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I freely admit that almost all my favorite characters are jerks. Vortex is a sadist, Red Alert is high-strung and paranoid, Slingshot could be pictured under "jerk" in the dictionary, Blitzwing is so much of an asshole that even the other Decepticons avoid him, and Motormaster- I don't think I need to explain Motormaster.

Writing jerk characters has always been more fun for me than making everyone get along, but they're often misused in fanfiction. And when they are, the author isn't just doing them an injustice, they're doing their entire story an injustice. Jerk characters properly characterized provide interesting dramatic tension in a way that a two-dimensional pseudo-villain never could.

There's two ways I keep seeing these wonderfully obnoxious characters being misused - either they end up looking flat and unrealistic, opposing the hero out of sheer meanness, or they get turned into fluffy non-jerk shadows of themselves that get along with everybody. Either way, the author is missing a great opportunity to pull the reader in and make them believe in the story.

So, with no further ado (or a lot, as the case may be), How to Write a Jerk and Make Them Entertaining:

1. Make sure they're actually a jerk.
This seems like a strange step, but it needs to be done. Double check. Re-watch or re-read the canon material. Does he act like a jerk? Or is his jerk-hood something created by fanon? Or, is he acting like a jerk simply because you either don't like him or need him to in order to further the plot?

If you find that he's not acting like as much of an ass as you thought, stop there. Don't try to shove a nice guy into the jerk role. Rest assured, there's always someone better suited for the position. There's a saying - If you have to butcher the character to make your plot work, your plot doesn't work. Remember this saying. Write by this saying. If you can't stand a character, simply don't include them. Have them gone, off duty, or just in a different room. You have to love your characters before your readers will, jerks included.

2. Motive
The most important thing to remember in writing a jerk, or really any character, is motive. Before you even mention them, ask yourself two questions: What does this character want to accomplish? Why do they resort to acting like a jerk to do so?

You have to answer those two questions before proceeding, or you'll find yourself with a two-dimensional cardboard cutout that adds nothing to your story except word count. A memorable antagonist can make a mediocre story into a good one, and a good one into a great one. A believable villain is the source of dramatic tension and suspense, and is the force that pushes your story onward. And villains have motives and schemes.

The motive driving the character might not seem to have much to do with the situation at hand, but once you can identify it, you'll find it coloring every action the character makes.

For an example of motive, we'll start with Red Alert: As the Autobot head of security, his job is to guard against Decepticon incursions and spies. His goal is to keep the Autobots safe. He resorts to being a jerk in order to keep them save because he lacks the social skills to convince the Autobots to go along with him, and thus perceives them as disregarding him and his efforts to keep them safe. In reviewing the source material, we'll find that he acts like a jerk to both his friends (Inferno, Cosmos) and his enemies, but is respectful and familiar with Optimus Prime. He is not popular with his comrades (You know Red, he's just like that) but Optimus listens to his advice.

What this means for the story is that Red Alert will oppose anything that could put an Autobot at risk, or would disrupt the security procedures at base. Because he is a high-strung character with a waspish personality, he could be seen to engage in petty revenge, but as he takes his duties extremely seriously, will never compromise security or endanger an Autobot in the processes.

Another example in the motive department: Slingshot. Slingshot is driven by a desperate need to prove his own worth to himself, and an equally desperate need to keep anyone from realizing it. He brags incessantly to prove to hide his fears of failure and feelings of inadequacy. He acts like a jerk largely to keep others from noticing that he's uncomfortable or afraid.

Take a look at his first episode, Key to Vector Sigma. There's an argument between him and Silverbolt near the end, where he rags on Silverbolt's fear of heights (Big talk for a guy gets the sweats of he's more than two feet off the ground!) which is asshole behavior. But backing up a bit, we can see that this is just after the firefight where Slingshot got caught by Motormaster was being pounded on, yelling for Silverbolt to help him. Silverbolt was unable to overcome his fear of heights, and Slingshot was saved by Fireflight. Directly afterward, Silverbolt's made into the leader of the Aerialbots by Optimus. Combine the fear and sense of betrayal of Silverbolt abandoning him in the fight with resentment that Silverbolt was then given authority over the Aerials because of it, and add Slingshot's inability to express his feelings, and he responds to the situation with vicious sarcasm. It's a manifestation of his own fears, not simply because he wants to be mean to Silverbolt.

He feels isolated from his own team, much less the rest of the Autobots, and takes every criticism personally. If something could be taken as condescending, have him take offense, even if only with a shift of his posture. His refers to the Autobots as a separate entity from the Aerials, a manifestation of his feelings of isolation and need to belong. He might scowl if one of the Aerials is leaving the group to do something with one of the Autobots, and by extension, leaving him to be with someone else. Every action is backed by the inner conviction that sooner or later, everyone's going to figure out how worthless he is and leave him. He will answer every insult. He will make snide and hurtful remarks about people, particularly within their hearing, because dragging them down to his level makes him feel better about himself. However, he won't sabotage others' gear or endanger them to make himself look better. Slingshot wants to be good enough, not better than everyone else. He doesn't attack other Autobots with anything except words, and his insults tend to be things that could be twisted to refer to him, as he's projecting his own faults onto everyone around him.

3. Alright, I have a jerk, now what do I do with him?
So your character is a jerk, you know why he's a jerk, and have an idea of what the world looks like from his point of view. Good! But how do you translate that knowledge into your story?

Pay attention to your characters, and how their viewpoints and motives influence their actions. Have their dialog and body language reflect why they're doing what they do. Run back through what just happened from their point of view - does it make sense for them? Often it's not what the character is doing, it's the why and how that makes or breaks characterization.

More examples from Red and Slingshot:

It's the middle of a battle, and an injured Sunstreaker is facing off with Brawl. Things look bad for Sunstreaker, until a shot from Slingshot hits Brawl in the back, dropping him. Slingshot promptly takes credit for saving Sunstreaker, bragging so much (both to reaffirm his own worth to himself and to hide his need to do so) that Sunstreaker loses any gratitude he felt for the save.

If, however, Sunstreaker had defeated Brawl, and then Slingshot blasted him and bragged about it, it would still be gloryhounding, but not in line with Slingshot's motives, as there's nothing to reassure himself with, and it doesn't make him seem anymore badass to the others, Sunstreaker especially, and in fact invalidates his fighting skills. A more likely scene of Sunstreaker defeating Brawl and Slingshot taking credit would be if the jet merely spent the next few days telling everyone that Brawl had been distracted by his brilliant flying, and that was how Sunstreaker had gotten the opening.

All three scenes lead to the same endpoint - a possible confrontation with Sunstreaker after too much bragging - but two of them make Slingshot out to be a jerk, which he is, and the other a slimy git, which he isn't.

Now, for Red - Say that Bumblebee wants to attend an outdoor festival and asks Red Alert, as the officer in charge at the moment, for leave to go. Red says no.

A flat characterization might be Red refusing out of hand, and ignoring any attempts at persuasion or reason. A bad characterization would be Red acting out of cruelty and pettiness. Neither further his motives - keeping the base and occupants safe. There are plenty of reasons why Red could refuse that would fit his motives. He could find the venue too inaccessible for backup and unsecured, and view it as a danger to Bumblebee, Decepticons could have been seen in the area, Bee could be slated as on patrol that night. All of which leave Bee at the same place as the faulty characterization, but make for a better story. A simple explanation in line with his goals makes him a character with more depth, and thus more intriguing and entertaining.

4. All Decepticons are assholes
Decepticons will screw each other over if they have a chance, making them all ultimate assholes. But that doesn't mean that "Screwing over the other guy" is their one motive - for the most part they in fight to gain power over each other, or to keep from ending up at the bottom of the heap. If they don't act like an asshole, they'll be the one getting screwed over.

And the Decepticon in question doesn't need to be the focus of the scene to show off their asshole tendencies. Posture is a great way of conveying emotion - sidelong glances are wonderful for showing the way they're watching each other for any opportunity to get ahead. They can smirk at key moments, conveying to the reader that they have no intention of following through with their part of a bargain or plan.

In addition to the general Decepticon attitude, each Decepticon has his own goals as well: Starscream wants to be Megatron, Megatron wants to keep being Megatron, Motormaster is a control freak but loyal to Megatron, Onslaught wants that slagging control chip out of his head. They think about these things, consider actions in terms of "Does this help me get what I want?" So have them do so. "What's in it for me" should be something you as a writer consider before they step to help anyone with anything. Some of the Decepticons (Blitzwing, Vortex) will do things simply because they hurt someone else - their motive is to amuse themselves, and they find humiliating others to be amusing. However, most characters - even Decepticons - are not Blitzwing and Vortex, so consider what they're getting out of saying and doing what you're having them say and do.

tl;dr... Some characters are jerks. They have reasons to be jerks. Please be remembering these reasons.

-.- I could continue, but it's late, and this thing is already way too long.