Writing Tip: Advanced Character CREATION

[OokamiKasumi]

Advanced Character CREATION
Hero ~ Villain ~ Ally
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There are three essential characters in every story. There may be any number of side characters, but in traditional Adventures, and Romances of every stripe (erotic or not,) the main conflict is usually, if not always, a TRIANGLE of complimentary opposites.

Translation: You could tell the whole story with ONLY these Three Characters; perhaps not with any real detail, but you could still do the entire basic plotline.

THREE Characters?
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I'm sure you're familiar with the names Hero & Villain or Antagonist & Protagonist already. Those are pretty darn standard. However, always there, though seldom named is a Third character, the Ally -- the Companion to the Hero or Villain

The Invisible Character: the Ally
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The Ally’s function is to be the Middle-Man, the nay-sayer that presents an opposing view to both the Hero and the Villain. The Ally is the Obstacle Character who adds complications to the plot, making matters worse for both the Hero and the Villain, generally by getting in the way.

In Romances, this character is the Love Interest. In modern mainstream fiction, and tons of movies, this is the trouble-inducing Best Friend or Interfering Relative, (often a younger sibling). In comic books, they’re the Side-kick. In traditional fiction, they were known as the Victim.

In ALL cases, the Ally’s fate turns the plot at the Climax, usually by needing to be rescued, and more often than not, the Ally is also the story’s narrator, or the Viewpoint Character.

Okay… So, if you already have a Main Character and a Villain, all you need is an Ally, a trouble-maker to stir the pot…err, PLOT.

Here’s the tricky part. When dealing with a story with a large cast, the three characters swap out, they change places at Every Scene Change ~ BUT ~ each scene still only contains, three main characters.

Main Characters: Hellsing
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Protagonist: Alucard
Antagonist: Sir Integra Hellsing
Ally: Seras, Victoria

When these three Hellsing characters occupy a scene together, though it’s rare, those are the parts they play. However, when Alucard & Seras Victoria are in a scene together, Alucard plays the Protagonist and Seras the Ally (and narrator of the scene,) with whatever third character being the Antagonist. On the flip-side, when Sir Integra Hellsing and Alucard share a scene, Sir Integra plays the Protagonist and Alucard the Ally. Whatever third character shows up usually plays the Antagonist.

Confusing isn’t it? It gets even more so when the cast is as large as that of Naruto, or Lord of the Rings.

Memorize this: The Larger the Cast, the Longer the Story.

Why is this so important? The more people you involve in your story, the more plot-threads you’ll need to tie up at the end. In other words, every time you switch your triad of characters, you are in effect creating a whole new story that MUST be concluded IN ADDITION to your lead characters’ story.

This means that if you only plan to write a short story, you need to keep the story focused on your main three characters. That doesn’t mean you can’t have other characters, it just means that those extra characters shouldn’t contribute to the story as anything more than window-dressing or props. (Or body-count.)

Once you decide on your Three Main Characters, how do you make them work together? By figuring out what makes each character tick…

The Quick and Dirty Method:
THREE QUESTIONS
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Have each of your three characters answer these three questions:
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1. Who am I and what do I do?
2. What do I want?
3. What is the worst thing that could happen to me?
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The first question, “Who am I?” should clue you in as to what each characters’ greatest weakness is. The second question, “What do I want?” gives you their motives. As for the third question, by combining the answers to “…the worst thing,” this should give you the big reversal, the story’s darkest moment at the center of the story.

Example:
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1 - I am an heiress and a Knight to my Queen.
2 - I am on a holy crusade to destroy the unholy monsters that prey on humans.
3 - Give me control of a creature more monstrous than any monster out there -- and make me like him as a person.

1 - I’m a dangerously powerful and insane Vampire that hates monsters.
2 - I want a leash for my insanity, a master capable of controlling me at my worst.
3 - Make my master a physically weak and short-lived human.

1 - I am a Cop that became a vampire. (Well, it was that or die...)
2 - I want to save lives.
3 - Have me discover that the vampire that made me is dangerously insane, and that there's a real possibility I will eventually become that way too.

This method works especially well when you have three excellent characters but you’re not quite sure what kind of story you want to write for them.

Advanced Character Development
Traits & Flaws
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To thoroughly understand what makes your characters tick, use this character sheet for Each of your three main characters. This method is particularly useful when you intend to write something the size of a novel.

Character Sheet
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• Name:

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• Designation: “I am a…”

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• Positive Trait: “I’m liked because…”

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• Negative Trait: “I’m disliked because…”

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• Ego flaw: “Makes me great yet could destroy me…”

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• Ambition: “I want…”

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• Motive: “I’m doing this because…”

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• Internal Conflict: “I am troubled by…”

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• External Conflict: “I am thwarted by…”

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• Secret: “I don’t know or I am hiding…”

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• Ordeal/Reversal: “Last thing I ever want to happen…?”

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• Epiphany: “I will discover…”

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• Bio:

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You’ll notice that I left out some of the more obvious things found in most character sheets; jobs, skills, physical descriptions, and other technical data. This was done deliberately. By using a character sheet that maps out only the Heart and Mind of your character, you’re free to use the SAME character in other stories under other names.

Example:

• Name: Alucard
  From: Hellsing
  Genre: Modern Gothic Horror
• Designation: Vampire
• Positive Trait: Loyalty. It’s not protective – it’s territorial. “My master…”
• Negative Trait: His insanely monstrous nature is beyond his own will to control.
• Ego Flaw: He’s suicidal.
• Ambition: As a slave to a stronger will he can keep the damage down to specific targets and hold onto what little of his own sanity is left.
• Internal Conflict: He knows that he is more terrible a monster than anyone suspects. He deliberately attacked and baited the first Hellsing into binding him – in fact he told him how to do it. His binding came as a relief. He never expected his dark nature to be as overwhelming as it became. The fact that the man's daughter, Integra, is strong enough to actually hold him at bay is a source of joy, but he is well aware that his nature is only growing stronger – and will destroy her if it can.
• External Conflict: "Where the hell are all these man-made monsters coming from? Clearly someone is far more insane than I am."
• Secret: He intends to tell Integra how to destroy him, if he can make himself do it, but he suspects that his destruction may not be possible anymore.
• Ordeal/Reversal: "The worst possible thing that could happen to me...?" “Falling into the hands of someone crazier than I.”
• Appearance: Tall, handsome and literally coming apart at the seams.

In Conclusion…
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The fastest way to make characters is by starting with a familiar character, such as a movie character or actor, and warping them to suit your needs. Both of these methods should prove handy to do just that whether you are working with known characters for a fan-fiction or creating new ones for something entirely original.

Enjoy!

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DISCLAIMER: As with all advice, take what you can use and throw out the rest. As a multi-published author, I have been taught some fairly rigid rules on what is publishable and what is not. If my rather straight-laced (and occasionally snotty,) advice does not suit your creative style, by all means, IGNORE IT.

[Sapphi]

I just wanted to say that I read this on your DA and thought it was very good advice.
(It helps that you used Hellsing as the example )

I do think Integra, Alucard and Seras follow the Protagonist-Antagonist-Ally triangle, but I'm not sure that their questions and answers here really formed the basis of the plot in Hellsing, at least in terms of the reversal. (Then again, I haven't seen either show yet... so I can only speak for the manga.)

I do know that when I first saw this guide, I compared the story I'm writing to it and found that I had completely unwittingly created a main plot with a Protagonist, Antagonist and Ally, and that the Ally's fate does in fact turn the plot. I guess I'm doing something right! ^_^

[Minnfae]

Three? I thought the minimum was one, and many of my stories don't really have antagonists (but the circumstances themselves drive the characters' conflicts).

[OokamiKasumi]

I just wanted to say that I read this on your DA and thought it was very good advice. (It helps that you used Hellsing as the example )

LOL! I'm glad you liked it.

I do think Integra, Alucard and Seras follow the Protagonist-Antagonist-Ally triangle, but I'm not sure that their questions and answers here really formed the basis of the plot in Hellsing, at least in terms of the reversal. (Then again, I haven't seen either show yet... so I can only speak for the manga.)

That's because it doesn't. The writers for that show Screwed Up, royally. However, if you watch Hellsing Ultima, which is the actual story, it's very clear that this is what's going on in the plot.

By the way, using those three questions on a set of characters in a BAD story is a good way to reveal where the author went wrong in the story.

I do know that when I first saw this guide, I compared the story I'm writing to it and found that I had completely unwittingly created a main plot with a Protagonist, Antagonist and Ally, and that the Ally's fate does in fact turn the plot. I guess I'm doing something right! ^_^

Good instincts!

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Three? I thought the minimum was one, and many of my stories don't really have antagonists (but the circumstances themselves drive the characters' conflicts).

I always get this whenever I post this tutorial. Sigh...

Just because a story has only one human character does not mean that there is no Antagonist or Ally.

Man against Nature
-- In a "man against nature" tale, Nature is the Antagonist out to get him. Anything at all that helps them achieve their goal becomes an Ally from the rope that keeps the mountain-climber from falling, to the rusty clunker of a car that gets an office-worker to work on time despite all odds.

In 'The Old Man and the Sea' by Hemingway
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> Protagonist -- Old Man
> Antagonist -- Ocean / Weather: Unpredictable and dangerous.
> Ally -- Huge Fish: the trophy that will bring him the money he desperately needs.

Man against Man
-- When you have only two characters one naturally falls into the position of Protagonist, and the other into Antagonist -- even if they're best-friends or even lovers. Anything that wanders into their conflict becomes the ally of one or the other --sometimes of both-- whether its a Person, an Animal, Shelter from the storm, or a Gun.

[Victoria Jennings]

Three? I thought the minimum was one, and many of my stories don't really have antagonists (but the circumstances themselves drive the characters' conflicts).

I don't think that the antagonist and ally necessarily have to be people. The circumstances are the antagonist, and anything that holds your character back is the ally. 0:

[OokamiKasumi]

Three? I thought the minimum was one, and many of my stories don't really have antagonists (but the circumstances themselves drive the characters' conflicts).

I don't think that the antagonist and ally necessarily have to be people. The circumstances are the antagonist, and anything that holds your character back is the ally. 0:

Exactly!
-- However, the Ally isn't what holds him back, but what helps him, even if it's an inanimate object.

[Victoria Jennings]

However, the Ally isn't what holds him back, but what helps him, even if it's an inanimate object.

But up there, you were talking about how the ally is the obstacle character? I didn't actually see any helpful traits from what you listed, though I suppose I should've assumed from the fact that it's called the ally. Still. xD

[OokamiKasumi]

But up there, you were talking about how the ally is the obstacle character? I didn't actually see any helpful traits from what you listed, though I suppose I should've assumed from the fact that it's called the ally. Still. xD

Yes, the Ally possesses an opposing Opinion; they quarrel, complain, and constantly remind the Protagonist that what they're trying to do is a Bad Idea, but they still try to help.

In Full Metal Alchemist, Al, Edward Elric's brother, is always protesting Ed's decisions, and constantly tries to prod Ed in less destructive directions. That doesn't stop Al from helping Ed any way he can -- even though the reason Al is little more than a ghost haunting an empty suit of armor is because Ed did something he really shouldn't have.

In Ao no Exorcist / Blue Exorcist, Rin, the Protagonist of the story is more than half demon. Yukio, his twin brother -- and Ally, is an exorcist (trained to kill demons.) Yukio is often openly antagonistic toward his half-demon brother, but that doesn't stop Yukio from doing everything he can to save Rin when he's in danger.

[Dim Sum]

Man against Nature
-- In a "man against nature" tale, Nature is the Antagonist out to get him. Anything at all that helps him survive becomes his Ally from the rope that keeps the mountain-climber from falling, to the rusty clunker of a car that gets an office-worker to work on time despite all odds.

Incorrect to context of most minimum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism_(literature)

Naturalism was a literary movement taking place from the 1880s to 1940s that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character. It was depicted as a literary movement that seeks to replicate a believable everyday reality, as opposed to such movements as Romanticism or Surrealism, in which subjects may receive highly symbolic, idealistic, or even supernatural treatment.

Man against Man
-- When you have only two characters one naturally falls into the position of Protagonist, and the other into Antagonist -- even if they're best-friends or even lovers. Anything that wanders into their conflict becomes the ally of one or the other --sometimes of both-- whether its a Person, an Animal, Shelter from the storm, or a Gun.

Incorrect to context of most minimum.

As with naturalism: dream plots, confessionals, documentaries don't require allies.

Good character study example:

The Times of Harvey Milk vs. Milk

Milk: Ally: James Franco/people
Times of Harvey Milk: Ally: Enemies/neutrals you have to win over

Milk: Enemy: Nature/Man/Political scene/Main Antagonists
Times of Harvey Milk: Enemy: None

Similar example relying on pseudo-documentary instead:

Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427312/

Enemy: Self
Ally: Director
Character: Self/Director's Biopic of Timothy Treadwell

Not good writer version but this bad writer believes beating 3 man trick requires at least these steps:

#1 Write in a spiral.

The Ouroboros or Uroborus[1] is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.

If MC is inconsistent then viewer would have difficult time attaching tag of ally or foe to unknown entity.

Note: Different from simple foes becoming allies later on or allies becoming foes for MC.

#2 Let characters age

If viewers have read young age MC version and can empathize with why latter age character is not "pure" then readers would second guess which is protagonist and which is antagonist or if there is any of those tags at all

Key step #3 Morally real vs. morally ambiguous

Why documentaries can sometimes have this effect. Morally real = ambiguous but both sides presented.

Final step: Man against Ignorant Viewer

Why Man against Man or Man against Nature need Ally or Foe?

Cause of Conflict

Except: If viewer does not understand conflict, then they must "fill" conflict with their interpretation. If they must "fill" then you don't have to "fill".

Common example: If war is wrong on both sides, viewer must see either empathic foreign "enemy" or patriotic "country men soldier" and if competent writer, something "everything is not what it seems" comes up to portray first three steps later. (but writer trying to defeat 3 characters must do NOW)

However: IF key step 3 is morally real rather than morally ambiguous and if conflict is ignorant like if people are ignorant of how Treadwell the MC/the protagonist is actually being an antagonist to those grizzlies he claims to protect then three step can be cut down to two step cause viewer's mind is going:

Yeah, yeah

<passage of time after movie ends/research is done>

Oh...so he...???

...but...

Did director really mean?

Sometimes great director could pull this off without movie having ended but either way, it's like RenPy code

If viewer's interpretation = this then:

This is who Hero-Villain-Ally is in his head

else:

This is who Hero-Villain-Ally is in his head

Note: This is different from changing Hero-Villain-Ally from using branch dialogues and switch sides. In fact, this is advanced step too. Many films often considered bad even after pulling this trick while others come off like acid trip but as absolute minimum this bad writer believes absolute minimum can be minimized into two characters each with one q:

1st char:

The viewer thinks this is their guide to the story

2nd char/scene/camera angle:

The viewer thinks this has relevance

...so long as writer can channel viewer thinks, three character defeatable much as it is possible to be scared of real life cockroach as phobia of Main character, to kill real life mini-ant who bite you and feel them as Villain even for a brief second or think of real life drugs as Ally.

[Minnfae]

I posted that comment because you referred to all three 'forces' as characters, and you can't quite consider a particularly useful knife or an awful weather as characters.
Also regarding 'Anything at all that helps him survive becomes his Ally', I'd replace survive with 'achieving his/her goals'.

[OokamiKasumi]

I posted that comment because you referred to all three 'forces' as characters, and you can't quite consider a particularly useful knife or an awful weather as characters.

Sure you can! You just have to think Creatively.

Also regarding 'Anything at all that helps him survive becomes his Ally', I'd replace survive with 'achieving his/her goals'.

Good point. Done.

[Minnfae]

Sure you can! You just have to think Creatively.

I meant, they're not characters unless they are somehow sentient. When the knife is just a knife and the story is written in a way the reader isn't supposed to empathize with it, it doesn't really counts as a character, but just an element of the setting.

[OokamiKasumi]

I meant, they're not characters unless they are somehow sentient. When the knife is just a knife and the story is written in a way the reader isn't supposed to empathize with it, it doesn't really counts as a character, but just an element of the setting.

A literature or creative writing teacher would certainly agree with you. However, the way I use the term Ally, it doesn't have to be a sentient being. In fact it can be a MacGuffin: "a plot device that motivates the characters and advances the story," which can be anything from an object to a idea. If it helps the protagonist toward his goal, AND the story cannot happen without it, it's an Ally -- and that makes it a Character.

[buttdumpling]

WOW this was so helpful!!!!

I was having a really hard time coming up with the appropriate tension in my story & this cleared it right up!!
This is SUPER helpful for a story without a clear cut hero/villain aspect and very few characters.
UGH THANK YOU seriously this just solved a problem that's been eating at me for MONTHS

[OokamiKasumi]

WOW this was so helpful!!!!

I was having a really hard time coming up with the appropriate tension in my story & this cleared it right up!!
This is SUPER helpful for a story without a clear cut hero/villain aspect and very few characters.
UGH THANK YOU seriously this just solved a problem that's been eating at me for MONTHS

Excellent! I adore being helpful.