# Can you enjoy a story without good guys i.e., characters to root for)? (Spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-enjoy-a-story-without-good-guys-i-e-characters-to-root-for-spoilers/641630 "2012-11-20T18:30:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 20
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-enjoy-a-story-without-good-guys-i-e-characters-to-root-for-spoilers/641630/20 "2012-11-20T22:26:17Z")
I _can_ enjoy a story without good guys, but it’s not as deeply satisfying. The stories I am most inclined to love are those that convincingly reassure me that good guys exist, and that—at least sometimes—they prevail. I appreciated what **CJJ** \* said in a [related thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=655849) a few months ago: > [@When is the likability of a character important?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-likability-of-a-character-important/625726/23): > > This is exactly right; the reader/audience needs a way to enter into the story–without it the reader can quickly lose interest–and a likeable character is one of the easiest routes for that. > > Character likeability is less important if there is another way into the story–say, the complexity of an intriguing and multi-layered plot, or a rich, engaging conflict of style/philiosophy between two or more otherwise unlikeable characters (like an argument that’s interesting even if you aren’t invested in either side winning). --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-enjoy-a-story-without-good-guys-i-e-characters-to-root-for-spoilers/641630)._