How To Create A Good Character
Feb 23, 2014 6:14:23 GMT -5
Post by Quetzal on Feb 23, 2014 6:14:23 GMT -5
This is a guide aiming to give advice of creating original, realistic characters. It's based on past experiences seeing some excellent characters and some not-so-great ones, as well as the themes that tend to set off a warning light when reading a bio. It in no way means any character in particular, instead being incredibly general about all the characters I've seen collectively. Things I've said I don't favour here can very well turn out to make good characters, but generally they can be indicative of a less interesting character at least for me personally.
Full Name: Go crazy
Other name: There are a lot of 'Shadeslayer', 'Argetlam' and 'Shur'tugal's kicking about. Try making up something that relates closely to your character, or you can just leave this out and let any aliases or titles develop later.
Race: There are an awful lot of half-elves. There's also a load of user-made races you can check out in addition to human, elf, dwarf or urgal/kull. Don't feel like you absolutely have to pick any race in particular, it's a big part of your character.
Side: On this site we have the Empire and the Varden, just like in the books. Your character can also side with the Assassins, or no one and be considered Neutral. Whichever you pick, they may have sympathies for a different side, and Neutral characters usually lean to one side or just don't care at all and want everyone to just get on with life.
Birthplace: Even if your character doesn't know this, they were still born somewhere, although you might want to leave them mysterious. I don't know. I'm not you.
Age: Characters can still be interesting if they're not in their late teens/early twenties! Although it's completely fine if you go for that.
Gender: Male, female, anything in between or outside of
Birthday: Dates are kind of rough in Alagaesia, although they do seem to have a calendar system similar to ours. Try and be specific, but you don't have to go for an exact date. Nobles would know their birthday, peasants are less likely to. This can be a day that was of no significance at all, just some random day in spring or something, it doesn't have to be midsummer, the solstice, or the equinox or whatever.
Eyes: Eyes do not change colour depending on a person's emotion. I would be very surprised if I saw that happening. Magic users may change their eye colour with magic or you may have some curse/spell, but other than that, please just something constant. You'd be surprised how many people claim their character's eyes radically change colour. Also, eye colour here is not strictly limited to natural ones, as some races (see their descriptions for more information) deviate from the natural colours, elves sometimes change it with magic or there may be some other magic-related reason.
Hair: Any length or style. Preferably natural colours, but magic users can change it and again you could have had a magic-related accident.
Weight: Doesn't matter what units of measurement you use for this, so long as you state them. Muscular people will naturally weigh more, too.
Height: Same as weight. Keep in mind the relationship between height and weight, too - a tall person will be heavier than a short person. That's just a small detail.
Magic User: Most elves are, as with a lot of half-elves and a few humans. A lot of the user-made races are magic users, too. It would be nice to go in a little depth about their preferred magic and how strong their abilities are, too.
Preferred Weapon(s): Anything you might have found in the medieval times is good here. Some characters might not carry a weapon, though; some prefer to fight with magic, some with words, others still not at all.
Appearance: There's a lot to say about someone's appearance, so don't just post a picture and be done with it! You could describe their face shape and structure, how their features change with expressions and what kind of expressions you would most commonly see on them. There's not just the face; everyone is build differently. They could be big and burly, small and quick, gangly, overweight, there's no end to it. They might have some scars or some other odd physical quirk about them. You could describe the overall effect of their appearance combined; are they intimidating? Goofy? Friendly-looking? We see a lot of tall, handsome muscular guys on this site, but even then there'll be more detail to their appearance than just that.
Personality: If you're going for the heroic good guy who leads hundreds into battle and comes out on top every time and is loved and adored by all, be especially careful here. They tend to be some of the characters that can end up lacking depth in their bios, although they're perfectly find to create and can develop into interesting characters. The personality section is an important part of your character, and is your chance to give them all the depth and complexity of a real human. If your character is just naturally a shallow person, by all means go ahead, but most people do have some complexity to them. This isn't just being troubled by a dark and tragic past, which has become something of a generic cop-out (I'm guilty of it too), but can be something far less dramatic. Little quirks, habits, random things that annoy them, the way they act in general. They won't be perfect all the time. They'll have their limits. They can break down, get angry, give up, just like the rest of us. Think about how they might react to different situations, and write about their general attitude towards life and people and what really goes on inside their heads, behind however it is they act.
--->Likes: Simple, really. These can range from big things like family to silly little things like favourite foods or small things that can cheer your character up.
--->Dislikes: Same thing's to be said here as for the likes, only this one's more negative.
--->Strengths: Some people have many, some have few. Some people are good all-rounders, which in itself could be considered a strength.
--->Weakness: Doesn't necessarily have to balance out the strengths. Your character might have more strengths than weaknesses, or just as well they might be a weaker person and have fewer strengths.
Family: They don't all have to be dead. Seriously. Orphans/being disowned/abandoned/never known who your family is has been done a lot. You're welcome to try it, but just remember that characters can still be interesting with living known relatives.
History: This should be the longest section of your bio. Sometimes I find it can help to write this before the personality to see how the events of their life would affect their personality, but everyone's different and that might not work for you. I'd like to stress that their past should be realistic. It might have been sad, but people can get a bit excessive with the drama and misery in the history section, making it just seem a bit silly. Think how people would normally act in the situations you put them in - not just your character now, but those they have interacted with. Not every orphanage is a haven for child abuse. By all means, put in some excitement to spice things up a bit, just don't let it get out of hand. Young children probably aren't going to convince anyone to follow them into battle, or escape from grown up guards, so be careful if your character did that when they were younger. Be creative with this section.
Full Name: Go crazy
Other name: There are a lot of 'Shadeslayer', 'Argetlam' and 'Shur'tugal's kicking about. Try making up something that relates closely to your character, or you can just leave this out and let any aliases or titles develop later.
Race: There are an awful lot of half-elves. There's also a load of user-made races you can check out in addition to human, elf, dwarf or urgal/kull. Don't feel like you absolutely have to pick any race in particular, it's a big part of your character.
Side: On this site we have the Empire and the Varden, just like in the books. Your character can also side with the Assassins, or no one and be considered Neutral. Whichever you pick, they may have sympathies for a different side, and Neutral characters usually lean to one side or just don't care at all and want everyone to just get on with life.
Birthplace: Even if your character doesn't know this, they were still born somewhere, although you might want to leave them mysterious. I don't know. I'm not you.
Age: Characters can still be interesting if they're not in their late teens/early twenties! Although it's completely fine if you go for that.
Gender: Male, female, anything in between or outside of
Birthday: Dates are kind of rough in Alagaesia, although they do seem to have a calendar system similar to ours. Try and be specific, but you don't have to go for an exact date. Nobles would know their birthday, peasants are less likely to. This can be a day that was of no significance at all, just some random day in spring or something, it doesn't have to be midsummer, the solstice, or the equinox or whatever.
Eyes: Eyes do not change colour depending on a person's emotion. I would be very surprised if I saw that happening. Magic users may change their eye colour with magic or you may have some curse/spell, but other than that, please just something constant. You'd be surprised how many people claim their character's eyes radically change colour. Also, eye colour here is not strictly limited to natural ones, as some races (see their descriptions for more information) deviate from the natural colours, elves sometimes change it with magic or there may be some other magic-related reason.
Hair: Any length or style. Preferably natural colours, but magic users can change it and again you could have had a magic-related accident.
Weight: Doesn't matter what units of measurement you use for this, so long as you state them. Muscular people will naturally weigh more, too.
Height: Same as weight. Keep in mind the relationship between height and weight, too - a tall person will be heavier than a short person. That's just a small detail.
Magic User: Most elves are, as with a lot of half-elves and a few humans. A lot of the user-made races are magic users, too. It would be nice to go in a little depth about their preferred magic and how strong their abilities are, too.
Preferred Weapon(s): Anything you might have found in the medieval times is good here. Some characters might not carry a weapon, though; some prefer to fight with magic, some with words, others still not at all.
Appearance: There's a lot to say about someone's appearance, so don't just post a picture and be done with it! You could describe their face shape and structure, how their features change with expressions and what kind of expressions you would most commonly see on them. There's not just the face; everyone is build differently. They could be big and burly, small and quick, gangly, overweight, there's no end to it. They might have some scars or some other odd physical quirk about them. You could describe the overall effect of their appearance combined; are they intimidating? Goofy? Friendly-looking? We see a lot of tall, handsome muscular guys on this site, but even then there'll be more detail to their appearance than just that.
Personality: If you're going for the heroic good guy who leads hundreds into battle and comes out on top every time and is loved and adored by all, be especially careful here. They tend to be some of the characters that can end up lacking depth in their bios, although they're perfectly find to create and can develop into interesting characters. The personality section is an important part of your character, and is your chance to give them all the depth and complexity of a real human. If your character is just naturally a shallow person, by all means go ahead, but most people do have some complexity to them. This isn't just being troubled by a dark and tragic past, which has become something of a generic cop-out (I'm guilty of it too), but can be something far less dramatic. Little quirks, habits, random things that annoy them, the way they act in general. They won't be perfect all the time. They'll have their limits. They can break down, get angry, give up, just like the rest of us. Think about how they might react to different situations, and write about their general attitude towards life and people and what really goes on inside their heads, behind however it is they act.
--->Likes: Simple, really. These can range from big things like family to silly little things like favourite foods or small things that can cheer your character up.
--->Dislikes: Same thing's to be said here as for the likes, only this one's more negative.
--->Strengths: Some people have many, some have few. Some people are good all-rounders, which in itself could be considered a strength.
--->Weakness: Doesn't necessarily have to balance out the strengths. Your character might have more strengths than weaknesses, or just as well they might be a weaker person and have fewer strengths.
Family: They don't all have to be dead. Seriously. Orphans/being disowned/abandoned/never known who your family is has been done a lot. You're welcome to try it, but just remember that characters can still be interesting with living known relatives.
History: This should be the longest section of your bio. Sometimes I find it can help to write this before the personality to see how the events of their life would affect their personality, but everyone's different and that might not work for you. I'd like to stress that their past should be realistic. It might have been sad, but people can get a bit excessive with the drama and misery in the history section, making it just seem a bit silly. Think how people would normally act in the situations you put them in - not just your character now, but those they have interacted with. Not every orphanage is a haven for child abuse. By all means, put in some excitement to spice things up a bit, just don't let it get out of hand. Young children probably aren't going to convince anyone to follow them into battle, or escape from grown up guards, so be careful if your character did that when they were younger. Be creative with this section.
