: Re: How soon is too soon for a redemption arc? My character, Day, is the son of a dictator and the director of state-sanctioned and sponsored torture of mutated humans, one of whom is my MC.

I believe this character can be redeemed, because I believe anyone can be redeemed. But I don't see you being able to do justice to that story as a sideplot. This character kills a family member and attacks a child. The audience isn't going to have any sympathy for him, or any desire to see him redeemed. They are going to want to see him punished. You'll need to work really hard to overcome that, and it's going to be difficult to do that if he's not the main character.

Here's what I would suggest to lower the bar a little:

Give him one unforgivable crime (probably the sororicide), not many, and make it clear that it destroyed him deep inside to commit it. I'd also include some exposition of the conditions that led him up to that crime - his father's baleful influence, et cetera.
Show his virtues and strengths, not just his weaknesses. We need to show that this is someone who could be an extraordinary force for good if he could turn his life around.
Include a "pet the dog" scene - some early, humanizing moment that foreshadows redemption. It may sound artificial, but without it, your audience is just going to write him off entirely, and fight your attempt to redeem him.

As far as when to start the redemption arc: I would suggest you view his entire storyline as the redemption arc. It has to have ups and downs to be an arc, after all. If it fits the story, I'd include some of his life before he became fully "villainized" - that will make it easier for you to bring him back.

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: Re: How soon is too soon for a redemption arc? My character, Day, is the son of a dictator and the director of state-sanctioned and sponsored torture of mutated humans, one of whom is my MC.

More posts by @Moriarity138

: Protagonist Goal and achieving it My MC is a famous singer/songwriter who is bad at writing lyrics. Her goal is to write commercially successful, deep, serious songs. How do I design the character

: Once written down it's set in stone What's the strange property/disease/habit called in which you need everything you write down to be 'the truth' once it's written down. Even while drafting,

: How to shorten a prologue? I understand that a prologue is meant to open up a story and introduce characters, themes, and the world to my audience. It is not supposed to be a long length

: What challenges are there in writing a fantasy cookbook? I ask mostly out of curiosity. Obviously, a proper cookbook would involve real ingredients and not fantasy creatures. There's such a cookbook

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