Is there a term for protagonists who should be unlikeable but aren't?

Cafe Society
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I was watching Archer the other day and (as well as enjoying the show) noted that Archer himself is basically a dick to everyone. Entertainingly so, of course (as is generally the way in comedies), but looking back I’ve realised the protagonists (or other main characters) in quite a few of the shows would be considered unlikeable nobs in real life.

Besides Sterling Archer, you’ve got Xander Crews from Frisky Dingo, Rusty Venture (The Venture Bros.), most of the Bluth family from Arrested Development (except for Michael and George Michael), Bender from Futurama, Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and many others.

What I was wondering, though, was if there was a term for “Protagonist who should considered unlikeable but isn’t”? And bonus question - why do they seem to appear most often in comedies?

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Anti-hero

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Lovable Rogue

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Jeremy Clarkson

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Ignatius J. Reilly and Buffalo Bill Bittinger.

Ty Cobb in Cobb (though he is shown to be less of a dick in some instances, and his dickishness is given something of an explanation).

As for why it’s more likely in comedies, the fact that the character makes you laugh covers a lot of sins.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I, and Vincent Price, give you~

Dr. Anton Phibes, Musician, Engineer, Theologian, Sorcerer, AND

Edward Lionheart, THESPIAN!!!

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The picaresque novel is about a “picaro,” which is the Spanish term for a charming rogue:

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I think it’s because if you can set up the “jerk protagonist” in funny situations so that the audience can laugh at his/her actions, you’re more likely to actually like that person. In other words, it may be that the comedy makes the protagonist likeable. If you mentally transplant the same character into some horror story or murder mystery or war story, he or she might not seem so nice after all. (Or, what RealityChuck said.)

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I would also offer that genre films - comedies; how about Rick from Casablanca or Han Solo? - position the Jerk Hero so their initial impression on you is the equivalent of a Rom-Com meet cute. Start off all wrong then provide some insight that there is a good ending in there.

This is now being extended: because our society is condones much more no-boundaries intimacy - the Internet reveals all - we tolerate a more jerkish Jerk Hero.

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Another aspect is the its funny in theory but not in reality. Plenty of folks around here, myself included, will joke here at pretty much anything. Stuff thats polically incorrect or not sensitive or about some horrible tragedy just to get a good line in. “We” think its funny and our fellow travelers to hell often do as well.

Do that sorta stuff in real life and you’d be burned at the stake.

And the funny part of it is why it is often in comedies. Its funny in theory when you watch someone (who is fictional) do it to some other fictional character. If it was a documentary or biography or such you’d probably be aghast at the assholish behaviour.

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Fact is that these characters may be the “protagonist”, and you may enjoy watching them because they’re so interesting, but if you knew them in real life, you’d probably hate them and stay the fuck away from them.

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Just rogue, the “charming” isn’t required beyond the needs of the job (quite a few of the ones in that gender are conmen or whores at some point). Many fictional rogues aren’t particularly lovable, and some which are supposed to be lovable are so only if you’re into “bad boys”.

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Anti-hero. Most notably:

Colonel Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC KCB KCIE CdLH MoH 11th Hussars, 17th Lancers. Served Afghanistan, 1841-42 (medals, thanks of Parliament); chief of staff to H. M. James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak Batang Lupar expedn, 1844; milit. advisor, H.M. Queen Ranavalona of Madagascar, 1844-5; Sutlej campaign, 1845-6 (Ferozeshah, Sobraon, envoy extraordinary to Maharani Jeendan, Court of Lahore); polit. advisor to Herr (later Chancellor Prince) Von Bismarck, Schleswig-Holstein, 1847-8; Crimea staff (Alma, Sevastopol, Balaclava), Prisoner of war, 1854; Artillery adviser to Atilik Ghazi, Syr Daria campaign, 1855; Sepoy Mutiny, 1857-8, dip, envoy to HRH the Maharani of Jhansi, trooper 3rd Native Cavalry, Meerut, subseq. att, Rowbotham’s Mosstroopers, Cawnpore, (Lucknow, Gwalior, etc., V.C.); Adjutant to Captain John Brown, Harper’s Ferry, 1859; China campaign 1860, polit. mission to Nanking, Taiping Rebellion, polit. and other services, Imperial Court, Pekin U.S. Army (major, Union forces, 1862; colonel (staff) Army of the Confederacy, 1863); a.d.c. to H.I.M. Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 1867; interpreter and observer Sioux campain, U.S. 1875-6 (Camp Robinson conference, Little Bighorn, etc.); Zulu War, 1879 (Isandhlwana, Rorke’s Drift); Egypt 1882 (Kassassin, Tel-el-Kebir); personal bodyguard to H.I.M. Franz-Joseph, Emperor of Austria 1883; Sudan 1884-5 (Khartoum); Pekin Legations, 1900. Travelled extensively in military and civilian capacities among them supercargo, merchant marine (West Africa); agriculturist (Mississippi valley); wagon captain and hotelier (Santa Fe Trail); buffalo hunter and scout (Oregon Trail); courier (Underground Railroad); majordomo (India), prospector (Australia); trader and missionary (Solomen Islands, Fly River, etc.); lottery supervisor (Manila); diamond Broker and horse coper (Punjab); dep. marshall, U.S.; occasional actor and impersonator. Hon. mbr of numerous societies and clubs, including Sons of the Volsungs (Strackenz), Mimbreno Apache Copper Mines band (New Mexico), Kokand Horde (Central Asia), Kit Carson’s Boys (Colorado), Brown’s Lambs (Maryland), M.C.C., Whites and United Service (London, both resigned), Blackjack (Batavia). Chmn, Flashman and Bottomley, Ltd.; dir. British Opium Trading Co.; governor, Rugby School; hon. pres. Mission for Reclamation of Reduced Females. Publications: Dawns and Departures of a Soldier’s Life; Twixt Cossack and Cannon; The Case Against Army Reform. Recreation: oriental studies, angling, cricket (performed first recorded “hat-trick”; Wickets of Felix, Pilch and Mynn for 14 runs; Rugby Past and Present v Kent, Lord’s 1842; 5 for 12, Mynn’s Casuals v All Engand XI, 1843). Add. Gandamack Lodge, Ashby, Leics.
…

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Punch Drunk Love may be an example of this. I’m not sure I’d use the word “jerk” to describe its protangonist, but he’s a character from an Adam Sandler movie (some of whom are likeable jerks) transplanted into a very different sort of movie.

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In addition to the humorous version, there’s also the Magnificent Bastard type. The MB may do incredibly jerkish, even villainous things, but he does them so well that you can’t help admiring him, at least a little. MBs often engage in Xanatos Gambits and multitask a lot (often demonstrating some completely unrelated skill while moving their plans forward).

The MB is often a villain (or at least an antagonist), but you can have protagonist MBs as well–Vlad Taltos might be an example, though he tends to flounder for a while before having the magnificence kick in during the end-game.

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Thanks, Nava.

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I never got the impression we were supposed to actually like Flashy at all; rather, we the readers, are supposed to be aghast at his cowardice, conniving and general all-around loathsome personality.

The funny part, to me anyway, was that despite all that, through extraordinary luck in most cases, the guy comes up aces and ends up decorated.

I never liked him, but found the stories entertaining and funny for sure.

My example of an unlikeable protagonist who we end up liking anyway is someone like Sheldon on “Big Bang Theory”, at least in the first season or two. He’s neurotic, weird, nerdy, prissy, stuck on himself and a whole bunch of other pretty negative traits. About his only redeeming qualities are that he’s loyal, he’s rarely malicious or hostile, and is very intelligent.

Yet, despite all that, he’s a likeable character.

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I notice a lot of anime protagonists are like this - if you met them in real life you would try to stay the hell away from them as much as possible. Usagi in Sailor Moon is lazy, a glutton, overly emotional, and not very smart, but she can be heroic and self-sacrificing when the situation turns bad. Same thing with Miaka in Fushigi Yuugi, except she was just a tad more annoying for some reason. Ataru in *Urusei Yatsura * was a selfish pervert and a douchebag, but it was those traits that helped him save the world (removing Lum’s bra to win the game of tag). Even Naruto can be considered annoying, at least early in the first anime/first chapters of the manga - he’s a loudmouth brat with no manners who lives on ramen, but that can be justified by the fact that he’s an orphan and the village outcast to boot, on account of the Kyuubi sealed inside him.

I want to add North Italy in Hetalia - he’s a coward, a glutton, overemotional, can’t read the atmosphere and would rather sit around flirting with girls and eating pasta than train for war with Germany. But he’s artistic, sensitive (traits that helped him save the world in the Hetalia: Paint it White movie) and he’s drawn cute to the point of being moe.

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Saul Goodman, Rainbow Dash, Bertie Wooster. They’re crass/jerks/gits/people you wouldn’t want to be around but they’re funny (from afar, with the understanding that it’s fiction) and make the story more interesting and entertaining than it would otherwise be.

They appear in comedies because someone acting like a git etc can be made funny and entertaining in a comedy. In a drama, they’d just be assholes you hate and there wouldn’t be the comic relief to lighten up their obnoxious behavior. In a serious show, you’d be hoping that Jeeves dump that muppet Wooster but in a comedy, it’s part of the show.

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All four of the main cast of Seinfeld are annoying jerks from time to time, some practically 24/7… but it’s almost always fun to watch them.