add7f5 No.27042
Hey.
How to write interesting, non-cliche characters? Any tips?
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add7f5 No.27053
2d, "flat" characters come from lazy writing. If you are writing a character that easily and obviously fits into one of the D&D alignment charts, then you know you've got a flat, boring character.
What does this character struggle with? How can the player relate to that struggle?
A dad is a boring character. A dad who has a secret second family and now things are getting interesting.
A bad guy who wants to kill everyone is boring. A bad guy who wants to push his personal agenda by force because he genuinely believes it to be the best course of action, shit, now that is real and engaging.
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add7f5 No.27054
Don't sweat it too much. In the age of TVtropes people try way too hard to avoid "cliches" to the point where they completely ignore archetypes. You end up with something that is, yes, original, but has no connection to the human condition. It's bland, lifeless, mechanical.
Archetypes and repeating themes are the anchor points with which the human psyche can relate and attach itself. They exist because human nature is constant. You exist in the context of a society built upon archetypes. Avoiding them divorces you from your audience's perspective.
Originality is not inherently positive. Your priority should be telling a good story, not an original one. Remember: good artists borrow, great artists steal.
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add7f5 No.27055
>>27042
Just make sure characters grow and that their motives make sense, that's all. As long as it's not, "I'm gonna destroy the world because I lost the one I love", or some shit along those lines then you're probably in the clear.
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add7f5 No.27056
>>27042
Give them reasonable motivations that the audience can understand or give them a solid foundation that would intrigue anyone.
You don't have to go advanced philosophy (after all, the former hero who has become disillusioned with his beliefs and now turns against his friends and kind is considered a cliche now), but if you start with, "My character values loyalty and so-and-so concept in [insert certain way], here's how he expresses it, here's where he differs on applying his philosophy that people may be surprised with, here's how his backstory influenced him into developing how he acts" and branch out, it's much more likely you'll have a more developed character to audiences than "sleepy loli who likes candy" or some shit. From there you can develop mannerisms and other stuff unique to the character.
I tend to find that you can make characters based off interesting images that latch into your head. For example, I often imagine a character having a nightmare, screaming in terror while trapped in her own head, then waking up and acting nonchalant and indifferent about the experience. I think about what that contrast implies about her character, and how she can still have the same fear and react the same way yet get accustomed to the illusory torments that haunt her periodically.
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add7f5 No.27062
>>27054
This especially if you concern yourself of trivial bullshit like making strong female characters.
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add7f5 No.27064
>>27053
That's helpful, but kinda obvious. Thanks anon.
>>27054
To be honest I don't care if people will appreciate them, if I wanted to make some generic shit I'd jump on the generic jRPG bandwagon.
I'm asking because I've already written the story, now I want to spice up the characters, add non-mandatory content that focuses on exploring their personality and stuff like that.
>>27055
Is it okay to have characters who don't really make it clear why they do what they do? One of my main antagonists is kind of a "unknown force", no one really knows what is he trying to do. No, he's not an edgy assassin
>>27056
Thanks anon, that's actually really helpful. I've always written characters by first giving them mannierisms and unique traits and then background that would fit their personality. Now that I think about it, it should be the opposite way. Thanks.
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add7f5 No.27066
>>27064
>I've already written the story
>I want to spice up the characters, add non-mandatory content that focuses on exploring their personality and stuff like that.
For that you should make it appear through their actions or how they act/react in the world. Like how you would know about someone in real life. Also don't excessively try to explain every detail about a character.
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add7f5 No.27091
Don't watch moeshit anime. Start watching/reading seinen.
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add7f5 No.27092
>>27091
Monogatari is my favorite series despite the fact that I don't care about waifus.
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add7f5 No.27123
In a general sense. A you just need to understand what the character wants, what they do to get it, and what gets in their way.
Focusing on avoiding a trope is as dangerous as relying on tropes. As long as you understand what motivates your characters, the tropes they fall into naturally will only help player understand the story better.
In game writing, just be very wary of Dynamic character input. There's a virtue in putting into making branching dialogue trees for every possible option the character could do, but it's also just as daunting and discouraging for the player, not to mention distracting.
Having the game start after everyone is dead is a common method. Relying on Gossip for background characters to build a character up works too.
Then there's the constant barrage of 1-way transmissions from a characters while the player enters a room or completes an objective. Not my favorite.
>>27053
A flat character is one that doesn't change over the course of the story, though they can have had a story arc before the main story started. Having a flat consistent character is important to reflect the growth of the other ones. It's a foil. That doesn't make them lazy writing.
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add7f5 No.27515
I've been basing characters off caricaturized aspects of my own personality. It's excellent for less serious stories.
Ed Edd and Eddy was written this way
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add7f5 No.27516
A good reference is Overwatch.
Very little time is spent on the characters' stories, yet they are glowing with personality.
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add7f5 No.27517
by considering nietzche work, a ubermansch needs to suffer to get the state of mind of a hero.
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add7f5 No.27536
OP, you should take the advice of >>27054 a lot more seriously than you did. A fixation on originality over general quality of content is a primary indicator of an inexperienced author. If you want to avoid cliches, the biggest cliche to avoid is that of the teenage writer who is so obsessed with not being cliche that they forget to attend to the quality of their story.
It's more important for characters to be relatable, believable, and likable than it is for them to be unique. As the old demotivator goes, a fork with each prong bending in a different direction is certainly unique, but it's not a very good fork. Worry about making something good before you try to jump into making something that's NEVA BEEN DUN BEFO.
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add7f5 No.27543
don't worry about being cliche first of all
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add7f5 No.27544
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>>27543
[premature reply]
I wrote out a long post but then realized I have no experience only intuition
watch this vid.
its all about introducing characters to develop aspects of another character's personality and tricks for "visualizing"
play a game and try as hard as possible to dissociate from yourself and have empathy for the side characters
for example, play a JRPG (hard mode: xenogears) and think about every characters past and why is justifies their current attitudes and traits
be autistic and motherly
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add7f5 No.27728
>>27091
>>27092
Read some real books man, real western stories that have adventure and are written well.
The writing helps me find inspiration and think more clearly and see characters in action and formation. I recently got into "metro 2033" which inspired the game of the same name and "treasure island" which inspired "treasure planet".
i believe it really helps to see how a professional does it, almost like doing your own English class book report just without writing the report. You can study the workings of the writing still.
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