Disclaimer:
I do not claim to be an expert and know how to make your character perfect, these are my opinions and guidelines that were placed here for your use. I do understand that there are always exceptions to 'rules'.
September 03, 2011 Site Started
September 04, 2011 Added two sections to work on, started putting up the left content as well.
September 20, 2011 Started up the Art section.
November 13, 2011 Added links for the future 'art style' and 'story telling' section.
WARNING: Chrome is currently having a glitch with scrolling on some petpages, this one happens to be one of them. If you are tired of waiting for the scroll to take effect (which does after a few minutes) then please view on a different browser!
What is a Character?
One dictionary defines character as "the complex of mental and ethical traits marking a person." In another dictionary, character is said to be "the stable and distinctive qualities built into an individual's life which determine his or her response regardless of circumstances".
What is an Avatar?
An embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life. Though in science fiction, it can be better described as a hybrid creature, composed of human and alien DNA and remotely controlled by the mind of a genetically matched human being.
What is Art?
The quality, production, articulation, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
-From Dictionaries
(Drag to tab for better view.)
This is my Mary Sue, I still use her, for what she is suppose to be used for. This was the only image I could find.
A Mary Sue (sometimes Gary Stu), in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader.
-Wikipedia
[ img here ]
1. My main character wants _____ more than anything else in the world.
(Example: Love, respect, courage, revenge, a kidney for his kid sister, to find the son she gave up for adoption when she was sixteen.)
2. How does s/he feel about (being in) humiliation, disfigurement, pain, terminal illness, poverty?
3. What scares him/her to death?
4. What will s/he do anything to avoid?
5. What has s/he already done to avoid his/her greatest fears?
Empathy: is the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
Sympathy: is the fact or power of sharing the feelings of another, especially in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion, or commiseration.
Basically, sympathy is like when you feel sorry/other emotion for your character and share this feeling with them. While empathy is knowing how the characters acts and why but not sharing any sort of feeling with them.
Body Covering:
(Skin - Scales - Fur - Feathers)
Build:
(extomorphic - mesomorphic - endomorphic)
Hair Length/Texture:
(straight, wavy, curly, frizzy)
Ears:
(Stance: upright, folded, lopped)
(Type: Simian - Canine - Feline - Ursine - Ungulate - Lagomorphic - Rodent - Reptillian - Aaural)
Other:
(teeth, tongue, walking. nails, tail, horns, wings, voice, scars, tattoos, markings)
Diet:
(Herbivorous - Carnivorous - Omnivorous - Insectivorous - Sanguivorous)
testing
welcome guest!
I'm Ixan and I hope you are here to enjoy the learning experience I can provide. You see, this is a place where you can understand what makes a character believable in my opinion. You can also find an in-depth character form and recently added art section if your thing is drawing. I hope that this proves as useful to you as it did to me; enjoy and create!
Click me! Don't forget to click other words for more information!
knowing the basics
When you hope to learn anything, you must start from Step 1 and build your way up. Magic only exists in stories and you can't just create perfection so easily. (Honestly, even Mary Sues are a step forward!)
I will mainly focus on the creation of a character and explain smaller details that, in my opinion, are essential when creating a character. After all, your story might need more than just the main characters. One major thing I've learned is that no matter how good the plot is, it will not matter if the characters are lacking.
Enough chit-chat, let's get down to business...
- Never start your character off with a physical trait or name.
Yes, the little form always has name, gender, image in your face. The thing is, you have a lot of preconceived ideas about names and body types that you may or may not realize. I mean, that Dilan at your school was just an angel and Ginger was always giggly nice; and before you know it, you decide to name your protagonist Ginger.
Choosing names as such, makes the character carry the giggly nice baggage that will subtly influence the direction of your story before you even start! And if you make Dilan '17, blonde with bright blue eyes, perfect everything' then no one is going to look past the appearance.
- Start developing a personality.
I'm not saying Mary Sue / Gary Stu should be thrown out the door but... if you really want to make a change or a difference then please, listen. Creating a believable character means that you do not give the character all the best (or worst) characteristics, it is about balance. I always think that the best kind of character can be placed in any situation and act the same because their personality should already be laid out.
It is OK if you have no clue what kind of plot your character will be involved in right now. But to develop a character, they generally need a problem, compulsion or some sort of dramatic need. So here are a few questions that you should be able to answer about your character:
[ 1 - 5 ]
If you don't know the definition of the words, click above. Sometimes this part can be easy, like when you pour your soul writing plenty of words about the character's struggle, emotions and victory -and others will see it too. You will know how and you will care because you will see yourself as them for a moment.
However, it is not always so simple. Like if you ever have a character that goes through a tough scene as they act out their purpose; something so utterly reprehensible, so unforgivable, that if you have done it right then the readers will be begging for the character's death from that moment on. You can imagine it, right?
You have to understand why the villain acts as he does, you have to know that if you were in that situation, you would do as they do — if you cannot do this, no one who reads what you have written will believe in the characters you have created. There is no easy way past this, because your hero can only be as great as the evil they overcome.
Here is the important part: Their deeds were done with your hands, your mind and your eyes. Never forget that you only understand every detail and reason they acted as they did, and that you can not allow the character to affect you. In other words, if you sympathize
and make them hold back then they are not the characters you wanted to create, it would influence the powerful scene you so long to share.
This is a technique that can sometimes bring your best characters to life. Find your worst moments: the painful, humiliating, disastrous, or simply dreadful ones that still make you cringe inside, (change them enough to keep you from getting frozen) and make good fiction. You can only write what you already know but you can take the fears, hopes and other feelings you have experienced and translate them to a greater range. (The impact of a car cash → character falling off a cliff.)
All characters are built from the same basic sets of responses and emotions. What determines the masterpiece is how you use, mix and apply those elements. With these tips, I hope that you have started in the right direction with developing your characters.
Character Form
Most are optional, depending on the type of character. I don't usually fill it all out myself, just areas to think about.
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Image:
Color:
Species:
Body Covering:
Build:
Height:
Weight:
Eye Color:
Hair Color:
Hair Length/Texture:
Ears:
Other:
Medical Condition:
Diet:
Clothing Style:
Housing Situation:
Occupation:
Weapons:
Special Abilities: (Up to 5.) Tip: Write two major ones and two minor ones.
Personality Focuses: (Up to 3; less than 10 word answers.)
Underlying Personality Traits: (More than 2; shorter.)
History:
Culture:
Quicks/Habits/Etc:
Other:
-Balanced Abilities Score-
Put a number for each category then add them all up. Your point total should NOT exceed 150, and it's suggested that it should not be below 100 too. Somewhere between 110-130 is healthy.
Things to Keep in Mind:
Remember their heritage, were both their parents fat or ninjas? Where they set up for success or failure?
If character is just an ordinary kid then think about culture or where they grew up most of their life.
Have they spent most of their life being educated, trained, trying to survive or being pampered with wealth?
Does your character speak literally chatspeak or can they speak multiple languages? (comon now!)
Do the questions above make it easier to KNOW the answers rather than picking a number you WANT your character to have?
(1-5 = deprive of ability) (6-11 = average) (12-15 = extreme/"gifted") (16-18 = godly)
Strength: (Measure of the muscle, can you carry weigh, jump and climb mountains without breaking a sweat?) Tip: Add 1 point for every 10lbs they can pick up over their head.
Constitution: (Measures their endurance and health, do you get allergies, sickness or resist punches easily?)
Stamina: (Measures how long character lasts when putting forth physical exertion, can you speed-run for eight hours?)
Agility: (Measures how well character moves, does dodging, aerobatics or actually save yourself from death in mid air like a cat?)
Dexterity: (Measures how well character works with their hands, is you aim perfect everytime you throw your weapon, duel cards, shoot or play an instrument?)
Intelligence: (Measures character problem-solving ability, can you use deductive reasoning, calculate with ease or remember/notice important bits of information easily?)
Wisdom: (Measures character's common sense, are you old, have gone through much and understood it all?) Tip: Pre/teens tend to be a 6-8 while older characters / souls might reach 13; by human age.
Charisma: (Measures how social character is, are you dominant or submissive in a social interaction, extroverted or introverted?)
Comeliness: (Masures how attractive character is, do you have the physical appearance of 'pretty'?) Tip: This part is subjective, but be reasonable, having a burn on your face or something visible is to be taken into account.
Credit
I did a lot of research in trying to further develop my stories and be inspired. Much information on this petpage was compiled from others'. This petpage would have not come together if it wasn't for these people...
How to Create a Character by Holly Lisle.
Naruto: Balanced OC Tutorial by mongrelssister. (offsite)
Character Creation Guide Pt 1 (+ part two & three) by Sheeply. (offsite)
Extrasuperfabulous by Luna--Rose. (offsite)
The Feather Art by aaa123202
Layout Palette: Thought Provoking by Miss_Anthropy. (offsite)
Coding by me with tips from...
And a thanks to everyone who has given feedback on this site!
Sitely
-sitely soon to come-
Getting proofread by: 
Keeping It Real
This part is basically going through the form in the next section, so consider it tips on how to create your character. Like before, I do not want to start out with name / appearance. After all, that can be change with time while the history / culture / etc has to be kept consistent. I believe the best way to avoid Mary Sues / Gary Stus is to make a realistic past.
Your character's past makes up the 'why' and 'how' they act in the present. We can refer to the 'why' as the character's drive. However, I'm not going to tell you do this and that because each character should be unique and if two of your characters share the same history and are not biologically related then they will probably become bland to read about twice because the story will be predictable. Have you ever met someone that has gone through every single event you have? The one thing I will say is that search engines are your best friends and research is key.
You should be able to write down many events that happened during: their birth, their childhood, their teen years, their adulthood... and anything beyond that if they are older. Now, unless they are an alien, you should not expect them to be extra ordinary. If they are ten years old, they should not be beating up bad guys like a ninja, nor should they suddenly remember that one tiny whisper that makes them know everything because first of all, children are usually more visual. (On a side note, please do not dress up ten year olds as if they were going to dance clubs.) Did it take you ten seconds to learn how to master your element? No? Can you beat up ten hulks are your age? No? Really? I bet you could not even touch Chuck Norris.
If you are stuck and don;t know what else to add to how they grew up think about the 5Ws. Researching places, housing situations, cultures, medical conditions, diet, habits AND thinking about HOW / WHY they are there... this is what I want you to learn. Yep, that's why history is important, kids.
Let's destroy some cliche characters I see often, just for fun...
-
Villains: MWAHAHA I be so evil for no reason -kill kill- hahahahaha. *steals candy from a baby*
Unless your character was born with some serious mental issues, er, trust me, they'll need some sort of better drive to justify their actions. Are they after power, money, security, status or to prove what they believe in? Villains can be so much more complex. What is behind the mind of a criminal? Do some research work if you need to!
-
Nerdy computer geek: I'm an innocent little boy who knows more than everyone else and I'm hated for being ugly and bashful. I let everyone use me because helping others makes me happy as long as it's about computers. I know math, history and programming books like the back of my palm.
At least we've introduced some flaws here but too many polar traits makes for a perfect cliche character. He's just a kid and knows all that? Then put something in history about how young they started to learn that and why they liked learning this. Besides, they probably have a life outside the computer world (I know I do) and they are probably curious/scared about what they DON'T know... Also, girls can be geeks too and just because a person is a geek does not make them ugly. Make them the exception or else balance them.
-
Conceited popular girl/guy: Look at my beauty *flaunt flaunt* oh my god, my parents had problems/died when I was a kid, pity me! What? You don't pity me? Fine, go talk with your geeky friends! I've got an attitude and it's not my fault! It's never my fault!
The most common Mary Sue. Maybe you could also try some deep research into narcissism if you want to keep some of the traits. However, they do not need to be eternally young (or be in a high school), have extremely long hair, unnatural eye/hair color, nor have friends but back them up. Having 'rude' or 'sad history' as a negative trait (it's not even a trait?) does not cut it and if they DID have a sad history then why should they sometimes be wearing a mask? Sounds like you're sympathizing; keep consistent with empathy!
-
The Blond/'Cutie': -giggles- When I turned 12, I decided that I'll always have this childish personality! What I wear screams out 'I want attention' and I seem to always trip over everything. I'm fun-loving, happy-go-lucky and I'm always acting stupid. But I'm insecure and need others to make me feel good about myself.
First of all, why is it always a girl? A blond guy can be like this without being a geek. You have to remember that if you want to develop your character, then they should not act like they are 8 if their body looks like a 20 year old lady. This character almost seems to have like.. no history at all, as if someone just rushed and forgot to think about how the character grew up. Look back on your baby/child pictures, you probably changed on how you view the world.
-
The Loner: I've decided not to care about anyone else and act evil -but sadly 'sympathy' of my author makes me lovesick. I naturally look pretty even if I don't take care of my health. I only help out when I have something to gain even if I hate helping out, people always seem to fall in love with me. I can beat up and protect anyone IF I feel like it.
Have you seen a hobo in the corner, gone up to him and became his best friend and then lived happily ever after? No? That is what generally happens in roleplays. This character is sort of like a person that has been alone in the woods for a long time -probably the excuse for being super skilled. But in reality, the person would have health issues, and an attitude; and most would look once and think EW! Obviously, the character needs to be fixed. Look back at the villains section, what is their drive to continue living? How did they get in such bad shape? It did not happen overnight, I can assure you. OH and never let sympathy get in the way! You don't need main characters to fall in love to create an amazing story.
basically, I just ranted on about..
1. Don't focus on one traits / appearance / name.
2. Keep consistent with their emotions but not to an extreme -let them grow up a bit as a normal human would
3. Research about their history, specially if the story involves real life history / scenery.
4. Use empathy NOT sympathy.
5. We've all had Mary Sues / Gary Stus at some point, just admit it so we can step into the next level. If you want to keep your Mary Sue, that's fine, just knowingly do so.
6. Don't be afraid to ask for feedback / opinions on your characters. The worst that could happen is hearing "That's the worst thing in the world." Seriously, ask anywhere and anyone -including me!
visualize this!
Many said to me "my characters are just whom ever I draw" and I understood because I have some pet that do not even have a concrete character. I spent days if not weeks trying to come up with how to properly execute this section without outright saying "do this do that" because everyone has different art styles and that is exactly what makes your art special -it's different! Although going on about rainbow-vomiting wolfs is tempting. However, for this section, I would like to focus into the parts and process of the actual drawing.
When I started out digitally drawing, I used MS paint and a laptop's pad, and guess what? IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I honestly think that it does not matter what program you use, but rather, how you use it. MS Paint allowed me to be accurate and define my shades easily without the use of a tablet. Months, maybe years, passed and now I use photoshop and a tablet. Paint Sai is also highly recommended. (PaintDotNet is a free program that is amazing for beginners -I also used it when I did not have a tablet.)
If you only have a scanner or a camera then make sure your lighting lets the image gain clarity, I would suggest trying out yourself different lighting ways but think about how professionals might do it -they usually have those two huge reflecting panels at both sides to help the camera's flash. Anyways, whatever you use to draw, I can guarantee that you would benefit from looking up tips on visual quality. (Like saving your image in the right format!)
Setting that aside, I will talk to you about three huge topics rather quickly: Outline, color, shading. These three could each have their own sections because they can vary in so many infinate ways but there is honestly so much I can tell you. I, in fact, learned and improved a lot from simply looking up this stuff for you.
When we talk about outline, I don't mean just whether your lines are thick, thin or inexistant because that is part of your style. By outline, I mean getting the anatomy of your pet / human / whatever down. Yes, anatomy, because if you want to draw anything alive you are going to have to know what it's made up of. Unfortunatly for you, I will not put up anatomy pictures of every single existing animal or whatever fantasy creature you have created, so it is your job to look that up. You can also benefit from looking at real life pictures, there is nothing more accurate.
Next up is something that, in fact, may break or make your image: the pose and -disallowed_word- I know I did.) And perhaps I won't convince you this time around, but it's actually seriously helpful to decide the colors you will want to use. Because the basics are widely known, and I should encourage you to do research if you don't know the basics, I want to make a jump and focus on the harmony of color.
I'm tired of talking and for an art section, I'm sure you're tired of reading -let's look at pretty pictures! Remember what I said about your light source. (Note: I'm actually learning as I draw these but I'll continue to update the images as time passes by -I never claimed to be a pro/expert but I can try, lol.)
~~*blah blah images pk*
