What could this character's flaws be for this story?

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I'm writing a screenplay and got some feedback from readers. They said they felt that the main character has no weaknesses or flaws and that makes for an interesting character, especially for the first act.

It's a thriller where the main character is raped and wants revenge. But if my MC needs flaws and weaknesses to explore, what would be some flaws to explore in a rape victim? I thought that wanting revenge for such a crime would be enough to make the MC interesting perhaps, but I can see the readers points that I need more.

But what would be some flaws and weaknesses to explore in a victim of that crime if anyone has any advice on that? Thank you ver much for any input! I really appreciate it!

Make him the kind of character who always asks questions, and yet questions every answer he receives.

Revenge, for rape?

They will be traumatised, and need therapy just to accomplish basic daily functions. I doubt they'd have a capacity to plan some type of revenge, or the emotional bandwidth to want further interaction with the POS who did it. Criminal court and psychological recovery is hard enough without plotting revenge.

They may bury their emotions that makes them weak in their mind.
They act like a strong and emotionless person, since they re after revenge, but can be too cold and dismissive when confronted with other people's problems. Also, maybe internalized sexism.

I have no idea if these are realistic flaws for a victim, just my ideas.

Is the victim male, female, nonbinary, or trans? A victim is a victim, but I wonder if there are other societal stigmas impeding their ability to receive justice, trauma therapy, or meaningful recovery support? Does this character have a victims' rights advocate helping them navigate the system? Are they a person of faith?

Yep, these are very relevant also. I immediately assumed the victim is female and imagined that they secretly blame themselves for being weak that this happened to them. Basically internalized victim-blaming and feeling like they mustn't have any weaknesses.

From what i know, victims tend to blame themselves when the society they live in isn't kind to them and victim blaming is common.

Here are a few suggestions, some more serious than others:

- Instability/Rage/Impulsiveness: Takes revenge on the wrong person... oops.
- Gambling debt: Has to deal with Smiling Luigi the Mob loan shark and his enforcer, Tommy the "Tooth-Slayer"
- Rap sheet: Prior conviction of fraud/embezzlement or something else that makes the MC look untrustworthy
- Scumbag: Bad things happen to bad people too. Everyone hates the MC's antisocial guts.
- Addiction: Has to battle with withdrawal and urge to shoot up while planning revenge.
- Unscrupulous: Hires a Mob enforcer (yep, Tommy) who kills not only the target...but also innocent bystanders
- OCD: Had it under control before the rape, but it is now worse than ever (this has been done before, though).

... but if you introduce a flaw, it needs to be interwoven into the plot, somehow, so it doesn't just come across as "flavor".

Oh okay thanks for the suggestions, I can think about those. I was told by a couple of readers that the main character needs flaws before the sexual assault happens to him though, in order to make him an interesting character right from the start. Do you think that's true though and that he needs flaws before and that his victimization and wanting revenge for it, are not enough?

Okay...so the victim main character is a "he".

A male person who was raped. Presumably by another man, by a group of male characters.

There are plenty revenge movies that make big box office: "Death Wish" starring Charles Bronson, and that movie starring Jodie Foster (forget the title, basically a female "death wish")which are pure revenge, and revenge, and more revenge. And the main character had no character flaws prior to be victimized, and being transformed into a revenge seeking zombie.

But it does make the movie interesting if the character is well drawn even before they become a victim.

That's true, in those movies the character doesn't seem to have any flaws before the crime happens to them. However, in mine, the protagonist is not victimized, until halfway through the story, unlile Death Wish or The Brave One. So if it doesn't happen till halfway through, is that too long to keep a protagonist flawless for, on the risk of the character being uninteresting for too long?

Introducing a flaw halfway through a story can be risky, unless there is a good reason why it was absent earlier...

1. Did the flaw arise from the rape itself? If so, is it credible?

Some victims of rape develop substance abuse, become aggressive or isolate themselves, so there are plenty of options for introducing a flaw later on in the story, if it is tied to the main plot. It is a plausible - but somewhat unoriginal - way of introducing a flaw in such a story.

2. Did the MC keep an original flaw hidden from others (and the reader) until a certain point? If so, why and how?

This is perhaps more tricky. It could be done by making the MC an unreliable narrator who withholds crucial information about himself from others (including the reader) until a critical point in the story. But the MC would need a motive for doing so (embarrassment, fear of reprisal, etc.).

Or the MC could be in denial. An example would be paranoia, where the MC describes in detail how he is being stalked through early chapters, until it eventually becomes obvious that the stalkers (unlike the rapist) are really figments of his imagination. The "I may be paranoid, but someone is *actually* out to get me" plot device has been used before, though.

Oh well, usually in movies at the midpoint the antagonist makes the protagonist reach their lowest point, and in this case, this is the midpoint, where that happens in mine, which is what gives the MC the revenge flaw. I am not just not sure if I should give him other flaws before halfway through therefore, but maybe I should, if it takes that long to reach his lowest point?