: Re: How can I portray a resentful character without making them overtly angry? I am writing a fiction story about a elite unit, SFD (Strike Force Delta), during the Third World War. The war is

@Deb2945533

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There is a myriad of different ways your sergeant could be feeling and acting regarding his subordinate.

He could value his former sweetheart's happiness, and thus be protective of her husband, for her sake. Both Karl May's character Winnetou and the Star Trek Jean-Luc Picard have this in their backstories. That doesn't necessarily mean that he isn't resentful, and that can come through occasionally in dialogue, but there are things that trump this resentment. In such a case, any seeming mistreatment of the girl (e.g the subordinate supposedly cheating on her) would be met with a disproportionate explosion.
Or he could be like King David, deliberately sending the subordinate into a dangerous situation, so he would then be in position to comfort the widow.
He can be cold, but not out of control, the way @F1Krazy suggests. He could be distant and professional, not even unpleasant like Professor Snape, but showing a distinct absence of the camaraderie he'd have with other soldiers, maybe insisting more on discipline.

"Resentful, hot-headed and laid-back" just isn't enough of a characterisation. Different people can be all three in many different ways. You need to really get into this particular character's bones, be that particular character. Not know the character cerebrally, but feel their emotions in your gut. Then you'd know what this particular character would say, how they would act.

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