Category Archives: Character

You’ve read all the books, taken the workshops, and you’ve created your character bibles. You’ve even thought a little about which characters you like and why (see my post Memorable Characters – Who Do You Like?). Still, your character isn’t quite quintessential and therefore not memorable. What to do? Learn from the best. “But!” you say, “I don’t have time to study all those books, see all the movies!” The solution is easy – read April 2016’s blogs on Creating Memorable Characters. I’ve gleaned some tips and have summed them up (or have taken excerpts). Click on the links to each person’s blog to read it in its entirety.

These are the best how-to’s! Seriously, there’s a lot of great take-aways in these.

Sometimes less is more …

For David Carrico (Enter the Villain), Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is an absolute sadist, a pederast, and an incestophile, yet very little of that is shown “on screen” so to speak in the novel. The reader is given glimpses here and there of the raw evil lying beneath the surface of what is otherwise a very forceful, articulate, and urbane man. Herbert made the Baron memorable by understating him

Leigh Galbreath (Chaos For It’s Own Sake) says she doesn’t want to sympathize with a great villain and wants a villain that will make the hero work for every inch. What she loves about the the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, is Nolan’s conscious decision to leave some of the story up to the audience.

Mat Cauthon in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series is a stellar example of how to make a character funny not by what they say, but by who they are. In Gambler, Trickster, Son of Battles, Gregory D. Little notes that the humour of Mat’s character isn’t in what he says, but rather the irony the series continually thrusts upon him: contemptuous of nobility he, of course, marries an empress.

A Mix of Good, Bad and Ugly or, the Imperfect Character

In Taking Strides in Character Development, Sean Golden points out that Strider’s mysterious past, his wit and wisdom, all factor in to create a reluctant hero in an almost a surly way. Strider struggles with self-doubt. He falters. He worries. He doubts. He takes chances. And in the end, he finds himself.

Characters become more likeable and sympathetic when they suffer or show genuine concern even if it’s at their own expense. In The Roller Coaster that was Tig Trager, Jace Killan explains that Tig wasn’t all good or all bad and it was Tig’s good traits that got him into trouble and sometimes it was his bad traits that got him out. It wasn’t easy and it took time for Tig to recover from what he had done.

Not every memorable character needs fisticuffs

You don’t need fisticuffs to be a hero or memorable. Evan Braun (The Ultimate Philosopher King) writes that Jean Luc Picard is the philosopher who rules as king, the true pilot who observes the stars and the heavens to preside over his ship. In the midst of near-perfect humanity, Picard shines brightly. As Shakespeare might say, he is the paragon of animals.

Inner strength without physical prowess can make for an admirable persona and Dashti in Dashti of a Thousand Days proves that. Colette Black notes that it’s complex characterization, where Dashti learns to temper a character flaw and discovers that her real power lies, not with physical prowess, but in her determination, an inner strength and loyalty.

The everyday man is tested…

In Yippee-ki-yay: The Most Reluctant Hero, Kristin Luna writes about how John McClane is a great example of how a hero doesn’t always have to be willing. He can be the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time and still kick some major butt. Giving your hero a strong personality and a little reluctance can be a recipe for one of the most memorable heroes of all time.

For Frank Morin (When a Gardener Helps Defeat a Dark Lord) Samwise Gamgee is memorable because he accepts that his place in the world is not to be the hero, but to be the hero’s cook, assistant, and bodyguard. And yet, he demonstrates in his simple way that heroes are not always the great warriors, with the flashy armor or dazzling magic. Heroes get the job done. Any one of us could be Sam.

In the life of every evil person there is a series of decisions that lead, inevitably, to damnation. This is the moment where your villain goes wrong. The moment where he or she makes the decision to do the wrong thing for all the right reasons. After that, it’s a slow and gradual slide into hell. That’s Frog Jones’ take on Walter White. To learn more, read Regarding the Humble Blowfish.

Just because that’s the way it is…

Kim May (Marty Stus by Moonlight) writes about Chiba Mamoru being an ideal of a man: strong, silent, and enigmatic. The perfect gentleman whose sole purpose is to be Sailor Moon’s love interest, to rescue her from peril when her klutziness and fears get the best of her. You have to admit. There are times when we really really need that kind of rescuing. Marty Stus were never meant to be the ideal we should hold out for. They’re the ideal that we have little escapist fantasies about on a moonlit night when reality is too much…and there’s no shame in that.

Which brings me back to Leigh Galbreath’s post about the Joker because sometimes you want Chaos For It’s Own Sake.

Villains come in all shades

The reluctant villain and one who you can’t resist! In A Character You Can’t Refuse, Marta Sprout talks about how Michael Corleone does some terrible things and yet we still like him. We’re drawn to him as he is slowly pulled away from his own honorable world and into his family’s mob dealings. When a character changes so profoundly it’s engrossing and it was done one reasonable step at a time. At each moment Michael is held tightly into his role where he can’t back out.

The loveable antagonist. Instead of hating Gollum, David Heyman, reveals in A Preciously Complex Character that he liked Gollum, felt sorry for him, and hoped Frodo would find a solution to his problem that didn’t force Gollum (and Smeagol) to lose. Gollum’s love of the Ring is heartbreakingly pure: even as it destroys and corrupts him, he wants nothing from life other than to possess it.

That’s me! Sometimes the villain is us pushed to the wall. In Walter White, you monster, E. Godhand says that a villain protagonist whose methods may not be right, can win your sympathy and support because after doing everything right and getting nothing in return, he has nothing left to lose. We feel the adage, “But for the Grace of God, goes I.”

Pure Evil. And, as David Carrico said in Enter the Villain, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is an absolute sadist, a pederast, and an incestophile. Pure evil works too!

A Personal Truth We Can Relate To – and it comes in all shapes, sizes and tropes!

Character Arc – In Summoning Character Development, Sarah Golden found that Yuna’s response to adversity (not the sword but endurance and wisdom) made her an admirable character with emotional and spiritual strength. But, she didn’t start out that way. She develops from doing what other people want to having her own thoughts, and making her own decisions.

Someone different yet real – When you bring in a character who is so different from the others, she not only illuminates the cast, but her character is more profound. But, as Peter Clampton explains in The Girl Who Changed EVERYTHING!, Asuka Langley Soryu is no cheap trope, used to simply spice things up for she brings her own history, strengths and weaknesses. She’s a protagonist with real and profound problems who deals by self-medicating in isolation.

I love doing this! Jacqui Talbot’s admiration of Flavia de Luce (You Had Me at Nitrogen Pentoxide) comes from her own love of chemistry and solving mysteries. As she says, Flacia is a beguiling cross between Pippi Longstocking and Sherlock Holmes. Flavia is an eleven-year-old sleuth with a passion for chemistry (specifically poisons) and a penchant for crime solving.

The hero within rises! D.H. Aire (A Lesson in Character from Superman) tells us that Superman was created during the cusp of Worlds War II to illuminate Americans about the Nazi threat. Thus a superhero who fights for truth and justice was more than a mere story for Siegel and Shuster. Superman is memorable because he had a secret identity (a hero deep inside), and that’s a feeling we all have, that inside, we too are heroes.

Do what must be done! For Joshua David Bennett (The Power of Pain) Kaladin Stormblessed’s ability to overcome pain and hardship, not wallow in it, made him memorable. He’s an inspiration to rise to the occasion, to do what must be done.

The devil is in the detail so find one!

As Josh Vogt explains of his own writing in When All Else Fails, Bring in a Lizard, the protagonist, Dani wasn’t memorable until he gave her a quirk. A pet lizard! The lizard seems at odds with her original self. That presented a mystery (even a minor one) to unravel, which created personality paradoxes which were entertaining.

Taken to another medium, some characters sometimes become more memorable and others we wish we could forget.

Watching Sidney Poitier play Kimani Wa Karanja was profoundly moving for W.J. Cherf (Something of Value: Of Boyhood Friendships and Harsh Realities). Kimani (Poitier) became his favorite character (actor) because of his immense depth, passion, pride of place, and desire to succeed. Even with his dying breaths, after bitterly fighting his boyhood friend Peter, Kimani died hoping, yearning, for “something of value.” Poitier absolutely nailed the character and the role.

Good characters usually have clear motives with stakes involved Matt Beckett states in Lex Talk About Lex, Baby. Reintroduced characters shouldn’t rely too much on a savvy audience already familiar with the brand. Lex Luthor wasn’t given a good platform this round. His motive didn’t hit home and wobbled.

When Kevin Ikenberry (The Most Successful Bankrobber Ever) saw Jack Foley played by Clooney it was the perfect match! Kevin wrote: as I read Road Dogs, I could not stop seeing and hearing Clooney in the role. That’s where Foley transcended being a likable sympathetic character into something different. Clooney’s effortless performance as Foley indelibly attaches his “aura” to the character. But is it the actor or the character that is memorable? I vote character. No matter the actor’s talent, commitment to the role, or appearance, the character is developed on paper and is the vision of the writer/screenwriter that the actor is to bring to life. When it’s done perfectly in a book, it resonates with us. When we see that on camera, it’s more than memorable. It’s legendary.

Readers must care about a character!

Memorable characters, Mary Pletsch wrote in More than Meets the Eye, must be seen as people we come to know, then we become invested in them and their stories. When we see that their actions not only affect the plot but drive it forward, we care about what they do. And when we wonder and worry about what will happen to our favourites, we keep coming back–issue after issue, year after year. It’s the character work that makes the story shine

Marta Sprout sums it all up best when she said: When we write characters, we balance two seemingly oppositional things: the character must have qualities that resonate with the reader and he or she must venture into areas the reader would never go and take actions that the reader could not do. Therein lies the grounds for spellbinding characters.

There you have it – great lessons for making memorable characters. Pick your angle, work with it and you’ll have readers asking for more!

Summoning Character Development

April 28, 2016

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A guest post by Sarah Golden.

I first saw Yuna when my friend introduced me to Final Fantasy X. I had heard of the game before, but as I watched the battle play out on the screen, Yuna’s character intrigued me.

She stepped forward on the battle field wearing a Japanese kimono-like outfit, holding a staff and looking the monsters directly in the eye. But what could she possibly do? She didn’t have a sword, or any other weapon that could hurt such a fierce creature. In the blink of an eye, my friend chose a name from the menu, and Yuna closed her eyes, summoning a powerful creature.

The creature emerged and in just one move, it killed the enemy. Yuna bowed to the battlefield as the victory music echoed in the air.

I had to play the game for myself after that.

Yuna’s journey from a summoner doing what the people want to a person with a vigor to live and appreciate life fascinated me.

In Final Fantasy X, Yuna is introduced as the daughter of a high summoner who defeated Sin, the evil monster that wreaks havoc on the world. But every ten years, Sin returns. In honor of her father, Yuna decides to follow in her father’s footsteps and bring joy to the people of Spira. She starts her journey by following the teachings, and her desire to help others inspires her to follow the path without question. But things change when she meets Tidus, and she begins to have her own thoughts and make her own decisions.

Later in the game, it is revealed that Yuna knew, from the moment she decided to become a summoner, that she had chosen a path toward death. Making a decision like that is not an easy task. The summoner must die in order to defeat Sin. By choosing this path, Yuna knows that she will meet the same fate. Every place that they visit, Yuna does all she can, and she tries to bring hope and happiness to the people. Although many summoners have faltered and given up the path, Yuna does not. Even when she learns that the teachings are lies, she does not stray from her path. She sees the ordeal through to the very end, but she changes the game.

By discovering a way to defeat Sin without causing the summoner to die, Yuna has a short lived victory. In the process of defeating sin, she has to say goodbye to two people that she cares about. One of which is Tidus, who she fell in love with.

At the end of Final Fantasy X, Yuna is between happiness and sorrow. She is a hero, but the heroic journey took its toll. She begins to search for a purpose in order to have a sense of accomplishment. This purpose begins her next chapter in the game Final Fantasy X 2.

When a sphere is found with the image of Tidus, Yuna decides to begin a new journey. She makes this decision at a very different chapter in her life, where she can make her own decisions and not have to do what the people expect her to. She decides to travel, and to collect pieces of history that are tied to the sphere with Tidus. She begins to hope again, and she takes that hope to a new level. She explores the world that she saved, and finds comfort in her new task and the new friends that she has made along the way. Her new purpose drives her to become more involved the world again. This world is torn between the believers of the temple, and the league that rebels against it. Yuna is asked to choose a side, and she is once again forced to make a decision. That decision echoes the risk of her first journey, but this time, Yuna refuses to have the same outcome. She discovers a way to save Spira without losing anyone else, and she finds a way to bring Tidus back.

Yuna’s character arc is an interesting and humanistic way to portray a hero. Her powers are not skills with the sword, but endurance and wisdom. In both games, Yuna is motivated through grief, but she uses that grief to achieve new goals.

It is possible that Final Fantasy X was more successful than Final Fantasy X2 because many people didn’t accept Yuna’s change of character. The story of the second game was lighter than the first, and Yuna was considered to be a drastically changed person. The second game a resolution to who Yuna actually was during both games. In the first game, she put most of her thoughts and dreams aside, but in the second game, she has the opportunity to actually discover who she was and what she was capable of. I see that as a successful story arc. She’s the same character in both games, because even when she followed the teachings, she did so in her own way. Her stubbornness is not obvious, because she only uses that stubbornness when she must make a very difficult decision.

From the kind and caring summoner to the bold and brave adventurer, Yuna is able to acknowledge her weaknesses and turn them into strengths. Throughout both games, Yuna’s resolve remains constant, and she stays true to her values. Her response to adversity makes her an admirable character with emotional and spiritual strength.

Sarah Golden is a creative writer who draws inspiration from fairytales and folklore all over the world. She is a Kingdom Hearts addict and now owns her own keyblade! She is also a proud tour guide of Beast’s Castle at Magic Kingdom. With a Bachelor’s degree in English, Sarah hopes to share great stories through the written word and inspire others to be the heroes of their own story. She has written her first novel, and she is currently on a quest to publish it. Most of her other writing can be found on her blog Bara Lotus Garden: http://crystallizedheart.blogspot.com

The Girl Who Changed EVERYTHING!

April 27, 2016

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Character Guest Posts No Comments

A guest post by Peter Clampton.

Every now and again there comes a landmark work so monumental that its influence and popularity transcends superlatives. “Genre defying, masterpiece, jaw-dropping…” all have been used to describe works that takes a business or line media and catapult that into mainstream success. For books in the early 21^st century, this was Harry Potter. For the once obscure and nerd riddled industry of Japanese anime of the late 1990’s, it was “Neon Genesis Evangelion.”

It is a hotly debated topic about where precisely this anime ranks in the top anime of all time, but there is no question that it belongs in the conversation. Its premise; children driving giant robots to save the world from an invading enemy. A deceptively simple, yet perfect backdrop to tell the story of the greatest battle of human existence; the battle with oneself.

Highlighting this battle is a vibrant and harrowingly disturbed cast of characters, one of which stands highest on the platform to not only display the competitive and glorious spirit that is human pride, but also the weakness found in its soft underbelly.

Enter Asuka Langley Soryu.

Rated by Newtype Magazine as the third most popular anime female of the 1990’s (Beaten only by her Evangelion counterpart, Rei Ayanami and Sailor Moon), it doesn’t take too long to see why Asuka is so memorable. Although she is introduced eight episodes into the twenty six episode series, she instantly makes a splash(literally) with astounding heroics defeating a giant sea creature in her giant robot, using battleships as stepping stones, which would become one of the most memorable anime action scenes of all time. Her red hair, and red themed attire is entirely indicative of her flamboyant personality, and her pride. Perfect material to add for a shake up!

Evangelion starts dour, subdued and builds a platform for reflective interactions and imaginative mecha battles. Early on, the main characters, Shinji and Rei, are emotionally scarred, quiet, and passive participants who pilot for the sake of others. We see the task of piloting an Evangelion as a hardship and sacrifice. Then enters Asuka who not only wants to pilot her Evangelion, but defines herself through her capacity and ability to do so.

This juxtaposition of Asuka compared with the rest of the cast and direction of the story serves up a smorgasbord of interesting scenes that not only illuminate Asuka’s intense personality, but the rest of the cast as well. This shake up of mood and tone for episodes 8 and 9 shifts the tone and direction of the series from dire and complex to comedic and outrageous, further highlighting the introduction of Asuka and her impact.

But Asuka is no cheap trope, used to simply spice things up, but is an intentional and deliberate presence bringing her own history, strengths and weaknesses to the story. She enhances the series, and better enables NGE to highlight the very thing at the core of its story; human interaction.

The scenes when she is alone with other characters-markedly Shinji the main character- we see her personality for what it is. A wall to protect a scarred and insecure teenage girl who in reality just wants to be loved. Yuko Miyamura the original Japanese voice actress of Asuka put it best in her quote:

Just to let you know, Asuka wasn’t the most open-hearted character I’ve met. When I act Asuka’s part, I try to synchronize myself with her 400%. But every time I tried to draw myself in closer synchronization, Asuka would never allow herself to synch with me. Even in the end, she would never step across the line and draw closer to me. One day, I figured out that there was a wall in Asuka’s heart.

A wall that comes crumbling down when events in battle leave Asuka psychologically wrecked and unable to pilot her Evangelion. It is now we see the powerful and prideful Asuka deal with her very real and profound problems like any child would. Self-medicating in isolation and video games, unable to cope with the loss of the one thing that gave her life meaning. Resulting in further alienating herself from the one thing she needs most; other people.

It is in this response I came to love Asuka. Because we are not shown just another anime character, or cookie cutter A-type, but a real person. A real and raw character whose pride and mental sickness come rushing to the forefront shattering all her self-deceptions, and her dreams. A girl who wants to be the best, but doesn’t want to be alone either. Asuka wasn’t made to be likable or hated, just a real teenage girl, who when honestly confronted with their shortcomings, was truly human. It was this slick and honest characterization and the psycho analysis of Asuka and others that would make Evangelion legendary.

Have you ever known a friend who was so complicated, and didn’t make any sense until you went into their home and saw how they lived? They might be angry or repressed, prideful and arrogant, but when you catch them in their vulnerability you begin to see parts of yourself in them? That’s what Asuka did for me. It was the first time I had ever watched anything that tackled the issues of the growing teenage mind in an honest and visual way, how could it not be memorable?

Even though she graduated college at thirteen, and could pilot a supremely powerful robot, we see that in Asuka the strengths of her personality and “confidence” and her weakness of emotional distance, were all a condition of her mind. The lessons I learned from Asuka and others from Evangelion are what endear me to them. My lesson from Asuka: that both victory and defeat can only be found within ourselves.

This is why I write. This is what makes great characters. Memorable characters are made from what they leave behind. In the end Asuka will always be memorable because underneath the red hair, and fiery personality beats a heart and soul of relentless complexity and truth.

Asuka Langley Soryu is as flawlessly flawed a human being ever portrayed in any medium and for that I, will always remember her as an iconic center to an iconic franchise that changed my life.

If you haven’t seen Evangelion, do yourself a favor and check it out. It won’t disappoint.

~Till next time
Stay Happy,
Stay Healthy
Peter Clampton

Peter Clampton is an author, a dreamer and most importantly a man with a vision. It’s a simple vision really. He is working to become a great story teller and hopes to share light through stories and enable others to do the same. He is Author of the Post-apocalyptic Western series THE GIRL AND THE BEAST which can be viewed, along with his other fiction, on his website www.Peterclampton.com

Much More Than Meets The Eye

April 26, 2016

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Character Mary Pletsch Reader Investment & Empathy The Writing Life No Comments

Most people who grew up in the US (or Canada, the UK or Japan) in the 80s (or 90s or 00s) will recognize the names Optimus Prime and Megatron. The iconic Transformers hero and villain have regularly appeared on toy store shelves, in cartoons and comics, and in licensed merchandise for over 30 years.

Over those years, the toy line has spawned a vast number of characters, most of whom are known only to those who collect vintage toys. These characters appeared only briefly in cartoons–or only in comics–or only in UK comics–or existed solely as biographies on the boxes of their toys.

So why are these “D-listers” the stars of More than Meets the Eye, an ongoing comic book that’s won a Comics Alliance Award for both Continued Excellence in Serial Comics and Outstanding Writer for its author, James Roberts?

More Than Meets The Eye doesn’t rely on the nostalgia factor to keep its readers coming back each month. It’s the character work that makes the story shine: casting alien robots as people, with very human flaws, each one with their own reasons for ending up aboard a spaceship on a quest into deep space in search of the Knights of Cybertron, who may hold the key to a better future. May. Assuming they even exist. And assuming the crew ever manages to find them.

The quest is an archetypal framework; the real story is in watching the characters interact.. This is where D-list characters come into their own. With very little in the way of pre-existing character development as constraints, the characters grew and evolved to suit the story–and, indeed, much of the plot comes about as characters make decisions and their actions in turn affect others. There’s Brainstorm, the erratic “mad scientist” (always in competition with Perceptor, the rational scientist) who’s prepared to build a time machine and stop the Great War before it starts…not for philosophical reasons, not for personal power, but in the hopes of rescuing an unrequited love. There’s Tailgate, who lay forgotten through the entire war, and fabricates his own history in his search for attention and friendship–of course it’s only a matter of time before his lies catch up to him, and even in the second season he remains vulnerable to the manipulations of someone who hopes to use him to further his own schemes. There’s Swerve, metallurgist by trade, who would rather spend the quest running the ship’s unofficial bar and who struggles against his private depression. And there’s Chromedome, a mnemosurgeon who can read and alter memories (at great risk to himself) and his troubled but ultimately loving relationship with Rewind, the ship’s historian.

More than Meets the Eye is a comic that’s genuinely funny, deeply touching, sometimes tragic, always hopeful. It works because we genuinely care about these characters, wonder about their motivations, worry about their fates. This character work is possible because the creative team were freed from the constraints of what Transformers has so often been about–Optimus Prime and his heroic Autobots fighting against Megatron and his evil Decepticons in an endless robot war–and given the opportunity to explore what else the franchise could be. Over the course of the last few years we’ve seen the origins of the Great War, how it changed the characters, and how its aftereffects continue to shape the lives of beings who’ve spent so much of their lives in conflict. More Than Meets The Eye develops an alien society, with its own political movements and social classes and private concerns, and all this background comes out of how these factors affect the characters in the present.

As of Volume One, the war is over and a bunch of nobodies (with a few semi-familiar names: Rodimus, Ratchet, Cyclonus and Ultra Magnus) are heading off into space on a fool’s errand–this is where the story begins. It doesn’t require much familiarity with previous iterations of the franchise, and indeed, for those who can set aside the fact that the concept began as a toy-based property, you may discover the best sci-fi comic you haven’t been reading.

A familiar name is not, in itself, reason to care about a character. Neither is a cool concept, an action-packed plot or a setting rich in possibility. It’s character development that turns names into people–flawed, struggling, believable people, each with their own scars from their pasts and dreams for their futures. There’s more to all of them than one would guess at first glance (hence the delightful suitability of the title) and as the story progresses, those layers are revealed. When we see characters as people, people we come to know, we become invested in them and their stories. When we see that their actions not only affect the plot but drive it forward, we care about what they do. And when we wonder and worry about what will happen to our favourites, we keep coming back–issue after issue, year after year. After four years and counting, More Than Meets The Eye‘s nobodies aren’t nobodies any longer.

About Mary:

Mary Pletsch is a glider pilot, toy collector and graduate of the University of Huron College, the Royal Military College of Canada and Dalhousie University. She is the author of several previously published short stories in a variety of genres, including science fiction, steampunk, fantasy and horror. She currently lives in New Brunswick with Dylan Blacquiere and their four cats.