How to Write Good Characters
By Sithking Zero


(Note: it is recommended, but not necessary, that one reads the companion work "How to Write Fanfiction," in addition to this.)

What is a character? Quite simply, it is a person who only exists within the bounds of a story, movie, play, or other fictional work. They are the medium through which the story is told, the screens through which we see their world. They are as varied and unique as real people are, sometimes even more so. Characters are absolutely vital to the narrative process, and a story cannot exist without them.

But what separates the good characters from the Mary Sues? What differentiates an OC from an abomination? How can a few traits keep the story from tanking, or force it into a nosedive?

These are all topics that shall be covered in this document, with examples and careful tips and tricks to make your own delightful personas to inhabit your fictional worlds.

Part One: Quirks.

When creating a unique being, don't start with a name. Don't start by saying that the character is a male or female, or by race, color, ethnicity, or even species. Start very, very simple. Keep Occom's Razor in mind: all things considered equal, the simplest solution is probably best.

Now, think of one feature. Something that might not be too common, or entirely unique. Think of some feature. It could be an article of clothing, or an item, or something about the character. To get us started, let's go with someone with only one eye.

Once you have a feature selected, ask questions like crazy. Why does this person have only one eye? Is it/he/she a robot? A Cyclops? Is it a birth defect? Is it the result of an injury? How long has he/she/it had this problem? Is this even a problem?

At each stage, ask questions. As soon as you have decided on a feature, pick that decision apart. Who, what, when, where, why, and how are your best friends here. But keep it simple, as I stated earlier. If the answer is that "A meteor hit it," that has possibilities, such as the series being a comedy series, or a silly parody one-shot. A more likely answer would be that "I lost it in a fight."

Now that we've answered the question, What sort of fight was it? A battle between armies? Gurilla Warfare? Simple roughhousing gone awry? Is this a male-oriented culture, or a female oriented culture? What gender is the person? Who gave the wound to our character? Why? When?

A little too varied there, but the point remains that one has to ask a large amount of questions. Let's say that the character is male, and lost it in a barroom brawl when he was fifteen. What does this tell us about the character? Why was he in a bar at fifteen? Why was he fighting?

He was in a bar because that's where his mom works, of course! And he lost the eye by trying to stop the fight to protect the bar. He got a gash on his eye, which got infected and caused him to loose it.

And this stimulates further ideas. He was at the place where his mom works because he cares about her. The whole "Getting a scar and loosing an eye to infection over several weeks," bit is probably excessively painful, so he might have a few mental scars from that, not to mention physical ones. It also says that they don't have twentieth  century medical technology, or laws, as a minor should not be in a bar. So it's sometime in the middle ages, and should be called a tavern.

That brings to mind a dirty wooden building with mud, manure, straw, dirt, and grunge surrounding the tables. So it's probably not too clean, either. If his mother is working in a bar, she might not be too well off financially, which could affect his character more.

But where's dear old dad in this? Could it be that he has no father? And if so, why? Does he leave home for months at a time on business? Did he simply have a one-night-stand with the character's mother, leaving her to care for the child on her own? Did he die?

Nope, he had a one-night stand with the character's mom, and left her. Seeing as how she wasn't married, she was ostracized from the rest of the village, and they still shun her and her son to a degree, leaving feelings of resentment and abandonment inside him.

If they don't get a whole lot of money from the bar, then what? How do they make extra money? Is his mother forced into prostitution to make ends meet? Does the character do anything, like do odd jobs for the village? Are there other factors prohibiting their economic growth?

To keep this guy from being an angsty dude, I'm gonna have him do random, odd jobs around town for cash. However, the town is… ummm… in the shadow of a greedy tax collector, and it's getting harder and harder to keep up the payments.

So there you go. We got a character who cares for his single mother, has only one eye, and works hard around town to make money to help make ends meet. Because he's a bit of a pariah, he's shunned from other kids, so he doesn't have many friends (if any at all). And because of low income squeezing them from one way, and the tax collector squeezing from another, he's got a lot of pressure on his life.

So what's he going to do?

And the tax collector… I just made that up off the top of my head, and it's a little cliché, but think about it. Why is he allowed to be greedy? Is the kingdom/empire/democracy just stagnant, and no one has come to check on this place in a long time? Is it corrupt, and he's bribing people off? Or is there no local government, leaving the tax collector to be the only force of law keeping barbarians, hordes, rogues, and scoundrels at bay? And why was he greedy?

See? By asking questions at every single step, every single turn, and every single detail, you uncover a wealth of data about the character and his motivations, drives, goals, morals, and other his world in general. Don't stop asking questions! A great way to do this is to go around and find someone with whom you can bounce ideas back and forth off of. They will ask questions about things they have questions about, and you'll have to come up with reasons for everything in the world, and why you're doing it this way.

Step Two: the World.

For the love of god, PLEASE read this section carefully. If you are creating an original character to use for your own original story, that's okay, still pay attention. If you are creating an OC for a fanfiction, than for the love of god, research the story. Find out every detail you can. Let's take the Naruto world for example. Where is Konoha? Somewhere in the middle of a dense forest, at the base of a mountain which has faces carved into it. It's in the center of one of the five great nations. It's filled with ninjas. Those are all fine for base details, but look for specifics. How are things spelled? What are population densities? Ratio of ninjas-to-non-ninjas? How do they keep the village hidden? Where are their allies in relation to them? If Orochimaru attacks the southern end of the village, and your character is on the north end, how far do they have to go to get there? What's the local power structure like? Unusual weather patterns? Local climate? Local technology level? These are all things to take into account when planning to put your character somewhere. People don't like it if a story is wildly inaccurate to the source material. If you say that Konoha is ruled by a king, you will face opposition. See what I mean?

This means that there is an advantage to utilizing other assets the Author mentions, but never utilizes themselves. Take Harry Potter, for example, and the Four Houses. Each house signifies a different aspect of the human psyche. Gryffindor, for example, is bravery. Ravenclaw is intelligence. Hufflepuff is loyalty. And Slytherin is ambition. Since the story is told mostly from the point of view of the protagonist, Harry Potter, who is a Gryffindor himself, most of our knowledge of the Houses come from the Gryffindor's perspective. Slytherin House, due to this slant, is viewed as a house of evil scumbags who support Voldemort wholeheartedly, though there are other interpretations of this. But what of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff? They are mostly unimportant in the narrative, so they get largely left alone. The readers never get to see the Hufflepuff common room, only get left with the vague knowledge that it is "Somewhere near the kitchens," which, given Hogwarts' shifting nature, is about as helpful as saying that a star is "Somewhere up there."

My point here is that these are underutilized resources. There's very few official statements about these guys, so they have very little standing in the story. What this means is that these resources will not be under as severe scrutiny as a more used resource.

Note that while this is easier to do, using these underused resources improperly is very easy to do. By that, I mean that without the strict controls in place with more used resources or locales, it is almost too easy to give into temptation and create a "Super Village of ultra warriors that kick more people's butts than anyone else in the world combined." Case in point? I once saw a Naruto story where there was a village populated entirely by Demon Containers. For those not in the know, containers have demons sealed inside them, and these demons are usually considered forces of nature in and of themselves.

But this seems to be going off track. Why talk about locations when this is a document talking about characters?

The answer is that your character will have to live somewhere, right? And like it or not, people are shaped by their surroundings; likewise, they shall shape the surroundings in return. If someone grows up in a hostile landscape with no contact, they will be affected by that differently than if they grew up in a place where love and compassion are the norm, with plenty of human contact.

Part 3: Clothes, Armor, Weapons: Tools of the trade.

A sadly abused portion of character design, clothes, armor and weapons are a vital part of character design. Mary Sues are often given the best clothes, hardest armors, and weapons of sizes greater than that of small star systems.

Let's start with clothes. What sort of clothes would one wear in the world that the characters occupy? Hot climates would necessitate lighter clothes, while colder climes would require heavier clothes. A formal function should have area-appropriate clothes- remember, just because something is good for the battlefield or for going to the mall does not a good formal dress make! Typically, formal clothing is longer, more stylish and less functional, and is sometimes (but not always) mildly uncomfortable. Look at Elizibeth Swan in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl," when she has to go to the party wearing a corset. That is a radically different outfit than what she wears in the fight scene at the end of the movie. Formal clothes are not designed for rough-and-tumble, they can't deflect spears and arrows, and they can (and are) damaged frequently. Consider your character's price range, however! If they're poor, or anything but exorbantly wealthy, they won't attend any function with about ten pounds of diamonds, or a Gucci suit, or with a necklace that costs more than some small nations. Find other ways to make your character look good in their formal wear. A polo shirt and a pair of black jeans are a great set of casual-formal wear that don't cost a whole lot. If your character wants to wear the family heirloom to the ball, make them reconsider if it costs more than a T-Rex skeleton, while the rest of the ensemble is about ten dollars. No good will come of it.

Also, research what local dress customs would be for that area. If it's Japanese based, look up what those formal standards would be. If it is a unique culture, look up what those standards would be. And if it's American formal wear? Still look it up. Better to check a thousand times and be completely sure than to screw up once and look like a bonehead.

Armor… Armor is a toughie. Generally, the more protection armor offers, the more it weighs. And different sorts of armor won't stop the same weapons. For example, a bulletproof vest won't stop a knife, and a suit of armor don't stop armor-piercing rounds. Again, look up actual armor relative to the time period/locale you are writing in. Also consider money, or sentimental value. If something is cheap, or has been used before, the plating and armor will attain numerous nicks, dings, and scratches, and the older the armor is, the more likely it is to fail, possibly catastrophically. The armor that just got out of the blacksmith's shop is less likely to fail than the two-hundred-year-old, rust-covered, family battle armor.

Lighter armor would be great for highly mobile characters, or stealthy characters who hide in the shadows, such as ninjas or assassins. This type of armor isn't meant for standing up to crushing blows, or to super-giga-death cannons or spells, it's meant to protect against hastily fired arrows, slashes of a knife, and other quick attacks. The point of that, is that the wearer of the armor's entire battle strategy is not to get caught at all. Their job is to go in and slip a knife into the commander's armor, or to slip a poison into the enemy water, or even just dance around the much heavier enemies, attacking while their slower foes leave themselves open.

Middleweight armor is the sort that enemies wear, or your typical hero that isn't quite fast enough to catch assassins, but faster than the really heavy bruisers. This sort of armor is heavier, and will most likely wear out the user faster than those varieties used by their lighter cousins. On the flip side, the heavier armor can take an actual beating and come back if it's made properly. Again, consider status of the armor and the opponent, as well as the character in question.

Heavyweight armor is strictly for the big bruisers. This is the stuff tanks are armored with. The sort of character who uses this is almost always big, strong, and has some serious muscle. They kind of have to, because they're the only ones who can stand the intense weight! The weight usually decreases the speed of the user greatly, and you need serious stamina in order to wear it. On the flip side, almost nothing can get through the armor. Still have to watch out, but with this on, your character is an armored juggernaut of the battlefield.

As armor takes many forms and functions, consider also that armor can contain insignias, logos, and other paraphernalia that signify the loyalty of the armor-wearer. Please, don't put the logo on the chest. That's just like putting a bulls-eye on the chest of your character. But vary the colors, styles, flags, and even thickness of armor. Armor is more than just protection, it's a status symbol. It means, "I'm strong, and I know how to use the various stabby instruments of death and destruction that I am equipped with." They can be alone or the instruments of the local ruler.

Weapons… one is better off, once again, researching them on your own. However, try to avoid giving your characters a magical weapon straight off the bat. It's a tad cliché and it could lead to sue-dom. Also keep in mind that a weapon is another status symbol. If you are able to carry the weapon around, your character should know how to use it. If your character can't use their own chosen weapon, they will die very quickly. Knowledge of one's weapon doesn't necessarily limit itself to how to use it, either; it also means knowing when not to use it. See below for more details.

Projectile weapons are varied greatly, from rifles, to shotguns, to machine guns, to pistols. They all have different types of ammo, reload times, stopping power, accuracy, and usefulness. Consider wisely.

Long-range weapons like a spear, pike, or staff can be useful for keeping enemies at bay. A single sweep by this weapon can take out several enemies. They are heavy, and require upper body strength to be quite powerful. In close range, they have almost no stopping power and require different weapons to kill the enemy.

Mid range weapons include swords. Again, there is more to the sword than a broadsword and a katana. Look them up. Good midrange weapons, and well-known. Has the power to slice, dice, and smash. Good mix of long and short range.

On the topic of Cloud Strife-type swords, AKA the ones larger than some motor vehicles, these are extremely heavy. It's essentially a chunk of metal, very heavy metal. Also, it's so large that the options of how to use it are quite limited. Since one can't move it as nimbly as a rapier or even a katana, the best option for using this blade is something akin to "Hulk Smash!" while swinging it wildly. An excellent option for those who use heavy armor, but for your fifteen year old anorexic mary sue, not so much. Again, consider practicality here.

Close range weapons are the last resort. Daggers and dirks are in here, and they are what keep you from oblivion. If your enemy pierces your guard, and are in your face, just slip a knife through a gap in his armor. Worst case, he backs off. Best case, you cut an artery and he dies. Brass knuckles, bladed gauntlets, and other such implements work as close-range, though shards of glass, metal, and other sharp instruments would also work. These weapons require skill and speed to use effectively, but they can be multipurpose tools as well. A knife can be a cutting instrument, a medical tool, a utensil, a tack to keep something in place, a lockpick, and all sorts of useful things.

Again, consider money. Your character isn't likely to start off with the +5 sword of ungodly might. Probably just a simple knife or a beaten up sword, if that. Weapons are expensive. Also, consider practicality. Yes, weapons are cool, but not everyone needs/wants one. And not everyone can wield every weapon. In addition, for someone to use a weapon properly takes weeks, or even months of training. Only in fantasy does someone gain instant cognition about every aspect of a weapon upon touching it once. And even if your character is great with a sword, not all swords are the same, even if they are the same type of sword. Each blacksmith leaves their own mark on the blades, and as such they have different balance, heft, weight, materials, or even special abilities. So just because your person is good with one rapier, doesn't mean that he can grab just any old rapier and leap into the fight.

Part Four: Names

A crucial part of any OC (original character.) The most important part is that the character's name fits them in a few basic catagories, including location and meanings.

By "Location," I merely mean that the name is one that fits in with the other characters. For example, if you were to drop an OC into an anime, and they use non-americanized names… well, see if you can spot the OC from this lineup. Sakura, Kasumi, Domon, Frank, Rei. If you didn't catch it, it was Frank. By selecting a name that fits in with the cast, you eliminate the sense of outsider-ness that comes from having something utterly alien injected into the story. There are plenty of sites online that would list names, and some even give origins for names, so you can search more effectively.

The second thing to consider is the Parent Test. That is to say, if you were this character's parent (which technically you are), would you name your child this?

Okay, better example. If your child was sent to school, would their name get them beaten up? That means that if you have a villainous character, their name should not be "Voldor Blackheart of Darksoul," unless they changed it. More on that name later. But seriously, try this test.

Third on the name list is the type of name that has meanings. Most names have meanings, one way or another. "Naruto Uzumaki" roughly translates to "Fishcake Whirlpool." "Sasuke Uchiha," becomes "Ninja Fan." And Sakura means "Cherry Blossom." Heck, look at Harry Potter, with Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Remus refers to the legend of the founding of the city of Rome, where a wolf raised the twins Romulus and Remus. Lupin refers to the second half of the scientific name for wolves, AKA Canis Lupus. Is it any surprise that he turns out to be a werewolf? And Sirius is the name of the brightest star in the sky. It's located at the "neck" of the constellation Canis Major, or the big dog. Sirius is also known as the Dog Star. Rowling was practically screaming that he turns into a big, black dog.

So what should you do?

Truthfully, don't strain yourself when it comes to names. Don't go out of your way to find the name that means exactly what your character is. Again, trust the Parent Test. It's good for almost any name-based occasion.

Part Five: Evil.

In this segment, I'll talk about some villain do's and don'ts.

DO give a villain a good reason for being evil. Loss is a pretty good reason, but don't underestimate brokenheartedness.

DON'T make their reasoning totally stupid if you want them taken seriously. "Why are you so evil, you monster?!?" "WHEN I WAS FIVE, I LOST MY DOLLY!" Imagine Princess Leia and Darth Vader having that conversation. Would we have taken Vader seriously? I think not. Now imagine if that happened to Team Rocket. Far more believable.

DO have your villains do somewhat evil things every so often to cement in the reader's minds that they aren't good guys. Random slayings, executions, and murder will do.

DON'T overdo it. Nobody ever really considers themselves "evil," in the real world. Everyone considers themselves right, and the other side is clearly wrong. Meaning, don't use "Evil," "Bad," "Mean," "Not Nice," "Sinister," or any form of those words in an evil group's name. Also, almost no one would actually go around in blood-splattered armor covered in spikes and remains of their enemies all the time, as a) Armor is heavy, and b) eventually, that'd form some sort of sanitary hazard.

DO consider giving your leader villains good points, and/or make them persuasive. If they run a group, they had to be at least somewhat vebose.

DON'T create a villain only measureable by the hero's power levels. For example, a bad guy who flies a gundam which "was faster and more powerful than the Wing Zero." Worse is leaving it like that. Use specific units of power to determine how strong something is. If something is stronger than the hero, show it, don't just say it.

Part Six: Females.

As a male, I will not claim to have intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the female mind, nor shall I say that I am an expert in creating them. However, there are a few things that must be observed when creating female characters:

First, follow all the previous rules. This should be a no-brainer.

Second, hair. This is especially important for women, because people pay more attention to a woman's hair in stories than a man's, unless the hair is a plot point. When I say "Hair," I mean the color or size. If someone's a farmer, or someone who works in the kitchen, or a number of other jobs, you would not want hair that stretches to the floor, or even mid-back. While interesting and attractive, hair is annoying and can get caught in machinery, get dirty, or even catch fire if one is not careful with it. If your female character has to have long hair and they're in a position where they have to worry about their hair getting snagged and/or caught, have them put it into a ponytail, or braids, or any number of hairstyles that would keep the hair out of the way.

Another point about hair is its color. While many animes, cartoons, comics, and other stories have bizarrely colored hair (green, blue, purple, red, orange, other non-natural colors), these colors are not normal. If one of these weird-haired girls walked into a dark-ages town, they'd be burnt at the stake for being a witch.

Even normal hair colors (red, brown, black, blonde) should be chosen carefully. Take "Avatar: The Last Airbender," for example. Almost all the cast's cultures are based on those from the far east, where blondes are not common. If you want to put an OC there with blonde hair, they'd better be a crossover character. Mary Sues often have bizarrely colored hair when it has no right to be there.

There are exceptions to the rule, though. Hinata Hyuuga, from Naruto, has navy blue hair, and Misato Katsuragi of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame has deep purple. These are canon characters, mind you, and their hair colors are not exaggerated. So why are they weirdly colored? Simply put, variety. Many Japanese have dark colored hair, and if everyone in an anime had the same black hair, things would get a little tedious, and little would separate one character from another. The answer? Put in dark colored hair that could reasonably be passed off for black, without it being actually black. It adds variety and makes the characters more distinctive.

Third point, strength. While many animes have females using hammers and mallets smashing boys and idiots into low earth orbit, the truth of the matter is that the female body is biologically designed less well than the male for upper body strength. Meaning that men are genetically predisposed to being stronger in their upper bodies than women are. While there are female characters who have freakishly large amounts of strength, such as Tsunade (also of Naruto Fame), these characters are the exception, not the rule. As such, lighter weapons and armor should be used for female characters in most cases.

So how can you have a strong female character? Magic is a great equalizer. Having a female character be good at spells and magic can more than make up for a deficiency in strength. Having a female character who is superior in skill, if not strength, is not an uncommon strategy either. Find your own ways to balance the sexes out.

Beauty is the next topic on our list. Remember that standards of beauty range from culture to culture. In the days before food was readily available to everyone, you were considered handsome if you were fat, because that meant that you had money, and with money came food, and food meant that you could provide, and the ability to provide meant that you could care for offspring, something that lots of people find a desirable quality in a mate.

If a canon character's allure is that he is the only one of his kind, or that he's the last one of his kind left, don't make your character another of them. This has been done, redone, re-redone, and is quite frankly a dead horse.

There are plenty of Mary Sue tests out there online, go check them out.

Part Seven: reception.

Don't take your own word for it. Before doing anything, give a copy of what you wrote to a friend. Ask them questions, and encourage them to ask in return. It is this sort of feedback that will be beneficial to you as a writer in the long run.

If you need help, ask.

Epilogue

Now, you have the tools to create your own original characters. While this guide is designed more or less for fanfiction OC's, it can be equally applicable towards making your own original stories.

It is my hope that everyone who reads this now has a better understanding on how to create OC's. Happy Writing!