Character Design: Back To Basics

By Ben Miff

Characters, eh? Fickle little wotsits. Espescially getting hold of the little oiks at the start. Creating them out of thin air requires a certain degree of imagination. However, there are some basics that you can follow:

Ø Age. Think of what you will be having the character do. If they should be in MENSA (or the rough equivalent in whatever world you’ve got) then it helps if they’re not still in nappies. If they will be running around, being immensely active, then unless they are extremely wise and have a very long grey beard, they’re unlikely to be nearly on their deathbed.

Ø Name. Just be reasonable. Omalymomalymom the Thirty Sixth And A Half Point Three With A Cherry On Top isn’t going to be a good name. The acronym isn’t much better either.

Ø Gender. Erm… just be reasonable. Gender doesn’t really affect much in the way of abilities (except for possibly distracting other members of the opposite sex or not), so it’s normally best to just go with what you’re comfy with.

Ø Species. Depending on the story, this may be obvious. In other cases, it may not. Think of what species tends to confer; badgers are good at sending others halfway across the city, robots the same, or intelligence depending on what they were built for etc.

Ø Appearance. This can affect the characters inter-personal skills quite drastically. An absolutely gorgeous person won’t always be the best personality; they may retreat into themselves, not wanting the attention, become sarcastic or worse, or even flaunt it to get their own way. On the other hand, ugly people may find themselves adapting to live the lonely life, or become dangerously jealous. Also, the appearance does need to suit the character; someone who’s meant to have won the Strongest Thingie competition seventeen times in a row will be a bit unlikely to build like a stick insect. And someone who spends all their time on a computer (cough) is unlikely to have a perma-tan.

Ø Mindset. Yes, this is important. If they have a “communist” mindset (we’re all equal, everybody should therefore be equal in everything) then chances are they won’t jump for joy at the chance to make someone else a huge pile of moolah just for a few quid. On the other hand, in that same situation, a capitalist mindset will try and figure out the cheapest way to do it while charging the most for it. Another example; distrusts. Some characters will not be happy to do certain things, merely because they don’t like who it’ll benefit.

These points should give you a basic framework upon which you can hang stuff. The only problem now?

Getting that stuff. I suggest the attic. Or alternatively, your mind. Even though it’s probably scary.