For me, it's quite simple: if a character has no care about the consequences of his/her actions, I have no care for his/her fate and may just forgo the story if it stays that way. Now, if the character starts out that way but goes through a growth/transformation, I find that engaging.
The loyalty thing is iffy in my opinion. I think some truly interesting character traits can come out of someone who is disloyal. I believe you find betrayal in some of civilization's greatest literature. In fact, a disloyal character makes a great antagonist to a hero.
Not that I want to give the movies any legitimacy, but the /story/ of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars universe is a compelling one - he's disloyal to his Order and his Teacher yet the plot is built on that disloyalty and eventually finds redemption through his own son.
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Date: 2009-10-23 04:54 pm (UTC)The loyalty thing is iffy in my opinion. I think some truly interesting character traits can come out of someone who is disloyal. I believe you find betrayal in some of civilization's greatest literature. In fact, a disloyal character makes a great antagonist to a hero.
Not that I want to give the movies any legitimacy, but the /story/ of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars universe is a compelling one - he's disloyal to his Order and his Teacher yet the plot is built on that disloyalty and eventually finds redemption through his own son.