Character 104: Defining your Character
Greetings and Secodont! Yes my teeth are very sharp, thanks for noticing! Today we are going into the next step of the character journey with Anne and me, building on the previous blogposts in this series! Enjoy!
(Anne:) Characters have a variety of defining features. We’ve gone over some in previous posts, but today we’re going to tackle character abilities, their position in society, their beliefs, their morality, their relationships, and then of course we’re going to answer the most important question: What about Bob? So let’s get started!
The Abilities of a Character
(Vivian:) A character who can do nothing is not a very engaging one. Look at John sitting in a corner staring at the paint drying because he cannot even stand up right… BORING!
(Anne:) So boring! If you want more than drying paint levels of excitement in your stories, we’ll go through some different kinds of abilities your characters might have.
Physical
(Vivian:) This one is as simple as it is not. With physical. we mean here, let me do what I love:
Abilities derived from the potential things a body can naturally do.
Now, what do I mean with this? In the post on genre, I went into the concept of “Novum,” which in short is something that could believably be derived from the real world. We are doing this to add some more here as otherwise the list gets incredibly short. Physical abilities include but are not limited to:
Physical strength
Vomiting acid
Great eyesight
Superior hearing
Rortron sense
Anything that can believably be derived from a body. Heck, generating electric fields can be one too as eels do that!
Just an FYI, Rortron is from my Stellima universe, don’t have them up or a post about them yet but it's an important trio of particles there. It is a novum but here made into a sense! I need to make a species that can do this… on my to do list now! Anyway, it is on the list to give an example in a scifi sense ability.
(Anne:) Vivian always recommends looking at nature for inspiration, and I definitely second that recommendation here! Physical bodies can do some weird things, and we don’t even understand all of them. You can have your characters purr like cats, and while it’s derived from a body, it’s not something we understand yet!
Mental
(Vivian:) Let’s keep the definition party going!
Abilities derived from the cognitive processes of the mind.
I wanted to say “brain” but, robots technically don’t have it and they are a form of sexy alien too! If sexy is applicable. You might also have other things where the concept of the brain is not applicable. Anyway, what are some examples?
Stress tolerance
Pain tolerance
Emotional maturity
Emotional intelligence
Logical intelligence
Knowledge of fields
Experience
Empathy
So it is very varied, but the mind has a lot of things in an itty bitty space!
(Anne:) In physical, we brought up senses based on things in a specific story as an example of something physical, so I’m going to bring up something that can be mental or can be fantasy/scifi depending on how it’s set up: psychic abilities. If they’re considered part of the mind and a mental ability, then it’s, well, a mental ability. But there are plenty of stories where it isn’t naturally derived from the mind, so it wouldn’t go here. Just keep in mind that your world might allow mental abilities that are different from ours!
Fantasy/Scifi
(Anne:) As you’ve been reading this, you might be thinking, “Wait, you’ve already covered some fantasy and scifi abilities!” And yeah, technically we have, but they all fit into either physical or mental. For this category, we’re talking about something different. Vivian loves zhir some definitions, so I’ll try my hand at one!
Abilities derived from a source not available with our current understanding of technology, science, and the nature of reality, or that is the product of augmentations based on novum.
Wait, why is my definition four times as long as Vivian’s? I guess Lady Verbosa strikes again! Anyway, while many abilities are at least loosely founded in the body or mind’s potential functioning, there are some things that just can’t happen with our reality. Some lean towards fantasy, some towards scifi, and of course there’s some crossover. A few of these, and these are by no means the only options, are as follows:
Self-powered flight
Psychic powers/Psionics
Elemental powers
Breathing underwater
Superhuman speed
Invisibility
A cyborg arm you can launch missiles from!
As you can see, these require a bending of how our world works, either through magical or fantasy means, through changes to the physics of the universe, or through technological advancement based on novum.
(Vivian:) When it comes to augmentations with technology, be very creative! I like Fullmetal Alchemist because they got very creative with their cyborg version automail! It’s a Switzer knife in the shape of a giant metal arm! And despite what Anne says, psionics and psychic powers go here! It might have the description of mental stuff, but it is a fantasy power that was grandfathered into scifi by ESP research once done that I want thrown out of scifi and into fantasy! But it is okay to do scifan (science-fantasy) like Star Wars does. I win this because RAWR! 🦁
Caution
(Vivian:) A thing I wish people to pay attention to is this: all abilities–mental, physical, and fantasy/scifi powers–all can be a form of a “strength” that strengthens a character through those abilities. Many seemingly professional writers seem to forget that strength is not just the ability to beat the shit out of another character, but also your ability to use any of your abilities–mental, physical, scifi/fantasy–to your advantage and gain a more favourable position in the situation and over time.
The Culture
(Anne:) Ah, culture! Such a fun thing to develop! Honestly, this is probably my favorite thing to flesh out in a story. I’m going to lift a little from Vivian’s blogpost on culture for this list of things included in culture, which is by no means exclusive:
Beliefs (religious, cultural, what is worthwhile, what matters in life, etc)
Expected social behaviours (things like greetings and what it means to be polite, etc)
Customs (rituals that are done at specific times like sitting down for a meal, holidays, etc)
Style (art, architecture, music, literature, etc–basically, what is beautiful)
Language (this can be shared between locations but is usually rooted and primarily developed within a single culture)
(Vivian:) One thing to pay attention to is that culture is like a Matryoshka doll. There are more cultures within cultures and cultures within those cultures! This is an important step in accordance with my rules on worldbuilding to make them feel more alive and lived in.
(Anne:) In addition, culture doesn’t come from nowhere, and the physical setting, the goods available, the ease of communication, all of this impacts how the culture develops. Cultures aren’t static either, and they interact all the time. Pay attention to the setting to know the physical characteristics that shape culture as well as the nearby cultures that would influence the culture’s development.
Also, quick plug for Vivian’s post on aquatic civilizations where you can really see how the physical environment impacts the culture!
Their Position in Society
(Vivian:) Every society has a hierarchy in how people are organised, some at the top, some at the bottom. Now you know the real one 😉 Jokes aside, all societies have one, some more codified than others. Two examples are the three estates and the Indian caste system, which still exist but are no longer codified, and so on.
A few general rules of thumb start with this: whoever owns the largest, most beautiful, most decorated buildings are the ones at the top. The second rule of thumb is this: the higher up in the hierarchy you are born, the less hardships you face, the easier it is to get things, the more power you have by just existing.
This is one reason why, for example, those higher up might be more oblivious, more spoiled, and all those delightful traits we associate with rich people… They sure have nice buildings, though.
(Anne:) One of the fun things to explore in a story is where exactly your character falls, not just in terms of birth but also childhood, adulthood, and desired interactions with other levels. Things happen, as they did with poor Bob, the character that we’re developing throughout these character posts, in our post on childhood, where someone with wealth and power loses it. Vivian and I talk about it more in our post on trauma. People can also scrape their way up the ladder sometimes. When you create your world and story, make sure to consider how much social mobility is in your society to know how and why people can advance or slip in the hierarchy.
And then, of course, what does your character want? Are they happy with their spot in the hierarchy? Or are they ready to burn the world to ashes so a new, better, more equal society can rise like a phoenix? (Obviously I’m a fan of the latter). And if they’re unhappy, what exactly don’t they like? Make sure you don’t have characters with our modern-day values if your setting is completely different. Think back to culture. Even if your character is super progressive, they’re still bound by their world. But it can be fun to explore exactly what the tipping point is for your character or characters. What about their place in the hierarchy makes them susceptible to the needs of the story?
(Vivian:) Something something…
(Anne:) This message has the Winchell Seal of Approval! It’s always a good time for REVOLUTION!
Their Beliefs
(Vivian:) You believe stuff, I believe stuff, we all believe stuff. And where you and I disagree, you’re wrong! Nah, such people are annoying. But maybe that is what your character believes? Or maybe not. One important aspect to think on when it comes to beliefs is something Anne and I are trying to get into people’s noggins by using a drill, a match, a pair of underwear, a rubber string, a crochet hook, and then MacGyver it somehow. Namely that people's beliefs are ones that exist within society already, or are a derivation of already existing beliefs, or are acquired somewhere else. People are products of their surroundings.
(Anne:) I know that’s sometimes an excuse people give for older people’s racism or sexism or whatever–”they’re just a product of their times”–but that’s not a good comparison. When people say that about living individuals, those individuals are fully capable of changing with the times and advancing in the same direction as their society. They’re just choosing not to for any variety of reasons.
However, when you’re talking about a character who lives and dies in a specific culture, their beliefs are going to reflect that culture. A medieval knight isn’t suddenly going to have modern Western values when they don’t exist anywhere nearby. You can include things that help, like having your character travel to distant lands or gain an education that expands their knowledge in a similar way, but it requires effort. Characters really are products of their worlds, and it isn’t just because they’re obstinate.
I mention above some types of beliefs to consider, but in general, figure out what they and the people around them believe is worthwhile and what it is that they value. This gets reflected in things like religion, but also things like a character’s love of reading, because they believe that reading is worthwhile. Think of all the possible things that your character believes and incorporate that into the story, because your character’s beliefs will make them believable!
Their Morality, or what is right?
(Vivian:) This one carries a lot of similarity to beliefs, but in many ways, it has one thing regular beliefs do not. Namely, people are born with a certain sense of morality. It is about as generic as it gets. Don’t hurt too much, don’t kill, don’t be a douche. You get the point; it is as generic as a fork. I say this because studies on babies show that even before they can properly speak, they are willing to do kind things, refuse to do certain things, and this is at a large scale of babies. Of course, we have those that don’t care, and we usually find out they are psychopaths or the likes.
To start changing these moralities requires work, and it requires strong beliefs. After that, these generic, universally applied moral senses can start becoming selective. Some can be outright beaten out of the child (figuratively and literally), some cannot. The “do not kill” one is really difficult to get out of humans for some thankfully peculiar reason. But what this means is that as the character grows up, they might resist certain moral reasons with the beliefs because they violate, to that character, too much of their inner morality. This can then facilitate rejection of some commonly held beliefs or modifications of them so they don’t violate their morals anymore! Aren’t brains amazing in their eternal pursuit of consistency over truth?
(Anne:) A lot of morality comes down to interpretation as well. We all have the same base morality, but how it’s interpreted matters and is directly related to culture and beliefs. “Do not kill”? What about in self-defence? Okay, maybe there’s an exception there… And if there’s one exception, there might be another. What if that other person isn’t equal and so isn’t really a person, and killing them isn’t really killing? Another exception, and you can see the slippery slope.
If a culture encourages or creates space for these exceptions, then your characters will be more likely to believe these exceptions are still the morally right thing to do. If a culture doesn’t, they probably won’t. But maybe your character can see that these are exceptions, and inexcusable exceptions at that! Okay, maybe it’s time for revolution! Haha, or not. But you can see how morality quickly turns from the generic mould Vivian introduced to something much more nuanced and individual.
(Vivian:) One final addition to this, when it comes to morality, especially toward the more dubious parts, is that distance eases a lot. If you gotta strangle someone to death, it feels more immoral than sending 50 thousand to their death in order to checks notes acquire ancestral land you haven’t had claims on for over 50 years and you freely gave the land to when they were part of you for almost 80 years… Who wrote this!?
(Anne:) And you know, a little radiation poisoning feels less immoral than a firing squad!
No man is alone, not even the wolf
(Anne:) One of the most annoying myths is the whole “lone wolf” thing because in reality, wolves are highly social creatures who are very, very rarely alone. The whole “alpha” male thing commonly attributed to wolves is also pretty dumb since it’s not based in reality, just a study of wolves in captivity who obviously don’t interact the same at all.
(Vivian:) The wolves were also not familiar with each other and had to form their social order ad hoc.
(Anne:) So basically with this section, we want to emphasise that people, like real wolves, are part of dynamic, complex webs of people (and other creatures too!) that shape and mould them every bit as much as their culture and beliefs.
(Vivian:) This is part of the teenage experience. You have them desperately trying to push away from their parents so as to form their own identity, but at the same time, they are equally desperate to fit in with whatever they call their peers. This is because they are not loners, not even that goth emo edgy kid that says they need no one.
I am autistic and pretty much a person who prefers solitude over social interactions, but I will tell you this, I will go bonkers if I don’t get my fair dose of other people.
(Anne:) If you want to see some of the damage that isolation causes, check out what we wrote about bullying in the post on trauma, and the section on loss, and actually the whole thing, since most trauma is about having your social fabric cut in some way.
(Vivian:) There is a reason why solitary confinement is considered a form of inhumane torture. Anyway, the main point is, there is a spectrum of how much social interaction people need. You have the super social needy ones that would drive me up the wall, and you have the low level ones that require a small amount, and then you have most in between. Even the trope of the lone gunslinger needs people in their life, but a bar stop and a few card games might fill their social interaction tank more than enough as they head to the next town.
(Anne:) Character interactions can be a fun, wonderful part of your story, and giving them, or withholding them, is a great way to reveal your character. As Vivian says, even the lonest loner that ever loned needs interaction in some way.
(Vivian:) Besides, who doesn’t love a loner that in their own little way says “I want you along” by saying “Come if you want, I won’t stop you,” and then later on in their arc says, “I’d love to come with you”? If not, I know your IP! 😛
Significant Relationships
(Vivian:) Okay, so people are not true loners, they have relationships. Everyone has significant relationships that go beyond normal ones. It can be parents to children, cousin to cousin, all family connections, and then all that are not family. Friendships can be extremely significant, even more than love! Albeit it is fair to make the argument that this is still some kind of love even if it is not romantic or familiar at which fair. I won’t argue, I love my sister in that kind of nonromantic love!
(Anne:) Vivian alludes to romantic relationships but obviously these are significant too. The problem is that when a lot of people talk about relationships, they gravitate towards the romantic or sexual ones and ignore the others. So yes, your characters will probably have crushes and loves and broken hearts and that’s all excellent to develop, but don’t neglect the many other relationships that exist. Vivian and I will write an entire post outlining types of relationships in the future… it’s on the list!
Romantic and Sexual Relationships
(Anne:) I guess while I’m at it, I’ll talk briefly about romantic and sexual relationships, which are not the same thing, by the way. You can be romantically attracted to someone, as in the feeling of being in love, without being sexually attracted to them, and you can be sexually attracted to someone, as in the desire to do you-know-what (Vivian: It involves a 🍌 and a 🍩) with them, and not feel an inkling of love.
These relationships shape us dramatically throughout our lives, and for most of Western culture even today, marriage is seen as sort of the ultimate goal for people. A lot of our milestones in becoming an adult involve romantic or sexual relationships in some way. So you can’t dismiss these relationships, and you also want to really analyse whether it’s love, lust, or some combination.
And by the way, your characters might not have any romantic or sexual attraction too! Aro and ace characters like me are great! Or it might not fit into the story you’re telling. Whatever. It’s not required, but when present, these are very powerful relationships.
(Vivian:) I hate that it is “ace” and not “ase” from asexual. Actually, given the normal derivation, it should be just “a” 😛 You are neither a card nor a pro at something! Anyway, yeah, it is perfectly legit to exclude, as I do not do romances. I focus more on…
Friendships
(Vivian:) In my writing, this is often the most important one because it is a relationship type that means a lot to me… Might be because of the constant absence of it growing up due to my autism and the frustration over social obligations to family members and frustration at my own mother and… Wait, this is not a therapy session!
Friendships are acquired over a shorter time span than family, unless we talk about romance which is not here. They are often marked also by a certain fragility as they can more easily be broken. But don’t let this make you think they are always like that. A good friendship can outlive all other relationships! Seriously, all relationships can outlive other relationships, so what is the point?
The point is that it's a relationship like any other and should not be discounted as lesser because of the belief that romance or family relationships are the pinnacle of relationships. They all matter in different ways! I just happen to find it much cuter and adorable and cool when someone throws themselves into danger to save another person not because they wanna do some genitalia dancing, hormone release package, or growing up with them, but because that is a choice they made and built with mutual liking and understanding. But that is me.
(Anne:) This sorta links in to the “found family” trope that I think goes more with friendship than family because it isn’t the family you’re born with, it’s the family you choose. And I for one absolutely adore this trope.
(Vivian:) Found family trope is a trope that if I was a 🍆 I’d get 🪨.
Family Ties
(Anne:) Family relationships are usually our first relationships. For better or worse, we tend to learn how to do relationships from these starting relationships. If you don’t start with a good foundation, you might struggle with relationships your entire life. So when you’re developing your character, really spend time thinking about these. The post on childhoods can help you see what kinds of childhoods often lead to which kinds of traits, which allows you to really dive into your character’s history and ability to form these relationships.
Ideally, your character will have a loving relationship with both (or all) parents and rich, fulfilling relationships with any siblings, plus a warm connection to more distant relations. Does that always happen? Ha. Yeah, no. Family relationships can be incredibly toxic and bring out the worst in your characters. It’s sometimes exactly the dynamic you’re going for! Because keep in mind, relationships don’t have to be positive to be significant!
Sometimes that overly dramatic and needy sibling showing up desperate at your doorstep after a history of throwing away money you’ve lent them in the past and maybe even abusing or bullying you is just what the story calls for! And sometimes just having that character in your life gives you the bitter edge to refuse to lend money to that wayward orphan who looks so sad, and your rudeness turns off a friend and/or lover, and look at that, family relationships have poisoned other relationships!
(Vivian:) Family is the worst! 😛
(Anne:) Again, your character is in an interconnected web of multiple relationships at all times! Balance the multiple relationships to build the character and story you want.
Pars Quartus Summa Bobi
(Anne:) And just like that, it’s time for Bob again! You remember Bob, right? First, we developed the world of Aermundi in a general sense regarding how mana works, then in a more specific way regarding his experiences. We gave him a childhood that started out great until the deaths of his parents in a mana-fire. We traumatised him with those deaths and put him in an abusive relationship with his boss, who pretends to love him like family in order to get free labour from him. We took away his excellent education, but gave him friends to keep him informed as he learned the ins and outs of SMEs (Space Mana Engines) with almost no assistance from his boss.
(Vivian:) And here people say authors are not terrible people…
(Anne:) Mwahaha! Well, now that we’ve gotten Bob to his current status, let’s look at what makes him unique.
First, his abilities are fairly normal for someone from his planet. He’s human, for the most part, but sensitive to the mana in the world around him. He’s dependent on the life mana exuded by habitable planets (it’s what makes them habitable!) and imitated while on spaceships, and other types of mana have various effects depending on the type. However, he isn’t a mage and can’t use mana for magic, and luckily he doesn’t have any mana diseases. He’s pretty smart. That’s one of his strengths! Great intelligence.
(Vivian:) He knows mana-tech!
(Anne:) Yes! And that’s pretty unique for his world. His culture is rooted in mana, obviously, since the people are dependent on it, and while in today’s world, most people are agnostic or atheist, the worship of the twelve mana deities runs deep in their customs, language, and even government structure.
Bob started at the top of the hierarchy and fell to the bottom in an instant with the death of his parents and the revelation that he had nothing after that. Through hard work and help from his friends, he managed to avoid true poverty, and now has a fairly middle-class existence with a good job and minimal needs. He’s pretty content with the status quo, though he envies the ease of his friends’ lives as they inhabit the upper echelons.
(Vivian:) Bob is a decent person despite his history. So morally he has the classical good guy vibes about him. Now as for his beliefs, he believes nothing is static in life as he has gone from top to bottom and back up again. He also believes that the only way to be certain of your position in life is through hard work, otherwise you are just a raft in the mana sea. An additional belief he has is that he believes one should always be fair. He has had enough unfairness in life that he thinks should be fair even at a loss.
So you can easily imagine that while he would help anyone, if you are a snob about your position in life… he might get less inclined to help you to teach you a lesson.
(Anne:) And if you tell him that his hard work in your company is the only thing that can keep him afloat and play on his desperate need for family after his loss, you can manipulate him quite a bit… Enter his relationships!
Bob had a close, warm, loving relationship with his parents. He was an only child and well-loved, but not spoiled. His parents did a wonderful job, and their loss severely traumatised Bob as he began seeking replacements for his lost parental figures.
Luckily, Bob had a core group of friends who didn’t let him fall through the cracks. These are his true friends who will help him no matter what, and the (nonromantic/nonsexual) love between them is undeniable. They helped him stay afloat, and in the current setting, they’re trying to get Bob to see the truth about his boss, who forms the most important relationship for our story purposes.
It’s unclear whether she groomed Bob or just found him and quickly learned his weaknesses, but she’s an abusive boss who claims to love him like a child because the company is all one big family. Bob, still desperate for family after all these years, happily falls into that myth. What can I say, he’s a bit gullible! His boss constantly assigns overtime and throws all the dirtiest, most difficult projects his way. Bob, valuing hard work, completes them eagerly as he believes this will help him maintain the societal position he worked so hard for.
Slowly, though, his friends’ words are starting to creep in, and when a diver starts inquiring whether he’d be interested in working on their ship while travelling between worlds, Bob hesitantly begins that new relationship. Will this stranger prove a better mentor than his abusive boss? Only time, and the storyline, will tell!
Summa Summarum
(Vivian:) Characters are hard work! Yeah they are, so many cogs to make this one cog working! All here are important, but one to focus on in this post is abilities, if you ask me. It dictates what they can do and cannot do, and like in our character flavours post, it is important to not give them too much or too little!
Of course, relationships and that will dictate how they interact with the world, so nothing to sneeze at! But people focus much more consciously on abilities than relationships, which is wrong, but I don’t make the world. If you make your character overly sweet, the consumer might call them the dreaded M.S. word! 😱
(Anne:) Since Vivian picked the cog that zhi thinks is most important, I thought I would too. At first I thought relationships, obviously. People don’t exist in isolation, and we learn who they are through their interactions with others. But those relationships are significantly impacted by a character’s morality and beliefs as well as their abilities, and all of that is tied to their culture, so…
Yeah, I’m giving the sort of cheater’s answer that they’re all important. I don’t think I could point to any one thing as being more important than the others. And I love creating each of the cogs here, though I will say I enjoy relationships the most. As you create your characters, seriously consider all of these things.
If you don’t know your character’s abilities, culture, position in society, beliefs, morality, and relationships, you don’t know your character. If you step back and really examine the character you have on the page, you should be able to identify those things even if you haven’t consciously put them there. Give it a try, and your audience–and characters!–will thank you.
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Copyright ©️ 2024 Vivian Sayan and Anne Winchell. Original ideas belong to the respective authors. Generic concepts such as aspects of character are copyrighted under Creative Commons with attribution, and any derivatives must also be Creative Commons. However, specific ideas such as Rortron, the world of Aermundi and its specific usage of mana, the character of Bob, and all language or exact phrasing are individually copyrighted by the respective authors. Contact them for information on usage and questions if uncertain what falls under Creative Commons. We’re almost always happy to give permission. Please contact the authors through this website’s contact page.
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