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    Default Re: Stories where the MC is weak

    Quote Originally Posted by Kitten Champion View Post
    I don't recall where I stopped in Aspirins' work, but after a few books I found the humour to be kind of bland and repetitive. There's a lot of "it's funny because these fantasy characters are acting like Italian mafia stereotypes" that can be charming to a point but he uses it rather ubiquitously.

    Also, once Skeeve reached a certain level of personal development he loses a lot of his relatability. He begins as a mild-natured every-man dragged by a somewhat amoral dimension-hopping quick-talking con-artist into increasingly dangerous situations, which supplies much of the humour for the first books. Once he loses his naivete and gets into the game, it's just not as funny. Which, yes, it's entirely reasonable that he would grow into the role over the events of books, but there's also something to be said for ending your story when you reach a natural conclusion to your main character's arc.
    I know I dropped out on him after the 2nd Phule's Company novel. The first two were funny, the third was just horribly edited to the point where, IIRC, Brick had two different, mutually exclusive, backstories.
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  2. - Top - End - #92
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    Selrahc's Avatar

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    Default Re: Stories where the MC is weak

    Quote Originally Posted by moonfly7 View Post
    I'm looking for suggestions for stories where the main character isn't just weak, but is clearly and inordinately out classed by everyone else, especially his own friends and/or love interest. I'm not asking for a whiny crybaby main character(midorya I'm looking at you) in fact I despise those. I'd prefer suggestions where the protagonist is creative and smart and makes themselves useful in spite of their inherent ability gap.
    What you're looking for is a genre of stories called "Picaresque". These are stories of low social status/power individuals managing to succeed in spite of everything. Picaresque books are often quite comedic in tone. A lot of the suggestions people have given you are actually within this genre(many Discworld novels). Other famous picaresque books include things like Don Quixote, Candide. I'd recommend the Flashman Papers or Baodolino.

    Stories set against a backdrop of an absurd system would also likely fit, as they're about powerlessness despite doing things correctly. This is stuff like Catch 22, Memoirs found in a Bathtub, Brazil, Waiting for Godot, Rozencratz and Guildenstern are Dead, or literally anything by Kafka.
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