How NOT to write a buddy/rival character.

So, with all the staying home and not going anywhere or doing anything over the last few months, I've set my eyes upon the ever-growing list of video games I mean to play but never have time to between work, working on my writing, and the ever-continuing search for the future Mrs. Allen.  So, the last couple months I decided to pick up a series of games that are a sequel to another series that I really liked.  Trails of Cold Steel.  The first two games are basically the same story cut into two parts because it was so huge it wouldn't fit in a single game.

So, you have this buddy character Crow who then becomes the rival character for the protagonist Rean.  The first time you meet this utter douchelord, he tricks you and steals from you.  And the game expects you to laugh it off and think, "oh, wow, this guy is really cool."  Uh.  no.  That is not how reality works, game.  Every interaction that you have with this guy for the rest of the first game is meant to make you think he's cool, but literally every single one of them ended with me thinking he was just an even bigger douchebag than before.  He mocks people, he slacks off, he doesn't pay attention when anyone is talking to him, he manipulates and uses people.  He's a complete and total sociopath.  And through the whole first game the entire rest of the cast keeps saying how cool he is.  Every single interaction you have with him makes him out to be an even bigger dick, but this game goes ALL IN on telling you his cool, when, by his actions, he's the furthest thing from it.

So, throughout the first game there's this mysterious masked terrorist that's bombing military bases, setting off bombs in crowded cities full of innocent people, kidnapping people, hijacking the mother of all small dick artillery guns to obliterate an entire city with, and several other unsavory things.  Then he assassinates the guy in charge of the country, and sets off an enormous civil war.  And at the end, this guy takes off his mask, and surprise, surprise, it's Crow.  It's meant to be this huge shocking moment, where you feel all betrayed that this cool friend is actually the guy you've been fighting all along.  But, I mean, the guy is HORRIBLE to you, and everyone else in the game.  I didn't guess that it was him, but I wasn't shocked to find out that this horrible guy that is just the absolute worst, is actually this terrorist who has murdered a bunch of innocent people.

And then Rean, for the entire next game, keeps going on, and on, and on about how he's going to beat Crow, and bring him back to the good side.   He keeps telling all of Crow's friends, don't worry, I'll save him.  It's like his entire focus as a character in the second game is to find a way to beat Crow, and then force him back into the life that they had before the war.  It's the biggest part of his motivation for the second half of the story. 

There's a part where Crow captures Rean, and then tells him why he's doing all of these horrible things.  It's because the guy he assassinated to start the war decided not to rebuild a bridge that was knocked out in a flood.  that's it.  That's his entire motivation for murdering innocent people, bombing civilian targets, and assassination.  The guy didn't rebuild a bridge, and his hometown fell into poverty  because of it.  Oh boo-freaking-hoo!!! 

So, to recap, this guy is a lying manipulative douchebag to everyone he meets.  A total pervert.  OMG the lengths this jerk goes to in order to see naked, underage girls is INSANE.  He tricks and steels from random strangers.  He murders innocent civilians.  He sets off bombs in crowded cities during festivals.  He bombs military bases.  He assassinates world leaders and starts a massive civil war.  And he does all of this because he's sad that his hometown couldn't survive without a bridge.  He is a murderer, a war criminal, and a terrorist, on top of being a sociopath, thief, and all around asshole.  And this game expects me to be, in any way, invested in "saving" him. 

Uh, yeah, no.  DO NOT care.  I'm nearly at the end of the game.  I haven't quite finished it yet.  And, realistically, if Rean manages to beat Crow and bring him back to his side.  He's just going to be executed for treason, murder, and war crimes anyway.  But the game will probably just let him off with a slap on the wrist, because he's the main character's friend.

So, yeah.  This is NOT how you write a buddy/rival character.  You can't spend the entire story TELLING me that he's such a good friend, while SHOWING me that he is anything but.  Any perspective writers out there, please, take this example, and learn from it.  Because I see this sort of thing in all kinds of different media.  Movies.  Books.  TV.  Other Video Games.  If you want me to believe that your buddy/rival is a good guy at heart, and has a true friendship with your main protagonist, he can't also be a murderer, terrorist, assassin, and all around douchelord at the same time.  He actually has to have real motivation that makes sense.  He actually needs to have a real bond with your protagonist that we see develop, and can feel that these two people are great friends.  You can't show him doing all this horrible crap to everyone, and then tell me that, oh yeah, he's a real great friend though.