Sorry it took me so long to continue my series, but well, here it is. I will try to go more in-depth on the topics others mentioned in my previous two talk threads, and see what we can learn.
In my first discussion thread, what was interesting about Persona, Shiza and several others brought up that they liked the characters and character development. Which of course brings us to the topic at hand.
What is it about a character that makes them interesting, enjoyable, something worth investing in?
In my opinion, while there are many aspects to a character, the ability to relate to them on some level is by far the most important. Like real people, they have struggles to overcome, and they don't just succeed in an instant. Rather, it takes time and effort in order for them to move past the issue and grow from it.
Again, I would like everyone's thoughts on the matter, no worries about redundancy.
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That's actually what makes Persona so great.
They have their struggels, but overcoming them gives them Powers
And still shows in confidants, that they are not free of them.
A good character shouldn't get along with everyone they see,
and have a Story that screams: I want to know more.
That's what I think.
They have their struggels, but overcoming them gives them Powers
And still shows in confidants, that they are not free of them.
A good character shouldn't get along with everyone they see,
and have a Story that screams: I want to know more.
That's what I think.
It's not just about their story and stuff. A character can still be amazing even with like no interesting backstory to speak of. I'm not necessarily talking about Persona because the whole idea is every single confidant has a backstory and story of struggle in their lives. I'm only talking about how good characters are made.
The personality traits of a character are the things that really make up the character in my opinion. Good characters are unique and fun. They're unrealistic and let you escape reality, but at the same time, they can be very relatable to the audience.
Take Saitama from One Punch Man. In my opinion, he's one of the best characters to come out of an anime. He's over the top and super exaggerated. He's a living power fantasy that we all dream of, but he struggles with the monotony of everyday life which is extremely relatable to its audience. He's such a well-made character, yet is backstory is literally "I want to become a hero because I'm bored with my life, so I'll train a whole bunch."
So as I was saying, you need to focus on what makes your character a character that people will love and want to follow in their quest. Avoid boring tropes that people have seen time and time again, and don't be afraid to go wild and make a character who strays from the norms a bit. People like to see interesting characters that they've never seen before.
The personality traits of a character are the things that really make up the character in my opinion. Good characters are unique and fun. They're unrealistic and let you escape reality, but at the same time, they can be very relatable to the audience.
Take Saitama from One Punch Man. In my opinion, he's one of the best characters to come out of an anime. He's over the top and super exaggerated. He's a living power fantasy that we all dream of, but he struggles with the monotony of everyday life which is extremely relatable to its audience. He's such a well-made character, yet is backstory is literally "I want to become a hero because I'm bored with my life, so I'll train a whole bunch."
So as I was saying, you need to focus on what makes your character a character that people will love and want to follow in their quest. Avoid boring tropes that people have seen time and time again, and don't be afraid to go wild and make a character who strays from the norms a bit. People like to see interesting characters that they've never seen before.
Characters have 3 parts: past writing, present writing, and future writing. Each part is another step in creating a character, and a good character will make all 3 parts interesting.
First, past writing. This is creating the interesting backstory that your audience can relate to and makes your audience want to see where this character goes in the future.
Second, present writing. This is how well you're able to make your character act in normal situations. This is the main portion of the character writing process in my opinion because it delivers upon the good character you promised in the past writing, and it adds on top of it which keeps the interest of audience. If you fail here, people will grow bored of your character and they will want to stop following him. It's your job to keep your character interesting through all of their adventures, and how you do that is based on the character you've made so far.
Last, future writing. This is the plan you have for your character as their adventures continue. It's what the audience looks forward to when following your character, the adventure. At this point, you've already hopefully captured your audience's interest, and you've been hinting at this grand adventure you've prepared for the character. Here is where your character progresses forward into their own story as the audience follows behind excitedly waiting for what happens next. However, keep this in mind. If this part fall flat, then the audience will feel like they wasted their time, and they will be angry at the disappointing ending *cough cough Danmacchi cough cough*
I'm not a professional writer or anything, so I really have no place to try to educate you, but this is how I view the process when watching an anime or playing a game. I hope I helped out.
First, past writing. This is creating the interesting backstory that your audience can relate to and makes your audience want to see where this character goes in the future.
Second, present writing. This is how well you're able to make your character act in normal situations. This is the main portion of the character writing process in my opinion because it delivers upon the good character you promised in the past writing, and it adds on top of it which keeps the interest of audience. If you fail here, people will grow bored of your character and they will want to stop following him. It's your job to keep your character interesting through all of their adventures, and how you do that is based on the character you've made so far.
Last, future writing. This is the plan you have for your character as their adventures continue. It's what the audience looks forward to when following your character, the adventure. At this point, you've already hopefully captured your audience's interest, and you've been hinting at this grand adventure you've prepared for the character. Here is where your character progresses forward into their own story as the audience follows behind excitedly waiting for what happens next. However, keep this in mind. If this part fall flat, then the audience will feel like they wasted their time, and they will be angry at the disappointing ending *cough cough Danmacchi cough cough*
I'm not a professional writer or anything, so I really have no place to try to educate you, but this is how I view the process when watching an anime or playing a game. I hope I helped out.
Water: 35 l. Carbon: 20 kg. Ammonia: 4 l. Lime: 1.5 kg. Phosphorus: 800 g. Salt: 250 g. Saltpeter: 100 g. Sulfur: 80 g. Fluorine 7.5 g. Iron 5 g. Silicon 3 g. and trace amounts of 15 other elements.
What's that you ask ? It’s all the ingredients of the average character down to the last speck of protein in your eyelashes. And even though science has given us the entire physical breakdown, there’s never been a successful attempt at creating a truly unique character.
to mako, you say personality traits, but in saitama's case, it's not his personality, his personality is none. he has no emotions. he's just slightly deadpan. on that aspect, there are many characters alike him What distinguishes him are his struggles as you say. thus we go back to what you were saying before.
You also say that using "boring " tropes is bad, but I completely disagree. Saitama is the epitome of a trope that usually makes things boring. In fact, countless are the persons who thought upon reading the synopsis "what ? he beats everyone in one punch ? doesn't that get boring ? " But when you watch it, you instantly notice it doesn't. While saitama's relatability certainly plays a role in it, the general quality of the anime is also vital.
I'd say, a good character has no true recipe. It boils down to what you like or not. Then again, I'm an easy to please guy. Gimme cute and I adopt. Gimme cool and I'm sold.
Another trait is how much time you spend with a character. Some characters start as total assholes, and yet, as the story progresses, they slowly supplant even the main character in your heart.
I guess my argument is: there's no way to truly say what characters are truly good or bad.
What's that you ask ? It’s all the ingredients of the average character down to the last speck of protein in your eyelashes. And even though science has given us the entire physical breakdown, there’s never been a successful attempt at creating a truly unique character.
to mako, you say personality traits, but in saitama's case, it's not his personality, his personality is none. he has no emotions. he's just slightly deadpan. on that aspect, there are many characters alike him What distinguishes him are his struggles as you say. thus we go back to what you were saying before.
You also say that using "boring " tropes is bad, but I completely disagree. Saitama is the epitome of a trope that usually makes things boring. In fact, countless are the persons who thought upon reading the synopsis "what ? he beats everyone in one punch ? doesn't that get boring ? " But when you watch it, you instantly notice it doesn't. While saitama's relatability certainly plays a role in it, the general quality of the anime is also vital.
I'd say, a good character has no true recipe. It boils down to what you like or not. Then again, I'm an easy to please guy. Gimme cute and I adopt. Gimme cool and I'm sold.
Another trait is how much time you spend with a character. Some characters start as total assholes, and yet, as the story progresses, they slowly supplant even the main character in your heart.
I guess my argument is: there's no way to truly say what characters are truly good or bad.
oh shit. I didn't get to see your second post mako.
Clever FMA reference. Yeah I guess Saitama was a bit of a bad example. He's a satire on boring character tropes.
yeah. But the fact that it works shows that even boring shit can become good. Another good example ( well I think it is) is re:creators. It does the exact opposite of what way too many animes are doing currently: isekai. instead of throwing a lame mc in a dragon quest-like world, they throw dragon-quest mc, and much more into our boring old life. Even old tropes can be used efficiently if you bring your own spin to it. be it reverse, or anything else.
And yeah, when I saw the thread name, I felt the irresistible urge to do it :3 I heard Ed calling for me !
And yeah, when I saw the thread name, I felt the irresistible urge to do it :3 I heard Ed calling for me !
@Mako-chan
You're right in that there's no one way to do a good character, but there are some trends that are a good place to start, the ability to relate to the character, for example, as all 4 people who've commented so far pointed out. I was aiming for general things, while you went far more in-depth in your analysis.
Simply put, I'm hoping to give ideas to the people here on how a character can be interesting, and you went above and beyond the call for that.
You're right in that there's no one way to do a good character, but there are some trends that are a good place to start, the ability to relate to the character, for example, as all 4 people who've commented so far pointed out. I was aiming for general things, while you went far more in-depth in your analysis.
Simply put, I'm hoping to give ideas to the people here on how a character can be interesting, and you went above and beyond the call for that.
Its been long enough I feel comfortable bumping it. Though it might be active enough for the bump to be of no use, I shall do my best regardless.
The only definition I have for a good character is one I don't get upset at watching. Like, Morgana is a character who actually pissed me off during P5's plot, and thus I don't think Morgana is a good character.
If they're enjoyable to watch, even if I just love to hate them, then they're a good character in my eyes.
If they're enjoyable to watch, even if I just love to hate them, then they're a good character in my eyes.
In my opinion, a character is good when they:
-Stand out among the rest
-Have understandable goals
-Have a story that intrigues me to want to know more
Honestly, I enjoy characters that really (If they're a protagonist) make me root for them, or (If they're an antagonist) give me good reasons to hate them. If you can follow these criteria, then you've got a good character, at least in my opinion.
~Shiza
-Stand out among the rest
-Have understandable goals
-Have a story that intrigues me to want to know more
Honestly, I enjoy characters that really (If they're a protagonist) make me root for them, or (If they're an antagonist) give me good reasons to hate them. If you can follow these criteria, then you've got a good character, at least in my opinion.
~Shiza
One final bump for the night owls or timezone shenanigans before I go. Good luck m8s
I don't have the time at work to go through it right now.
But Handsome Jack (Borderlands) and Neegan (The Walking Dead) are two of my favorite characters I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
They are so evil that you can't help but hate them, but so charismatic that you can't help but love them.
I'll probably dissect this more later after going back and getting examples.
But Handsome Jack (Borderlands) and Neegan (The Walking Dead) are two of my favorite characters I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing.
They are so evil that you can't help but hate them, but so charismatic that you can't help but love them.
I'll probably dissect this more later after going back and getting examples.
I'd like to throw my hat into the ring regarding this topic as I find the most interesting part of any story is how the characters develop. One of my favorite characters is Kuja from Final Fantasy IX. He may not be as cool as Sephiroth from VII but what I find most appealing about him is what I also believe is the most gripping part of a character
Relating to said character. (Spoilers ahead)
Kuja doesn't really start off very compelling, spending most of the first half just being a typical bad guy and causing all around chaos. By the latter half though, he's learned of his fate as a genome and how limited his life span is, similar to Vivi. He totally freaks out! The fear of death is a very real fear and one we might have all felt at one point or another. What awaits us after we die? What will we leave behind? When will it happen? Kuja felt all of this up until the moment you down him and suddenly he seemed more like a man fallen from grace than a boss.
When you can relate with a character you start to understand why they do what they do and act how they do and if you can understand that I believe it starts to lift the illusion between reality and fantasy. I'm not saying that everyone who fears death is going to pull a Kuja and try to destroy the world, but it might not seem so unlikely that someone might actually harbor these feelings and result to drastic measures to save themselves. When I take all of that into consideration I start to pity these fake pixels, I grow anxious of my own impending doom and I get so absorbed with the plight of Zidane and friends, who have been struggling with their own real issues, that I'm hooked until the end.
Having finally put down Final Fantasy IX, one character reminded me how death is very real and almost always unavoidable... But he also showed me how important it is to give real meaning to what little time we all have. To enjoy what I've been given!
Relating to said character. (Spoilers ahead)
Kuja doesn't really start off very compelling, spending most of the first half just being a typical bad guy and causing all around chaos. By the latter half though, he's learned of his fate as a genome and how limited his life span is, similar to Vivi. He totally freaks out! The fear of death is a very real fear and one we might have all felt at one point or another. What awaits us after we die? What will we leave behind? When will it happen? Kuja felt all of this up until the moment you down him and suddenly he seemed more like a man fallen from grace than a boss.
When you can relate with a character you start to understand why they do what they do and act how they do and if you can understand that I believe it starts to lift the illusion between reality and fantasy. I'm not saying that everyone who fears death is going to pull a Kuja and try to destroy the world, but it might not seem so unlikely that someone might actually harbor these feelings and result to drastic measures to save themselves. When I take all of that into consideration I start to pity these fake pixels, I grow anxious of my own impending doom and I get so absorbed with the plight of Zidane and friends, who have been struggling with their own real issues, that I'm hooked until the end.
Having finally put down Final Fantasy IX, one character reminded me how death is very real and almost always unavoidable... But he also showed me how important it is to give real meaning to what little time we all have. To enjoy what I've been given!