I was thinking recently about the Thomas Covenant series — where an absolutely horrible, whiny, resentful, cowardly person with leprosy gets isekaied to a fantasy world and gets magical powers — and I was wondering whether there are any stories like this where the protagonist becomes overpowered, but the other characters remain contemptuous of the protagonist *because of his personal failings.*
A story where main character doesn't build a group of followers who support him because he was nice to them. Where the other characters are willing to tolerate the protagonist in a working relationship because his abilities are needed, but do so grudgingly because of his character flaws, possible lack of social skills, and so on.
Not because he's edgy in a "cool" kind of way, or the unfortunate victim of false rumors, or too kind for his own good. More like an entitled, lazy, cowardly, whiny, self-centered, or otherwise unpleasant person who just happens to be too good at his job to completely write off. And if there's any character growth for the guy, the pace is slow.
Basically, an antihero whose peers justifiably react in a less forgiving way than the inhabitants of the Land reacted to Covenant.
by 11112222FRN