Hello, my fellow writers. Hope you guys are doing well. Today we are going over characters again. Why? Because characters are our compass on these stories you have created. A web of construction you as a writer carefully crafted to delight us. So characters will go on and on receiving much love.
So what about the characters? Let us say that you are into certain tropes. You’ll probably know or expect what you are going to get in that story. With that said, wouldn’t it be boring if you get the same character as a plug and play type, different, name, different attire, same personality, same old jokes in every single book? Movie? You’ll get bored, close the book, turn off your electronic equipment and never look back, maybe give it a second chance if it is trendy. Doing the same thing, again and again, is what is called a cliché. Not only a cliché it falls flat, but it is also expected because it has been overdone.
With characters is the same thing as in stories. You could use stereotypes to your advantage, maybe to set up something, maybe play a sub-trama, but be aware that running the whole story with it, will make your character predictable. Another thing with stereotypes is that it can play into your own personal bias, and probably create a character that is not 100% correct into its, sex, religion, culture, and other. Do your research. It is critical and more so if you are writing of culture, country, or other themes, you don’t know of.
What about archetypes? Well, archetypes will go more into the psychological status of the character and will bring something either new or relatable to us as an audience. An example can be Robin Hood. This legendary story chooses to point out some stereotypes and diverts them. For a moment you could think it will be a The One story or a Rags to Riches, but what if you looked at it through another Point of View. Who rules England at this time? The King? Or is he so mediocre that he lets his Sheriff do as he pleases because he does not know how to govern? On the other hand, Robin Hood with fewer resources acts as a Leader and overcomes his obstacles as one of his Merrie Men. In that sense, boss versus leader, you bring something relatable, more so in the modern time, and bring an adventure story with something people can cheer upon, grasp, and finally don’t get bored.
When you are creating your character, after giving it their appearance, go to their backstory. Make-up something new. Think of their weaknesses. Traumas. Most cherish memories. What would this particular character be doing if no one is watching? After you are doing all that (I know is a lot of work), ask yourself, has it been done already? If so, just to make sure, you are in love with this character, you want it on your story, what can you do for it to not be a copy. I already said appearance is not the way to go. Change that character’s views. Religion. Culture. If you do your research correctly you will know that where this character lived, the social-economic status where it grew up, will probably dictate part of the decisions it will make along with the story.
One trope that really connects with people is the Rags to Riches one. Continuing with the last paragraph, a character that has a bound to its surrounding brakes the cycle to get to the top. How it does it is where you can manifest your creativity. What tools you give the character so it is not a copy as others done in this trope is how you will make it refreshing. Can you combine sub-plots to make this character even more relatable once it gets its MacGuffin?
Still, have doubts? Let’s go through some character archetypes, that you can do. There are tons more, but these are the most common ones.
- The Child: Innocence is bliss until this character walks through the pages of your story. We see the world through this character with white picket fences and then disaster hits the door, making this character learn a lesson or two. This character would be energetic, enthusiastic, creative, or imaginative, wants to be happy, or thinks of World Peace as something achievable. Ex. Disney’s Rapunzel, Dorothy on The Wizard of Oz.
- The Orphan: Not necessarily means that this character is an actual orphan. Maybe this character has an abusive family. Whatever the case may be, these characters have been through trauma, loss, deception. This character mostly will have a survival instinct and will now or will be more empathic with others having a tough time. Probably this character won’t have that much confidence because it has been kicked too many times while on the ground. This character is the ultimate underdog story. Ex. Harry Potter, Matilda.
- The Creator: With this character, you can probably take a look in the mirror. Yes, you! You are reading this may be because you want to become a writer. You want to say I did it! This character wants that for itself. This character wants to be remembered. Cement its legacy. Be known for. This character can sacrifice itself for the greater good. Maybe this character will have a wall up because anything from outside will block its masterpiece, his desire for perfection, so people that contact him or relationships will be dangling on a thin rope. Ex. Remy in Ratatouille, Tony Stark in Iron Man and Avengers movies.
- The Warrior: This character is one that from the start has a chip on his shoulders. This character carries the world on its back. Probably society thinks it is perfect or maybe he knows he is so skillful that it trips in its own arrogance. There are many ways that you can use the warrior, but no matter what this character will have the courage and strength to beat any obstacle. Ex. Superman, Hercules.
- The Caregiver: This character is so empathic that sometimes or almost all the time puts its feelings last. This character is generous and has a hard time saying no. Usually, when you put a paternal figure it can go directly as a caregiver. Depending on what spectrum of the story you can give this character a more nurse-like status or a more sickish status as in this character has stopped living their life to tend to others. Ex. Pidgeon Lady in Home Alone 2, Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope.
- The Magician: Maybe don’t take it literary as a magician. This character has a thirst for knowledge, wisdom, but because it seeks the Holy Grail of power and knowledge, this character has a lot of skills. Communication skills, technology, computers, well even powers. Because of it others put this character on a pedestal, follow them, or are baffled of how extraordinary this character is, that it claims the utter respect from others. In a good sense of the word a magician can lift reigns in the bad spectrum it can be manipulative and exploits its followers. Ex. Sherlock Holmes, Darth Vader.
- The Mentor: Mostly this character is a secondary one, mainly because this character prepares the main character to battle the antagonists. It can be a parental figure, a teacher, even the old wizard from the forest. This person has lots of knowledge and wisdom and is willing to share its experiences with others. Ex. Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid, Rubeus Hagrid in Harry Potter.
- The Ruler: It can go on two different ways with the ruler, but is more interesting when it becomes a character that has tries to use its charisma, power, and “leadership” to mask that it has an inability to rule. When it lacks confidence and it is suspicious that somebody is going after its crown. It is exciting when this character raises its voice for no reason and tries to diminish others because of where they stand in the hierarchy food chain. The Mayor of Halloween Town in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ramsay Bolton in The Game of Thrones.
- The Joker: The joker can be pinpointed to the comic relief character. Usually, these types of characters are more layback, don’t take life so seriously or simply they believe in YOLO, You Only Live Once so why worry. Do not confuse this character with Batman’s Joker. The character that we talk about usually is one that people don’t take seriously or blinds characters with its point of view in life and can become an obstacle for others. I lighter stories it can be a character that will cheer you up every time it enters a scene. Ex. The Flash, Mushu in Disney’s Mulan.
- The Rebel: What is the status quo? The rebel won’t accept it. Anarchy. Fight the system. This character has been pushed and stepped on so many times, that it wants the world to burn. The rebel wants to stick it up to the “Man”. This character is perseverant, resourceful. This character is the one that puts the leader to tremble, to be upset, to slam their fist into the table. This character is small but feels the courage to go against a whole institution. Ex. V in V for Vendetta, Day in Marie Lu’s The Prodigy series.
- The Lover: This character is so benevolent that sometimes is blind to the atrocities going on in the world. Much like the child but it is blinded by love and passion. This person’s desire of being love and accepted can be asphyxiating for others or even make them ill physically and/or mentally. I know, those are negatives, in lighter cases, this person will warm your heart and you will just love that this character finds happiness and love for themselves. Ex. Ana in Disney’s Frozen, Charlotte in Sex and the City.
- The Seductress: This character has something that another wants. It uses its communication skills, its resources to lure victims into empty promises. It plays with other character’s desire to gain even more power or power over that specific character. When something is too good to be true, it is probably because it is. Be careful with this character’s deception, you will regret doing business with the devil. Ex. Lucifer Morningstar, Ursula in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.
Now that you can differentiate better on doing boring characters and characters that can connect with audiences in a more phycological level, work on yours. Verify them, investigate, and do your research. Look for those clues that maybe those character’s creations were flawed or need a bit of tender, care, and love. Use Beta readers, editors, and whatever resource you have near you to better what you are writing. The most important part, be mature enough to detach yourself from characters and acknowledge that if something is not working, it shouldn’t be forced to audiences. They’ll now. It won’t be pretty if you get spotted on doing boring, repetitive, and cliché characters.
Reign of Darkness can be found at the moment in Amazon, on ebook and softcover. If you haven’t had your chance, don’t wait for too much and get aboard on this new vampire world. Be sure to follow me on social media as well. ER Landron is on YouTube, doing writing tips in Spanish. Be sure to check that out. This is what I have for now, until the next time, take care guys and keep writing mis amigos.