A Note on Characterization: Competence
Whenever you craft a character, you should be asking yourself a question. Why does this character grab my attention? The answer could be one of many, but an often overlooked and essential crux of why a character can grab your attention (or why they cannot) is how competent they are.
If your character is good at what they do, it can create an insight into their world and tell a lot about them. Why the character is needed in the story, how the world necessitates their presence, and what their abilities mean to the other characters.
We may not cheer for the psychopaths and villains of a given story. Logically, we should not like them at all. However, competence shows just how essential they are to the story and how they affect the world around them. And if done correctly, it’s done without a single line of dialogue explaining why.
