Screenwriting : Balanced Character Development by Kagiso JayJay Blaad

The antihero has become very popular these days in media - just look at Disney's run of villain movies! Your heroes don't have to be likeable, just interesting, and the readers will follow.

Hey Kagiso, this is Karen from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Authoring & Playwriting to Screenwriting (since you mention a "pilot), as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions and all the best to you!

Yes, they don't have to be good and we don't have to like them but it occasionally helps if audience empathize. Eg They have a weakness or hardship/crisis in past or suddenly reveal unexpected poignant side like bending down to pick up an injured bird. Other times if totally bad we love em anyways! The Joker's Logline. "A merry prankster tries to rid the city of white collar corruption but a do gooder dressed like a bat tries to stop all the fun." Often in stories where hero's are villains, they are hero cos they save others or even the world yet cannot save themelves. Other times they arc. @Kagiso, you on right track, nobody wants a boring one dimensional protagonist! Good luck with pilot.

There ABsolutely is, Kagiso! I think it's so important to create characters that aren't "wholly good" and "wholly terrible". Human beings are complex creatures, and the characters that we write have to be the exact same way. Good people are capable of doing terrible things, and often do. Bad people can have very pure motives and often think that they're doing "right". Let's explore that in the stories that we tell!

If we understand why they do what they do, that's what matters.

@Angela Yes some antagonists are the protagonist of their own world in their own mind.

Kagiso, you have to make space. Character development through action and dialoug, I have found, must be curt, precise and informative. No waistng words in the pilot. You can describe a villain by his villainous actions, a one-word outburst or a quick dance step after a malicious deed. A good character pouring honey or clapping or leaping off a star serves development and characterization. Since space is very valuable, be concise and conservative. Everything will fall in place. Good luck.