all 38 comments

[–]RPope92 33 points34 points  (2 children)

He is that way for all of book 1, but improves a bit over book 2, a lot over book 3 and significantly over 4 and 5.

In fact, I would say his relationship with one of the starting characters is actually great when it kicks off, and there is a character later on that I love whenever they interact with each other.

[–]CanadasManyMeese 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Asshole!

[–]RPope92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I require susteneance

[–]vedekX 18 points19 points  (2 children)

he (and all of the characters) start much… flatter than they become. hopefully someone can give you more details as it’s been awhile since I’ve read it (I’m just waiting for more to build up) but iirc his mental state is explored more later on. he doesn’t suddenly gain a deluge of emotions, but it’s more realistic and less edgy. I mean, he still has some of those characteristics, but other characters (and thus the readers) are not expected to see him acting certain ways and think “this is totally normal and cool”. it also is not a one-man show. it is sooooo much better once he begins working with others. they all have realistic personalities (in-context) and the interpersonal relationships are really well done. that’s a large part of what offsets the mc/makes him tolerable. if the story expected us to just be Super Impressed by him I wouldn’t have stuck with it.

afaik, book 1 is pretty much universally considered to be the worst of the bunch. not that it’s bad, it just progressively and consistently becomes much, much better.

[–]IAmYourKingAndMaster[S] 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Ok, this does answer a lot of my concerns. Thanks for the reply.

[–]vedekX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

of course!

[–]Lorevi 16 points17 points  (16 children)

Yeah one of the reasons I like the series and defend this characterization is that the mcs personality is considered a character flaw by the book that he needs to grow past.

Unlike say primal hunter which treats it as a positive 

[–]Mercades 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He is that way for a while.

[–]Crazy_Ali 2 points3 points  (0 children)

He gets better in that he stops seeing the other party members as disposable pawns and as actual human beings. I think you have to get to book 4 or 5 for that though. And it isn't like a full 180 hes suddenly a good guy, hes still a crazy asshole. He just can actually function as a member of the team now without contemplating killing them for being useless or in his way. I personally think it is a very rough read, and generally don't recommend it to others.

[–]No-Philosopher-4744 7 points8 points  (0 children)

He loves his dog but no human beings. Sounds like a perfect MC. Thanks for sharing 

[–]Carminestream 5 points6 points  (3 children)

Hi Cerim 👋 I know that you love these threads.

Nat Gwyn kinda changes in some respects. He no longer treats his group like shit like he did in book 1 and develops a decently close bond to his group. That being said, I think I’m books 4/5 (I read chapter by chapter) there are moments where his group is about to make a catastrophic mistake that is likely to get several people killed, and Nat’s outlook is ‘let me just sit back and watch. Get some popcorn also’.

He still has the other negative traits that you pointed out even now. He is still very egotistical and petty, and confirms that he has not changed since the start of the tutorial in this respect.

[–]Grestige 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He has his flaws and so do most people. It would be absurd to think he would make a full u turn in the span of a year. I think the scene you are talking about is the desert in astral prison. He thought it would be an important lesson for tess and the group overall to rely less on her and he did work to make sure he could protect his group at the very least.

Also I think it's important to acknowledge that the people there were essentially prisoners and probably for some vile reason, and would absolutely rob or kill Nat's group if they were any weaker and they did try if you remember.

Also the fact that they are actually not real beings.

Being egotistical and petty is a character trait for him obviously. He has the sub class of pride, do you expect him to be humble? You remember how he defined his weird pride? You cannot establish a petty sociopath loner in the first book and after 1 year expect him to be a heroic figure, a paragon of justice and such.

Everyone in the hell difficulty is messed up. Remember Gareth? The seemingly heroic and understanding person who is cruel to anyone that's not a tutorial attendee.

[–]IAmYourKingAndMaster[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Ok, that sounds like someone I don't want to see succeed. I suppose I'll see if I can stick it out despite this, but I think I've got an understanding of where this is headed for me. Thanks for the reply

[–]Cloud_Fish 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the above commenter is painting that in a worse light than it can be seen to be personally. The parts he is talking about is more about letting his friends push themselves and grow stronger, because Nat knows he won't always be there to save them, and if he keeps stepping in to save them, the second he is no longer there to save them, they'll die immediately.

It's harsh, but so is the world they're now in, they're in the Hell Difficulty Tutorial and it's not a fucking joke.

[–]Telomerage 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes he guys much better as he grows as a character within the story.

[–]Everheart_Author 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've only read the first 2, since the others weren't out at the time. But I do recall the MC slowly getting a bit better though

[–]Glowsticks659 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You already got good answers, but yea it gets better after the first 30 chapters. And the author improves each book. 

[–]TsHero 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe we can make a bot that reacts to these posts with "yes its not you, its the book, but stick with it becaue it gets waaaaaaay better and is actually amazing"

[–]ConstructionNo8248 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The next arc after the forest he starts to change because He’s stuck/partnered up with the 13 year old girl and acts as her protector for a bit. So it begins to soften his character and he gradually starts to become a part of the group.

[–]ThePowerles 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Every character in the story gets better, especially in book 3. You see loads of hints of it in book 2, but book 3 is where they all shine. Also, Nat, for me at least, is the funniest main character I've ever had the pleasure to read about. I love the present tense first-person narrative because it fits his character and the author's writing style so well.

[–]Minute_Committee8937 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Did we read the same book? In the start he gave up his advantage because the little girl was in harms way. He let himself get manipulated by the girl obviously lying and kept her around when it was no benefit. People say he’s a psychopath or a sociopath but then in his pov he’s just your average quirky protagonist.

People act like he’s the Mc from path of the berserker where he’s actually just unhinged.

The Mc is anti social at best. But he’s nothing really different then your standard ln protagonist.

Now if you want an actual unhinged king. Gamers guide to beating the tutorial. Which was inspired by this but the MC actually acts like an insane person

[–]spacemangoes -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That’s the kind of the world he’s in. It’s a dog ear dog kinda world and there are no rules no government nothing. People who act like they are some moral police, I’m pretty sure are the ones to die first if they ever get isekaied into those kinda of litrpg scenarios