Anti-social Protags

Anti-social Protags
A list of stories with main characters who range from selfish and socially awkward to just plain flat-out jerks. Sometimes the author tries to hide it, other times they show off with shoddy justifications.

Doesn't necessarily make the story bad, though it never makes the story better (unless that's the kind of jerk you need...)
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bloggbigg
Created: May 7th, 2022, Updated: Aug 28th, 2023
Created May 7th, 2022
Updated Aug 28th, 2023
CN (4.1)
20 Chapters Every 184.8 Day(s) 9989 Readers 105 Reviews 06-06-2017
This was recommended to me and I'm liking it so far (70+ chapters in).... more>>
CN (4.1)
103 Chapters Every 619.7 Day(s) 17766 Readers 195 Reviews 03-28-2016
This actually has pretty good plotting despite it's faults (which are many). The MC is personable on the surface, but the author can't keep up the show, so his 'people are tools' personality slips here and there.... more>>
CN (3.4)
39 Chapters Every 223.7 Day(s) 1386 Readers 39 Reviews 07-19-2019
This is VERY niche. If you like the 'details' of tech/science & modern 'kingdom building' AND can ignore the author's rampant pro-china nationalism & unexplainable need to have the MC humblebrag, narcicist-flex, and ignore his magically increasing faux harem, then you can enjoy the other (actually good) development aspects of this story.... more>>
CN (3.4)
38 Chapters Every 98.1 Day(s) 971 Readers 45 Reviews 03-27-2020
This one barely belongs here, as the author makes the MC seem 'nice' pretty well. Even so, he's only nice enough to look good- and almost always only shares leftovers he no longer needs. He's also in an ongoing petty competition with a child over food, and gives it entirely too much thought, so...... more>>
CN (3.2)
1 Chapters Every 1071 Day(s) 395 Readers 13 Reviews 07-12-2021
Another basic 'OP weak to strong story', that I started out of boredom and found wasn't so bad. The synopsis is weak, and the premise is 'because it works that way'- but even so, the story still somehow manages to be above average.... more>>
CN (3.2)
39 Chapters Every 211.8 Day(s) 899 Readers 53 Reviews 06-26-2020
Haah...... more>>
CN (3.7)
0 Chapters Every 2069 Day(s) 7431 Readers 63 Reviews 07-30-2018
First, though tagged as 'Ecchi' and 'Harem'- it's barely one, and only hints at the other and never follows through. It has 1084 chapters, not '0'.... more>>
CN (4.3)
25 Chapters Every 601.5 Day(s) 12590 Readers 331 Reviews 09-19-2002
This one has an 'evil' protag (though he's really more 'unscrupulous'). A lot of people think this is great, so I took a look. Meh. It's 'ok'- but there's a ton bias in the writing (everyone 'gives the MC an excuse'), nonsense plotting (as if a regressor who remembers the past needs luck and convenient situations/setups in addition to knowing the future and 500 years of experience/world knowledge), and constant plot armor where tons of experienced elders can't deal with him (though they really only make a token effort).... more>>
KR (4.1)
478 Chapters Every 0.9 Day(s) 14849 Readers 192 Reviews 03-28-2024
No Idea why this was rated so high. Feels like a blatant rip-off of 'Omniscient Readers Viewpoint', but not as good (though 'Reincarnator was first'). It's still somewhat passable if you read ORV and want more of the same.... more>>
KR (3.3)
20 Chapters Every 56.3 Day(s) 485 Readers 7 Reviews 12-20-2021
This is new (at the current time), for many was highly anticipated, and (when I started), was overwhelmingly recommended. It's not bad, but I dropped it at ch40. There was just too much nonsense and info-dumps, and not enough story (what little there is was just forced plotting (mostly the MC continuously and rapidly 'powering up' for every little thing) and a few dumb pop-up events). Maybe it'll get better... I doubt it. It's rating dropped from 92% to 75% already- so apparently 'everyone can see what's up', so it's not just me.... more>>
KR (3.9)
21 Chapters Every 187.1 Day(s) 16844 Readers 182 Reviews 09-09-2016
This was 'ok'- but there were a ton of issues (dropped plot-lines, all characters shallow/plot puppets)... and the ending?... meh. Clearly a ton of people like it anyway, though- so 'here you go', but my review is HERE:https://www.novelupdates.com/series/seoul-stations-necromancer/comment-page-3/#comment-104983... more>>
Comments (7)
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  1. mohamed bd
    mohamed bd· May 7, 2022 09:43 PM

    I feel like what I'm about to comment is pointless considering the fact that you probably dropped reverend insanity really early and didn't give it a chance (I'm assuming so since you say the mc is weak) and it feels like you went in expecting to hate it from the tone of your post and the fact that everything that you said is wrong which is weird considering that you reviewed a lot of other novels accurately. but hey, I'm willing to be proven wrong.

    1) I'm going to assume that you only read before the mc became rank 3 because that is the only time he was that much openly provocative and is considered weak, I'm going blind here as you didn't mention what chapter you dropped it.

    2) in that time period, the mc was acting as a youth dissatisfied with the clan which is reasonable considering he was hailed as a genius and then was revealed as ordinary which is why most elders didn't really do much (specifically the 2 factions elders) when he beat up their heirs.

    3) they didn't do anything to the mc because it would just backfire on them. the mc was the same age as their heirs as well as the same cultivations so if the ELDERS started interfering it would damage their heir's reputation and put their competence to question since they needed someone else to defeat the mc which is in their generation.

    4) the mc avoided inflicting any serious injury on them so the elders saw it as the mc tempering and igniting their fighting spirit which is actually what happens.

    5) in this novel's world righteous path clans/sects take the rules pretty seriously and the most important rule is not to kill a fellow clan/sect member. if you were publicly found out then the punishment is most likely death no matter what your status is. even if you managed to hide it from the public, a rival faction could use it against you. so considering all that it's pretty illogical to still want to kill the mc who didn't break any rules if you consider the potential consequences.

    Reply · 5 Likes · ·
    • mohamed bd
      mohamed bd· May 7, 2022 09:43 PM

      6) there was an instance where he openly provoked the academy elder by injuring the mortal guards but from what I remember he did that so that the elder could surveil him which would help the mc for the clan to defend him when the investigation about the merchant mu*der happen.

      7) I don't know what you are referring to when you say they should gang up on him, if you are referring to his classmates then he could beat all of them at once (that's what happens) since they are not allowed to use their gu in the academy but if you are talking about seniors or elders then I already said why that's not possible.

      8) you say that there is no reason for mc's haste but that's wrong. he needs to reach rank 3 as fast as possible (since that's the minimum level of strength needed to roam between the mountains) because his clan and the two others are doomed from the future wolf tide as well as the ice disaster that will engulf the mountain and kill all of them.

      finally, I listed all of these reasons but it's not like the whole clan and elders want to deal with him but can't and they are at the side screaming "how slyyy" while gritting their teeth at how they could do nothing. most of the clan don't know what the mc even looks like and most elders are either indifferent or just amused at a child's tantrum (which is intentional by the mc). the only elder who was annoyed was the academy elder but that showed his immaturity to be angered by a child which was pointed to him by the clan elder.

      in the end, I still don't think the novel is for you since you dislike evil protagonists ( assuming from your other reviews) which is fine but it is odd to read a popular evil mc novel. I don't know, seems to me like you are setting yourself for disappointment, but who knows I'm just assuming maybe you actually like evil MCs.
      BTW, if you are actually looking for a Dark-type pokemon then I recommend the charm of soul pets, it fits the requirements from what I heard.

      Reply · 2 Likes · ·
    • bloggbigg
      bloggbigg· Author · May 9, 2022 08:29 PM

      I did drop Reverend Insanity- that much you accidentally got right. You can guess about my 'expectations'- I don't care. The story is just badly constructed whether I went in 'expecting to hate it' or not. It is more likely that you like the story despite it's flaws- and that's OK too.

      Here is my full review where I point out some specifics- maybe that'll help?
      https://www.novelupdates.com/series/reverend-insanity/comment-page-14/#comment-191586

      1) I dropped this sometime around ch 70 if I remember properly- and to be fair, that is quite early for a Chinese novel. Even so- the writing was pop-up events, _so much_ forced nonsense, and a 'no-personality except s*upid' MC... I had no interest in continuing, as those things normally don't change much since it'll be the same author throughout. Actually- the MC was barely evil from what I saw- more 'justified in his repeated revenges' & 'unscrupulous' in his actions- which is pretty common in wuxia, actually.

      2) I don't care how the author pretends to justify 'all the things'. This is already noted as a point of contention, and is actually 100% irrelevant to the behavior of the MC- who should be super experienced and knowledgeable, instead of being an arrogant leech on the group that s*upidly lets him do as he pleases.

      3) Forced plot as to 'why no one who's old and wise can figure out how to handle him' is nonsense. Other stories have tons of answers for 'subtle treachery' (send on a dangerous mission & kill with no witnesses, etc.)- so 'they must be...' (hands tied) is just more 'author gives the MC plot armor' BS.

      4, 5) Same. They could make send him away to another tribe, repeatedly send him on missions, make him an outcast. No excuse for 'suffering someone who causes tribal disunity'. Too many stories where no one can tell 'evil people are evil', and 'righteous= s*upid'.

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    • bloggbigg
      bloggbigg· Author · May 9, 2022 08:37 PM

      @mohamed bd

      6) No. Only someone with plot armor wants to purposely draw the attention of someone who can _control their access to resources_- if not punish/exile them. all you're arguing is 'Nice that the author set up such a cush environment for the MC, right?'- so you're focusing on the (biased to the MC) 'story' while I'm talking about the nonsense writing/setup (for the MC).

      7. Yes the classmates. I said nothing about gu- and 'only after he's powerful enough to take them all' do they conveniently realize 'there's strength in numbers'- only to be ineffective, because 'plot armor' before that.

      8. (Sigh...) Again 'just another excuse' forced by the author. Asocial protag cares about others? Really? If so, influencing the tribe he's in _positively_ to help out would be smarter than p!ssing everyone off, and trying to get 'all the things' (miracle powerups (which he of course does)), then going it alone. Actually- he could do both. True evil people are often characterized as manipulators & backstabbers (Loki is classic, here)- so (again) the MC isn't so much 'evil' as 'arrogant'.

      Not going to debate how the author 'covered for the MC' by making (bad) leaders who ignore the crap personality of many of the members. This is actually a common (flawed) wuxia theme, and it's just a lame excuse to lazily allow eventual face slapping without more effort put into good writing.

      The novel isn't for me because I dislike nonsense writing. Most people have no real liking for 'evil' winning (for logical reasons), and writing against that standard takes a lot of cleverness to do well. I'll read anything as long as it is written well. Even so I do like some bad things myself. Difference is I know they're bad regardless of how much I like them.

      There's a movie called 'Warlock (1989)' with an evil MC that is done rather well. It's also not exactly 'good writing'- but that's the time period than anything else.

      We could go into 'the nature of evil' (and how a lot has to do with context/framing)- but stories with evil main characters which resonate with people have some relatable human quality- even the Joker's popularity went up when he connected with Harley Quin. This MC is just a noisy 'growth machine' with a distant, barely mentioned, cliche cause. I didn't care.


      Thanks for the rec- I'll take a look!

      Reply · ·
  2. Vega320
    Vega320· May 30, 2022 06:57 PM
    I just wanted to point out that reincarnator is listed as 2015 in novel updates and omniscient reader is listed as 2018. If the author of Reincarnator managed to rip off omniscient readers viewpoint he deserves major props.
    Reply · 2 Likes · ·
    • bloggbigg
      bloggbigg· Author · May 31, 2022 12:57 PM

      I know this, which is why I said 'feels like' as opposed to 'is'. I actually made the literal mistake earlier in my review which was pointed out to me by another kind reader.

      I probably should remove the comparison entirely since (as a possible 'rip-off' of Reincarnator?) I would have to give ORV praise for doing such a good job of 'improving' it so much while ripping it off-- which... who would do that?

      In any case, the point is 'one pales in comparison to the other'- and normally it's the 'inferior copies' that are the rip-offs of the 'quality original' which is why I said 'feels like', (though the order of creation is opposite). It's just counter-intuitive to ever think that a 'me too' product is better than the 'original'... (except in art/literature- it sometimes happens). This could just be an amazing coincidence as well-- but only the author knows.

      Well, a quick edit will do for now...

      Thanks for the info. Feel free to comment on any of my posts so that I can improve them.

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    • I really didnt nt do it
      I really didnt nt do it· Feb 8, 2024 09:11 PM

      @bloggbigg ri is a build up story it's start with almost no bases it feels really empty at the start like just some one wanted to make and evil Mc for no reason and went for it.

      I honestly kept going cuz I was bord and thanks god I kept going it's great staff. The build up is amazing you read something s*upid or make no sance for example how the fk did he went back a  total of 500y back because after he use it a second time you figure out that's impossible at first I thought it's plot hole or the author just as you said going to give some random mostly baseless excuse but no it doesn't. It make perfect sance and small details like this are part or a clue of the bigger picture. True there is some needless evil like the girl and the bare I would of liked if he just killed her for power without the unnecessary bare nonsense but honestly ignoring this is way easier then ignoring the fact that some isekai Mc literally kill the person the posses and livinge with there family actually believing that they are family calling them father mother listening to them and actually living the role bro wt f you literally killed there child or at the very least took his body his dead body  bro that's some psychopathic sht bro or the nonsense harm man I mean I actually enjoy some harm novel but most is real life wish fulfilments to the author with is literally painful to read seriously wt f

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