Developing original characters
- 1. Developing Original Characters By: Kristina McNeill Featuring Elijah and Rylan
- 2. – Character created by you, for your own intention – May include fan characters (characters made for real shows or movies) – Presentation focuses on developing an original character for an original world What is an Original Character?
- 3. Personality • Defines the way your character interacts with their surroundings and other characters – ‘Hyper, random, but ready to fight for the people they love’ is both an overused personality and does a terrible job fleshing out a character – Character’s childhood/back-story can affect their personality • Character raised in a rich home might feel superior, arrogant • Character who grew up with nothing might be more humble
- 4. Personality cont. – Character’s physical appearance and the clothes they wear can influence personality • Person wears all black, might be a depressing character • Person wears bright colors, might have a brighter personality
- 5. Appearance • Hair – Usually the first feature someone notices – Occasionally coincides with personality • i.e.; an introvert may not have punk-styled hair • Eyes – Most important feature – Unnatural colors are fine to use for fantasy characters •http://winesurprises.com/uncategorized/ey e-color-chart.html
- 6. Appearance cont. • Build – Describes the body type of your character • i.e.; short, tall, petite, athletic, overweight • Facial Expressions – i.e.; impassive, better at hiding their emotions, easy to read •http://www.calculator.net/body -type-calculator.html
- 7. Background – Common trap for characters include tragic back-stories • Sometimes this is alright, such as someone who was abused as a child because stuff like this happens • Overkill would include their entire family being wiped out for no particular reason (For political reasons might be realistic i.e.; the Romanovs) – Doesn’t have to be tragic • Can be a regular high school student who dreams of becoming a video game designer or a chef • Could have come from a middle class family
- 8. Physical and Mental Disabilities – Be well researched in the illness or disability your character possesses • i.e.; a character who has schizophrenia doesn’t automatically hear voices telling them to kill • varying degrees and levels of a mental illness exist
- 9. Physical and Mental Disabilities cont. – Ignorance could lead to offending people – Humans vary greatly from one another, no person experiences a mental illness or physical disability the same way • Research will yield results to general symptoms and experiences
- 10. Historical Research • Characters designed for a story set in a specific era or time period require research – i.e.; female characters in Victorian era would not be scantily clad – i.e.; knight character in Medieval Europe would not wield a katana (Japanese sword) • Consider the roles of women in certain eras and cultures (unless your character is there to defy social norms)
- 11. Historical Research cont. • Consider the structure of the ruling government in a specific era – i.e.; the structures of monarchies – i.e.; the structures of democracies – i.e.; the structure of a dictatorship
- 12. What to Avoid • Mary-Sues – Characters that are perfect, have incredible abilities, everyone loves them • Over powered characters – Characters that are super powerful and no one can defeat them (referred to as god-modding in role-playing) • Unrealistic pasts – Characters who have tragic pasts that don’t seem realistic
- 13. What to Avoid cont. • Cliché Character Types – i.e.; the mean girl, the damsel-in-distress, the tough girl with an attitude, the dumb character only there for comic relief, the mysterious man with a tragic back-story, etc.
- 14. Sources • http://rayvensreign.com/index.php?showto pic=17 • http://inkwellideas.com/2010/09/101- questions-to-help-create-character- backgrounds-and-personalities/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue • http://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/enl ightened-napoleonic-eras/deck/5946007 • http://www.calculator.net/body-type- calculator.html • http://winesurprises.com/uncategorized/eye -color-chart.html