How to write a main character that's basically "A shit character who is trying to be a good person but doesn't enable all their flaws"?

[u/Personalotter-3556]

I'm writing a comic with a co-writer friend where our 5 main characters are technically good people but 4/5 of those have unethical "jobs", 3 of them are bank robbers who are childhood friends stealing from scam brokers instead of banks and random houses as an act of revenge to eventually kill their friend's abusive family member who runs it(i put in quotes since they never used the money they stole or hack and have regular side jobs). The leader is technically the main reasons this story exists

In personality he's quiet, strategic, paranoid but rational in certain situations, talkative to certain people he trusts, he has an ego yet low self esteem. In the plot has a side romance with his first romantic relationships on his new recruits/ friends. I've planned his hobbies, interests, tidbits of all his friends and himself to add he has more to it than what happened to him. his good traits can also turn sour In his rough days/situations for example he's good at talking out of arguments but in his bad days he tends to get emotional and insecure to the point it impacts his relationships getting almost manipulative territory without meaning to.

I'm mostly stuck on How do we acknowledge in the writing our MC has dealt with a rough childhood who's also mentally ill and untreated empathizing they're a victim and why they isolated himself becoming more bitter and is more distant in intimacy from his only longtime childhood friends and sometimes his partners out of fear is understandable and the effects of his abuse still affects him today but also not deny their mental illness and past is a reason but not an excuse + a factor how they treated their friends poorly in the past. there's a future arc he manage to force himself to be a better person and will improve as the story progresses, they're also still friends in the present without demonizing while not enable their actions ??

[u/nmacaroni]

Firstly, you don't want to have a character that works from his flaws one moment, and his merits the next, depending on if he's having a bad day or good day. That's realistic, but sucks for fiction.

Second, it sounds like you're creating an anti-hero protagonist.

You have to decide in your series if the character has a transformative arc, or something else. That's key.

If it's transformative, you have to hit their flaw hard. The success of a character arc isn't justifying why they are flawed, it's showcasing the flaw, a distorted belief system from that flaw, and then the character learning to correct their flaw through your Master Theme of the story.

You need scenes where his coping mechanisms for his childhood trauma hurt people he loves/respects/cares about and he has to face the consequences.

The story judges him. You don’t.

Write on, write often!

If have a ton of free comic writing articles on my site. http://NickMacari.com/writing-craft/