The Art of Characterization

Greetings, friendly forest friends! As some of you may have noticed or participated in, there has been a trend going about regarding users looking for opinions and critique of their characters. It was brought up to me that maybe an advice blog on characterization might be helpful. I will say that I am not the greatest writer in the world, but I shall try my best to provide a few tips and techniques when it come to creating, defining, and developing your character. New information may be added in the future if people request for additional help or if anyone wishes to add onto my existing list.

Let's begin. My lovely example tonight will be the newest addition to my little family, Cypher, since Shiori's art work deserves to be shown and he has been the character I have dedicated the most time to for development.

"Wait...This was never in my contract."

Get over it! Moving on!

What is characterization? And what is its importance to a piece?

Characterization is the art of developing a character for an art piece - a comic, story, game, drama, etc... - by conveying information about the character through traits given to them. Physical appearance, emotions, thoughts, speech, and actions are all traits that should be applied to a character to define them as an individual and give them a personality. At times, you can be creative by giving a character unique characteristics, making him/her more colorful. However, proper character development should not only gives a description of the character but also explain why a character is the way he/she is.

More times than none, a character's past is used as the foundation. Having events that occurred previously in the character's life be the influences that affect the way the character speaks, thinks, and acts.

For example, Cypher here suffers from aquaphobia. Bland character development is just stating that he is afraid of water. Detailed character development establishes the source of the trait, in his case, it came from nearly drowning from the cruelty of hydrotherapy he underwent while being admitted to an asylum. As a result, he refuses to go near any body of water, will not sit near it, and often acts hostile towards it when he's close to it. "It is a terrifying experience looking up at the surface from beneath the waves...Knowing that the second you gasp for air your life will slip away." There there, big guy, we know.

Without characterization, it can be difficult for readers to feel a sense of connection and understanding towards a character. Or in the case of TEF, others may have trouble associating themselves to others in the game.

Ok, that makes sense. I know the type of character I want but how do I apply traits to him/her properly?

Typically in most written works, characterization is applied by in two ways. Either explicitly by what the narrator says or implicitly by how the character acts and says. With TEF, both forms of characterization may be used. Explicitly through stories, blogs, and updates while in the game, you must use implicit characterization by acting as your character. It can be difficult to find a balance between the two, especially when in game. It is easy to write a character freely in any form you want without being influenced by others around you. In game, however, you might find yourself having trouble keeping in-character because other's around you are demanding things that perhaps your character does not indulge in or is against what you character likes or does.

Good ol' Cyph here lacks social skills. He does not know or particularly like playfulness because he feels it's foolish since he is such a professional, uptight gentleman. I often find it to be very awkward to socialize with others in game when they begin to break out into dance or gallop playfully, but to do so just because another wants me to would be breaking his character. "Thank you for not forcing me to do so." You're welcome! But the point is that for those who wish to truly stick by their character need to do just that. Stick with what your character is no matter how hard it maybe.

So what was that thing you said about a character's past again?

A character's past should be the foundation that you build them upon. Just like living beginnings, many things affect our development, and the same should go for your character. Obviously there is some beginning to their personal story. Even if you never put it into words or display it, their background should still exist and be used as a guide line when using your character. As mentioned before, for almost every aspect of your character, there should be an explanation as to why the character thinks, says, and feels the way he/she does.

Making a time line to help you remember when events in your characters' lives took place. Then if needed use a flow to make connections between events and the characters' traits. You can do a similar chart with the traits themselves and make connections on how the character should act based off said trait. After all, if you do not fully understand how your character should be, then you cannot display him/her properly.

Here is a very brief look at the complexity I threw in Cypher:



As you can see in the image above, everything is connected in someway. While to you it might look like a jumbled mess, it makes sense to me. It is ok if others do not understand your chart. It is for you after all and makes a good guide when it comes to trying to figure out how your character would react in a situation by tracing through their traits and related actions. For example, Cypher may come off being a bit cold towards new people he meets. Why? Because he has trust issues. Why? Because he was abused when he was younger. Why does he value Migs despite his dislike for birds? Because she fights away the inner loneliness that he refuses to admit he has.

"Heh, I don't need anyone." Really now? Then why did you give her a button to make her happy? And why are you so desperate to protect Shika? "Because it is the gentleman thing to do, of course." Riiiight, sure. Whatever you say.

I created a character but everyone is saying he/she is a Mary Sue. Mary Sue isn't their name! What do these people mean and want from me!?

Mary Sue is a criticism term given to a character that is overly idealized. This includes attractiveness, intelligence, unrealistic skills, usually tragic past, superhuman abilities, or other overly positive traits. Characters that are near perfect and flawless often come off as being one-dimensional and boring characters due to their perfection being overwhelming. If there is no struggle or conflict to achieve their goals, the creator runs the risk of the reader growing bored with their work since there is no suspense or any true way for the reader to relate to the character.

To simply put it, imperfections are what make a perfect character. While there is nothing wrong with wanting to portray your character in a positive light, you do not want to place them high on a pedestal, making them unreachable to everyone else. Also, do not be afraid to let those flaws cause consequences for the character. Not only should your stories progress, but your character should also grow overtime as new events help shape them.

For example, I wanted Cypher to be an alluring character that came off has being a bit of a snarky badass. So I made him handsome and dressed him sharply. (I got lucky that having a deer with clothing made him interesting haha.) However, despite his coolness, you can see that he is not what he tries to come off as being. Most of it is just an act or a display he puts on to try to intimate others while still holding some true gentlemen traits. If you read any of his writings, you will find out that he is prone to having panic attacks triggered by a variety of things and often ends up passing out due to lack of being physically fit for the demands of his job. (Even though he is centered around a non-realistic setting, I would like to think that he still comes off as being a realistic character.)

Useful Tools

- Behind the Name is a good site to refer to if you are having issues settling on a name for your character. You can use the site to specify a certain culture if you wish to base your character with cultural aspects. Or you can search for a meaning in case you are building your character around a theme.

- Zodiac signs can help give you inspiration on personality traits for a character in case you get stumped with trying to figure out the way you want your character to feel or act.

- Pyschological types can also be used as good references to helping you define your character personality by offering lists of traits and characters associated with each trait. However, you want to be careful to avoid creating a stereotypical character. A character that fits a stereotype comes off as being bland, uninteresting, and not creative. You should only use these psychological types as inspiration for traits and to have a personal understanding on how the way one's mind works affects them in order to properly "play" out your characters' actions.

- Research is another great way to properly developing a character. I spent about five days reading up on psychology, asylums, therapies, and watching horror films with characters psychologically breaking into insanity in order to try to understand why Cypher would feel the way he would about certain things and gain some insight on how he should act. So if you know a theme or a key characteristic you want you character to posses, do not hesitate to do research on it in order to use your knowledge to influence the character.