How to Write Strong Male Characters

Google “how to write strong female characters” and you’ll be attacked by a plethora of podcasts, articles, and more on writing female characters that “aren’t like other girls”. For years there has been a phobia among writers on writing the damsel in distress cliche, a swooning ditz who doesn’t do anything throughout the story, and so dozens and dozens of resources have been shoved into the eager hands of writers, to the point where the problem with female characters nowadays is they are too strong for their own good.

But what about the guys?

Maybe you’ve never thought about this. Guys are supposed to be easy to write, right? Just make them total jerks, die-for hotties, or cute nerds and you’re good.

But recently I’ve begun to see a trend in male characters. No longer do we see the chivalrous, caring characters of time past. We begin to see playboys who hit on every girl they meet (like Maverick from Top Gun), goofy idiots who can’t take anything seriously (Luke, Leo, and Adam from Jessie and Lab Rats), or dads who are complete dolts (Stuck in the Middle).

Curious, I decided to Google “how to write strong male characters”. Would you like to know what I found?

After the search bar suggested “female” characters, here are the top three recommedations:

• Writing Male Characters
• How to Write a Male Character if You’re Not
• 33 Ways to Write Stronger Characters

There were a few more on writing believable male characters, but these were sandwiched between the general “character writing” articles. Nothing on how to write strong male characters like they have for writing strong female characters. Google listed “How to Write a Strong Female Character” in all the article titles down the first page and beyond.

Hm. Interesting.

So today I am filling in the obvious lack in our writing resources and I am bringing you an article on how to write strong male characters. Because clearly, we need more of those in our world.

What Makes a Strong Male Character?

This is the first question we must ask before we go any further. What even defines a strong male character? Is it just their physical abilities and total masculinity?

No. A strong character isn’t defined by what they look like or what they can do. It’s their personality and how they react to the experiences of the story. A strong character grows and changes over the course of the story, learns from their mistakes, knows how to rise again, is relatable to the reader. They struggle, they suffer, they are human. But despite their faults, and the lies they believe, they learn how to overcome their misbeliefs and become a better person.

Guys are all different. Girls are all different. It’s impossible to squish everyone into a stereotype box, and the same goes for writing male protagonists. You can have a strong male character who’s a nerd and you can have a strong male character who’s a knight.

I’ve been asking a ton of people (mostly my guy writer friends) as I wrote this article what they thought a strong male main character is, and they’ve all come up with the same basic answer: they’re protectors. They’re willing to sacrifice themselves for their friends and family, and they don’t always have a hard expression about it. They have a shell, sure, but they’re also soft inside. They have emotions like everyone else. Maybe it’s not cool to show it, but they’re not unfeeling.

I can better explain how to write strong male characters by showing examples than just writing paragraphs, so I’ve brought to the table five very different male characters who I think are excellent examples of strong male protagonists. We’ll begin with a face who’s probably very familiar…

Kristoff Bjorgman (Frozen)

Kristoff is an excellent example of how guys don’t need to be total jerks and overly obnoxious to be humorous. Quiet and shy, Kristoff starts out as an introverted guy who would rather be off chipping ice with his reindeer pal Sven (and doing plenty of talking for Sven as well) than talking with people. Throughout the movie as he is dragged along by Anna to hopefully free Arendelle from a winter that’s really killing his ice business, he goes from “I don’t need people, I’m fine with being alone” to actually caring about Anna and going the distance to help her.

What I found most interesting about Kristoff is how he’s first introduced to the main character. Here’s this big, frost-covered mountain man stalking into the trading post with a scowl on his face, and a few minutes later he’s in a barn singing to his reindeer. It beautifully portrays the outward appearance he puts on and how he really acts around those he cares about.

Not to mention that even though Anna and her crazy antics drive him mad, he’s still polite (albeit a bit crusty about it) and he still decides to help her out. When danger strikes he watches out for her, and ultimately it made his character arc all the stronger.

(And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love the scene where he comes charging back on Sven, braving the snowstorm to save Anna?)

Kristoff may not be the hero of Frozen, but the movie wouldn’t be the same without him.

***

Alden Case (The Cases of Mystery Lane)

You’re probably wondering who the heck is this Alden Case guy. He’s the male protagonist of the Hallmark murder mystery The Cases of Mystery Lane.

Alden fits the bill for the stereotypical Nerd. He’s good with computers. He sells old robots on the internet. He’s really creative but not very popular.

Boring, hun?

Not so fast. Sure, Hallmark could have steered in that direction with Alden, but instead, they turned him into a completely different sort of character.

Alden wants to be a Private Eye, but knowing his practical lawyer wife, Birdie (who has suffered through most of his failed entrepreneurial enterprises), he’s taking the P.I. night classes under the ruse that he’s studying to be an accountant. Meanwhile workaholic Birdie is struggling to keep up under her boss/mom’s expectations, and ultimately, their marriage is falling apart.

Alden really gets interesting when you begin to see his conflict of keeping his new passion a secret. He loves Birdie and hates watching their marriage slowly pull apart, but at the same time he’s worried she won’t like his idea– especially since they’re still struggling to recover financially from his flops.

Alden also visibly suffers from insecurity during the movie, especially around the charming coworker of Birdie, whom he follows as homework for a class– and ends up being a witness to the man escaping a murder scene of Birdie’s mentor (yes, it’s Hallmark. Some things will still be cliche).

What’s interesting about Alden is his character arc. He fears losing Birdie because he thinks he’s too much of a failure, too weird and quirky. But over the course of the movie, as they discover the killer and Birdie eventually supports his decision to open a Private Investigation business, he becomes more secure in who he is. Is he still quirky and nerdy? Sure, but those vintage robots end up saving his life in the end. I think this movie is a great example as to how you can still take a stereotype, make it interesting, and turn a nerd into a hero.

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Flynn Ryder (Tangled)

Okay, okay, I hear your confusion from the other end of the screen. Kristoff and Flynn (or, Eugene, I suppose) are the same characters, right? Both swindled into helping the pretty female protagonist (Kristoff with a new sleigh and restoring his ice business and Flynn with getting the crown back) in exchange for being their guide.

But if you look beyond the plot goal, Kristoff and Flynn are very different! Flynn is what is known as an Anti-Hero. He does wrong stuff, but he’s not the villain. He does wrong even though he knows it’s wrong, and he’s fine with that. That’s what leads Flynn to find Rapunzel, after all. Meanwhile Kristoff is just a somewhat normal guy who just wants to get his business back.

Flynn, like Kristoff, would rather be left alone by society– mostly because his face is on every single “Wanted” poster in the kingdom. As he tells in song to the members of the Snuggly Duckling pub, he dreams of being “on an island that I own, tanned and rested and alone, surrounded by enormous piles of money”.

Flynn, throughout the movie, is actively pursuing his dream of getting filthy rich and being able to do whatever he wants. He’s extremely cocky and when Rapunzel forces him to be her guide he tries to scare her into going home so he can get out of it. In short, he’s a jerk. A charming jerk, but still a jerk.

Doesn’t sound great for a male character, right? What makes him different from every other jerk of a guy on TV?

He changes. Throughout the movie, innocent Rapunzel, full of joy from just being outside of her castle and filling everything she walks into with light makes Flynn realize that there is more to life than money. We see him slowly soften to Rapunzel and hear a small bit of his backstory– why he is the way he is. By the end of the movie, he’s willing to sacrifice his dream of being rich– and yes, even his life for Rapunzel.

Flynn’s richly orchestrated arc turns him from a cliched thieving jerk to a charming hero, ultimately transforming him a brilliant example of a strong male character.

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Peter Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Can we stop here and admit that Peter is one of the best big brother characters in literature history?

I’m fairly sure C.S. Lewis based Peter off of his own big brother Warnie. Peter is an awesome example as how a male protagonist can be a strong character AND not need a love interest to be awesome.

Peter’s character arc is much more minor than his brother Edmund, but throughout both the book and the film adaption we watch him strive to protect his sisters and struggle into this new role that Aslan has put him into. Over the course of the story Peter grows into a strong leader and warrior.

Notice: he never has a love interest! Strong male characters don’t need a love interest to make them strong. Peter fiercely protects his younger siblings and strives to fight for Aslan and Narnia. Even though he sometimes doubts himself, with his eyes on Aslan, he finds the strength to rise again, try again. Even when Aslan says he’s too old for Narnia, he takes the lessons and values he learned as a king in Narnia and lives them out in the real world.

I think Peter really lives out Paul’s charge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11: But you are a man of God; so run from all of these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance and gentleness. (NLT)

***

Jack Bartlett and Tim Fleming (Heartland)

I could go on forever about these two. Honestly, they are two of the most awesome male characters I have ever come across in media.

Jack is the patriarch of the Bartlett-Fleming-Morris-Borden (they had a lot of daughters in the family) clan. A true cowboy, he’s got strong values and morals about family and freedom. He’s a little nostalgic, calm, and prefers to talk out a situation versus tactical approaches, but you can bet that if someone hurts one of his girls and talking doesn’t work, he’ll switch to force to make his opinion on the situation very clear. And you can bet your life that if you’re skulking around his barn in the dark he’ll pull the shotgun on you.

Jack seems crusty and hard on the outside, but it doesn’t take much to see the softness he saves for those he loves. He’s no pushover, but his interactions with all of the members of his family– especially the youngest– are quite heartwarming. Even his character arc towards the rebellious Ty Borden slowly changes. We see him go from “don’t come within ten feet of my granddaughters” to singing “Born to Be Wild” with the boy as they drive home from buying a motorcycle.

While I loved Jack from the very beginning, it took me about fourteen seasons to start to actually like Tim. Jack and Tim actually hate each other for a large part of the series– Tim was Jack’s son in law until a rodeo accident steered him off the deep end, and Tim abandoned his wife Marion (Jack’s daughter) and his own two daughters Lou and Amy. For the first part of the series, Tim is annoying, prideful, cocky, and just about every shade of jerk you can think of.

But… he changes. Age and some very interesting experiences slowly mellow out Tim, and he and Jack rekindle a friendship. Tim’s still a pain in the butt from time to time, but by season 16, you start to see the softness that comes out around his family and his new wife Jessica. He still jumps the gun sometimes, but he’s naturally impulsive, and no guy is perfect. He’s definitely more physical than Jack– there are several instances where he beats up a guy for threatening his family. But with age comes wisdom, and at season 16 he’s gained more patience than he had back in season 1.

***

How Do I Write Strong Male Characters?

You’re probably asking this question by now. How do I write a memorable, strong male protagonist?

Well, let’s circle back. What really makes a strong male character… strong?

What all of these characters have in common is they’re realistic. They show emotions, but they’re not feminized. They may be jerks, but they learn from their mistakes. They care about their families and friends and will protect them to the end. Maybe they’re conceited at the beginning, but over the course of the story, they learn to care about something other than themselves.

So how do you implement this into your writing?

First, start by reading widely. The more that you can identify the difference between strong and weak male characters, the better. A shortlist of books to get you started:

• The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
• The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
• The Phantom Stallion series (Terri Farley)
• The Bluehill Library series (Emily Thomas)
• The Green Ember series (S.D. Smith)

Second, (if you’re a girl), talk to some of your guy friends, or your dad or brother. Ask them about your male characters and get their opinions. I had a few very helpful guys look over this post for an accuracy check.

Third, read your Bible. I know that might sound weird, but one of my friends pointed out that a strong male character is best defined by God’s standards. And God is the ultimate standard for all morality, so what better resource on how to write strong characters will you find than in the Bible?

Fourth, just write! With experience comes wisdom, and the more you’re reading and writing, the more you’ll be able to write strong male characters.

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Writing strong characters takes work, but it’s appreciated more by readers when they find characters they can relate to. We live in a world where masculinity is slowly being shamed. Worldly culture wants to tear down guys, but we as writers can make a difference in that. More books are needed with strong male characters as well as strong female characters.

(And yes, I’m a girl, so maybe I’m in no place to write about this. But as I said before… no one else is writing anything on this topic, at least nothing that’s available to the public eye. Any guy writers reading this can feel free to put in their two cents. I’d appreciate the insight!)

When you know how to write strong characters of both sexes and include a variety of well-rounded, interesting male characters, you will serve your readers a story they will never forget.

For more articles on writing, go to Writing Tips

For more articles on writing strong characters, check out K. M. Weiland’s Character Arcs articles.