[Basic] Disadvantage of the week: Callous

[Phil Masters]

Callous protagonists tend to be anti-heroes, I think, but they don’t have to be complete monsters, and they can be, yes, pragmatists or people who’ve adapted to unrelentingly tough jobs. They can be the type to provoke a “Thank God she’s on our side” reaction — the unit sniper or stealth killer — and they can project a chilly professionalism that’s simultaneously frightening and impressive; “He’s a real b*st*rd but he always gets the job done, no fuss”.

All of which said, they’re not necessarily the most interesting characters to watch or roleplay. Some degree of empathy is needed for character complexity in an action story; someone who just gets the job done can be a bit of a playing piece or a plot mechanism. But the James Bond movies still get an audience.

I play Antoine as a bit of a dry comedy character, at least in my head. He doesn’t relate to people terribly well, but that can be funny, and I’ve focussed on giving him abilities that Just Get The Job Done, without anyone else having to understand what the job is.

(It’s “becoming a supernatural archetype in his own right”, in fact.)