‘The Poppy War’ is the Perfect Example of how to Write a Villainous Main Character
How do you define a villain?
If I have learned anything after reading The Poppy War it‘s that I will root for the main character, even if she is a villain. The main character, Rin, made choices that were on the slightly morally grey side. However, her actions are justified. Did she kill almost an entire nation of people? Yes. Did she intentionally choose violence? Yes again.
But, she trained at a military academy and was trained for war, they were in the middle of a huge battle, and she wasn’t the true villain, the empress was really the one at fault.
In the end, I could make up a million excuses for the choices Rin made.
Summary
The Poppy War written by author R.F. Kuang is the first book of the fantasy trilogy. Set in a dystopian China, orphaned Rin passes the test to get into the most prestigious military academy. She is trained to fight, trained for battle. There she begins to unlock the world of the gods through her seemingly odd master Jiang. He teaches her how to channel the abilities of the gods.
Eventually, her training is put to the test when war erupts. She is placed in the Cike military division, a misfit group of people just like her with…
