Question for general dark romance readers > Likes and Comments

I'm interested in what readers with a lot of books under their belt in dark romance think about my dilemma.

One of my characters has been a side character throughout my series. To date he has indulged in non con S&M, tortured rather a lot of people, fed his enemies to his dog and abused his wife. He's openly sadistic with no trauma in his background. However I'm thinking of attempting the impossible and redeeming this character in a later book.

My question is- would a character like this be too much for you to stomach in a redeemed villain character arc? Do some characters just go beyond the boundaries of what can be redeemed? Or do you think even the most evil figures in books deserve their HEA?

I love a redemtion arc. The only thing I‘m personally not sure about is the abuse of the wife…. I guess I would need to know more about those circumstances. Because for me usually the appeal of the villain is that he would hurt anyone except for his woman. Also if he’s just a psychopath with no feelings and also no traumatic background I think is very hard to redeem.

Two things that stand out about this character and redeeming him for me, as a reader with a LOT of dark books on my resume...feeding his enemies to his dog, and abusing his wife.

I am not sure how you can redeem either of those two things without some background trama. I am not sure what books you are talking about, so I don't know if I have read them, doubt it because I would have remembered the dog feeding.

As for redeeming characters that were beyond redemption in general, that is a hard answer. I have read books where I was totally OK with an impossible to like MMC finally becoming a more likable character and one I could live with. But that hasn't happened often. Because, and this is a big one, that is a really hard thing to do and make it believable, relatable and emotional for the reader after they (me) have had so much dislike/hate for a character.

It is possible. I have an author who I think is going to try to do this. I am not sure if she is, but either way, about half of her readers are going to love it and half are going to hate it. It's been an on-going debate on her FB page for the last few years (yeah, that's another issue) while we have been waiting for the final book. But this is a five book series, and he has been the "villian" MMC the whole way through. So we will see.

It might be somewhat easier if it's a secondary character that is now being redeemed, but still an uphill battle I would think.

Not redeemable after the abuse... If he did all of those things but did not abuse his wife than maybe.

I think it's fine to feed people to anything, maybe that's my vegan rage. Usually our anti hero has to abuse the deserving to be beloved so unless the wife is a bunny boiler IDK - I've certainly read and not hated worse. ps where can I read this, I love it already!

Christine wrote: "I think it's fine to feed people to anything, maybe that's my vegan rage. Usually our anti hero has to abuse the deserving to be beloved so unless the wife is a bunny boiler IDK - I've certainly re..."

I was more worried about the dog than the enemies....a 51 year vegetarian, mostly vegan now, just saying.😂

I would LOVE to read a redemption book about that sort of character

What your book called?

Hi! I’m not sure if I’ve read your books before or not since I read a lot, but I’ve come across characters like this. Sometimes I ended up loving them, and other times I just couldn’t.

For me as a reader, it all depends on how well the character’s development is built. I need to see the change and feel it. If he did all these things in earlier books with no regret, no inner conflict, no emotional journey, then it’s hard to believe he suddenly deserves a HEA.

As for HEA in general, some authors choose “no HEA” when it fits the character or story better, and I don’t mind that either. What matters to me is how the book makes me feel and whether the emotional arc is convincing.

Sometimes you really don't need to "redeem" a character, you just need to make him appealing enough so people can forget what he did. Or put in anther way, maybe something he does in the future has a biggest impact of what he did in the past.

Anna wrote: "I'm interested in what readers with a lot of books under their belt in dark romance think about my dilemma.

One of my characters has been a side character throughout my series. To date he has indu..."

Hi Anna, I think you could let the reader believe the evil bastard has undergone a change of character and seen the light of redemption. Then, just when we think all is well, they show their true nature.
What is the title of your series?
Sam

Ooo, that's a tough one. Not so much because of what he fed to the dogs, but more of the abuse of his wife, especially with not having anything really in his background. Something significant would definitely need to happen, like getting caught by the police and in the process getting a traumatic brain injury affecting the frontal lobe.... And if u combined it with Sam suggestion of letting the mask slip at the end to avoid punishment, could be good. Good luck

I'm not sure on this guy. That character is too far gone in his blackness to even remotely be believable that his humanity has returned. The things he has done, what he did to his doggies, especially his wife, those incidents have crossed a line that can't be 'fixed'. You could try it but a vindictive monster is just that. A monster. In the end, it will be your decision what you want to do, but being that vile, that inhumane, I think he should remain in the cage of his doing. He can't fight his nature.👿☠️ Best of luck.🍀🖤🍀

I approach it from two angles: if I, as a reader, can sense that he’s still redeemable, I’ll eventually forgive him. And if his development is written in a way that resonates with me, then his arc will naturally lead me to that forgiveness. It will all depend on how you spin it.