shit this is hard

a dude who is middle of the road and not extreme in any way? who like has some simple faults and desires who just lives his life?

fuck yeah no this is really hard

oh wait no, I know the answer: a protagonist

someone who we understand and root for in a genuine way. and not because they're a noodle man we feel sorry for

your actual character type is villains and sidekicks and supporting nebbishy dudes

Hmm, I never play the Main Character of a story, that is very true!

someone who definitely doesn't talk in that alarmingly congenial "everything is fine" way but is actually Not Fine at all, likely because of him.

a boring person

a person with really deeply buried underlying good intentions that they're unaware of but who uses really awful, overtly evil methods to exact said good in the universe

Hmm, elaborate wolfybits? I'm intrigued!

I'll try, but for the life of me I can't actually conceive of a person like this.

like... a religious zealot who takes to torturing people into forced conversion not for the glory of their deity or religion or even their own personal salvation

but bc they truly utterly believe that they will better the souls and lives of those they convert, even while destroying everything about their lives and souls that makes them up and gives them reason to live

this actually sounds very interesting, and horrifying, now that I put it into something more concrete