How To Make Interesting Characters - HOLY SHIZZ AN UPDATE

[Phayre]

I've noticed that many demos and games include flat, featureless characters whose only purpose seems to be "Oh, look, a mage" or "Oh, look, guy with sword". This is not a great way to go about things! Why? Here's why you need great characters in your story. I'm gonna use a bunch of different RPGs as examples.

1. Characters are the gateway into storyline. Good story is driven by the characters, not external circumstances. It is he character's reaction to a situation that makes it important, not the situation itself. Example: FFIX's Zidane's attitude is different than say, FFVII's Cloud's. In the face of kind of similar situations (faced with the guy who's been messing with your life and trying his bestest to make you miserable), they take very different actions and thus drive their stories in different directions.
2. Relating to characters makes a player care about what's happening. For example: when baaaaaaaaaad stuff happens in Tales of Destiny (which you probably haven't played..... oh wells), the characters have been fleshed out enough so that you actually give a damn. Makes you want more to keep going with that wretched boss, yeah?
3. Good characters bring an added element to gameplay. Sure, a hardcore gamer will go for the strongest and fastest characters, but the first time through, a player might get attached to a sucky character *cough*VINCENT*cough*. Use the sucky character and access nifty storyline points, or stick with the big guys and kick some ***? Or maybe train that suckmaster to a decent level and get both? Ah, replay value......

Now, how do you make interesting characters? It's not that hard--- it just takes some thought. Just remember that every character should have depth, not just a pretty face and a bigass sword. Here's alittle checklist..... make sure every main character and the villain(s) have these:

1. Name
Duh. Names are important, silly. Unless of course it's one of those lameass nameless hero dealies...... but I'm not gonna cover those. That's a different kind of character, more of a pseudo first person experience. Some names are symbolic; others are just names. Things to keep in mind: the sound of a name gives a feeling to a character, as well as its meaning. You can make names that fit the character, like Ace for a slick gambler, or total opposites, like Agatha or Gretchen for a gorgeous young woman. Also keep in mind the theme, time, and place of your game. It goes without sayng that somebody named Jim Bob Jones doesn't belong in, say, feudal Japan.
A good place to look for character names is behindthename.com, which provides meanings and origins for most of its names, as well as organization by association of the name.
2. Backstory
Everyone has a past. Whether it's important to the main story or not, you should know why your character is the way he/she is. You can reveal it in the main game, in a sidequest, or only kinda allude to it. Just make sure you know it!
3. Motive
You can't just make somebody join your team "because it's the right thing"..... or because you lack the nifty ability they happen to possess. That's kinda dumb.  There are all kinds of reasons for somebody to join the party, from "Mr. Villain Man killed my mother, raped my sister, tortured my brother, and stole all my cookies" to "Wow, Mr. Hero Man, you're pretty hot!" Of course, these both suck, don't use them. Make sure that if one reason gets canceled out (like if the person joined to save their sister and the sister gets saved), another one makes itself known (like the hero owes them money...... I dunno).
4. Personality
Make sure your characters are different in personality. Don't make everybody the same! A good character can't be described in just a few words, like "annoying guy with crush on heroine" or "kickass girl with axe". It's good to have multifaceted characters, like a cheerful heroine who's really bitter and just tries to hide it.
5. Relationships
How do your characters interact? Does Jim Bob hate Mary Sue because she's from the village that beat his in the foosball championship? Does he ever learn to like her, or do her nasty foosball taunts drive him mad? Are there crazy love triangles involving the hero, the villain, and their much disputed teddy bear? No, seriously. Make your characters interact.

Next post: The Don'ts of Character Building
Feel free to comment on this stunning installment of How To Make Interesting Characters!

All tips are gleamed from writers' workshops, textbooks, classes, and experience. Yes, making RPGs should be like writing a story.

[Phayre]

Here are a few common lameass things people do while making characters, and why you shouldn't do them. In no particular order, some with examples:

1. Infodumping: Mass "characterization" in the form of flooding a game/story with information, often about a past event. Example: The entirety of Dirge of Cerberus. Don't let anyone talk you into playing it, folks.
Why Not: Your player should never sigh and roll their eyes in a game, and hours of pure "storyline" cause just that. Not to mention, after a while the player stops caring. If you pack too many plot twists and character revelations in one place, they lose impact.
How to avoid: Space your storyline out. Leave some stuff out. If it doesn't matter all that much, cut it. Be merciless.

2. Archetypes, not characters: If you can describe your character in two or three words (dark brooding prettyboy, optimistic heroine, altruistic hero), you might have this problem. It's great to start with an archetype, but make sure there's a twist and a reason(ie dark brooding prettyboy who loves puppies and is dark and brooding because he was forced to massacre them.......... dunno, use your imagination, I'm just gonna be goofy)

3. Overangsting: Regardless of a character's problems, nobody wants to hear them whine about it all the time. That's not the best way to show their plight, anyway.

4. The altruistic hero: This is one of two tired hero archetypes. Shake it up! Too many heroes do things because they're just "good people". Being a "good person" is not a motive. It's a character trait, I guess, but usually not enough to put your life on the line for a quest to save the world or the hot chick. Examples: Zidane (FFIX), Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

5. The apathetic hero: Another cheap easy way to make a hero is to make him/her apathetic, antisocial, and generally an ***. This allows for easy development, sure (hero learns of the power of love and all that, yeah yeah whatever)......... and nonsensical story. Nobody is THAT apathetic. At least.... not anybody you'd care about. If you want a grumpy growly hero, at least make better development. Keep them apathetic, or make the whole thing an act. Examples: Squall (FFVIII), Cloud (beginning of FFVII) (these are good examples to follow because they go in directions other than "Oh, your love has made me better and such")

6. The random flat character: Most RPGs have somebody who's just.... there..... doesn't contribute to the story, has little personality, but has a "necessary skill". Examples: Bruiser (Tales of Destiny), Barrett (FFVII..... seriously, what does he contribute once Sephiroth comes into the picture? NOTHING BUT NORTH COREL). This is something to avoid! No character should just be a toss in. Every last one should be important!

That's it for now for don'ts. Stay tuned for How to Make Interesting Characters: Building Your Hero!

[DragonBlaze]

So far so good.

This is a nice tutorial, only thing i have to say is that you could expand a few things. Like the backstory part for example, it was one or two sentances saying that you need a backstory cuz its important, you could actually talk about that a bit more. Unless you planned on doing that during one of your later segments.

But yeah, over all, its a very good tutorial.

[Phayre]

I'm probably going to go through things like that one by one in depth. The first post was just a massive overview of things you need.

[Moosetroop11]

Yeah, looks good! Your examples are goofy but that doesn't detract from the tutorial or make it harder to understand.

keep it up

( I'd have to disagree about Barret, but only because he was in my party so he always had something to say :p)

[Phayre]

Many people seem to think that characterizing the hero is not as important as fleshing out your other characters. This is so wrong it's not even funny. A player should not be able to overlook the hero. Even if he's not as cool as the guy in black with a bigass sword or as funny as the candy-high thief girl, he needs to have depth, motive, backstory, and personality, just like everybody else. Don't skimp out on your hero! The guidelines for creating a good hero character are a bit more, well, directive, than others. For example, would FFVII be as good if Yuffie was your hero and Cloud just kinda hung out in the forest, waiting to pounce on you with his incredible powers of angst? Er..... no. Would Fire Emblem (the first released in the US on the GBA) be as awesome if your three heroes were Lucius, Matthew, and Serra? Well, Lucius and Matthew, sure...... wait, no, no favorite character biases, sorry. No, it wouldn't. So why do Cloud and Eliwood make good heroes? It's not because of their awesome spiky hair or swishy cape. Here's what a good hero has:

1. Connection to the Villain: Every really great hero has a very important reason that he/she (we're gonna use he cuz I'm lazy) is involved. Usually this entails a connection to the villain that is revealed later in the story. For Eliwood, the nasty villain man whose name has escaped me because I haven't played in years is responsible for the disappearance of his father. Cloud has the whole yucky Jenova connection in addition to Sephiroth's past eeeeeeeeevil deeds. Keep in mind, though: neither starts with a quest to kill off the main villain! One thing should lead to another. Connections that start with things like "he killed my daddy" or "he burned down my hometown" need to grow into something more direct that hits the hero even more personally, be it the villain's attempts to force you to kill off your own party members or his insistence on systematically destroying everything around you. Make the connection evolve with the story, or else it will get old. Revenge is powerful.... but not as powerful as some RPG makers make it. Try fresher approaches, like maybe the hero and the villain were partners in a dangerous mission, but the hero had a change of heart and the villain kept going.

2. Varied Inter-character Relationships: The way other characters react to your hero is very telling. For example, if the hero's best friend is the admiring, gushing heroine, but the battle-hardened soldier hates his guts, it could mean several things. Maybe your hero likes to give the impression that he's more awesome than he is, prompting the featherbrained heroine to think he's all strong and brave, but the soldier knows better and is disgusted by the hero's bloated ego. Or maybe the heroine is attracted to the hero's simple innocence while the cynical soldier resents the hero for still being so naive. This adds to your secondary characters, as well. Make sure the relationships are varied. Not everyone's going to love your hero (in other words, don't make every girl fall for him), and not everyone's going to hate him.

3. Backstory: Contrary to popular belief, the "mercenary with no past" is a really, really boring character. Everyone has a past, even if they have amnesia or whatever. No one starts saving the world the second they're born, unless you count the Jesus, who is not an RPG character as far as I know. ^^ Anywho. Before all this trouble in the world started, what was your hero doing? What was his childhood like? If he has a gift/power, how did he discover it? What secrets is he hiding? Backstory is vital to good hero-making, and the gradual revelation of the backstory and its connection to the main story is essential. Of course, there's no need for your hero to go on a tangent in the final battle with the villain about how he always did love those chocolate chip cookies before the chocolate chip mountains were attacked by rabid weasels, or whatever other useless detail you want to add. Heroes should not wax poetic about their trials and tribulations; instead, they should become known as the story and backstory collide in places. Backstory is also a great place for bizarre plot twists, like when you find that something you thought you knew about the hero was a lie, or something he did in the past comes back to bite him.

4. Specialness: Your hero should be special. No, not like Barney. There should be something they can do, or they know, or whatever, that no one else does. This is often shown in heroes with awesome magic or strength, or knowledge about a past event. It also tends to tie into the villain somehow, like maybe the villain is the oatmeal raisin cookie master and the only way to stop him is with the hero's chocolate chip beam.

More on this soon...........

[SaiKar]

Originally posted by Phayre
Dreadfully sick of all things KH

Just started playing it today. It's fun. <_<

Err, right, characters. I like your theories. I differ some key points (I don't think Cloud is all that, sorry) but generally approve of what you're doing. One of these days I should get back to tutorial writing.

[Phayre]

I'm not saying Cloud is the be all end all. Squall is., cuz he's my avatar man and Cloud isn't anymore *grin* No, I'm lying. Much of Cloud's characterization is done in one dreadful chunk of Disc 2 and is never heard of again. Using Cloud as an example cuz I tend to remember FFVII better, and he does have a more multifaceted character than some. He's a great example for traits and all, but not for how to reveal them. Sorry for the Barret bashing; I'm still very bitter about North Corel. ^^

Anywho..... more on how to make interesting heroes! Hoorah! And using maybe kinda different examples that people can still relate to! Wait.... all my favoritest RPGs are either Final Fantasy or generally unheard of..... CRAP! Okay, scratch that.

5. Likeability: If you hate any character's guts, it probably should not be your hero's! If he's a jackass, he should be a lovable jackass with reason for being a jackass, This is where RPG heroes often fail--- too much jackass, not enough reason. Heroes should have faults, cuz nobody likes a guy who's just all awesome all the time. Well, maybe they do, that's up to them. In a hero, though, you want kickass with issues. The issues get solved as the game goes on, prompting.... gasp.... character development, hurrah! *does the character development dance*More on this on the next item, which is.....

6. Healthy Dose of Kickass: Sure, you can have a hero who's a spineless wimpy wimp who spends his time being useless while your other party members kick some villain tushie. That would suck, though, wouldn't it? Heroes need strength, be it in magic, speed, physical attack, whatever. However, the strength of their character is equally important. Any hero who spends a good chunk of their time angsting, whining, or generally slowing the party down needs some help. A hero needs to be able to deal with his problems. Yes, there should be struggle, but if the hero spends too much time waffling about his past horrible deeds or his premature midlife crisis (who am I? where am I going? aaaaaaaah!!!!!), the player will most likely stop caring as much. Maybe not complete apathy, but there is nothing more annoying than a hero who never learns to be even somewhat "heroic". Problems that cause massive hurtage to the hero can be spaced out to lessen the blow, or put into one wretchedly painful burst. Either way, make sure you keep the character intact and don't reduce him to a long string of "woe is me".

I think this is all I have to say about heroes for now..... maybe more on that soon. The next installment will cover side characters and all the wondrous things you can do with them. Hoorah.

[Phayre]

This tutorial covers (or begins to cover) the basics of creating what I will call "side characters", referring to characters who join your party but aren't the main hero or important NPCs. Keep in mind that this will NOT cover villains, secondary villains, or minor NPCs. We'll ghet to those later. ^^
Okay, let's think for a second of your favorite RPG. Anywho. Now take that game and think of your favorite "good guy". Go ahead! Chances are, it's NOT the hero.
Why? Well, here are a few reasons.....
1. There are a lot more side characters than heroes. Statistically speaking, it is more likely that your favorite character is a side character.
2. Side characters really have more variance than heroes. Qualities that a hero should have don't have to show up in a side character all the time.
3. Side characters can provide comic relief in times of stress, or contribute to the hero's development.

Those are our reasons...... but..... ummm...... go do something else while I take a break and concoct the rest of this.  

[Meiscool-2]

Cool topic. I read most of it and got a few ideas

[Phayre]

Okay, so yeah, side characters are important. They're also, in my opinion, more fun to write (er.... code? program? ummmm.... nyeh!) than the main hero. As I've said earlier in the tutorial, all side charactersand important NPCs should contribute something other than "Oh lookie, I have a better magic stat than yours!" or "My sword is BIGGER than yours, BI-ATCH! And MORE RANDOM CAPS LOCK!" Yeah.... that's kinda fun.... but not really. It's too easy and boring to just stick with the typical categories of RPG characters. Here's a list (I just love lists; don't you?) of common ones I've seen.......
1. The wimpy, whiny, bonk-you-with-stick, usually (not always) female mage-type.... tends to fall in love with main guy if female, otherwise has no romantic attachments)
2. The almost-as-annoying money-hungry thiefy type
3. The smug, arrogant loner with a dark and painful past, often a prettyboy
4. Older, stodgy guy who sticks to what he knows
5. The rebellious princess who's never been outside the castle walls..... I hate this one, if only because real princesses don't just sit there in the castle and angst ^^

I'm not going to expound any further on cliches, given that Bluhman (I think) wrote a whole thing on them. Go read it. It's fun, but reeeeeally long. The key to making great side characters is to know why they are what they are, and to not just settle for a quick burst of "characterization".

-Side characters should have relationships with each other as well as the hero. The way characters interact shows a lot about them.

-Side characters have backstory, too. You might not find out about it within the main game, but maybe in some obscure sidequest involving the character. Obscure sidequests should be reserved for characters whose personal lives don't pertain to the story at all..... not for those who, oh, I don't know, were closely involved with the parents of the main villain and do nothing but occasionally angst about their roles..... *jabs Vincent with sharp stick*

-Important NPCs (like the residents of Hollow Bastion in KH2) should have personalities and stories too. Its fun to see how your characters relate to these people.

-Comic relief characters should do more than just provide comic relief. Everyone has a personality beyond the humorous comments they make. Otherwise it's boring.

-One of the best ways to create an interesting side character is with a mix of the ordinary and the unexpected. Use contrast, like maybe they're a badass secret agent who doesn't know how to shut up, or maybe a demure, softspoken gardener at the Temple of Happy Peace And Stuff who pulls a knife on anyone who steps on her flowers. Hehe.... badass flower lady..... fun. This can be used to create humor or cruel irony, but it makes for the beginnings of interesting characters.

-You should know your side characters as well as you know your hero. In writing and theater, people often make intense lists for characters, so they can decide everything from the character's favorite kind of pizza to the hospital they were born in. If you want to get really deep with your people, this is a great strategy. Otherwise, focus on more immediate things. Do they have any scars? How did they get them? How did they learn to use their magic/weapon? Where did they grow up? What were their parents like? You'd really be surprised how something that seems so useless can bring up intriguing new ideas for your characters.

Next up: ....haven't decided yet.
Feel free to post your characters and I'll help you figure stuff out.

[A Forgotten Legend]

Looks good.  I like how you are explaining the side characters need stories too thing.

I don't know why, but for me, I usually have 80% of characters have some great impact on the storyline... don't know why...

[Phayre]

Not EVERYBODY needs massive impact on the main storyline..... but there should be absolutely no random throw-ins when it comes to playable characters. If they can't contribute anything in sidequests/main story, personality, relationships (and no, one dinky little who-gives-a-damn detour doesn't really count), et cetera, they shouldn't be there. For example (I'll use my game-in-progress, Ember Sky):
Ember Sky needed a white mage..... desperately. Thus, I created Evariste. Although he dowsn't have a whole lot to do with the main storyline, his interactions with secondary hero Caolan help flesh both out and drive the story and Caolan's character development. (Yay run-ons! In your face, second-grade language arts! HA!) He also has a more cheerful, optimistic attitude than most of the other characters, creating a great foil (ha! that's what I'll cover next time! foils!) to characters like Caolan, but he's not just all bouncy-happy-whee all the time. He's also stubborn, short-tempered, and incredibly self-righteous. There you have it-- although Evariste here doesn't contribute to the main plot points a whole lot, he helps drive character development and provides a lighter touch.
Next time: foils! Yay!

[blaman]

Great tutorial! Some really good advice and tips here. Keep up the good workd.

[Phayre]

....or anything else you can think of foil-wise. I'm going to explain to you the concept of foils in characters development, and how to effectively use them.

First off, what is a foil? A foil is a character who exposes and emphasizes traits of another character by doing something opposite to that. Many examples include protagonist/antagonist foils:

Cloud/Sephiroth
Although the characters here are very similar, it's the differences in their characters that pit them against eah other and builds personality. The world does Cloud wrong; he decided to save it anyway. The world does Sephy wrong..... hmmmm..... Meteor sounds like a good idea.

Or perhaps protagonist/rival foils.....

Ash/Gary
You thought I was going Squall/Seifer, didn't you? Ha, tricked you. Ash, the hero, is all for love and friendship and all that crap, while Gary is all individualistic and nasty. They play off each other and spend most of their time bickering, but in the end they're kinda friends..... I guess..... it's Pokemon, so everybody's friends. ^^

But..... those foils are kinda really boring. Anybody can do hero/villain foils...... so let's expand. You can use foils to more subtly emphasize traits of your main characters. Maybe they clash; maybe they learn from each other. Who knows? It's up to you. Some examples of commercial RPG and other foil characters.......

Squall/Rinoa
Using the heroine as a foil to the hero tends to be a favorite for Square..... but anyway. Squall is presented as a loner, Rinoa as sort of a free spirit (a damn annoying one, if you ask me...... grrr...... there's gotta be a Gameshark code to leave her in space.....). The contrast in their attitudes makes them each seem more extreme (against Rinoa's happy cheerful crap, Squall's seriousness seems more pronounced, and vice versa). As the game progresses, their viewpoints head more towards a happy medium.

More on foils next time. Off to play Pokemon Snap, cuz I'm a loser. And Professor Oak knows nothing about photography...... did you know that?