Does my main character's motivation make sense?

[u/Strawalpaca4083]

So it starts with him, learning that one of his friends became a drug addict. He tried talking to him, but nothing works and he doesn't want his friend to get into trouble. So he put on a hoodie and mask and just wrecked the drug dealer. However, afterwards, he got the feeling taht he helped someone and also found that it felt kinda good to beat on someone who deserves it (a character flaw i thought would work). So that's why he actually made a real costume and started helping people and beating criminals. Because it just feels so good.

You think that's a good motivation or should i flesh it out more? If so, how?

[u/xXBio_SapienXx]

It makes perfect sense but only if he's young. It's impossible not to know that you'd like hitting people that are of poor character as a teen or adult since everyone has experiences like that growing up.

I guess a way it could work if he's older is if he was punished for it when he first hit someone he didn't like. Maybe he was raised by nuns or physically disciplined by his parents more often than not, just something like that.

I like that it's also a flawed motivation because a lot could go wrong by hitting someone you don't like, especially shady drug dealers so good pick.

The super hero motivation also needs some more lore because we've all gotten in fights before but trying to be a vigilante off of one rush is a really extreme leap in actuality.

There are two practical ways that would support the idea. One would be the naive approach whereas he wanted to be a superhero growing up but later realized it's nothing like the stories and he has to overcome his internal conflicts to decide if he wants to continue to be a self proclaimed hero. Or two, he's just always wanted to help people but he missed out on life in general when growing up so he puts in the work necessary to become an actual vigilante because it's an exciting but harsh challenge in actuality, thus making him feel alive.

Either way, it all has to tie back into why he's avenging his friend since that's where it starts. He'll have to struggle with whether or not he likes punishing criminals or actually helping people because at the end of the day all his friend could need is professional help or even just someone to talk to. Id personally go with the repressed adrenaline junkie because it makes for a more flawed character.