What makes a good character?

[Yorth]

Now, I have my own answer to this question. A very long-winded and complicated one, but one nonetheless. What I'm interested in today isn't my own thoughts about the subject though, but yours. Tell me, what do you think makes a character good?

 

[XianPiete]

A good character is one you care about.

 

[NiQuinn]

What do you mean by good? Morally good or good as in overall character development?

 

[Owl]

A character that you, even if it was the worst antagonist you can think of, will always remember and describe as someone you thought was interesting. A character you want to know more about.
(I'm interpreting 'good' as in, well-designed)

 

[Scribbler]

A good character is one you care about

How do you make a character that people care about?

What do you mean by good? Morally good or good as in overall character development?

The second one, I'm assuming.

A character that you, even if it was the worst antagonist you can think of, will always remember and describe as someone you thought was interesting. A character you want to know more about.
(I'm interpreting 'good' as in, well-designed)

How do you make a character interesting?

 

[Owl]

How do you make a character interesting?

Personal preferences. xD I can only tell you what makes a character interesting for me:
I like characters who are complex. I like it when they have their own troubles, regardless of whether others think that they are minor or major, and I love seeing characters struggle as they grow. A character is interesting for me if they form a logical existence - the way they act needs to make sense not by everyone's standards, but by their own. If it's a villain, I don't care if they have a huge, important reason as to why they are evil, it just needs to be a reason that is important for themselves alone.
If they are stupid, let them be stupid; if they are intelligent, let them be intelligent. What I like the most is if I have a feeling that the character is consistent in their actions and pursues whatever goals they have for themselves.

 

[Nahrenne]

I'd say a good character is one that feels like they're real, as in you can easily see them existing in real life.
A character who isn't just one dimensional during interactions; one who shows different sides of themselves with different people/situations.
A character whose actions make sense because of their own motivations/beliefs/characterisation, rather than because the plot needs them to do that action.

X

 

[Daitengu]

Good characters are ones who have relatable flaws and motivations for their goals. It works for all characters you want to go in depth with. And good stories aren't absolutely black and white.

Nobody is greedy for greed's sake. People are often greedy our of fear for an unknown future, or needing the social validation of being wealthy. Scrooge in Christmas Charol was greedy because of fear of death. In a time where the wealthy live longer than the poor, and no socialized healthcare like the UK currently has, amassing as much wealth as one can IS insuring their health. I mean the ghost of Christmas future WAS about him fearing death, but framed in a two part way. Him coming to terms with the fact he's gunna die, and him wanting to be known as a good guy after it.

Just some ego-maniacal villain bent on wealth or conquest is boring. What's the motivation? Usually some kind of character flaw that should be atleast picked up on. Straight up, A lot of villains just give off a small dick vibe and wealth/power/conquest is a way to compensate. It's far more interesting to get their mindset. A villain would be far more interesting if they use 'technically correct' logic to serve as reason for their villainy. Like a 'demon king' looking to conquer the world in a gambit for absolute peace is far more interesting than just because it's a thing they 'should' do as the strongest.

Or often times heroes who fight for the 'status quo' which isn't necessarily a good thing either. A naive hero who 'thinks' the current system is right, and fights for it, but has to deal with learning the war he's in is just a fight over the greed/prejudice of two different countries, is far more compelling than, the hero always starts off on the side of 'good', beats the bad guy, and the story is done. Like, the Hyrulians in Zelda games are dicks to the Gerudo people, forcing them to live in the desert. Ganon usually gets his forces easy, because his people WANT to live a better life, and the Hyrulians refuse to help in any way. But the player doesn't know that kind of thing unless they REALLY look hard at it in a few select games in the series. Wisdom triforce indeed...

 

[Arexio]

I like characters who are complex.

A character whose actions make sense because of their own motivations/beliefs/characterisation, rather than because the plot needs them to do that action.

Ditto.

As a writer, being able to portray this in your writing is what makes a story come alive.

 

[LostinMovement]

A good character is a 'human' character and by 'human' I don't mean the race aspect. A human character is one who isn't perfect, who struggles, who has ideologies and convictions, who has fears and dreams, who loves, hates and hurts. The whole purpose of literature and fiction is to understand what it means to be us, meaning 'human'.

 

[AliceShiki]

A character is interesting for me if they form a logical existence - the way they act needs to make sense not by everyone's standards, but by their own.

This is the best way to describe a good character IMO. It doesn't need to be relatable, it doesn't need to be complex, it doesn't even need to be thaaaat deep of a character... But the character needs to make sense. They need to have something that defines them (a goal, a set of morals, someone they love... anything, really.) and they need to abide to what defines them.

Of course a character can grow and be developed, and we often like well-developed characters that have complex elements to them... But at the end of the day, all I want is for the character to make sense, nothing turns me off more in a novel than seeing internal inconsistencies to the characters or to the world itself.

 

[NiQuinn]

A good, well-written character doesn't lean on tropes or cliches. What I mean by this is they shouldn't rely on what you expect them to do because the genre dictates it to be so. For example, (focusing on CN novels in particular) a black-bellied MC is expected to be cold, beautiful, confident, smart, etc. So, there's a certain expectation for the reader that you don't even really need to wonder what's going to happen next in the story. Personally, I think it's lazy writing. Painful to read too.

A solid character is someone that you know the mannerisms of, their beliefs, their attitude, their life experience, etc., that it practically bleeds into your writing. You don't have to second guess them because they'd be reacting to a certain incident based on what happened in the course of their life. Most importantly, a good character is someone the readers would believe their actions without question. It's more organic rather then an overused trope character.

*insert sigh here*

Forgive me. I don't think I'm explaining this well...

 

[PrincessFelicie]

A good character is one that fits the role they need to take in your story, yet still manages to surprise you. The moment a character makes you go "Wait... No, that's not how they'd react, this is how"? Congratulations, the character just came to life. There's other potential tells, but this is the one I know the best.

 

[ZynGrand]

What people like can be quite strange
Or maybe it's all a certain range
The truth of the matter is hard to show
Just do what you think will make it glow

 

[GDLiZy]

A character that made you rethink your plot. Or simply, a character that surprise even the author themselves. All in all, it's that one character that is memorable to everyone who read about them.

 

[gaylolis]

What makes a good character is my own preference.

If I could relate to them or at least care about them, they're good enough in my book.

 

[clover2218]

a hungry character is a good character...

a character who isn't simply willing to sit back and let things happen to them and instead is willing to take action even if the odds against them are ones they would have no chance against. hungry to do things instead of just reacting to things as they come. also a good character is one whose life has meaning in your story. whose life or death influences your story, no matter how little...

 

[FortySixtyFour]

Ya generally can't relate what makes a good character with any static traits of any kind--awful ones have the greatest potential for adding depth and nuance. Not to wax poetic on you lads, but a character isn't any set point, each character is an emotional journey ya lay out before the readers to travel, that'll begin at one point and wind up somewhere wholly different. Sometimes good; sometimes bad. Growth might nae be the right word, because an arc can take ya in any direction, and all too often the choices they make'll put them on a dark, possibly regressive path.

A great character, now; that's a busty catgirl wearing thigh-high socks.