Google sensei defines a character as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. A character for a novel, poem or prompt is based on these qualities, regardless of what their roles are in relation to the piece. For a poem a character can be the speaker/narrator, the poem’s subject matter (I looking at you Shakespeare) or another voice within the stanzas. For a novel there are multiple characters, some are strictly background, some the protagonists and others the antagonists.
Focusing on characters in novels and the like, what makes a good character is a good combination of their Ideologies, Voice, Opinions, and How the Reader sees them. If I were to list off a bunch of characters from popular franchises right now I can guarantee you would be able to discern each of these aspect from their characterisation. Let’s use Scar from the original Lion King (haven’t seen the remake please don’t kill me).
Scar’s opinions on the Pride land is not as a living thing but a stagnant source of food, hence why under his rule they run out. His voice, as in the way he speaks, is silver tongued, a manipulator and very sarcastic. His ideologies are brain over brawn, believing that he should rule because in his opinion he is the smartest lion but loses at the end of the day because he never saw the folly in this way of thinking.
Characters can be anything you want them to be. Don’t just assume all characters in your work have to be the same species, I mean, look at Appa, the GOT dragons (I assume, have not watched) and Thing from the Adams family (*click*click*). Many use regular humans because they’re easy to understand and use but having a character that isn’t human (like an elf or an A.I with a sense of humour) to comment on human actions can add to your story.
There are several clichés to avoid; Mary Sue, Gary Stu, Paragons/Renegades, the Hats trope, etc. Most are covered in other posts but you should still be aware of them.
Good luck with writing your characters!
-DS
Comments