What about a character makes you like them?

[Danchou Tsubomi]

For me, I can't really dislike a character unless they're just horrible people or something, haha. xD


I think what makes me like a character is seeing that they have strengths and flaws, just like everyone else, and they have those little details that just make the characters breathe.

 

[mammon.]

What I like about characters is, honestly, the backstory! In my opinion, the backstory makes the character who they are -- Which is why I can't tolerate a character who has a totally tragic, traumatic backstory and is just totally happy with no issues. I love characters whose backstories not only make sense, but makes everything about the character make sense. ^-^

 

[Saccharine Cyanide]

I like characters who are horrible people.  :3


I think there's a line between liking a character as a character and liking them as a person. They can be horrible, but still be a great character.


I like characters who are dynamic, who know exactly what they want and will go through all the necessary steps to get it. They brave every misfortune that gets thrown their way, even if they're unsure or afraid.  Sometimes it seems like they have no choice but to give up, and there's no other way forward, yet they still get back on their feet and push onward. Yet, very importantly, they're aware of their own limits and they're not afraid to let other people help them. That's the sort of character I can really get behind.

 

[Greenbriar]

I like depth and flaws. 


Background and history and character growth - and skills, talents or likes that are either unrelated or actively unhelpful to their purpose. 


Perseverance when things go wrong - and the player allowing things to go wrong for their character.

 

[(Member Left)]

I like muli-faceted characters with different, hidden sides to them that are only revealed through certain plot triggers. I like it when you think you know a character and can predict their every reaction, only to be surprised when they do something 'out of character'.


I think the reason is because I believe real people are like this. We play many roles in our everyday lives, for example you're a different person when you're with your grandmother, than you are with your friends. We determine other people's personalities all the time, form expectations, and are often surprised if they don't meet them. Sometimes, our characters can shift depending on who they are spending time with...it's like alchemy. Meeting with different elements, creates entirely new elements. Usually two opposing extremes that shift to find balance in the middle, as for every extreme there must always be an opposite. It's the law of all that is.


I also enjoy characters who have arcs, experience growth or decline. Experience changes us, and we are ever-shifting personalities, so our characters should reflect that.  


(yuck, excuse the essay! I do waffle on!)

 

[Idea]

In my opinion, and from what I've learners, what makes a character likeable is investment and knowledge. This isn't the character knowing stuff or being invested (though the later really tends to help), but rather the reader. The more a reader knows about someone the more invested they can be, the more they know about a character the more connected they should feel to that character that is, if the character is properly made. There has to be more to know and more to connect your ow experience to theirs.


The other aspect is investment , the character showing they are worth rooting for. Not narratively of course, but rather that their motivations, personality, style, something that pulls (not forces, pulls) the readers to be curious about them and want to learn more about the character and see them act. I realize that may seem like begging the question, but I don't have time to explain why it isn't.


More personally speaking what makes me like a character is their potential. If a character sheet shows me creativity and investment form the maker and if it shows me potential for interesting interactions with my characters, I will really love them.

 

[ApfelSeine]

My favorite characters are the ones who are fun to watch in action. Characters who are witty, or have an interesting perspective on things. My taste ranges from characters who are analytic, making their choices based on a thorough understanding of human nature, to characters who would sit down in the corner and start having a deep conversation with a chair. It doesn't matter how intelligent they are (though I do tend to like intelligent characters a lot), what matters is how interesting it is to watch them in action.


In terms of my own characters, I instinctively like them all. They're not all as interesting or proactive as I may typically like, and some are downright horrible people, but they're kinda like my babies. I want to see them succeed and get what they want, even if what they want isn't good. I also like to torment them and make them jump through hoops (which is probably not how one should treat their children).


I think I'm willing to put up with amorality, stupidity, clumsiness, or any number of frustrating character traits as long as I'm getting something out of them. If a character is not a good person, but they're interesting, I'm drawn to them and like them.


One example which comes to mind of a character who essentially arranged the murder of 10,000 people. He had the ability to manipulate people to do anything, and used that to his full advantage to push people to do unspeakable things. He presented an air of impassivity at all times, but also had many mental weaknesses. For instance, he had what was basically a shoe fetish, to the point that he'd become highly offended if someone dirtied or damaged their own shoes. He was secretly religious in a way that him to be self righteous, which is typically something I hate in people since self righteousness is so often hypocritical. He wanted to start his own religion by hypnotizing everyone in the world into joining.


So overall he was a completely loathsome human being, but I liked him a lot. He was cunning in how he was manipulating people. He maintained an air of dignity despite being messed up in the head. It was simply fascinating to watch him in action. I loved to hate him, but also kinda admired him in some ways. It was a weird feeling. The very nature of his character was thought provoking, and I tend to find enjoyable.

 

[kibou]

In terms of my own characters, it's what I can do with them in relation to everyone else's characters and the plot. What sort of misfortunes and good luck happens upon them, in the rollercoaster of life :v


Their development and their potential for change, too- I might have a few basic character development paths for someone in mind but not even I know which will happen and how my OCs will end up from one rp to another! Although, I am a bit of a sucker for tragedy and suffering.


In other people's characters, I'm not exactly sure what it is, although I can take a look at a few of my current favorite characters and see what's in common.


First off though, it always annoys me when people conflate a morally good character with an overall good character and a morally bad one with a bad character- just because if someone were to exist in real life and, having done things like they did in their story and end up as a morally reprehensible character, doesn't mean they aren't good as a character and that you can't totally enjoy them.


I understand that most characters in media are made to be relatable / hated depending on their role and actions, and I think it's fine if someone personally only likes morally good characters because I can understand why but it just annoys me so much when people act like you have to think that way.


Which is... partially related to this!! What I'm saying is that personally for me, I couldn't care less about the, uh, character of a character, but it usually ends up being how interesting they are to me, and my investment in them. I know someone above me already talked about investment though and how important it is to a story, so I won't really talk about that.


The character's I've found to be really interesting vary a lot. Meursault from The Stranger (my signature is one of his lines, I think. it's for sure from The Stranger though, lol); Kaneki, Takizawa, and others from Tokyo Ghoul; Kei from Ajin; Punpun Onodera; Hinata from Haikyuu!!; Izaya from Durararara; fuck all of these are weeb characters; Elliot from Mr Robot; that guy who's name I won't mention because his source material is not appropriate but his base characteristics are detachment, impulsivity, sadism, and childishness; Midoriya from Boku no Hero Academy...


Part of it is probably the narrative too. It takes a lot to get any amount of empathy from my shallow pool, and characters I tend to like the most are ones from the rare piece of media that manage to move me. (Like half of the characters listed even qualify for that) Maybe it's because on some level these characters either remind me of myself, I see my desires reflected in them, that it's easier to relate and get invested, or I admire some aspect of their personality/achievements.


Actually I think a huge part of it is the narrative- any of these characters in a much less interesting narrative or written by an author who's story-telling isn't so great I probably wouldn't really care about at all. 


But I guess that's also just kinda saying "badly written stuff is badly written."


I do have some tropes that I like, a character that has one or more is probably more likely to be interesting for me. At least maybe until I've seen it enough for it to be predictable. That's another thing though! Characters who's stories are unpredictable. Still applies more to the writing than the actual character themselves, though.


So, hm, tl;dr- characters that are written well, fleshed out, and from a good narrative. possibly because they're relatable or admirable, or just because it's fun watching them in action. tropes that i like are a plus

 

[yaint]

@Ghost calm down there sonny-jim i can see there's passion there bud holy shit what a weeaboo hahaha marry me


it feels as though my taste in characters (in terms of development and usage) is really weird but i'll just go with it huh


there's all the normal, boring stuff i guess. back story's gotta be realistic but also imaginative - there's no fun in a boring character who had a boring upbringing and no excitement in their lives until the rp. but it's also gotta be original. plus the good ol' '"FLESH EM OUT". habits, tics, dialect, memories, fears, hopes and all that jazz. makes them feel real.


but you want to know what i really like in characters?


secrets.


reading novels is all about the reader trying to interpret all the little hints and gubbins left in a book, and it suddenly becomes really plain and boring if they just hand all the information to you on a silver plate and tell you to eat it and enjoy it. a lot of the excitement in any plot comes with being able to work out new things and surprise yourself and others, and oh boy do secrets do just the job. ever wondered why one character has a grudge against another despite nothing ever happening between them? yeah, x years ago the guy had a run-in with their family who did some bad shit. ever wondered why one of your girls insists on avoiding a certain place? shit went down in the past and they would rather not get murdered by the guys who work there.


obviously it would be nice to have better, more well-developed secrets than the example i used, but you don't even have to say that. just make a character, and give them a secret that only you know about. finding out some other character's hidden past is like going hunting for a box of pirate gold and then finding six winning lottery tickets in a row. it's shock and disbelief and ecstasy all at the same time. and the feeling of watching someone else work out your character's secret is just as good. you feel like a criminal mastermind. you feel 200 times smarter than you are, you feel like a fucking goddess. it's amazing.


but yeah. well-developed characters? explain their habits with an outrageous secret that's going to make your fellow players shit their pants. can't have a good story without one.

 

[Greenbriar]

Secrets are good, I must spend more time on that... with GM approval, where required. 


I am not secretly an eight-hundred year old were-dragon with the power to crack the earth with one slap of my tail.


I'm not!

 

[That Lass Over There]

Well, I'm going to be short since most people have already expressed some of my opinions. What makes me like a character the most are those twists - in a rp where Character Sheets were private/didn't exist, this gets really easy. One time, my character spent an entire two months of in-game time building a friendship with a stranger in a post-apocalyptic setting - only to find out (it was a well built surprise that got me good) that the stranger had been a psychopath this entire time, building up to the kill. Another time that really sticks in my memory was when I was doing a 1x1 without character sheets, and after too much stress building up my character's act completely shattered, giving a heart-wrenching confession with the mental development of a three year old that she was extremely autistic, and had kept making personalities to hide herself and comfort the other people who's existence hurt her so much.


Overall, my thing would probably be close to twixt's secrets - it's that moment when everything ties together, every single moment of buildup is explained, and you're forced to stop and re-contemplate the character you thought you knew.

 

[Chordling]

Consistency.  A character needs to be consistent.  


The best way that I can think of to explain it is like this.  Think of a sport that you like.  Good.  Now, you know all of the ins-and-outs of this game.  You know your favorite team, all of their members, their numbers, their statistics, and when their next live game happens.  Now imagine yourself playing that sport.  How well do you think you would do?  Some of you might be pretty good at it.  Others?  Not so much.  Regardless, your research based knowledge of the subject does not specifically assign your skill level.  You need more than that.  You need to actually do it.  The same principle applies for characters.  It does not matter to me how many flaws, perfections, quirks, or secrets are on that character sheet.  It will never be able to tell how well the creator can truly portray their character.  Of course, it is not to say that leaving those details out during the creative process is better.  I certainly disagree with that statement.  It is always best to think of all of the details so that they exist.  But again, the amount of information written on a character sheet does not correlate with the author's ability to fully execute that character's personality.

 

[Bum Bear]

I see characters as a road trip. We're trying to get from point A to point B as per usual, and yes we want to get to B as soon as possible. However, and this is hella cliche, it's all about the journey that rest between those two points. Basically I enjoy the backstory, could have just went out and say it, but I wanted to drag this on a bit. Sorry. Anyways, I want to know how your character was born and how they grew into as a person. Why does this person act the way they do? I don't really care for people who are assholes just to be assholes. The reason doesn't have to be contrived or complex. Hell, it could just be because they aren't well acquainted with communicating with other (like me ʕง•ᴥ•ʔง), but don't just make them a butt just for them to be a butt even if they have a butt of their own. That ain't reason enough. As people and bears I would like to think we are defined by our actions and so I want to see what defining moment a character has had in their past.


Example: "When I was nine I was known as the Monkey King, my skills unparalleled when it came to the art of climbing. This one boy dare challenge me into a race on the school's tallest tree that sat in the middle of the playground. Of course I accepted it. I knew I could not be bested at my own game, and so after watching One Punch Man for self confidence the fact that even a blank faced guy like Saitama could hold onto great power motivating me forward. Just for a little more confidence boosting I did 100 sit-up, following along his exact training regiment. Next day, I went to school and went straight to the tree prepared to give this L to the poor Mob character. We climbed, the kid better than I expected, but not good enough. In an attempt to pass him I hastily placed my food onto a broken part of the tree, the bark jutting out waiting to put a splinter in someone's foot, and that foot just happened to be mine. I stepped on it and fell from the tree, the pain unbearable. Now I hate trees and am pro deforestation."


That paragraph made no damn sense but now he's got a reason to hate trees. A dumb reason albeit, but a reason none the less. So to put an end to this nonsensical post I'm just gonna say, I enjoy seeing how a person evolves or devolves into the person there are before I meet them in the rp. Now I ain't saying if you have a great CS then your character is just going to be the Morgan Freeman of the RP. That's a hit a miss, but I tend to fall in love with a character through their back stories. Oh, and personalities can die. I hate writing them.


Bum Bear and Morgan out!

 

[AngelicSavant]

So overall he was a completely loathsome human being, but I liked him a lot.

Would love to read an archive of that

 

[RatFlail]

Short answer: the character has to be interesting. If you need more than that, there's several books which are 300 pages+ that I can recommend...


And don't worry too much. There are professional authors that still can't get it right.

 

[Devious Dilbert]

This isn't an easy question )));


For me, It's both personality and their backstory that draws me to a character. Backstories are supposed to better shape and really expose a personality. They are this way because this happened to them and they either learned from it or they didn't. They made this decision in their past because their personality is like this. The two go together, you know what I mean? I love seeing reflections of a character's past in their present, and I love seeing personalities show out through backstories as well.


But what makes me actually like a character is their depth. I'm a sucker for character development. I love seeing growth and expansion in characters. I like seeing change throughout time. I love dynamic characters. I like watching a character in action and seeing them just be them. Nobody is ever supposed to fit an archetype and I hate seeing such stereotypical characters with only one side to them.


This is also just personal preference, but I tend to like more 'realistic' characters that are down to earth and keep you wanting to know more about them. And when I say realistic, I mean a character that is hypocritical in some way, flawed, and very complicated.

 

[Danchou Tsubomi]

Cool news, guys! This discussion was featured on rpN Monthly:

Spoiler

@Chaotic Pastel Oh, backstories are fun for me to read but I can't create very interesting ones. xD  I like it when characters have tragic backstories and act like your usual happy people, but you can tell that they're keeping the scars of the past hidden sort of thing. 


@Saccharine Cyanide Yeah, I actually like characters that are horrible people though most of them aren't written well and are just edgy for no reason, so I made sort of a generalization on that. Maybe I'm just bitter because they always kill my favorite characters. Competent characters are pretty cool, too.


@BenjiBard87 People are a lot more complicated that they look. Do you like psychology/Persona 4? That sounds very similar to what Carl Jung calls "personas" and I think you'd be interested in that.


@Idea Oh hey, nice seeing you again. I try to make characters interesting in a way that people can know a lot about them without knowing everything, like purposefully leaving out certain details for mystery. Sometimes I feel like it looks like I'm being lazy with my bios because of that, but most of the time I'm working on the backstory in the background and try to show parts of the past by showing and not telling.


@ApfelSeine There a lot of people who refer to their OCs as their children and I am one of them, so I'm probably the worst mother ever. xD I enjoy seeing my characters go through challenges and seeing their changes when facing said issues.


@Ghost I haven't gotten to watch Ajin yet but "Yoru wa Nemureru kai" is really catchy. And sorry, I was just generalizing most of the "horrible people" characters since most of them that aren't villains/anti-heroes end up as edgy and really dark for...no reason. In general, however, I prefer morally good characters though I like characters that have conflicting morals as well.


@twixt Yeah, that's probably my favorite part about characters. I always liked learning about people, so of course learning about fictional people would be fun, too!


@Greenbriar Of course you're not a were-dragon! That's just a lie to steer us away from the fact that you're really a vampire. I'm on to you.


@That Guy Over There One of my favorite twists is a character that seems like your ideal hero, one that is kind and brave. But then, you find out they're atoning for their past horrible actions and having other characters react to that is really great. Like...can they accept them as the good person they are now, or are they stuck on the character's past?


@Musician Ooh, this isn't my strong suit (my memory's like a turnip) but I try my best to keep my character the same as the sheet says. Sometimes when I'm working on a character, their image in my mind changes and  so I have to change the entire CS before I can post it. Not that it's a bad thing though it's why I take so long to post my sheets.


@Bum Bear Ah, character development is so much fun. There's a saying similar to what you're saying, "We want to bake the bread, not just eat it."


@RatFlail Yeah, I think a main part of making an interesting character is not focusing on making them interesting but making them...alive. Then the interesting part just happens, right? I can't say I know how to make an interesting character, but I sure hope I can.


@Devious Dilbert Hello again! I remember you from the Down the Well RP. ovo I apologize that I couldn't get to watch Over the Garden Wall yet (busy summer, my bad). Anyways, I too enjoy realistic characters with somewhat normal backstories. Everyone has an event in their life that shapes them. It doesn't always have to be "my village burned down and I'm the only one left", though if you can write it well and show me how they're changing because of current events, it's all good. Character development is very important.

^ Big, long wall of replies.

 

[Danchou Tsubomi]

I like muli-faceted characters with different, hidden sides to them that are only revealed through certain plot triggers. I like it when you think you know a character and can predict their every reaction, only to be surprised when they do something 'out of character'.


I think the reason is because I believe real people are like this. We play many roles in our everyday lives, for example you're a different person when you're with your grandmother, than you are with your friends. We determine other people's personalities all the time, form expectations, and are often surprised if they don't meet them. Sometimes, our characters can shift depending on who they are spending time with...it's like alchemy. Meeting with different elements, creates entirely new elements. Usually two opposing extremes that shift to find balance in the middle, as for every extreme there must always be an opposite. It's the law of all that is.


I also enjoy characters who have arcs, experience growth or decline. Experience changes us, and we are ever-shifting personalities, so our characters should reflect that.  


(yuck, excuse the essay! I do waffle on!)

By the way, though you were probably notified of it, you were quoted in rpN Monthly. 
Congratulations!

 

[(Member Left)]

By the way, though you were probably notified of it, you were quoted in rpN Monthly. 
Congratulations!

   ....... xD  !!


I've never been quoted for anything before (because I usually talk the stuff of nonsense), so that's brightened up my day!