I recently had the pleasure of watching a play of a video game called Nier Automata, which encompasses a beautiful story where existentialism and philosophical negativity intertwine. I even cried when one of my favorite characters had gone insane, and struggled between hating his love interest, and mourning for her. Throughout the game, I was pained, but it also made me think of the other times when I had to read about my favorite characters falling into depravity. Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural, the titular protagonist from Macbeth, and Lavinia from Thomas Flower’s Feast; there’s a common trait between these these characters, despite their settings, their plots, even their conflicts. 

They all lose their sanity in the end. 

This results in a tragically beautiful character that may talk in rhymes, have literally lost their minds, or may even be prone to violent outbursts. Their childlike innocence makes them even more vulnerable to life’s mercilessness, and can manifest by the environments around them. This could be seen in stories like Alice in Wonderland, where the world around Alice became an epitome of her carefree youth. Other times, however, the character could be deconstructed, picked apart by other characters until they’re only a shell of themselves. This was shown in 9’s journey, beginning as a somewhat naive boy, and developing into a murderous man blinded by hatred and despair.

There’s also something addictive about destroying a character we all know and love, however sadistic that might sound. Nothing, after all, is more heartbreaking, and more entertaining, than watching our beloved protagonist go down a fiery road to insanity. From their agonizing cries, to the decadent, empty eyes they’re left with for the first couple of moments, trying to process what’d happened; it’s because of the connections we have with these characters that we’re able to understand just what they’re going through. This of course, leads to a devastating ending we hope would not occur, but may happen anyway. It may not be a happy ending, but it’s an ending nonetheless. 

Either way, these characters keep us entertained; driven by revenge, blinded by hate and rage, destroying everything in sight if only to fill a hole that they caused in the first place. However, they also force us to ask all sorts of questions, like what would happen if that sort of thing didn’t come to pass, if the story would still be the same. They push us into a corner, and make us wonder if they can be forgiven, despite everything they’ve done.

We rely on characters like these. Even if we want to establish a traditional story, with a clear cut line between good and evil, readers can’t help but wonder about the background behind the villains. Some are even annoyed by the main protagonist because they’re just so predictable. Having such unstable characters keeps the audience on their toes, forces them to see perspectives they may not see anywhere else.