# How do you create a character?



## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

Howdy folks!

I wanted to start a small discussion amongst the regulars here over what effect character creation has when it comes to making a good story and how you go about the process of making said character. Granted, it seems rather obvious that a well thought-out character gives the story a good starting point but what I'm curious about is how much influence the main protagonist/antagonist has on how a story flows. 

We know that stories work better with a strong, solid character as either good/bad guy. They are what keep the readers rivetted to their seats for hours on end, irregardless of sleep, restroom breaks(though sometimes these are taken with book in hand LOL), and the various other things neglected in the quest to finish one more chapter/paragraph/etc. and for those of us who enjoy writing are the things we want from our readers 

When I write, I prefer a story where the characters have a strong presence in the story. Not so much defining the story through them but shaping it around them. Of course, I also enjoy writing stories where the events taking place shape the character around them. Both make for a good story and aid in creating the character for which the story is written but I'm starting to waffle from the point.

In creating characters for stories, we mold and shape the perfect person/xeno/daemon/etc in our minds and work from there. But, beyond the perfection, what else is there? Sure, seeing a god-like astartes march across the battlefield, bolter in hand, screaming litanies to the Emperor is nice but what else does the character off beyond zeal? I think in creating a character for a story there needs to be that little extra. Mayhaps our brother marine was the sole survivor of some terrible ambush and his zeal comes from his deep hatred of whichever race ambushed he and his fellow space marines. 

For me, the devil is in the details. I don't just want a 'cut and paste' creation that you see a million times over in stories. I want there to be a driving force, a quirk/foible, something maddening that gives the character a life of his own and at the same time invokes the emotions you want the reader to feel depending on the character. You can create a chaos character who butchers and slaughters but if it's with a mind-numbing, mechanical nature what good is it? I want the person to feel loathing for something evil(unless that person has a prediliction towards chaos then I want a 'daaaaaayum that's evil" response LOL) and the exact opposite when it comes to a 'good guy' character. 

Of course, this also brings up the grey space we find in 40k. Good and evil, like in the real world, are subjective. How can we say that a space marine or an Inquisitor is a 'good guy' given the attrocities they commit to keep the Imperium running? And then there's other races like orks. They are brutal and inhumane but they judge all things from their orkish mindset. Strength and brutality are the only things they really understand. Does this make them evil or not? These are the kind of things you can use when creating a character and making the story that much more interesting.

Oh well, enough of this meandering lol. I turn it over to you!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Concrete Hero (Jun 9, 2008)

My favorite character that I created started from nothing more than a suit of full plate armour I imagined to be cool (None of this feeble 'real life' full plate now. Huge metal slabs covering every centimeter of skin.) 

And now its, what, 4-5 years down the line and that suit of armour has developed into a character the likes of which I don't think I could create again.

Now I don't say that in a "He's so amazing I've so outdone myself Nwar" way. 

In this instance I think the character and the story have affected each other equally, the character was originally from a different story universe but has greatly changed the one he is in now (both physically and writing wise)

I have had a massive advantage in creating characters because I do it with another person; imm0rtal Reaper (The guy I'm writing this story with (Hey, it worked for DragonLance!)). But as I mentioned before, time, for me is the greatest grower of characters!

About Antagonists/Protagonists affecting story. I think the level of detail has to be exactly the same on both sides. Our Big Evil is like a mirrored reflection of the Hero, or rather a Negative image (Very Similar, Very different blah blah). And both have had a small ocean of time and detail poured into them-

(Sauron, as awesome as he is, in my opinion isn't a brilliant villian at all... (It's been years since I've held a copy of _The Silmarillion_ mind, so don't shoot me down on that note))

-But then it makes it hard to include support characters as well. Lavishing all the detail on one person them having Him/Her surrounded by Cardboard cut-outs isn't right is it? More characters add shape and affect each other as well.

But that might just be me, I've always preferred Parties over Lone Wolves.

A bit of a pointless waffle I know...

For that story I haven't created any new characters in a looong time... But with Roots of Betrayal digging its way out of an early grave and this Thousands Sons story leaping over the horizon I can feel more characters crawling from the woodwork!
I enjoyed that Nate! Got the character creation cogs (Alliteration wooo!) turning!

You can never have too many parentheses....

Hero


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

> -But then it makes it hard to include support characters as well. Lavishing all the detail on one person them having Him/Her surrounded by Cardboard cut-outs isn't right is it? More characters add shape and affect each other as well.


This is another great point I didn't go over. It's not just about the main characters but supporting characters have an important role as well. Like you said, lavishing all your work on one character while not taking the time to work on others makes for a boring support cast, as it were. Good supporting characters do add to both the story and the character. With more than one character, you have the ability to expand on the whole quirk/foible angle for them, making the story that much more interesting. All good novels have a strong main character with several supporting characters. Even if they're nothing more than someone you only see for a few pages here and there in the novel, if they bring more to the story they keep it going.

A good story has all of these elements, along with a strong plot for the character(s) to work from. 

And yes, one can never have too many parentheses(especially when one feels the need to add that little extra to a sentence and emphasize a certain point in said sentence heh heh heh!).

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Unknown Soldier (Oct 24, 2008)

The biggest problem with creating SM characters is that they are severally limited with their emotional range. I much prefer stories from IG points of view, as they are the closest thing to 'real' people in the 40k universe.

If I had to write a story about SM, then I would have to do it from the POV of a supporting character - how they felt when they saw the SM stick a Chainsword through a Tau's neck or what it was like to fall to earth in a drop pod.

Otherwise, I'd have to invent an occurance that totally re-shaped the SM's mind so that he acted more independently. A glance to the head that messes up his wiring and now all of a sudden, he wants to write poetry instead of stomping 'Nids. Or a trip through the Warp reveals some hidden truth and now he must quest alone.

I wouldn't even know how to write a Necron story - 'Dear Diary, I woke up this morning and wanted to cleanse the planet of life, had tuna fish for lunch, exteriminated four thousand Orks and got home just in time to catch Match of the Day.'


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## Initiate (Mar 25, 2007)

When I create my main character, I make sure he has at least one of these traits: 

- He must be maddeningly *STUPID* so that the reader wishes a gruesome and untimely death for the character and keeps reading so they can know how it happened. Make the character make careless mistakes that any halfwit would never commit, make the character think up the stupidest answers to questions. (I often felt this way when reading the DragonLance Chronicles. Tanis made me want to kill myself. Harry Potter is that last bit made manifest.)

- He must be weaker than his peers. A warrior constructed of pure awesome and trained in all 135 forms of japanese arts of ass-kicking that is nigh invincible and will live forever is a very boring character. I sure as hell don't want to read about how a living god destroys his enemies over and over again without pause. When the character has weaknesses where his foe has strengths, it grabs the reader with an urge to find out how the character will ever overcome the challenges. (This, I feel, is best portrayed in the Inheritance Cycle, where Eragon is outclassed by most of his major enemies.)

- If he has a significant personality trait, that it has a reason. If, for example, a certain character has a specially great loathing for Abaddon's bringers of death, the Black Legion, it should be logical. Maybe they slaughtered his family in front of his eyes and he was next before he was rescued by Astartes. If someone was just raised to think that all mutants were bloodthirsty killers, it would be interesting if he found out differently. A person who hasn't experienced such horrible acts of cruelty will always be subject to doubt the truth of those words and won't act so vehemently against them.
Unreasoned hatred will ruin a character utterly and completely.

Those three traits are my bread and butter for making characters. Usually though, I don't just start to create a character. I usually just suddenly think, Hey, wouldn't be cool if. Then I just start writing a short story that will explain the characters personality in as little words as possible. 

Just my two cents on that.


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

LOL! Now that's genious heh heh heh. I've done something similar in the Land of Nagash RP thread. There's nothing quite like a clinically insane necromancer with a mouthy staff and smart mouth lol.

You bring up a very good point when it comes to personality traits and having realistic reasons behind them. If someone doesn't back up their characters' personalities with a reason they leave the reader wondering why they act the way they do. It creates unanswered questions and possible plot holes which detract from the story. Things like that make a reader less likely to continue.

Concerning weaker characters, another good point. You're quite right that having a 'super death god character of uberness' makes for a plodding and boring story. If a character isn't challenged, they become more like card-board cut outs instead of the living, breathing entities which make for a good story.

@Unknown Soldier-Space Marines are a pain to get right because of their conditioning and training. How do you add humanity to something that is far removed from it? We see in novels, professional authors either give them personality or they make them into straightline fanatical zealots screaming the same mantras over and over. Of course, other chapters like the Ultramarines, Salamanders and Space Wolves have a wider variety of emotions given their different predilictions. For the Salamanders and Ultramarines, they interact with the 'normal' human populace making up their realms/planets and have a greater understanding of human suffering. Space Wolves, on the other hand, have a better humor about them given their wild nature. On the other end of the spectrum you have chapters like the Marines Malevolent and Iron Hands. Marines Malevolent only see the objective and not the cost where as Iron Hands constantly upgrade themselves with bionics to escape the weaknesses of flesh and humanity. When it comes to space marines, one has to remember that while some are monk-like automotons there are others who train and live similar to the Spartans where warfare goes hand in hand with things like poetry and reading and higher thinking. Granted, I think it's a rare occurance given that most background makes them out as mindless killing machines spouting out praise to the Emperor and doing whatever it takes to complete their mission.

All in all, it's a challenge, irregardless of who one uses as a template for their character. Some are easier to write where as others bring difficulties because of things like limited emotional ranges or a lack there of lol. 

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Ordo Xeno Commander (Jan 17, 2007)

Wow, this thread is great. I have been thinking about getting into writing in a more serious way recently and this has given me some great advice. Cheers guys, keep it up!


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

Then our work is done! I hope to follow this up with other posts to help those who want to write do so. Concrete also has something in the works I believe, which should be good. That was a **cough** hint **cough** Hero heh heh heh! 

Seriously though, it's up to Concrete and I to see that this forum keeps generating the great level of writing we see here everyday. Of course, this only works with participation from you fine folks(something we've already seen here in this thread!). I'd like to thank all of you who've taken part so far and hope that you will continue to grace this forum with your presence...and more importantly, your stories :biggrin:

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

Through the heresy of Threadomancy (and double-posting no less..sigh)... Sorry about that but it might be useful for folks who're banging away at their entries!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate-the Shamed :biggrin:


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## Dirge Eterna (Apr 30, 2007)

This is my template, copy-pasted from Microsoft Word:

Name-
Gender-
Race-
Age-
Homeworld-
Looks-
Equipment-
Quirks-
Beliefs-
Style-
Weapons-
History-

I elaborate farther and farther until I get something like this:

Name- Kyra'Ven'Couyt
Gender-Female
Race- Kytharin (_Kytha'yaim_), Spacer
Age- 24 Imperial, 27 Kytharin
Homeworld- N/A, Vengeance-Class freighter/warship _Deliverance_. Affiliated with Ven'Couyt by father's family (Rek'Ven'Couyt)
Looks- Kytharin, slightly thinner (Spacer), younger complexion (Grey-green), two tattoos on left shoulder, Ven'Couyt regional and "Justice" character.
Equipment- Varies. All Kytharin weapons and armor, some SDF/Imperial issue
Quirks- Box under bunk (explain at some point)
Beliefs- None, standard Kytharin superstitions and beliefs. Agnostic.
Style- Quick, but powerful. Strike hard and fast, and retreat. Honorable, but foolish. Never naive, has seen too much of the violence.
Weapons- All Kytharin, some SDF. 
History- Born to Rek and Nov Ven'Couyt, Spacer. Ties to SDF traders and _New Athens_ drifter colony, Ven'Couyt hub world. Ties to Kytharia through Rek, and the Merchants' Guild through Wes. Raider, pirate, mercenary, and finally soldier, participating in the Second Liberation War, M47.

Normally it takes me weeks to come up with a fully fleshed out character, but I do this in my spare time. I've got 50+ characters from just about every single race imaginable on my hard drive, in case I ever need one of them.


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## Captain Galus (Jan 2, 2008)

Some really awesome things have been said in this thread that can't and shouldn't be unsaid. Seriously, this thread could help many people overcome the hardest part of writing: character development. I had an almost insurmountable difficulty with that obstacle for the longest time; I've been working in a story for over 6 years now, and the hardest part of it has been making good characters.

The main character started off as a super-human paladin-esque do-gooder with tons of self-confidence and even more badassery. The problem with such a character, of course, is that it's boring to read. Over the years, that character has evolved into a man who has subconsciously constructed a veil of sanity, but every day he grows ever more detached from his fellow human beings. Deep down, he is a good person and earnestly believes in the inherent good of mankind, but simply cannot identify with anyone. He rises through the ranks of the most elite fighting force mankind has at it's disposal, all the while masking his immense lack of self-confidence and detachment (or rather, because of his detachment).

His best friend started off as a wise-cracking gentle giant. Over the years, he's retained his sharp wit but for a different reason. The things he's seen and done have taken a toll on him, and his sense of humor is a coping mechanism; sort of a Rule of Funny angle.

The girl that the main character is after started out as most love interests do: the ideal mate. Once again, such characters are boring, and over time, she got a little petty and cruel, which drives the rift between her and the main character. She got so intense, in fact, that she developed her own storyline, which by itself comprises a good third of the book. One thing that never changed was how red her hair was lol...I like redheads.

In the olden days, I liked to make characters who could deal with any situation easily, and usually wrote the story around them. This is both a narcissistic and challenging way to write, and I eventually abandoned it in favor of the method Shotgun Nate outlined. Nowadays, I imagine situations and put the characters in them to see how they react; the three main characters have really taken on lives of their own these past few years.


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## waltzmelancholy_07 (Sep 30, 2008)

:clapping::victory::clapping:,,, Men, tnx for the very useful tips... Wow... By the way... Shogun... Can you read resident evil 40k?... Lawrence really needs your guidance and he in turn is willing to learn:victory:.... When's the next installment of your current fluff (For the Emperor)?........


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

Howdy guys!

Galus..I know your pain lol. When someone starts developing a character they have this idea in their mind on how they see him/her. However, getting it to paper is a different story. So many times I've had what I thought was the perfect pro/antagonist only to find once you get them on paper they aren't quite as good as I'd orginally hoped. Then I had to go through the process of making them what I wanted them to be. It's difficult sometimes but in getting them up to snuff, I usually come across something else I can use in the story. I really enjoy it when a character fleshes out better than I had orginally intended.

And Waltz, my story is kinda on the backburner for now as I'm busy working on BL/Heresy story entries. Have no fear though... As soon as I get these worked out to where I'm happy, I shall be continuing on with _For the Emperor_. I might post up something in the interim while I'm waiting for my braincells to snap to the "on" position though lol.

I will also look at the story. I try to cover at least one story a day but sometimes I'm so knackered when I get home from work my brain couldn't put two and two together and get four lol. Between that and working on my own stuff sometimes it takes me a few days to get around to checking out stories. But, I'll try to get to it asap.

One thing I'd like to point out. While I started this thread, there others who helped it along. I do thank you folks for the praise but let's not forget the fine posters who helped in making this thread :biggrin:!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Commissar Ploss (Feb 29, 2008)

I cant believe that i haven't posted to this thread yet. I'll use my first ever developed character as an example. 

Brother-Captain Lucian Vicarus of the Iron Diamond Space Marines. Many of you have probably heard of him from the few things that i have posted here on Heresy. If you haven't you can follow some links in my signature like the "Lair of the Fan Fiction King" one to get to my user page, which in turn has links to the fiction i have here on Heresy.

Anyways, back to the point. It was said before, that Space Marines are the hardest to make unique characters out of. Either be it zeal or their extremely cut-and-dry personality, they are quite bland some might say. I would like to disagree. 

I took on the challenge of creating a unique SM character in my short story "At the End of All Things". Through much thought and brainstorming, i discovered that due to a SM's training and their more than noticeable lack of emotion, it was going to take something uber severe to change that. As you can tell from the story, complete and utter destruction of his entire chapter (except for himself) was how severe i was willing to go. An experience of this magnitude would be enough to crack even the most hardass space marine. It made him question his existence. Made him question what he was sent here to do, what his purpose truely was. 



Commissar Ploss said:


> Whistleing an Imperial hymn, and accompanied by only the wind and pelting rain, he felt miniscule and insignificant. The work had been done. Lives had been payed in full. Oaths had been fulfilled and creeds had been upheld. But for what? "For the Emperor," he said to himself, hopeing beyond hope that that was justification enough.


It was in this way that i successfully created a unique SM that was willing to question the thinking and orders of the Most High. Not to the point of heresy, but just enough so. As such, i created a character that is under immense amounts of personal/mental/emotional strain, yet keeps it suppressed and bottled up inside. It has allowed me to take him in many different directions and create a truly malleable and unique Space Marine Character. He is no longer hindered/chained or limited by the title of Space Marine. He is able and willing to follow the teachings and divine orders of the Emperor with his own unique interpretations. I believe it has made him much more humble and _human_ this way. It mirrors the qualities of skepticism and loneliness that we all feel in our hearts from time to time. It resonates with the human psyche and allows readers to personally connect with him and his situation. 

Remember, take this with a grain of salt. This is only the way that i created my unique SM character. I'm sure it is not the only way to dynamically shape a SM from a boring cardboard cut out into a truely unique character. 

:drinks: cheers!,

Commissar Ploss


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## Shogun_Nate (Aug 2, 2008)

One thing that I've noticed is few space marines in any story are the cut and dry cardboard stand-ups the background makes them out to be. I find it strange that the game portrays them as one thing but the stories another. Of course, I know why. We all do. No one wants to read about Brother Blablabla muttering litanies of hate against the foul xeno/heretic/traitor between strokes of his toothbrush as opposed to a dynamically created character who oozes personality...

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate


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## Commissar Ploss (Feb 29, 2008)

Shogun_Nate said:


> One thing that I've noticed is few space marines in any story are the cut and dry cardboard stand-ups the background makes them out to be. I find it strange that the game portrays them as one thing but the stories another. Of course, I know why. We all do. No one wants to read about Brother Blablabla muttering litanies of hate against the foul xeno/heretic/traitor between strokes of his toothbrush as opposed to a dynamically created character who oozes personality...
> 
> Good luck and good gaming,
> 
> Nate


You're right. When i wrote that post i was thinking of the ones that we use on the table. On the table, Marines are just numbers. In the books, they all have their own unique personalities. It really is true. I was just giving an example of how to change ones perception, just in case they haven't read many BL Space marine books. If one happens to be an aspiring writer yet really only has an idea of what Space marines are from the codex and the game, yet feels like putting down a battle they just had into a real story and not just dice on the table, but actually with Sergents bellowing orders and the sounds of armor clashing agains greenskin flesh! Thats where my post comes into play somewhat...i guess... you get what i'm saying?:scratchhead::dunno:

Commissar Ploss


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