly person who likes to make people laugh. Characters have many traits, personalities, a history, a mix of emotions, regrets, flaws, and qualities, and that's what separates them from a caricature.

Odile_Blud

Yes...

This is why Unicorn has so many fans, in spite of how horrible a person he is.

He's also a kind, tender, gentle, loving protector.

You see the other side of him often.

Quaraun is a sickly, frail little Elf, always weak and getting hurt. Unicorn is always there to take care of the frail Elf, nursing him to health and protecting him from harm.

Unicorn takes a very gentle loving stance with Quaraun.

Gwallmaiic is also a chef. 

For many years he and his cousin Krumpas lived with Santa Claus. Gwallmaiic developed a gingerbread cake that could be used for making houses and built Santa Claus's gingerbread village.

While he hates with a vengeance anyone who abuses children and will quickly slaughter a child abusing parent, he has a deep protective nature around children. He is often seen rescuing children and finding better homes for them. (Part of why he liked working for Santa was because of Santa's kind treatment of children.

So, this is what I'm thinking.

You keep referring to him as 'sexually deviant' and there's this idea of him being attracted to a lot girls being the reason he's scummy. I don't think that's the crux of the issue. For this dude to have no probs cheating on his girlfriend and assaulting another girl, it's not a case of "I just have so much love (cough lust cough) to give!" - it's a matter of him feeling entitled to these womens' time/bodies. A high sex drive and being attracted to a lot of people doesn't directly translate into being unfaithful or assaulting those people - there's a different mindset there.

To me, it seems like he doesn't respect his girlfriend, specifically, and probably not any of the other women he's messed around with. He's not 'attracted' to them - he wants them. It's a different impulse. If you're hungry and you see a delicious cake, you're not attracted to the cake, you want to own and eat that cake. Being drunk just lowers his impulse control and tips him over from "I'm owed this" to "I'm going to take this".

So, in looking to characterize this guy, he's most likely got a general disregard for women's feelings, but he knows that this isn't considered acceptable. He probably tries to act like a gentleman or at least not a scuzbag, and he could even be pretty charming. He might have a decent relationship with his mom and even revere her / view her as the one worthy woman (the whore/madonna thing) - she might be the one who taught him to not act like an asshole. Or he might not care about her either, and he gleaned his ability to not be a asshole %100 of the time from society at large.

His disregard for other people's personhood may extend to everyone or it may be gendered. Maybe he's an inconsiderate dick to guys too, and maybe he doesn't even try to hide that, because there's nothing that he wants from guys. Maybe he has especial ire for guys who are faithful/considerate because he views them as idiots (why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free, right?). Maybe he has some close-ish male friends who give his behavior a pass, and he views them as being like himself because of it, regardless of whether they really are or just see him as a harmless horny dude.

When it comes to his girlfriend, he's probably pretty controlling. He's paranoid that she'll be unfaithful, because to him that's just what you do. But because he feels entitled to her, no one else should have her. That's pretty classic philanderer behavior.

I think you need to develop this guy enough to make him unique if you want to avoid the cliche. Understand his behavior yourself - what drives him - so that it'll be consistent and not come off as as just generic gross dude qualities pasted on. You can also have male characters who don't behave like him so that he's singled out as one guy who's like this, not that every guy is like this.

izzybot

>>>You keep referring to him as 'sexually deviant' and there's this idea of him being attracted to a lot girls being the reason he's scummy. 

Yes, I had noticed this as well.

Now, by this assumption, GhoulSpawn would therefore be evil, and he isn't. GhoulSpawn is the farthest thing from evil. He's a shy, quiet, timid character who is incapable of thinking a bad thought about anyone. His Pollyanna personality sees the good in everyone and looks at the bright side of everything. He tries to help everyone. He's a vegan animal rights activities, always rescuing animals (especially sheep, which are his favorite animal).

Because of the society he lives in, which shuns half-Elves and does not allow them to buy, sell, or trade, does not allow them to have jobs or owning property, like all half-Elves GhoulSpawn is a pickpocket cat thief, who has to steal food and supplies to survive. Often feeling guilty for being forced to steal, he frequently steals for the rich to give to the poor to make up for his having to steal at all.

His major flaw, however, is his sex addiction. GhoulSpawn loves women. He spends every chance he can in the company of females. Often that means prostitutes. Frequently it means other men's wives. 

GhoulSpawn has a charisma about him that attracts women to him. He rarely is able to stay in any one town long, because he is frequently chased out by angry husbands.

While his insatiable sexual appetite could be seen as him being a sexual deviate, the fact remains that he has never raped anyone, never abused anyone, nor would he. He'd never raise either his hand or his voice to a woman. GhoulSpawn is a gentle lover, who couldn't father harming any one, man woman, child, monster, or animal.

He is the closest thing the Quaraun series has to a hero.

>>>A high sex drive and being attracted to a lot of people doesn't directly translate into being unfaithful or assaulting those people - there's a different mindset there.

What you're describing isn't just sleazy, but criminal, and possibly someone with a mental illness.

What is your story about? Because from what you've described, if he's got a problem that severe, his problem is going to overshadow everything else in the story--which is fine, if your story is about a guy trying to redeem himself from his problem. However, it kind of feels like you're beating a dead horse by making him a criminal if your story isn't about his redemption.

Sclavus

>>What you're describing isn't just sleazy, but criminal, and possibly someone with a mental illness.

Agreeing with this as well.

This is something I empathizes with Unicorn. He is portrayed as a criminal, and all three characters (Quaraun, Unicorn, and GhoulSpawn) are portrayed as having severe mental illness issues that they are aware they have and are struggling to live with.


Georgie S. said: ↑Any tips?

Don't strike a match in a pile of oil-doused tires. This is going to take forever to put out. 

But really? 

Researching people's experiences with this kind of thing is your best bet. Don't ask people how to write the character, because all you'll get is moral grandstanding and people telling you what to do. You need to understand what you're writing about, so if you don't have direct experience that's inspiring this, I'd highly recommend committing some time to understanding the psychology behind sexual assault, both for the perpetrator and the victimized. You need to treat it with respect, first and foremost. It comes across very clear when someone tries to write about something like this with little understanding of the emotional implications. Once you've gathered enough firsthand accounts, I would move onto researching sexual assault forgiveness. Put those three words into google and you'll have all the perspectives you could need on it. I say look for forgiveness, because that could be the window into redeeming the character. Maybe the person he sexually assaulted sees him in a way that could allow the readers to not completely hate him. Did this person know him before? Statistically, she probably would have. 

And really, I guess it all depends on what kind of story you want to tell. Is this the story of a dysfunctional group of people? A redemption story for the guy? What about him changes by the end of the story? You don't have to answer these here of course, but you need to answer them for yourself.

Laurus

>>>Researching people's experiences with this kind of thing is your best bet. 

Yes. Agreeing with this as well.

If you ever paid close attention to the series, and cross reference events against my blog, you'd notice many of the events which happen in the Quaraun series, happened to me or someone I know in real life.


For a detailed insider view on sleazebag men, check out any of the "redpill" sites, like Return of Kings. Guys guving tips on how to score, why women are lesser beings, etc. That should give you all you need to write the perfect scumbag. Iain Aschendale








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