Carl is one of the best male main characters written by a man in contemporary fiction (that I’ve read).
Because, as much as I love LitRPG as a genre, much of it centers around the male power fantasy, and also a lot of it has a lot of very toxic and problematic views on and characterizations of men, women, elderly people, minorities, people in general. Uh it makes finding truly enjoyable ones where I’m not cringing every 10 minutes very difficult. Guess I’m not the target audience for those, haha.
So, Carl as a main character stands out among his peers in LitRPG, but he also, in my humble opinion, stands out among male characters in general.
Listen, Carl is Just Some Guy™?. He’s described as being above average for height and strength, but considering he was in the armed forces, that isn’t too strange. But in every way that counts, he’s Just Some Guy™?. He’s not super special in practically any way (except for his super fucked up childhood trauma which I will not spoil, but I think in a way his trauma is very relatable in that we are all fucked up in our own ways).
While often gruff, Carl is a genuinely kind and compassionate person. But you are never told by any character or by the author that “Carl is a nice dude.” You just see it. Over and over.
And, sometimes, “good” guys are written in a really gross way. In a transactional way, which is often how many cishet men view kindness. Something they invest in to get something out. But no. Carl does the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.
Like yeah, he’s going to try everything he can to ensure the survival of as many crawlers as he can because it’s the right thing to do.
And that’s not even going into how he treats the NPCs and mobs in the dungeon. They are in as shitty, if not shittier, of a situation as him and his recognition of that when he could just as easily take out his anger and frustration on hapless individuals is so indicative of his true nature.
Is Carl without fault? Definitely not. But he always takes accountability for his actions and wrongdoings and tries to be better, no matter how much the system encourages people to become the worst version of themselves.
Not every main character has to be admirable. An awful main character that you hate can be just as useful in the narrative as a character you look up to. But Carl is just so admirable in his humility and compassion in all of his actions, in his loyalty to those close to him, and his steadfastness in his own ideology and vision of himself.
technically we’re ALL, always LARPing, because the Self is only a construct,
I want a new character
Then make one.
Everyone talking about posts that changed their brain chemistry seem to be leaving out this classic, which probably propelled me into activism and more self confidence in a way that I cannot put into words.
