: Re: What makes a character irredeemable? Let's look at two characters who are generally considered to be iredeemable: The Diamond Authority (from Steven Universe): The extremely childish leaders of

@Samaraweera193

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In ordinary life, what makes a person "irredeemable" is a theological/philosophical question, to which people have many different and variant answers. But in fiction, what makes a character irredeemable is simply that the reader doesn't want to see them redeemed. The reader reaches a breaking point with the character, and is no longer interested in any outcomes for that character other than death, failure or punishment.

As the always-correct @MarkBaker has pointed out, you, the author are in control of the narrative, and there are many things you can do to make a villainous character more or less sympathetic. But I can't help but notice an important commonality about your two examples. They are both of characters who do evil with a sense of smug self-righteousness. They cause great harm, but remain convinced they are the avatars of all that is good and right. Such characters are irredeemable precisely because they do not think they have done anything wrong. The audience longs for the universe (or in this case, the author) to offer a harsh rebuke to their entire worldview.

So, if you want to create a character that you --and hopefully your readers --will respond to in the same way as your examples, make him or her a self-righteous, arrogant hypocrite.

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