Ultimus
New Member
Does anyone have tips on how to humanize a character more? This also goes for bad guy characters. Also, what's a good character in your opinion?
Tips on humanizing characters
- Thread starter Ultimus
- Start date
Zer0
Haiku Hitman
[SIZE= 18px]P[/SIZE]ut yourself in their shoes, and take away all fear of your character not being as cool or perfect as you want them to be and write what it would actually be like if, say it's their first day of school.
Say your character's a confident jock part of a sports club who trains diligently. When he jogs, he feels the burn of exhaustion but feels good. Tired, but satisfied, like how a person who loves jogging would feel. When he sees girls, his jog turns into a confident strut. He's so busy impressing them, that he accidentally runs into a pole.
The girls go, "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" and he stands up quickly acting as though he meant to do that or that he's fine, even though his nose is bleeding and his chest hurts, but by gods he was never going to show weakness. And then later on his buddies laugh at him after they heard about it. He has friends, relationships.
Let him have an opinion he cares about and a good reason why he believes in it. You know, not be good just because he's a good guy, but because let's say his strict grandma raised him that way. Or because he hates people who prey on the weak since he has friends who suffer because they get bullied too. And because he's got these beliefs, he gets into conflict with people with different beliefs.
Or if he's evil, he's doing it because he doesn't believe in doing things according to the law because justice is slow, or he won't succeed if he did it according to the rules. To him end justifies the means. Bad guys don't think they're bad guys. He could be blinded by anger, grief, or love even. Like he kills because someone is holding his kids hostage. Or it could just be that he is hungry and after the war he could find no other better employment and so becomes a bandit. He's not perfect, perfect is boring because nothing happens to you.
Give him something he does in his spare time too. Like making money, or pursuing a hobby, mastering an art be it fighting or something else entirely. If you must make it all about fighting, make it realistic. Like how do you get better? By training under a master. Where does a guy who's all about fighting earn money? Gambling in fight dens, getting some side job of chopping wood or some sort of physical labor.
The better your character is at something, the less better he is at other things. Like the really intelligent guy who's socially awkward because he spends most of his time reading books. Or the smart guy so full of himself for his academic achievements and popularity that he's a bit of an obnoxious jerk and doesn't have time for sports. Or the guy who trains so much he doesn't have time to cook for himself or clean his room, but doesn't mind it except when his friends tell him, "Oi, you got to stop eating fast food all the time and eat some vegetables."
Say your character's a confident jock part of a sports club who trains diligently. When he jogs, he feels the burn of exhaustion but feels good. Tired, but satisfied, like how a person who loves jogging would feel. When he sees girls, his jog turns into a confident strut. He's so busy impressing them, that he accidentally runs into a pole.
The girls go, "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" and he stands up quickly acting as though he meant to do that or that he's fine, even though his nose is bleeding and his chest hurts, but by gods he was never going to show weakness. And then later on his buddies laugh at him after they heard about it. He has friends, relationships.
Let him have an opinion he cares about and a good reason why he believes in it. You know, not be good just because he's a good guy, but because let's say his strict grandma raised him that way. Or because he hates people who prey on the weak since he has friends who suffer because they get bullied too. And because he's got these beliefs, he gets into conflict with people with different beliefs.
Or if he's evil, he's doing it because he doesn't believe in doing things according to the law because justice is slow, or he won't succeed if he did it according to the rules. To him end justifies the means. Bad guys don't think they're bad guys. He could be blinded by anger, grief, or love even. Like he kills because someone is holding his kids hostage. Or it could just be that he is hungry and after the war he could find no other better employment and so becomes a bandit. He's not perfect, perfect is boring because nothing happens to you.
Give him something he does in his spare time too. Like making money, or pursuing a hobby, mastering an art be it fighting or something else entirely. If you must make it all about fighting, make it realistic. Like how do you get better? By training under a master. Where does a guy who's all about fighting earn money? Gambling in fight dens, getting some side job of chopping wood or some sort of physical labor.
The better your character is at something, the less better he is at other things. Like the really intelligent guy who's socially awkward because he spends most of his time reading books. Or the smart guy so full of himself for his academic achievements and popularity that he's a bit of an obnoxious jerk and doesn't have time for sports. Or the guy who trains so much he doesn't have time to cook for himself or clean his room, but doesn't mind it except when his friends tell him, "Oi, you got to stop eating fast food all the time and eat some vegetables."
Borkus Lazorus
Senior Member
- What would you do in that situation? Put yourself in their shoes?
- Human characters have weaknesses. But, don't make too many weaknesses.
- Your character does something and is falliable to emotions.
Zer0 above covered everything else really.
- Human characters have weaknesses. But, don't make too many weaknesses.
- Your character does something and is falliable to emotions.
Zer0 above covered everything else really.
Zer0
Haiku Hitman
Hm . . . not sure. I didn't count the years, but it wasn't time that got me that thoughtful, it was after looking up tips online on how to be a better game master and roleplayer that I learned these things and applied them. Want the website?
Borkus Lazorus
Senior Member
Personally, I'm a Drama Student so I just use Stanislavski's techniques for most of my characters.
I just harness a memory and use it for humanizing my characters or something like that really.
I just harness a memory and use it for humanizing my characters or something like that really.
Ultimus
New Member
Yeah, link it to me please. And Borkus, It would be interesting learning something from you about characters since you study drama.
Zer0
Haiku Hitman
Borkus Lazorus
Senior Member
I mean, not really important since in drama, I have to exaggerate my character's movements and worry about facial expression etc etc.
But, one key thug that has to come through is character motivation. Everyone is either searching for one in their life or something. What really drives your character to say the least.
But, one key thug that has to come through is character motivation. Everyone is either searching for one in their life or something. What really drives your character to say the least.
wonderandawe
Most likeky not a Sidereal
I like to give my villain relatable good characteristics and my hero's relatable flaws.
For example, the PC of my last quest was a slacker who didn't do his homework. That got him in a lot of trouble as his homework usually involved important stuff like "These are the superpowers this monster has."
I had a villainous NPC who was did horrible things to help free his people. So he had good intentions, just bad methods.
For example, the PC of my last quest was a slacker who didn't do his homework. That got him in a lot of trouble as his homework usually involved important stuff like "These are the superpowers this monster has."
I had a villainous NPC who was did horrible things to help free his people. So he had good intentions, just bad methods.
Birdsie
The God-Emperor of Mankind
A good idea to humanize characters is to make them do something different, but not completely super out of character. Humanizing is actually a good pathway towards effective, long-lasting character development.
As the very name suggests "humanize." characters. This will mostly apply to villains (but not only,) to show that they are not complete monsters underneath the edgy cloth of darkness, angst and negative emotions. Several examples in practice below:
As for non-villain examples, this is hard to come by. As I said above. Humanization is mostly for characters that seem to be emotionless, cold monsters and is used to show that they are actually people with their own goals, motives, aspirations, hopes, dreams and even emotions underneath. Regardless, here are a few non-villain examples:
Note, I'm writing this late at night so I'm bound to have made some grammatical, or general mistakes, etc.
As the very name suggests "humanize." characters. This will mostly apply to villains (but not only,) to show that they are not complete monsters underneath the edgy cloth of darkness, angst and negative emotions. Several examples in practice below:
- Villain indirectly, or directly causes a village to set aflame. Despite not seeming touched, inside he is wracked with grief and searches through the village in hope of finding survivors. He finds a little girl and helps her out, crying because she lost her parents because of him and he can relate to it (#tragicbackstoryistragic.) He offers her to take his life as revenge (possibly because he's after revenge too.) The reasons for him not dying could be the realization that indeed, he still has revenge to look forward to, or the little girl lacks courage which only makes him sadder.
- The villain had a sibling that dies in a fight with one of the heroes. The villain visits their grave and as everyone thinks that he is merely there to insult his dead brother/sister for being useless, he instead stares blankly then breaks down onto his knees and starts crying in genuine grief of losing a beloved family member.
- The villainous individual gets bored and decides to visit a circus. No, he does not demand free admission or to demand that all of the circus freaks to eat 10 nuclear bombs and become his mutant army of doom. He just sits and watches with interest, laughing when something funny happens, or rising his eyebrows when something interesting is going on. Bonus points if the heroes attack him and he tiresomely exclaims "You can rest! Why can't I?"
- A villain who has been searching for a way to become immortal is beaten by the hero. He breaks into tears as the hero is about to deliver the finishing blow. The villain pleads "STOP! PLEASE, HAVE MERCY! I WAS SEEKING IMMORTALITY BECAUSE... I'M AFRAID OF DYING. PLEASE, GRANT ME MERCY!" Bonus points if the Hero responds "What makes you think that you, of all people, deserve mercy?" And the Villain answers. "I don't deserve it; that's why it's mercy!"
If you want to turn the Villain into a more noble person, then you can instead do something of: He is not afraid of dying, so he instead begs for mercy of his subordinates. This won't work if he's been relentlessly slaughtering them for failure.
- On the other hand, if you want to parody it, make the Villain say: "PLEASE! SPARE MEEEEEEEE!" And the Hero goes: "No. Also, fuck you." And the Villain lastly responds by shrugging and calmly stating. "Worth a shot." or "Can't blame a man for trying."
- (This one is not as much humanizing as adding more flavour) Another choice is that the Villain is actually the "Honorable Rival" or "You are a worthy foe" type of character. In that case you can do something like: "If I am entitled to one - as my last request I ask of you; to let me face a death with dignity. Give me a weapon and give me a target to fight so I can die fighting." Bonus points if the Hero challenges him to a 1v1 duel without the help of allies from either side and the Villain agrees.
As for non-villain examples, this is hard to come by. As I said above. Humanization is mostly for characters that seem to be emotionless, cold monsters and is used to show that they are actually people with their own goals, motives, aspirations, hopes, dreams and even emotions underneath. Regardless, here are a few non-villain examples:
- A friend of the heroes is a stoic, meaning he displays very little if any emotion, keeping it all on the inside. He actually does this because if he becomes too emotional then there will be some serious reprecussions (magical explosion, going berserk, or something of the sort,) and out of loyalty to his friends he remains calm and apathetic as not to cause an unstable storm of madness and endanger those who he loves. Now, humanization comes in at the point where a character says something funny and the stoic can't hold it in and starts laughing like a maniac, then quickly, abruptly stops as if it didn't happen, sweat pouring from his forehead. Everyone, even the eldritch abominations go: "Did... did... did he just laugh?!"
- An alien, or other outsidious race has problem understanding our human emotions and seem aggressive, evil or sinister - however all they want is peace between the races. Now, for one such example imagine you have an angel, a messenger of God. In an attempt to understand humans, he discards his own wings, cutting them off and falling onto the Earth, to live out the rest of his short, mortal life in an attempt to understand love and happiness better - the things he barely felt and yearns to discover at their fullest.
Note, I'm writing this late at night so I'm bound to have made some grammatical, or general mistakes, etc.
Last edited by a moderator:
RememberTheName
Wearing a red shirt.
Humanizing a character is easier said than done. Personally, I try to determine my characters main goal before I do anything else. What is the main force drawing him? Love? Power? Once the objective is set you are constantly as the writer referring back to that goal. A person driven by power might use shady methods to obtain that power, but they are also going to have those plans fail every once and a while. Also I would tie in the reasons for their objective into their backstory. Perhaps they are so desprite for control as an adult, because they grew up feeling completely defenseless.
Balance out the good and bad events in their life. Not everyone has a tragic backstory, some people over react to one failure and go completely rouge to "fix" something that they saw in the wrong light.
Balance out the good and bad events in their life. Not everyone has a tragic backstory, some people over react to one failure and go completely rouge to "fix" something that they saw in the wrong light.
wonderandawe
Most likeky not a Sidereal
Doubt. When I am inside my character's head, I show the character's thought process. I have them second guess their decisions and worry about how their choices turn out.
Humans judge events in their life relativity. The worst thing that has happened to a rich person with no cares feels the same to them as the worst thing that has happened to someone who lives on the streets.
I give everyone good memories. Even bad guys have things they love. Even the most abused child will remember the bird nest outside their window with fondness.
Humans judge events in their life relativity. The worst thing that has happened to a rich person with no cares feels the same to them as the worst thing that has happened to someone who lives on the streets.
I give everyone good memories. Even bad guys have things they love. Even the most abused child will remember the bird nest outside their window with fondness.
Shelter
gensokyo; eternity at the palm of my hand ♜
I guess add more action and sensation to your writing. Instead of saying, "Screw you!" Jenny said angrily.
Say 'Jenny felt her ears heat up, her heart beating rapidly while teeth began to grit together in frustration. She belted out, "Screw You!"
Of course you would need to add context to her anger but how about adding stream of consciousness. Humans don't have organized thoughts all the time, their mind wonder from thought to thought depending on what inspired them. Maybe while describing Jenny's anger you could describe the disconnected thoughts she may have.
I guess finally you should give your character a motivation beyond the rp. Maybe the event is important in the rp to your character, but maybe your character has another dream that your character wants to achieve beyond the scope of the rp like having a family or becoming a doctor.
Say 'Jenny felt her ears heat up, her heart beating rapidly while teeth began to grit together in frustration. She belted out, "Screw You!"
Of course you would need to add context to her anger but how about adding stream of consciousness. Humans don't have organized thoughts all the time, their mind wonder from thought to thought depending on what inspired them. Maybe while describing Jenny's anger you could describe the disconnected thoughts she may have.
I guess finally you should give your character a motivation beyond the rp. Maybe the event is important in the rp to your character, but maybe your character has another dream that your character wants to achieve beyond the scope of the rp like having a family or becoming a doctor.
Tedronai
Member
As others have said, humanising a character (good or bad) is about giving them relatable motives. Humans (as a species) never do anything without a reason. You don't have to personally agree with their reasons and motives but they need to have them or they end up as flat stereotypes.
Their motivation might have little to do with the story. As an example, the original die hard movie, mcclane motivation wasn't to kill terrorists or save hostages. His motivation in the movie was to reconcile with his estranged wife, the kidnapping etc was actually only an obstacle to the reconciliation. The reason people related to him was because they could imagine being swept up in something like that (wrong place, wrong time).
Their motivation might have little to do with the story. As an example, the original die hard movie, mcclane motivation wasn't to kill terrorists or save hostages. His motivation in the movie was to reconcile with his estranged wife, the kidnapping etc was actually only an obstacle to the reconciliation. The reason people related to him was because they could imagine being swept up in something like that (wrong place, wrong time).
Lorsh
Varlot
As long as your bad guy doesn't wake up in the morning thinking "I'm gonna be evil today", you should be good.
Tedronai
Member
When I wake up I prefer to let a coin toss decide for me.
Ultimus
New Member
Haha, he was a good bad guy.
You guys all have great advice btw. I hope more people will post here.
Kidstupefy
Junior Member
@Zer0 Epic stuff there. I will use it.
Devious Dilbert
Double the D, double the fun.
Motivations. Enough has been said about this, and I'm only mentioning it to show that I agree. :smile4: Moving on-
Give your characters emotions. Can't stress this enough. Dig into their psyches. Reflect their emotions, thougts even, in their actions. Now, you can have a very stoical character, but if you're doing that, give 'em triggers. Everybody has limits. Give 'em opinions. Give 'em their own philosophies, views, outlooks, attitudes towards things. Completely detach your own mentality from your character. Think in their mindset (unless you are the character.) You can use your own experiences as reference, but try to think about how the character would react or what the character would say/think, and not yourself. This can be hard, and it takes a very understanding person in my opinion to think in another person's shoes.
Hobbies and interests. What does your character do? Having small things that your characters enjoy, or are intersted/passionate about is another really good thing. Your character is doing something in between the plot progressions. It helps showcase that your character is indeed a being, and not just a label like "good guy", "bad guy", or just "protagonist."
Bonus: It'd be cool if we got more villains that partake in hobbies and interests and aren't always scheming evil.
Little things count. Give your character a favorite something and a hatred or dislike for something else. Likes and dislikes. Favorite colors, foods, animals, whatever. Little details like this can make a character feel more alive.
Bonus: Preferences too are good. The character might not particulary like something, but prefers it over something else.
Don't be afraid to have your character conflict their own morals/opinions/whatever. People conflict themselves all the time. It's normal. Or maybe even the character isn't sure how they feel about the subject, and so their views tend to fluctuate.
Bonus: a character showing frustration in having to do something that they don't agree with is a good thing. Or maybe guilt after doing it, remorse, shock, disgust, or maybe the character finds out that it didn't really bother them like how they thought it would. Maybe they actually found that they liked it.
Make a character reference people or things from their backstories. Again, little details count. Bonus if the character reflects pieces of their bio in their personality.
Ex: A character that survives a life threatning accident is extremely cautious and obsessed with the safety of their loved ones.
For the evil guys, they don't always have to actively be evil. Evil characters can just chill sometimes.
Give your characters emotions. Can't stress this enough. Dig into their psyches. Reflect their emotions, thougts even, in their actions. Now, you can have a very stoical character, but if you're doing that, give 'em triggers. Everybody has limits. Give 'em opinions. Give 'em their own philosophies, views, outlooks, attitudes towards things. Completely detach your own mentality from your character. Think in their mindset (unless you are the character.) You can use your own experiences as reference, but try to think about how the character would react or what the character would say/think, and not yourself. This can be hard, and it takes a very understanding person in my opinion to think in another person's shoes.
Hobbies and interests. What does your character do? Having small things that your characters enjoy, or are intersted/passionate about is another really good thing. Your character is doing something in between the plot progressions. It helps showcase that your character is indeed a being, and not just a label like "good guy", "bad guy", or just "protagonist."
Bonus: It'd be cool if we got more villains that partake in hobbies and interests and aren't always scheming evil.
Little things count. Give your character a favorite something and a hatred or dislike for something else. Likes and dislikes. Favorite colors, foods, animals, whatever. Little details like this can make a character feel more alive.
Bonus: Preferences too are good. The character might not particulary like something, but prefers it over something else.
Don't be afraid to have your character conflict their own morals/opinions/whatever. People conflict themselves all the time. It's normal. Or maybe even the character isn't sure how they feel about the subject, and so their views tend to fluctuate.
Bonus: a character showing frustration in having to do something that they don't agree with is a good thing. Or maybe guilt after doing it, remorse, shock, disgust, or maybe the character finds out that it didn't really bother them like how they thought it would. Maybe they actually found that they liked it.
Make a character reference people or things from their backstories. Again, little details count. Bonus if the character reflects pieces of their bio in their personality.
Ex: A character that survives a life threatning accident is extremely cautious and obsessed with the safety of their loved ones.
For the evil guys, they don't always have to actively be evil. Evil characters can just chill sometimes.
Last edited by a moderator:
Tedronai
Member
Tying into another threat I was posting in, it's not enough to describe a character. Just giving them an appearance doesn't help you relate to them, they have no more a personality than an extra in a movie scene.
As a very crude example, telling me they're wearing a grey suit tells me little to nothing. Telling me that their grey suit is immaculately pressed or rumpled and frayed at the seams describes two very different characters. You can probably already imagine those characters a little because you're unconsciously attributing thought processes or backstories on why the suit is one way or the other. Your learning something of their thoughts without me having to spell it out.
What if I tell you the guy in the rumpled, frayed suit is thin, bordering on emaciated. The suit no longer looks like it fits him. His hair is neatly combed but looks dry, straw-like even. Or perhaps the guy in the same frayed suit is borderline obese, the buttons on his shirt are strained and glimpses of rotund flesh can be seen between where the shirt is pulled tightest.
You've probably started filling in some of each of these guys backstories. Now your backstories might be different from the one I have in mind, and to begin with that's not a problem since we don't expect to learn a character's life story all at once. Just so long as your backstory doesn't contradict anything you detail readers will generally be forgiving, although the longer you leave them in the dark the more attached to their own interpretations they become. They may inevitably resent the 'truth' when its revealed (or example fans reactions Wolverine's origins in the graphic novel of the same name).
As a very crude example, telling me they're wearing a grey suit tells me little to nothing. Telling me that their grey suit is immaculately pressed or rumpled and frayed at the seams describes two very different characters. You can probably already imagine those characters a little because you're unconsciously attributing thought processes or backstories on why the suit is one way or the other. Your learning something of their thoughts without me having to spell it out.
What if I tell you the guy in the rumpled, frayed suit is thin, bordering on emaciated. The suit no longer looks like it fits him. His hair is neatly combed but looks dry, straw-like even. Or perhaps the guy in the same frayed suit is borderline obese, the buttons on his shirt are strained and glimpses of rotund flesh can be seen between where the shirt is pulled tightest.
You've probably started filling in some of each of these guys backstories. Now your backstories might be different from the one I have in mind, and to begin with that's not a problem since we don't expect to learn a character's life story all at once. Just so long as your backstory doesn't contradict anything you detail readers will generally be forgiving, although the longer you leave them in the dark the more attached to their own interpretations they become. They may inevitably resent the 'truth' when its revealed (or example fans reactions Wolverine's origins in the graphic novel of the same name).
Ultimus
New Member
Could you go into more detail about this? Sorry, I just found it really interesting, I feel like there's more you can enlighten me with on wardrobes, clothing styles and accessories.
Tedronai
Member
I certainly can. I'm using a phone at the moment, so not ideal for lengthy posts but I'll reply again later. If you have a specific character in mind write a little about them in the meantime and I (and sure others) can help you brain storm a few ideas to humanise them. Once you've done it once you'll be equipped to try it with another character.
The gist of it is that whatever detail you tell the reader, you do it so that it tells them something about the character's personality, inner thoughts, etc.
It doesn't stop at clothes either. For example if I had a character who was bright and cheery, a bit of a day dreamer, I'd give them bright blue eyes and use simile/metaphor to liken them to a summer sky. If they were cold and distant I'd use more ice analogies. The detail then does more than paint a picture, it starts the reader's mind along certain thoughts. Again, simple examples but hopefully you get the idea.
The gist of it is that whatever detail you tell the reader, you do it so that it tells them something about the character's personality, inner thoughts, etc.
It doesn't stop at clothes either. For example if I had a character who was bright and cheery, a bit of a day dreamer, I'd give them bright blue eyes and use simile/metaphor to liken them to a summer sky. If they were cold and distant I'd use more ice analogies. The detail then does more than paint a picture, it starts the reader's mind along certain thoughts. Again, simple examples but hopefully you get the idea.
Ultimus
New Member
Damn your symbolic! That's so cool, please hurry and get to your computer, I'm desperate to learn more of your style! And I do have a character, I created him to be a hard worker, I guess you could say he's stoic because he prioritizes his work more than anything, so he has never had time to make a friend. Deep down he wants someone he can be loyal to other than his father, all his old man does is frustrate him. He's very athletic because of his dad as well. When my character does find time for his self, he likes to feed animals. Dog, cats, birds, ect. He does origami to calm his soul. I haven't touched up on anything else, but he's over-confident in his ability to do things. He looks down on people who lack the drive to make things happen for themselves, he doesn't like hearing their excuses, so he might end up being a jerk to people by telling them they're weak.
Last edited by a moderator:
Saccharine Cyanide
One part sweet, two parts poison
My go-to method for humanizing characters?
I base them on human beings. Usually, someone in my family.
I know and for the most part understand all of my family members' weird quirks and flaws and fears and hopes and dreams. I understand why they behave the way they do because I know their history, and from personal experience, I also understand how their behavior affects the people around them, positively or negatively. So now, I can picture how my characters behave, and more importantly, I understand why they behave that way. I can also visualize how their behavior will have an impact on other characters and on their world.
I base characters on myself too, because hey, I'm a human being who does human stuff. Plus I know all my weird quirks, hopes, dreams, and struggles and flaws and things.
I base them on human beings. Usually, someone in my family.
I know and for the most part understand all of my family members' weird quirks and flaws and fears and hopes and dreams. I understand why they behave the way they do because I know their history, and from personal experience, I also understand how their behavior affects the people around them, positively or negatively. So now, I can picture how my characters behave, and more importantly, I understand why they behave that way. I can also visualize how their behavior will have an impact on other characters and on their world.
I base characters on myself too, because hey, I'm a human being who does human stuff. Plus I know all my weird quirks, hopes, dreams, and struggles and flaws and things.
