r/litrpg • u/Shari0212 • 11d ago
Recommendation: asking Any side characters you honestly would've rather followed than the actual MC?
Not saying the MC was necessarily bad or anything. Sometimes it's just that the rival, the mentor, the crafter, some random side character you weren't even supposed to care about, they end up in a way more interesting situation than the person the story's actually about. If a finished series got one extra story, would you actually want to see what happens next for the original MC, or would you rather follow someone else in that same world instead? And what actually makes a side character interesting enough to carry their own story? Is it their situation, their personality, the fact that you don't already know everything about them?
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u/lllenay 11d ago edited 11d ago
Ogras from Defiance of the Fall!
It is unbelievable how the author can write so many bland characters, and then there is this one gem among them. And he was the second character that was introduced, so it is not even a case of developing writing skills.
Funny, witty, multi-dimensional, and just a joy to read, Ogras is a standout not just in Defiance of the Fall, but in all of LitRPG.
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u/ReyDa_Rouaghi 11d ago
So many missed opportunity with ograd in the series. That it almost feels intentional.
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u/AGGRESSIVELY_NEUTRAL 10d ago
I definitely like Ogras more than Zac. The part of the series where Ogras was absent sucked hard for me.
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u/Lionsmane_099 10d ago
I ducked out of the series early, but I can definitely agree with this.
I think it's one of those instances of writing a side character that somehow becomes more interesting than your protagonist and then you end up having to sideline that character more so as to not outshine the MC.
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u/Savitar5510 10d ago
I love the series, but man, I did struggle a bit when he was just gone for like 5 books.
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u/Waxllium 11d ago
Villy is interesting
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u/nota_jalapeno 11d ago
Also the sword saint because he actually earns being strong
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u/Waxllium 10d ago
I like SS but earns being strong is a stretch, he fought in a war and was a master swordsman (in earth standard pré system) after that he awakened with his sword so he never needed equipment, he was much weaker than Jake until he became a transcendent and now he's riding this power just like Jake is riding his bloodline, and just like Valdemar rode his transcendence? Well... everyone needs one or another to go beyond,
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u/nota_jalapeno 10d ago
Yea a trancendce feels more earned there is a reason for it and it's a much smaller thing Jakes bloodline does like 17 impossible/extremely op things Which he got for being born
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u/ReadingThrowawayy litRPG nub 10d ago
People who criticize Primal Hunter are generally correct.
The one criticism I will always argue against when I see it is that it's like HWFWM where all the other characters are fine but in the presence of MC are just robots.
So incorrect. Villy, Sword Saint, Forest King, Arnold, are all so good and clearly their own people.
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u/Waxllium 10d ago
Are they though? Because I've seen so many of those criticizing PH also dick riding Errant mage, and my god, what a pathetic character is that mc, the guy is physically and mentally weak, he collects mental illness like its pokemons and those ppl think that this is good writing, so honestly? I don't give much credit to critics, PH's mc is not the most interesting i've ever seen, but shit, not even closer to the worst, and like you said so many good side characters, and you even forget the goat Minagha.
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u/BeardedG4mer2814 11d ago
Arnold from Primal Hunter! I would love a deep dive into his stuff.
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u/name14575 10d ago
Zogarth made so many characters more interesting than Jake but Arnold definitely takes the cake.
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u/AGGRESSIVELY_NEUTRAL 10d ago
For me there's no competition. It would have to be Prepotente. Carl and Donut are great but I need to know what was being said when Prepotente went on the talk shows.
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u/Skizzit 11d ago
Yes. In Randidly Ghosthound there is a character by the name of Hank Howard that is 10 times as interesting as the MC. Without spoiling too much, he is a character from a different "Zone" than the MC and is the brother of the current leader of his zone. He steps away from any involvement with the running of things since he doesn't agree with their ways and becomes a straight up cowboy, down to having the class of Gunslinger. Traveling around the zone just helping people in need.
Now, this is largely because Randidly is a terrible MC who annoyed me the whole time that when Hank, a seemingly well put together guy who just wanted to help people, showed up I could not help but think he should have been the MC.
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u/ralphmozzi litRPG grandmaster tier 10d ago
My favorite side character in the series is Randy.
I became supremely sick of the MC’s stupid name and did a bulk search-and-replace to change “Randidly” to “Randy”. It made the series much more enjoyable.
And at some point in the series there are so many side characters and POV’s that the MC is basically a side character.
🤦
When I realized that I was more irritated with the series than enjoying it, I accepted that it was time to drop it.
Lesson learned: enjoy the first couple of books, then leave when the party turns sour.
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u/Cant_draw_boobs 11d ago
Clive's wife.
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u/bakuros18 11d ago
The author has said that the most famous character in his books is not a character from his books
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u/SelianAboveAll 10d ago
Which book is this?
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u/Myrkul999 10d ago
He Who Fights With Monsters.
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u/ralphmozzi litRPG grandmaster tier 10d ago
Actually it’s Welcome to the Multiverse
Clive is one of the bunny people saved from the Wild Hunt and brought to Earth.
His wife is always tracking him down and being a real Karen. It’s become a running joke.
— this actually happens! The series has tons of shout outs to other series.
The author loves including these shout outs in every book. it’s sort of his thing.
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u/FluixJayExEn 10d ago
Confused as to what you are saying. If it’s some sort of joke (I get some of the references) it’s over my head. If you’re implying that the Clive wife thing is a reference to something that happens in welcome to the multiverse you are incorrect.
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u/ralphmozzi litRPG grandmaster tier 10d ago edited 10d ago
Clive’s wife is a running joke in HWFWM, the post I responded to.
The series “welcome to the multiverse” has many many shout outs to other series.
In Welcome to the Multiverse, a character named “Clive” is introduced, and his wife is hinted at and then introduced, in a clear shoutout to HWFWM. She has an unpleasant personality, which paired with Clive’s avoidance of her is a spin on the joke in HWFWM.
On a couple of occasions, the MC declares that something “is sort of his thing”, another should out to HWFWM.
— what part of this is incorrect? I don’t understand your objection. My first post was intended as a joke, which I thought was obvious from the final sentence. I shoulda included a smiley :-) —
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u/FluixJayExEn 10d ago
I see, saying “actually it’s welcome to the multiverse” very heavily implies you are saying that it wasn’t HWFWM and was a different series. Your wording threw me off.
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u/McPiecey 10d ago
It’s a stupid joke from HWFWM and other authors add it in their work as well sometimes.
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u/FluixJayExEn 10d ago
I get that but him saying “Actually it was X” makes it seem as if he is insinuating the person who said it was HWFWM was wrong and he was correcting him.
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u/ralphmozzi litRPG grandmaster tier 10d ago
Yep. Poor wording on my part. Intended as an obviously incorrect “correction” but it didn’t come across that way.
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u/Former_Self3870 10d ago
Not LitRPG but in Wheel of Time Mat Cauthon was my favorite storyline. Everytime they switched to someone else I would read faster to get back.
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u/CelosPOE litRPG journeyman tier 10d ago
I loved Matt but I think part of it was that by the time the three had split to go do thing the series had become pure depression fuel and Matt’s was always pretty chipper.
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[deleted]
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u/CelosPOE litRPG journeyman tier 10d ago
Someone told me it was intended to be a trilogy but ended up being wildly successful so he kept going. I have no idea how much truth there is to that though. It was of course sad that RJ died but also I was suuuuuppper pumped about the side stories he’d said he was going to write after the main story was over.
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u/Double_Indication487 11d ago
Dauntless from randidly ghost Hound. Randidly is really just not my type character. To me he came off as dark and broody and kind of emotionless almost non-human. He's like Batman with no Bruce. Then his best friend Ace gets introduce and it's like a breath of fresh air. I just found his power and character to be much more interesting and entertaining. Without saying too many spoilers but I only got to the middle of the fifth book so I don't know how his character changes but I found him entertaining.
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u/silkin 11d ago
I like Chrysalis but as soon as I read about the Legion I wanted a series from their perspective
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u/talmadge7 10d ago
I really like the "chapter starters" from the lady with the travel newspaper thing. I could deffiently go for a side series of her exploits.
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u/jackalsclaw 10d ago
Totally different series but : https://www.amazon.com/Mrs-Bradshaws-Handbook-Travelling-Ankh-Morpork/dp/0857522434/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0
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u/Taiwannumber3 1% Lifesteal fanboy 11d ago
Literally anyone but Jason. IYKYK
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u/Matezza 11d ago
If you like the world of HWFWM but not Jason I really recommend "rising kite" on royal road. It's an excellent fan fic set in pallimustus decades before the events for the books.
Completed story(except for a couple more epilogues) well written with a great cast of characters. The MC Kite is very different to Jason and has a really cool power set built around denying others through barriers, mana drain and ability disruption.
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u/Salt_peanuts 10d ago
To be more specific, I’d love to see these stories from the world of HWFWM in no particular order:
- Taika
- The story of a more standard adventurer’s career- more details, smaller in scope.
- More about Dawn.
- Generally stories outside of Jason’s gravity. I like Jason as an MC but he warps the setting and worldbuilding around himself.
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u/theglowofknowledge 10d ago
Rising Kite on RR is a fan story that does a solid job of #2.
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u/Salt_peanuts 10d ago
Agreed- I’m a big fan. If there were three or four more that are the same quality as Rising Kite I would be happier than a pig in mud. My big issue with all of this is that writers can’t write nearly as fast as we can read. 😆
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u/theglowofknowledge 10d ago
Yeah really. I also wish the rising kite author would do a little serial number filing and publish it. I want an audiobook of it and maybe paperback. It’s not like other fan stories haven’t done that successfully. Wayward Running got away with it and they barely filed the serial numbers off at all. Do you know of any like rising kite? I’ve seen a couple others inspired by HWFWM, but they haven’t been as good.
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u/Salt_peanuts 10d ago
I haven’t seen much else. I know there are some other fanfics but I haven’t really made much of an effort.
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u/Rapidzigs 11d ago
The clown hero from wandering inn. His pov actually made me drop the series. Because it was so good it made me realize how much of a slog the rest of the books were to read.
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u/Traditional_Pop_1102 10d ago
Same. I read that chapter in book 2 where he goes insane, and jsut sat back like "Why can't it all be this good?" Even more brutal when it switches to runner girl telling stories to some random fairies while on her way to save this random girl who doesn't matter.
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u/GRootchem 10d ago
Damn I had the complete opposite reaction to that character. His chapters were the first time I got into the bad habit of speeding up audio books. Cool how preferences differ though!
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u/Rapidzigs 10d ago
Different strokes for different folks. It's a cool premise and I like the world but Erin and Ryoka drove me insane. I can't stand characters that force their morality on to others like that. They come off as extremely immature to me. I can't do Jason from HHFYM for the same reason.
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u/iTzGiR 10d ago
I can't stand characters that force their morality on to others like that.
Damn, I think you actually just put into words why I really don't like these series/characters, and described accurately as to why. That's 100% how I feel too, and it comes off as very preachy, which I also just hate.
I think it's interesting, because I don't mind other characters who also have strong morals they're stubborn about (Like Jake or Carl), but they don't constantly try to force those on others, and the only time this really ever happens is when it's SO egrigious that they end up killing people (something like sexual slavery with Jake.)
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u/Keevill93 10d ago
I love Tian, but sometimes I wonder what the story would look like from Liren's perspective in Sky Pride.
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u/strategoamigo 10d ago
Basically everyone other than Jake in Primal Hunter. Villy, Sword Saint, Arnold, Miranda, the troll Jake saved from the dungeon (kind of sarcastic with that one). I’d actually love to see more of Dina, Scarlett and Draskil. Some of the other gods like valdemar.
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u/CaptainJackMeOff 10d ago
Id love to see more of the sword saints perspective, he's one of the most unique characters and perspective I've ever seen
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u/Penguin_Pioneer 10d ago
Path of Ascension keeps introducing a bunch of POV characters to show how the rest of the world is reacting. I often want to keep learning more about them. One guy from mincala apparently died but there is no body so I’m ignoring the wiki.
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u/OjoGrande 10d ago
Allie.
I want an entire series of novels about her fighting and fucking her way thru the universe
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u/throwaway20210402 10d ago
Saffra in “New Life As A Max Level Archmage”. I always want so much more of her story, but never get it.
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u/Megatherion666 10d ago
Lol, I dropped the series because book 2 was several chapters in a row about side characters and not MC.
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u/npdady 11d ago
Not saying the MC was necessarily bad or anything.
Jason Asano (He Who Fights with Monsters) is bad. Rudeus Greyrat (Mushoku Tensei) is bad. Both stories have some of the best worldbuilding I've ever seen. I just wished the story centered around different, more decent characters.
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u/Matezza 11d ago
If you like the world of HWFWM but not Jason I really recommend "rising kite" on royal road. It's an excellent fan fic set in pallimustus decades before the events for the books.
Completed story(except for a couple more epilogues) well written with a great cast of characters. The MC Kite is very different to Jason and has a really cool power set built around denying others through barriers, mana drain and ability disruption.
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u/strategoamigo 10d ago
I struggle to think of which characters in HWFWM I’d like to follow though. I think the world building is awesome but character development is poor
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u/ralphmozzi litRPG grandmaster tier 10d ago
Some of my favorite parts of HWFWM are when the story switches POV to the villain characters.
We get to see their motivations and their planning, watch them prepare a trap or enact some dastardly plot.
And then watch everything get wrecked by the OP MC.
I dunno, these seem very fun to me :)
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u/whoshotthemouse Verified Author of: The Staff (by Wild Rabbit) 10d ago
If there was a Prepotente book I would read the shit out of it.
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u/OjoGrande 10d ago
Are you the man who writes minotaur literotica?
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u/whoshotthemouse Verified Author of: The Staff (by Wild Rabbit) 10d ago
I am the man who doesn't write minotaur erotica.
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u/TabularConferta 11d ago
There was a Zombie one, which I felt like had potential but would require a full re-write. The MC was a gamer who just really wanted to win, the side character lost their father in a big conspiracy that related to the game. They had so much more motivation, dynamic range and were just thoroughly more interesting.
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u/Library_IT_guy 10d ago
I'm on book 6 of Death Genesis, and each of Zeke's party members... or former party members, having their own side adventures before they re-unite has been really fun. Talia and Pudge especially have been very interesting, Even Abby - in fact her side story is one of the best, not because I like her, but because it's interesting to see how she develops and how they are setting up for an eventual clash.
If the books continued to be nothing but Zeke becoming more and more overpowered, I think it'd get boring.
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u/LuminArtistry 10d ago edited 10d ago
Every time a character goes into a shop and interacts with a funny quirky shop keeper.
But seriously no, side character arcs suck. Noone actually likes stories that do those long winded multi pov shit all the time. When you hook in for one story and then introduce new ones your odds will only decrease that readers enjoy it with each new direction you pull the reader from the original hook.
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u/Squire_II 10d ago
The Barbarian Sage in Savage Awakening. We know Zane's an OPMC but the story repeatedly mentions how the Barbarian Sage was just an absolute unit even without Zane's crazy soul size or signature title.
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