- assholes that are nice to only one single person
- sweetheart that went through too much messed up stuff
- sad gods
This was a conversation my friends and I were having earlier about our characters: everyone has certain character archetypes they're a sucker for-- or maybe ones that they can't help but keep making. What's your poison?
You can interpret this generally: maybe archetypes like "jerks with a heart of gold", personality traits like "smug", storylines like "friends who fall in love", whatever types of characters you love to see or create!
My characters:
a) idiots but they try
b) feelings are hard let's never talk about them
c) conflict resolution is hard let's never talk about it
OH MAN without a doubt i am an absolute sucker for the following:
- super idiotic and energetic characters who just happen to have great luck or charisma that they survive off of when it comes to crazy antics
- characters that come off as bubbly but are really smart and/or hardworking
- straight up mean girls who don't take anyones bullshit and are absolute bosses
- very dry, deadpan characters who very few people get but are giant weird softies on the inside
for storylines i love things like "written in the stars" destiny stuff where people are bound to be enemies/lovers/fight/etc,, "theres no major epic plotline just silly daily life shenanigans" and "main character is like a shonen and too OP and beats everyone up bUT IS STILL LOVABLE HOW-"
this is such a cute thread tbh omg
- dark skinned gals who doesn't take life too seriously and always speak their minds.
- seductress, often outright vamps or succubus
- most healer archetypes
Call out post: Cai
- has like three types he constantly recycles
Lmao for real though these are definitely mine:
- Blond pretty boy
- Looks pretty, is either nasty or a total fool
- Chaotic mess with a heart of gold
- Femme fatale who could kill me and I'd say thanks
- Small angry
- "My name is X and welcome to Jackass"
- Looks like an idiot, is actually smart
- Witty and flirty
- Noble who isn't interested in being one / wants to pursue something outside of their social standing, often arts
Edit // I also have this whole theme of "otherness" going on like a good chunk of my characters are somehow considered to be "the other", whether it's because they seem smarter than their peers (to the point of everyone being kind of intimidated and scared) or someone who isn't treated as a person because of who they are or what they are like despite being human. It definitely has a LOT to do with my own personal history of being treated as different from others in good and bad (mostly in bad) but I do find it really exciting as a concept as well! And it gives me so many juicy opportunities as a writer to tackle down difficult subjects
- Doesn't have their life even remotely together and is by all appearances a complete disaster, but still manages to keep trucking along
- Murderchild who is genuinely friendly and likeable but is also, unfortunately, irredeemably evil
- "Sometimes the line between good and evil is actually extremely easy to distinguish, stop trying to claim your actions are morally gray"
- Fear and anxiety make them seem closed off and cold
- Bubbly and cute but has a tragic past and/or horrific magical powers with no apparent good use
I'm also really fascinated by this quote here:
"Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvelous, intoxicating."
So I like making characters whose acts of evil make boring and pitiful at best. I only have one evil character uploaded and I don't think that comes across in his profile at all, but it's part of his overarching story.
The main category seems to be - "Outer appearance : cool looking dude / actual role in plot : comic relief derp". This just exposes how much I like to make fun of my OCs by randomly throwing stupid gags at them, no matter how initially they weren't supposed to be comic reliefs at all. And I confirm that no OC of mine can escape this fate, muahahaha----
The rest are:
- What you see isn't what I truly am (harsher on the outside, kinder on the inside / pleasant looking but actually manipulative and hard to please / a coward who's super anxious around strangers but can harm them if they overstep his privacy to the point he freaks out, etc.)
- Unrealistic idealists (set themselves up for disappointment or agitation repeatedly when things don't go the way they hope)
- PTSD changed my personality
- People deem me scary because I'm not good at socializing and my face just gave them that impression
- Hurt someone in my family and you're dead
- I'm not supposed to be tall and muscular but my physique still turns out that way :/ (aka the usual problem with my drawing style which I draw every OC like they're at least 6' tall even though in reality they're shorter and lighter than that.)
- Introverts United
- Quiet Extrovert/Undercover Introvert
- Looks like an arsehole but is actually a cinnamon roll
- Actually is an arsheholes and makes sure everyone knows it but somehow still manages to have friends
- 20 mile wide personal space bubble
- Oh shit FEELINGS how do returns work (describes most of my shippy stuff LOL)
- "I don't like talking about feelings please leave"
- Forgot one: It was supposed to be a casual thing but became a serious romance
this is honestly a good question because it forces me to look at the main archetypes I cherish lmao
- the nearly unlikable anti-heroes slash morally grey characters who are somehow the protagonists ***
- the survivors
- "ugly"/atypical characters appearance- and personality-wise
- lovable idiots & lovable delinquents that don't have their lives together
that first one is basically the premise for my main story with the others sprinkled in there. most of my characters fit into these categories,,,,, oops.
- boys that have some degree of femininity (none of them go to the full extent of being a "femboy" tho)
- characters who like to escape from / alter reality
- geeks (i'm talking the type of people who go to cons and stuff)
- cinnamon rolls who need to be protected
- yanderes
- manchildren (95% of my male characters fit into this??? theyre all like 30+ but act like theyre 15)
- very bad at expressing feelings but tries their best
- in this house, we are all traumatized
- almost every guy is muscular in some way but i keep drawing them with noodle arms???
- highly specific personas