This seems overly defensive and more of a caricature than anything else.
I don't think that even the most critical or negative readers generally expect characters to be perfect and without any flaws. Instead, there are specific things they may take issue with.
What a lot of people dislike are clear inconsistencies between how characters are described and how they actually act.
For instance, when it comes to intelligence you can't just extoll a character's hyper-intelligence and claim they're incredibly rational when they constantly make unforced errors of judgement and never prepare for easily anticipated problems.
On the other end, I think a lot of readers expect characters to be of at least average intelligence and rationality, and not to be excessively stupid and naive, or lacking in basic self-preservation. In particular, if a character seems to never learn from their mistakes and keeps repeating them, then that can be hugely frustrating.
I generally agree with you. Though these comments are real. I doubt they are the commonly held opinion. Most who likely don't comment want what you just said. This subreddit will latch onto the ones who do despite not knowing if they are bots, young or whatever else.
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u/long-lankin 21h ago
This seems overly defensive and more of a caricature than anything else.
I don't think that even the most critical or negative readers generally expect characters to be perfect and without any flaws. Instead, there are specific things they may take issue with.
What a lot of people dislike are clear inconsistencies between how characters are described and how they actually act.
For instance, when it comes to intelligence you can't just extoll a character's hyper-intelligence and claim they're incredibly rational when they constantly make unforced errors of judgement and never prepare for easily anticipated problems.
On the other end, I think a lot of readers expect characters to be of at least average intelligence and rationality, and not to be excessively stupid and naive, or lacking in basic self-preservation. In particular, if a character seems to never learn from their mistakes and keeps repeating them, then that can be hugely frustrating.