Sympathetic character

{{Refimprove|date=December 2012}}

A sympathetic character is a fictional character in a story whom the writer expects the reader to identify with and care about,{{cite web

|url=http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/what-makes-a-sympathetic-hero

|title=What makes a sympathetic hero?

|date=March 17, 2010

|accessdate=2012-09-04

|publisher=Jason Black

|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124232946/http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/what-makes-a-sympathetic-hero

|archivedate=November 24, 2015

|url-status=dead

}} if not admire. Protagonists, almost by definition, fit into the category of a sympathetic character; so, however, do many supporting characters and even antagonists.{{Cite book |last=Lindskoog |first=Kathryn Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Swg7ursax6QC&dq=Sympathetic+character+protagonist&pg=PA149 |title=Creative Writing: For People who Can't Not Write |date=1989 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-25321-1 |language=en}}