The Hate Sink is a type of character that is meant to be hated by the audience.
Overview
- The character is usually a type of villain or antagonist. Some cases may not be either a villain or antagonist.
- The character is intentionally designed by the writer to be hated and they are not portrayed with many positive qualities.
- The character commits acts that gets the audience to hate and despise them.
Categories
Common Categories and Traits that fits
List of categories and traits that is meant for the audience to hate a character.
- Abusers
- Arrogant
- Animal Cruelty
- Bullies
- Corrupt Officials
- Cowards
- Destroyers of Innocence
- Deviants
- Dimwits
- Egotists
- Family Cruelty
- Genocidal
- Greedy
- Hypocrites
- Homicidal
- Jerks
- Liars
- Misandrists
- Misogynists
- Misanthropes
- Murderers
- Oppressors
- Provokers
- Psychological Abusers
- Rapists
- Redemption Rejection
- Sadists
- Slavers
- Supremacists
- Terrorists
- Torturers
- Traitors
- Ungrateful
- Would Hurt a Child
- Xenophobes
Categories that never fits
List of categories and traits that contrasts with Hate Sink. Characters cannot display any of these traits otherwise they would not count as a Hate Sink. Characters cannot subvert to any of these traits and return to being detestable. Otherwise, they would not count.
- Affably Evil: Although the character is a villain, it is a positive and redeeming trait.
- Anti-Villains: The audience is meant to sympathize with the actions of the villain since they have noble goals that are meant to benefit others.
- Grey Zone: With morally ambiguous traits, these characters are not portrayed to be hated.
- Redeemed: A redeemed villain is no longer evil and thus they are meant to be portrayed with positive qualities. These characters are shown to take responsibility for their actions and do the right thing afterwards.
- Scapegoats: These types of characters are meant to evoke concern from the audience since they suffered a disproportionate punishment or outcome for their actions.
- Villains by Proxy: Villains who did not intend to be evil but became evil due to circumstances out of their control. Villains who are Hate Sinks are villains of their own choice.
Special Cases That Can Apply
While these categories can be there in some hate sinks, there needs to be careful thinking if a character has these categories on there, as sometimes, they can be why a character doesn't count as a Hate Sink:
- Chaotic Neutral: Usually, these characters can display positive character traits. However, Hate Sinks can fall this character alignment if they are non-villains who display multiple traits of going against societal norms or established rules and laws. This may apply to certain antagonists or bullies who are shown to go against established rules and norms.
- Honorable: Usually, villains with honorable qualities can make the villain more likeable. However, they can count if their honor is fairly limited, and their hateable qualities outweigh them or are big jerks even in their honorable moments.
- Laughably Evil: While having a lot of comedic moments can be disqualifying for many villains, a laughably evil villain can still qualify to be a hate sink if they have just as many detestable moments as they do comedic moments or if they shed those comedic traits and become more detestable as their character arc progresses.
- Lawful Neutral: These characters may show positive character traits. However, Hate Sinks can fall under this alignment if the character is shown to lack any positive traits and are corrupt. This may apply to certain enforcers like individuals in law enforcement, or characters who lack any positive traits but would uphold established rules and norms for their own self-interests.
- Tragic: Most of the time, tragic villains are meant to be sympathized and not meant to be hated. However, in some very rare cases, a villain can be sympathetic, but their sympathy is fairly limited (basically, they are a minor tragic villain) and while the story will allow the audience to sympathize with them for a bit, they will put more focus on making them more detestable.