There’s many different definitions, so let’s just stick to the three simplest. An anti-hero is a hero that lacks traditional heroic attributes. An anti-villain is a villain that lacks traditional villainous attributes. Some define both as a protagonist who’s the villain. While technically by definition anti-heroes and anti-villains are opposites, the strategies for pulling them off successfully are very similar. First we’ll go over general tips, then we’ll go over some different models of anti-heros and anti-villains. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll be talking about anti-heroes throughout the post, but note that anti-villains can also fall into most of these categories. A character can fall into more than one category as well!
Who do we want to be? Who do we fear becoming?
Anti-heroes are compelling because of the range of emotions they evoke in us. We relate to them, admire them, and fear them all at once. When crafting your anti-hero, give them a mix of traits.
Anti-heroes should have traits we admire. These might include: intelligence, cunning, decisiveness, self-confidence, passion, good looks, charisma, diligence, resilience, loyalty, bravery, humor, vision, honesty, independence, the list goes on. Your anti-hero probably won’t have all the above, but select a few and emphasize them.
Anti-heroes should also have traits we may see in ourselves that we try to quash and fear will overtake us. Selfishness, unstable emotions, a lack of accountability, fear or paranoia, cynicism, cowardice, untrustworthiness, weak mindedness (making choices based on what’s easiest), hopelessness, blinding ambition, narcissism, the list goes on. You’ll notice some of this list contradicts the traits on the former. This is because there’s an infinite number of ways to construct an anti-hero. We may admire one anti-hero for their courage while looking down on another for their cowardice. Both can be effective anti-heroes.
Visions of Utopia
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of our anti-hero. After all, we are supposed to relate to them. Ask yourself what the perfect society looks like. In a perfect world, how do people treat one another? How do people spend their time? What do families look like? How do we interact with our neighbors? What actions should people refrain from for the good of society?
It would be a utopia if people all chose to act that way, right? Unfortunately, we can’t force people to do that. …Or can we? This type of anti-hero decides to make their visions of utopia a reality… by force. Often the necessary actions (or perceived necessary actions) to accomplish this make the world more of a dystopia than their original vision. This is the classic Machiavellian villain who will do anything to make their desires come true.
The Corruption Arc
The glorious fall of the hero. Our hero is a good person. They know what they value. But then they come to believe a lie, and that lie drives them to do bad things.
How do they come to believe it? Either a specific manipulative person or the world itself will corrupt them. This happens when the hero’s weaknesses are exploited. The anti-hero is willing to accept the lie because: they are paranoid, they seek absolution for a past mistake, the lie corroborates their belief that they’re better than others, they seek to make sense of a chaotic world, they’re angry at the world but want something tangible to direct their anger toward, the list of possibilities goes on.
The anti-hero’s moral code is twisted around this lie.
Self-Pitying
This anti-hero feels trapped. They know what they’re doing is wrong, but they don’t know how to do anything else. They see themselves hurting those who they care for and it destroys them inside, but they can’t seem to stop doing it.
These anti-heroes are some of the most difficult to write. They’re not as likeable as the former two tend to be, but they can be interesting. Really focus on making this character relatable in addition to self-pitying. Ideally, this is a character we want to cheer for to become better. The road to redemption may be the more difficult one, but we urge our character to acknowledge that just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s not there. A good hack that can make it easier to cheer for them is to have other more noble characters have deep relationships with them. If we can’t wish for the best for this character’s sake, we at least hope they’ll wake up and make the correct decision for the sake of those who care about them.
Sacrifice Many, Save a Few
This anti-hero is motivated by their love. They would flatten a city to save their lover. They’d destroy a country to save their friends. They’d set fire to the world to save their hometown. There is no barrier they wouldn’t cross to protect those they believe are worth protecting.
Power and Paranoia
This is usually an end point in a character arc. Maybe at one point in time this character did what they do to fulfill a noble purpose, but now they do it for the delicious feeling it gives them. These characters often grew up a nobody with nothing, and the feeling of being in control is intoxicating. Or maybe the character always had a privileged position in life that fueled their ego and now they truly believe they’re more deserving than others.
They are terrified this power will be stripped from them. Some of the characters do bad things in the first place because it feels good and are more similar to traditional villains. But maybe our anti-hero used to use to use their power responsibly, or at least in a manner where we can understand why the character believed that they are justified. Suddenly, though, our anti-hero sees conspirators in every shadow. Their fear motivates them to take actions they normally never would. They can’t trust anyone, and so they betray everyone.
While researching this topic, one piece of advice kept showing up:
Your antagonist needs to be affecting the story as soon as possible (even if they’re not physically shown yet). Introduce them as close to the start as possible, whether it’s physically, by name, rumors or an action they have done off-page.
• Consider introducing them passively before they physically enter the story.
If your antagonist doesn’t enter the story until later, introduce them in passive ways. This could be word of mouth, rumors, visions, dreams… something that builds up the idea of the villain before they walk into the plot. A little appetizer before the meal. Another way to do this is by having something the antagonist does off the page affect your protagonist directly.
Example: In a murder mystery, the antagonist typically isn’t revealed until the end. However, he may be stealing evidence off-page, burning down houses, sabotaging the investigators, creating red herrings, planting traps, etc.
You could also give your antagonist henchmen who carry out their evil deeds for them until the antagonist steps in themselves. In Star Wars, the main antagonist is Darth Vader, who rules The Empire. The people who work for The Empire are always chasing Luke, giving him a constant struggle and conflict.
Examples:
Fire Lord Ozai in Avatar: The Last Air Bender doesn’t enter the story until the final season. However, his atrocities are made known throughout the show and directly affect Aang and his friends.
Voldemort’s character from the Harry Potter series receives a similar treatment. He is shown in flashbacks, brief scenes and through rumors/word of mouth before he and Harry clash wands later on.
• Have your antagonist crush an influential authority figure.
Establish a character whom your protagonist idolizes, trusts or views as unbeatable. This could be a trusted mentor, a minor antagonist, an idolized father/mother figure, etc. Then, have your antagonist crush them.
When the antagonist easily defeats this powerful authority figure, it shows the protagonist (and readers) an unfathomable strength.
So this was an ask I received from @costangeles, and I thought that it deserved one of my Long Posts™ to properly answer it.
Complex characters are super, super important to any fictional work, whether it be an OC in your personal short story/novel/etc. or an OC in a fanfiction. If the characters in your work aren’t complex, the readers won’t care much about the characters and therefore won’t care much about the story itself.
Complex characters aren’t a suggestion, they are a necessity if you want your story to be successful and well-liked by your readers.
Since they’re so important, I decided to make a post on how to write them instead of just answering it on the ask.
1. Know the definition of a complex character
People take a look at the phrase “complex character” and think, “Oh, I know what that is! It’s a character that’s complex!”
They are right, in a sense, but there is so much more to complex characters than it states in the name.
According tothis document (which comes up when you Google “complex character”)
“AComplex character, also known as a Dynamic character or a Round character displays the following characteristics:
1. He or she undergoes an important change as the plot unfolds.
2. The changes he or she experiences occur because of his or her actions or experiences in the story.
3. Changes in the character may be good or bad.
4. The character is highly developed and complex, meaning they have a variety of traits and different sides to their personality.
5. Some of their character traits may create conflict in the character.
6. He or she displays strengths, weaknesses, and a full range of emotions.
7. He or she has significant interactions with other characters.
8. He or she advances the plot or develops a major theme in the text.”
Now that you know the definition of a complex character, it’ll probably be easier to write them. Technically, I could just end it here and have the document give you all the tips, but I felt like I should elaborate on the few of the points just to emphasize how important they are.
2. Your Character’s Gotta Change
Your story/novel/fanfiction is outlining a gigantic event, right? One that’s harrowing and draining and tough on the body and the mind?
Just a note: ANY NORMAL HUMAN BEING WOULD CHANGE AFTER EVENTS SUCH AS THESE.
It’s not feasible for a character NOT to change after something like this happens.
I’m going to use my book as an example:
Andrew, the main character and the narrator of the story, is an angel stuck in Hell.
Do you know what happens in Hell? Demons torture people.
Do you know what happens to Andrew? He gets tortured.
Now, who wouldn’tchange in this environment? Andrew had to adapt in order to endure the least amount of suffering as possible. At the beginning of the story, he is quiet and reserved, and easily spooked. Wary of new people.
But as the plot progresses and he’s rescued by the other characters in the story, he comes out of his shell and realizes that there’s no one to fear.
Your characters have to change like that. They may not have to go through literal hell, but they sure have to change after the event happens.
Some of you might be panicking right now because you don’t want to change your character, or can’t see a way that your character can change.
Don’t worry, I’ve made a list of traits that can be changed during the course of your story. All of these things can either go up or down as the plot progresses.
-Ambition
-Apathy
-Assertiveness
-Capability
-Compassion
-Confidence
-Consideration
-Courage
-Cowardice
-Dependability
-Determination
-Generosity
-Honesty
-Ignorance
-Impulsiveness
-Individuality
-Independence
-Insecurity
-Literally any bad trait
-Protectiveness
-Spirituality
-Tolerance
-And many more
3. They Gotta Have a Personality
This one is necessary for any character, but like with the phrase “complex character”, many people just put it into generic terms.
Think of any character from any book, movie, TV show, etc.
Now, think about their personality traits.
Notice how, if they’re a good, well-developed character, they have a lot of them.
A personality doesn’t just mean “Oh, I like pizza”.
Liking something unimportant doesn’t make a person who they are.
Liking something is not a personality trait unless that thing is super important to them like sports or school or their family. (Athletic, bookish, family-oriented)
People are incredibly complex creatures that have a whole fuckton of things that are good and bad about them. You can’t just go online to one of those “character traits” charts and pick and choose like five of them. Your character should have a whole load of traits, otherwise they’re not a complex character.
Traits should be diverse. There should be both good and bad traits. Major and minor traits.
Take a moment and write down all of your character’s traits. They can’t be physical traits, and they can’t be minor things that they only “like” and can live without.
If there aren’t a lot of them or you can’t think of that many, then your character is not complex.
This is okay for side characters, but for your main protagonist it’s a big no-no.
4. Your character has to be an active participant in the plot
THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT STAR THIS, HIGHLIGHT IT, UNDERLINE 100 TIMES
Here is the big question: Is your character moving the plot, or is the plot just happening to your character?
If you answered the latter, then you have a big problem.
I’m not even going to sugarcoat it; if your protagonist, the one you love with all of your heart and couldn’t bear to live without, is not advancing the plot, then they shouldn’t exist in the story.
Your character’s choices have to make the plot move forward. Their choices have to impact the story an cause consequences, whether they be good or bad in the long run for the whole cast of characters.
Unless your character is forced to be a passenger (whether it’s because of lack of physical/mental/magical ability compared to the supporting cast, or because they are actually forced), they should be the one in the driver;’s seat, not the one that was dragged along for the ride.
If you still can’t grasp what I’m talking about, you should watch this video, which explains it perfectly.
Cynical characters are one of my favorite types of characters to write about, because there’s so much potential for their depth and backstory. However, these types of characters often get reduced to basic “evil” and “rude” characters whose only purpose in the story is to hurt other people, which is a waste of potential.
1. What cynical characters are
First off, let’s understand what cynical characters are.
Cynical people believe that human beings are only motivated by self-interest and greed. They are distrustful of human sincerity or integrity, and are usually very negative.
2. Cynical vs selfish characters
Some often confuse cynicism with selfishness, so let’s settle the main difference between cynical and selfish characters.
Selfish people are driven by self-interests, while cynical people believe that everyone are driven by self-interests. Cynical people aren’t necessarily selfish, and vice versa.
3. Backstory
Like any type of character, the base for your character’s depth is the backstory. You have to establish why and how your characters became cynical. Some possibilities are :
• They were taught from an early age that people are naturally selfish beings, and that nobody goes through all the trouble to do or give something without expecting another thing in return.
• They had a first-hand experience that lead them to believe that people were only driven by self-centered goals. Maybe they’ve been deceived, abandoned, or betrayed by someone they believed was kind.
4. Perception
Cynical characters judge people based on the assumption that they always have ulterior motives, so they’re usually more perceptive than others. They’ll be able to tell when someone’s acting kind in order to use them.
But this isn’t always the case, because it entirely depends on the character’s other personalities. They might have a low perception level instead, because their mind immediately registers any action as a disguise for selfishness, causing them to never realize a person’s true motives.
5. Refusing help
They might often refuse help from others, since they’re convinced that everyone has motives for offering kindness. They wouldn’t want to accept insincere actions.
BUT!! Again, it depends entirely on the character themself. Consider this. Someone buys you your favorite food. You’re pretty cynical, so you know that this person is just doing it so you’ll pay for their meal next time. Will you take the food? I don’t know about y'all, but if someone offers me pizza, I’d take it even if I know it’s not sincere. It’s mf pizza.Just because someone is cynical and doesn’t believe in true kindness, it doesn’t mean they’ll refuse help 24/7.
5. Relationships
Especially for cynical characters, I think it’s important to give them meaningful relationships with other characters. In fiction, they’re often portrayed as highly aloof and cold, never accepting kindness from anyone.
While those type of characters are complex and I love them so much (THE ANGST???), there are more approaches to handling their relationships :
• They might surround themselves with people, in hopes of finally finding someone who truly cares about them without any hidden motives.
• They have friends who they genuinely care about despite the fact that those friends might have ulterior motives, because they know that selfishness is a human nature that can’t be changed, and thet decided to just accept it.
• They’re cold and skeptical to everyone except one person, who they truly love because they know that the person is genuinely kind. GRUMPY X SUNSHINE???
I’ve been getting questions on how to create characters recently, because apparently lots of y’all don’t know where and how to start creating a new character. I don’t think this post will help everybody, since everyone has different methods on creating characters (eg. some come up with names first, others come up with appearance first), but in this post I’ll be sharing my character creation process. I hope it will help! <3
1. An iconic line
This is a less well-known method to start creating a character, but for some reason it’s always how I do (and it always works lmao). It’s hard to create a character from scratch, so instead, I think about an iconic line that the character could say, which is usually related to my wip’s theme or mood. I came up with this line for an oc :
“I’ve been trying so damn hard to make everyone smile, but I get it now. The world would be happier without me, wouldn’t it?”
Justfrom this single line, I already know lots of things about this character :
• They always put the happiness of others before their own.
• They’ve probably been told that they need to have a positive effect on others in order to have the right to live.
• They’ve been trying to please others, but end up worsening things.
• They’re determined and desperate.
• …They probably had a corruption arc and won’t get a happy ending :“D
• The moment when they say this line is their breaking point
See? Just from two sentences, I already have an idea of their personality and backstory. Sometimes, I even get an idea for their appearance too. This is way easier than not knowing what to do first to create a character from scratch.
2. Appearance
Lots of people come up with character names before their appearance, but I always need to generate their appearance first, because otherwise, I can’t visualize or imagine them. I usually play around with picrew.me (an avatar generator website) to generate their potential appearance. I don’t spend too much time on this stage tho, because I’ll end up changing their appearance again after figuring out more details about my wip (that’s why I said potentialappearance).
3. Personality & backstory
After having a rough idea of how they look like, I’ll imagine them in various scenes in my wip and come up with their personality. If there are already other existing ocs in the wip, I always be careful to not repeat too much aspects from the other characters, so each character will be unique.
Then,asking why the character has a specific personality will create their backstory. For instance, if a character has trust issues, ask why. Maybe they’ve been betrayed by a loved one before? Or they live in a dangerous world where everyone double crosses people to survive?
4. Name
After I know their appearance, personality, and depth, that’s when I decide a name for the character which fit their vibes or has symbolism. For example, my character Bayu’s name is symbolic because it means "wind”, reflecting how he’s a thief who moves as fast as the wind.
Sometimes, I don’t immediately search for a permanent name if I’m out of ideas. I’ll just choose a random placeholder name that fits their vibes, and remember to come up with their real name later.
5. Character arc
After knowing all the general information about the character, I’ll begin plotting out their character arc - their development throughout the book/series and whether it’s a positive or negative character arc. This stage is the hardest for me, because I need to figure out its starting, breaking, and ending point, and also the factors and people involved in the arc. I have a post series about both redemption and corruption arcs, you can check my masterlist to find them!
In a recent post https://mauesartetc.tumblr.com/post/650139669708800000/what-the-hazbin-umim-supposed-to-feel-bad-for I criticized fans of Stolas from Helluva Boss for being so enamored with his design that they’ve ignored the awful ways he treats those closest to him. It got me thinkin’: If I removed appearances from the equation, could I still convey my own characters’ personalities with text and generic stick figures?
I referenced MIT’s 638 Primary Personality Traits http://ideonomy.mit.edu/essays/traits.html to gather some specific facets of personality for my ocs. Obviously, the list isn’t perfect; some traits are a bit redundant for having too-similar meanings, and a couple aren’t really personality-based (such as “attractive” and “sexy”). I might revise it at some point for a version that’s more useful for character development. But if you have a cast you want to flesh out with unique traits for each character, this is a great resource to start with.
I ended up picking 140 traits from the list, enough to assign ten characters five positive, five negative, and four neutral traits each. (If you try this, you can pick any amount you want, as long as everyone has the same number of positives and negatives so their personalities are balanced.) From there it was just a matter of matching the descriptors with the characters (color-coded, natch) they’d fit best.
I then drew stick figures in poses the characters would make, because, importantly: Character design isn’t just about unique appearances. It’s also about unique poses. It’s all well and good if you’ve avoided sameface/samebody syndrome, but if all your characters pose in too-similar ways, it means they think in too-similar ways. You don’t want your main cast to be a boring hive mind. I also avoided drawing faces, as I wanted these to be as bare-bones as possible, with no form of expression but the body language.
You can also take a trait from one character and ascribe it to another to create a potential bonding experience for them, or pair a trait someone has with someone else’s opposite/near-opposite trait to create conflict.
So yeah, just one method to flesh out characters. Hopefully I was successful in expressing my ocs’ personalities, as well as making them interesting and sympathetic despite the lack of unique appearances. It’s crucial for every character creator to remember that if your lovelies aren’t well-rounded and balanced aspeople, your audience will soon find them grating, regardless of how they look.
(Or at least that will be the case if said audience possesses critical thinking skills and actual standards for their entertainment.)
So you want to make an OC?: A Masterpost of Ways to Create, Develop, and Make Good OCs!
i made this masterpost in hopes that it helps you in making your own OCs ah;; it can also apply to developing RP characters i suppose! if you’d like to add more resources then go for it sugar pea (´ヮ`)!
