Protagonists

What Drives an Isekai Protagonist

An interesting protagonist is hard to write - Isekai seems to find it even harder than most genres, except for maybe Shonen.

A protagonist doesn’t have to be wholly good or evil in nature, but they have to at least be able to keep your attention while you’re experiencing their story.

But there are two questions that I always find myself asking whenever I read an Isekai story:

1 - if the past of the protagonist does not matter in an Isekai story, why is the story an Isekai?

2 - if the Isekai protagonist is not personally invested in the story they’re a part of, why should we be?

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic (henceforth known as Healing Magic) has 2 main characters that I’d like to talk about first before proceeding any further. Suzune Inukami is the student council president who is a secret otaku who is elated about being summoned as a hero in another world, letting her perfect, pristine image drop almost instantly as she realises she has the chance to live her dream life.

Here, in this other world, she doesn’t need to keep up the act; she’s no longer bound by the expectations of those around her, she can be honest and let her true self show without care or worry.

As for Usato, the series main protagonist, he didn’t really have a clear idea of what he wanted to do in life; he just thought it’d be a normal, simple life working a job he doesn’t really like or dislike - just a normal life. When he’s caught up in the hero summoning alongside Suzune and Kazuki, he’s revealed to be a tagalong of sorts and that he has a specialisation in healing magic and then is trained by Captain Rose to become a combat medic.

It gives him purpose in life and lets him feel fulfilled - likewise, he gets to be friends with Suzune and Kazuki which he never imagined he’d be able to do on Earth, and meets other truly irreplaceable people as he travels.

Next, I’d like to examine 2 protagonists for 2 web/light novels/anime - Rimuru from That Time I Reincarnated as a Slime (henceforth referred to as Tensura) and Makoto from Tsukimichi: Moonlight Fantasy (henceforth referred to as Tsukimichi).

Tsukimichi, like many light novels in Japan, began its life on the popular Japanese website: Shōsetsuka ni Narō in 2012 while Tensura was released on the same site in February of 2013 around the time the Isekai boom was to take place. Both stories share a lot of similarities, although it’s interesting to note that Tensura received its anime adaptation 3 years prior to Tsukimichi’s.

In the author’s own words, Makoto has an ugly physical appearance, one that the Goddess who summons him finds repulsive and discards him, believing it impossible for someone like him to be born from the 2 great heroes she’d summoned years before. He, on the surface, is a normal Japanese teenager with emotions and a strong moral code. The key words in that description are, of course, on the surface. As we discover later on, Makoto carries a dark past (which I shall refrain from going into for fear of spoiling you) that slips out from time to time, most famously when he kills someone in cold blood who murdered some of his servants.

Until this point, Makoto was someone who could be defined as a perfectly normal teenage boy; it’s this moment that reveals that there is more to him than meets the eye. A similar comparison can be made to Classroom of the Elite’s Ayanokouji, at least in the light novels. In said novels, Ayanokouji is largely portrayed as a normal teenager with a few secrets and hidden sides to himself, but it’s only at the end of volume 2 that we begin to see signs that he’s been an unreliable narrator and that he knows far more than he lets on.

In the anime adaptation, sadly, this element is largely removed which is a shame.

He’s just like the T-1000 from day 1 as opposed to trying to blend in first and no one finds it weird in the anime. At least in the books Ayanokouji pretends to be a normal, if slightly reclusive, teenager until he drops the mask as mentioned above.

Getting back on track, one of the key points about Makoto as a protagonist is that his goals change based upon the events of the world around him. He adapts, he learns, he gathers strength and gets dragged into conflicts whether he wants to be or not, and eventually finds himself in the middle of the war between humans and demons - not an uncommon plot development by any stretch of the imagination. There are also the chosen heroes among the humans who also take an interest in him and his people, leading to further conflicts and story points.

Makoto is not a ground-breaking protagonist, but I would argue that he has enough going on beyond his more normal characteristics and motivations to keep the audience engaged and invested in his story.

Conversely, I have to say that I feel Rimuru from Tensura lacks a lot of what makes Makoto interesting as a protagonist.

Who was Rimuru before he died?

- He was a random Japanese salary man.

Why him?

- No idea, but he did die protecting a coworker, though the MC didn’t seem too bothered by his death given how he jokes about destroying his PC to delete its history.

Why was he reborn as a slime?

- Also unknown, but his situation is not uncommon in universe to his Isekai world (I shall leave this point for now as I want to come back to it later, maybe in another section).

What does Rimuru want?

- To live a comfortable life.

What does he become?

- A ruler of a country, a God and all manner of other things, including a Demon Lord

Now, inherently, there isn’t anything wrong per se with all that I have outlined above but, dear reader, let me ask you the most damning thing I could about Rimuru as a character.

If you changed who it was that died in the beginning of the story and got turned into a slime, what, if anything, would change in Tensura’s plot?

This is what upsets me about Rimuru.

They are a normal person with normal goals, with normal morals that does normal things - there is no unique driving force behind them or their motivations other than do the right thing and defeat the bad guys while protecting the good/innocent ones. Rimuru’s uniqueness comes from their powers as a slime, though that is basically it.

It is, of course, possible to write a protagonist with unique powers and a great personality that endears readers to them as So I’m a Spider, So What? expertly proves.

Kumoko, our little spider protagonist, is great fun: she’s eccentric, enthusiastic (internally), socially awkward and stiff (externally), and basically spends the first few light novel volumes trying to survive inside a dungeon/labyrinth full of things that want to kill her. This is her only motivation in the beginning of the story, although this adapts and evolves alongside our protagonist when she eventually leaves the labyrinth and greater plots and motivations begin to sprout.

Though her motivations may change, these distinct parts of her characteristics never fade away and remain a constant source of entertainment throughout the whole series on top of her unique abilities and reincarnation situation.

But, here’s the difference! The key difference!

Kumoko’s past matters more than you might ever suspect as you’re reading/watching it.

Even the way she conducts herself at the beginning of the story is influenced by her past - she’s an introvert who doesn’t have a lot of self-confidence, which is increased exponentially when she realises how she’s a weak little spider in a labyrinth with dragons and other monsters far stronger than her, including her own mother. So, what does she do first?

She acquires shelter and food - two of the early parts of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs - and then starts to think about just how to survive. There is no grand goal beyond just climbing up this hierarchy for a lot of the early stories, as just even staying alive is very difficult for Kumoko in the beginning.

I’d argue it’s only after her encounters with Ariel, the Demon Lord, that Kumoko starts looking for more in life beyond her own survival.

Now, for the record, I used to enjoy Tensura during its earlier volumes but I eventually grew indifferent towards it - part of the reason I dropped the novels, and subsequently the anime, was because I felt that Rimuru was one of the weakest parts of the story. Regardless of what happened, how intense things got or how high the stakes are, Rimuru always seemed uninterested or detached from the situation at hand, usually watching things play out with either a bemused expression or none at all. Kumoko, conversely, gets invested, she gets scared and nervous, even when she’s got a lot more power as the story progresses.

Rimuru though always felt distant from everyone, even those he said were closest to him like the Ogres. While I could list who Kumoko cares about from her party in Spider, I honestly feel like I would struggle with Tensura. Rimuru might like people and they may like him, but the only one he seems to have any real bond with is the dragon Veldora.

With the Ogres, I could say he doesn’t like Shion’s cooking, he respects the abilities of all of them, he knows the pink-haired girl is a bit fond of him and that the oldest one is a badass - that’s kind of it. He speaks to them all in basically the same fashion unless it’s for a comedic bit or gag. He does humour Milium and seems to, on the surface, enjoy spending time with her, but it’s less a friendship and more like he’s humouring a small child and only because he has to or else she’ll get mad, not because he wants to spend time with her.

In a way, I guess it’s almost as if Rimuru was apathetic to the world and its conflicts. Who he was didn’t influence how he interacted with the world or its people at all; he was just a nice person who wanted people to get along.

Actually, thinking about it, even that side of his personality is not explored at all - there’s nothing to actually explain why he wants everyone to get along other than just “It’s the right thing to do.” Not that that’s a bad thing, but I could perhaps compare it to I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivalled in The Real World, Too where Yuuya, the MC, tries to keep to his grandfather’s words of always being kind and treating others correctly. It’s like Peter Parker and Uncle Ben - there’s something inspiring for that young man bestowed upon him by an elderly figure to make him want to act in the name of good with his abilities.

Rimuru doesn’t have anything like that, not a personal dream we see him wanting to fulfil that he couldn’t in his old life or a debt he owes someone. Would anything really have changed in Tensura if Rimuru had just been a slime that evolved to develop a human-like personality and gain a unique skill by chance?

Actually, that might have made for a more interesting story overall.

In the lesser-known Farming Life in Another World (henceforth known as Farming) it establishes why our protagonist wants to be a farmer in another world. He passed away due to a terminal illness and always wanted to run a farm which is why when offered another life by a God, he asks for the ability to make and run the farm of his dreams. In Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (henceforth known as All-Works Maid), the MC finds herself reborn as the protagonist of an Otome-game, but doesn’t know or care about that. Instead, she wants to be the ultimate maid as she loved maids in her old world and always wanted to be one, encouraged by both her old and new families when they learn of her dream.

These are simple motivations, but they’re enough to drive each character’s agency and they never truly lose sight of their desires, even when the story starts to develop away from their expectations. In Farming, the protagonist's humble farmland basically becomes its own town; in All-Works Maid, our protagonist ends up purifying a powerful demon and saving a future villainess without even meaning to, changing the original game’s plot dramatically without realising.

Earlier before that in the same evening, she super enchants her lady’s dress with defensive spells and all other sorts of enchantments just because she thought that’s what the ideal maid would do. Everything Melody, the MC, does is to become or act like the ultimate maid; she even creates magical clones to help her clean the mansion just to excel as a maid!

The character’s past has to matter, at least somewhat, in an Isekai. Hell, in The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated In Another World As An Aristocrat the whole reason our MC was chosen to be Iseaki-ed was because he was an assassin and the Goddess needed him to kill someone.

This, in my opinion, is what makes Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei such a great protagonist. Love him, hate him, express indifference to him, wish to run him through with a claymore and chop him into tiny pieces, Rudeus stands out from the crowd of Isekai protagonists by a long shot, even if that’s just because as a baby he was stealing panties and perving on the house maid.

Now, I would never ever defend all of Rudeus’s actions as there are many things he does that I find truly uncomfortable, such as the fact that the prologue in the light novels (and web novels) introduces us to him by explaining that he was watching naughty videos at home on the day of his parents’ funeral. If nothing else, it’s one of the bolder starts of an Isekai you’ll ever see, one that will put off a lot of people from turning to the next page.

However, Mushoku Tensei purposefully shows you Rudeus’s worst features first and then shows how he came to be that way.

The bullying, the trauma, the indifference towards life and the relationships he had with other people; that all shaped him into the man we see him as at the start of the series and that very thing is what drives him to change and live a better life. He tries to be more extroverted, to study more, to train and become strong, to fall in love and have a family, all things he would’ve thought impossible once before. Mushoku Tensei isn’t just the story of Rudeus’s second life; it’s the story of his redemption.

It’s the journey of a man who lived a life with nothing but regrets trying to, and largely succeeding, to live a life without them.

The Blank Slate

So, if the protagonist and their backstory matters so much to create a great Isekai story, why do so many main characters in the Isekai genre come across as forgettable and uninteresting?

Simple - they don’t have what we’ve just discussed.

A past.

A motivation.

A dream or life goal.

Think of a bad Isekai anime, manga or novel you’ve read and then ask yourself - how many start off with barely any information about the protagonist aside from their name, before they’re reborn in another world?

How many start with “Oh I died and I’m now reborn.”?

Or, my personal favourite, “I overworked myself and died - oh well. Anyway!”

Well, there are ways of making less interesting or developed MCs in Isekai stories more interesting; I’d argue there are 2 main ways: their situation is unique or their abilities (or lack thereof) is unique.

Take, for instance, Rimuru from Tensura again (this section’s, and possibly this essay’s, punching bag). While I do not think he as a character has a lot going for him, his unique powers that come from him being a slime do make him more interesting and it keeps the audience engaged as they become excited to see what new, wacky abilities he’ll be able to get next. Honestly, I do believe that this is one of the better parts of Tensura overall, however it raises another question: what if you have a protagonist who is reborn or classed as something unique, but it fundamentally changes nothing?

One of the more infamous, and hated, sub-genres of Isekai and modern Japanese fantasy web and light novels are the: I was/am the weakest class/person, BUT I’m actually the strongest/most overpowered. In Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Hajime, its MC, is summoned alongside all of his classmates to another world to serve as heroes, but his abilities are quite weak and not suited to combat - transmutation and alchemic magic. After being betrayed and left for dead, he loses an eye and an arm, grows stronger and basically becomes unstoppable.

Now, I actually enjoy the Arifureta novels for what they are (silly, over the top fun), but I can’t deny it has its flaws, though we shan’t touch upon them in this part.

The reason I bring up Arifureta here is because I think it’s one of the better in this sub-genre, mainly due to how it embraces its true nature and just has fun with it from arc to arc.

Others in this genre fail to do so.

First, let’s touch on the flawed nature that many of these titles/premises invite.

Although It’s the Weakest an Unprofitable Occupation,『Blacksmith』, Has Become the Strongest. ~Realised He Can Make Anything He Wants, the Man Started His Leisurely Life~.

Let that sink in.

A blacksmith - a highly regarded, respected and vital trade of medieval society is considered Weak and Unprofitable.

Again, let that sink in.

Let rage consume you as you yell or ask why.

A fantasy story set in a medieval world where blacksmiths, one of the historical most important, respected and highly skilled trades is considered weak - fair play, this above title is not an Isekai, but it does fall under the Weakest sub-genre fantasy stories that you see so often in modern Japanese web and light novels.

As I said, the blacksmith MC in question goes on to become nigh unstoppable and has a very standard, by the numbers personality and motivations, leaving little to keep the reader interested and invested.

If you do want a better fantasy/Isekai story to read about a blacksmith, I’d recommend My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World.

Second, let’s dive a little deeper into how little the initial setting actually matters to the overall narrative in this sub-genre and how it does little to nothing to help its protagonists’s stand out in the Isekai space.

In Chillin Different World Life Of The Ex-Brave Candidate Was Cheat From Lv2 (henceforth known as Cheat from Lv2), we are told that our protagonist is weak because he cannot level up beyond Level 2; however, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed from the title, that is definitely not the case.

The protagonist, Bananza, is deemed worthless and weak because his stats are very low and he’s just level 1 overall; however, and I wish you to know that I am not joking when I say this, by the very end of the prologue/chapter 1, he already has Infinite as all of his stats on his status page.

That is right - our protagonist is so overpowered from the get-go, that he has Infinity Power, Defense, Agility, Magic, HP and Skill Points.

Oh wow, I did not see that coming - another Isekai that doesn’t stay to its basic premise for more than a single chapter.

Personality and motivation wise, Bananza wants to live a quiet life with his friends and loved ones that he meets along the way, but he always ends up either thrust into or thrusting himself into the affairs of the world, does the right thing, defeats the bad guy, saves the girl, is kicked out by a corrupt king in the first arc for being too weak, the hero they chose to keep over him is an absolute tool and terrible human being, and so on and so forth.

So then, dear reader, what is unique about Cheat from Lv2?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Not its cast, its plot, its narrative beats, its progression - nothing.

I have tried both the books and manga version of this series (and the anime too), but neither does enough to make its main character interesting or stand out from the wider Isekai crowd. Worse, I feel like the series is confused as to what type of story it wants to be.

If it wanted to be a fun, chilled life type story, then it could have taken a page from I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level (henceforth known as Slimes for 300 Years) and simply focused on the MC and his friends/love interests just having fun, not bothering with the wider world except on occasion to protect their chilled life. If it wanted to have the protagonist get involved in the wider plot while also keeping true to their ideal way of living, Black Summoner and its protagonist Kelvin is a good example to try and follow. Kelvin is a battle junkine through and through, so he basically goes from place to place looking for people to fight and thus naturally runs into the main story developments.

Interestingly, I came to Cheat from Lv2 after reading one of my personal favourite web and light novel series I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! (henceforth known as Isekai at Peace). Both have some similarities which I shall briefly touch upon before diving deeper into Isekai at Peace.

First, both MCs are weaker than the others summoned to the Isekai world, but Kaito is not thrown out despite being canonically weaker than a slime (which is always funny to hear brought back up whenever he wants to get stronger, before giving up because he knows its impossible); he’s treated like a royal guest, as are two of the other three people summoned with him.

Second, both get involved in the most powerful people in the world and forge strong, powerful connections with them.

Isekai at Peace’s protagonist, Kaito, was depressed (implied) before being summoned to another world as he’d lost his parents when he was young, so had very little keeping his interest in our world. When he’s brought over to the other world, he truly has no real fighting abilities, but has 2 somewhat unique magics, one of which is just an auto-mode (which he is still very weak in) and the other lets him feel other people’s emotions. In the other world, there isn’t a big threat or impending disaster coming to end the peace; it is a truly peaceful world (mostly).

It's mostly a peaceful world; mostly.

Beyond this, Kaito is, for lack of a better term, a nice, upstanding person who wants to be kind and help other people, but his past and his powerlessness in combat helps make him an interesting character. It makes you want to root for him and to see him find true happiness and love in this world. You want to see him fill the hole in his heart and to maybe find a family for his own in this new world, to see him heal from the gaping wound left by his parents’ deaths.

Kaito is not a groundbreaking protagonist by any means, but he has enough at the start to keep your interest and eventually his development and growth, and that of the girls he interacts with, leads you to be endeared towards him, wanting to see him succeed and feeling joy whenever he succeeds at what he intends to do.

With Bananza, you feel nothing because he basically has nothing at the beginning, middle or end that makes you want to see more of him and his journey, or those of the people around him. Well, except maybe the main heroine, Fenrys.

(Side note - even the anime seems to understand she’s the main appeal based on the absolutely BASED casting choice and getting her to do the OP. Also, pretty sure there’s only a handful of shots in the OP without Fenrys in it)

Subaru from Re;Zero is yet another great example of a fantastic Isekai protagonist.

He’s weak, he’s short-sighted, insecure, stressed, subjected to much trauma and suffering that only he ever remembers or experiences, but he’s positive, weirdly charming at times and his drive to keep on fighting makes you want to root for him. His unique power is the self-titled Return from Death, but his actual combat ability is near non-existent and he has to rely on his wit, knowledge and ability to rewind time to get ahead of his opponents.

There is always a chance that an Isekai might stick to its premise, but then just not be a lot of fun as a result. High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World (henceforth known as Prodigies) proves just that.

It’s what it says on the tin to a T, to its own detriment.

Its overpowered Danganronpa-esque protagonists get brought to another world and excel at everything, and always succeed at their goals because they are just that good.

Honest to God.

There’s an inventor, a ninja, a doctor (a fully fledged high school aged doctor!), a swordswoman, the (and I’m quoting from the Wikipedia page) best magician ever, the most successful businessman in the world (again, this is legitimately how they’re described) and, of course, I saved the best for last.

A Prime Minister.

A high school aged ruler of a country.

This is a real, published novel series that got an anime.

Now, to be fair, if this was more like Danganronpa where it was over-the-top and silly, then it could’ve been quite good fun. Sadly, I think the series takes itself far too seriously.

The plot, the villains, the main characters, the side ones too - everyone plays everything far too seriously.

It tries to have moments of levity and silliness, but they often ring hollow.

Comparatively, I love The Eminence in Shadow.

Its cast, plot, jokes, fights, its lore and everything about it, even the fact that Cid/Shadow is definitely insane and selfish, and idiotic.

But Eminence succeeds where Prodigies fails because it’s able to better balance its tones and it allows itself to be serious when it needs to be, and silly when required. Take the Trade-War Arc that you’ll have seen in S2. While Alpha is deducing Shadow’s plan and it’s quite a serious, somewhat emotional, scene, it immediately flashes over to Shadow’s POV where he’s killing bandits that are after his money and unashamedly admitting to such internally.

He’s not a genius, he’s an idiot, but he says the right things, appears at the right moments and does what is befitting of his role as the Eminence in the Shadow. Cid, at times, is genuinely hilarious in how he misunderstands or reads the situation, but then can come across as unironically cool and badass with some of the lines and moves he pulls off.

The man’s finishing move is a massive explosion that he calls I am Atomic which you laugh at at first, but then get excited to see him use it (or threaten to use it) later on in the series as the story progresses.

In a sense, It's a high-stakes game that Eminence is playing, jumping between these dramatic tonal shifts and playing things at just the right levels of high or low tension as necessary; it’s a delicate balance and, if it slips up, it ruins the story.

That’s also part of the long lasting appeal of the Danganronpa franchise too - it keeps you invested and sucked in even at its strangest and whackiest, like the time a student had 4 trained hamsters that were able to do anything he ordered them to do.

The man had trained creatures with short life spans to obey his every whim and verbal command, even without the promise of a treat or reward.

Eminence knows what it is and sticks to it, it runs full sprint with it, and it works.

Prodigies, sadly, I feel never quite knew what kind of story it wanted to be.

Was it deathly serious, or over-the-top silly fun?

It tried to be both, but failed to be either.

In that sense, it’s similar to Cheat Lvl. 2.

Is it a chilled, relaxing story that just wants you to relax and have fun, or is it telling a greater, far reaching narrative with stakes and more serious consequences?

To conclude this section, I think I can best sum up my thoughts on it as thus:

If the protagonist’s motivations are either non-existent or surface level things (such as I just want to do the right thing), then your Isekai will quickly grow boring for your readers and they’ll simply move on and look for the next story to read. Likewise, if the unique ability or situation that the MC finds themselves in is largely disregarded or not important beyond the initial volume or less of your story, then your reader will definitely stop caring about your Isekai story very quickly.