What do you think about My main character being the villain?

[Guest]

Hello writers; What do you think about My main character being the villain?

[Stanislaus]

Why not? Kill him in the end... or at least let him be hit by a bus or something so you can use him again.

[Jayson]

MC and protagonist can be two different people - but in anycase, you need to make a character compelling enough to make the reader interested in following them

[Laurie]

By definition, the MC cannot be THE villain. (He can be A villain.) The villain of a story is the antagonist, the person / thing that opposes the MC. Story is all about the character arc of the MC. If the MC changes/improves/wins, it's a positive character arc. If the MC refuses to change /chooses to go downhill / loses, it's a tragedy.

[Ray]

Pretty sure Stan Lee said something similar when pitching the character of Deadpool, a foul mouthed mercenary with zero qualms about killing anybody, as a Good Guy!!

[Alan]

It happens often. A main character is really determined by the reader more often than not. Haven't you read books where you couldn't wait to get back to a character who was featured less but held your interest the best? THAT was your determined main character - for you.

The most interesting character usually winds up the main character, no matter your intention.

[Christian]

It has been done before, most notably in the masterpiece "Crime and Punishment". Don't let that put you off. I recommend the book, without reservation. There are other famous examples, and hopefully they can give you some inspiration.

[Kevin]

Always wanted a Holmes tale told by Moriarity.

[Gary]

Lots of main characters are villains. The trick is to make any character that the reader spends a lot of time with interesting

[Nichole]

I have no opinion because I don't know how the character is written, what their personality is, what their motivation is, etc.

[Vinita]

I'd take it! But, tbh, it has to be "worth it"... I mean, if you take away my love for the main character (I'm less of a "let's make it real however hard" kind of reader than some others), I need to feel the book deep enough. Otherwise, I'd rather the good guy wins and all's well with the world.