Character Design

There seems to be a misconception these days that characters in books, films and games are only good characters if they’re likeable or relatable.

 

I think personally this shows a fundamental inability to recognise that you can like a character without agreeing with their principles or actions.

 

Yes I understand it's a video of a man playing fifa 11 but trust me, he's talking about the likeability of characters.

 

Is a big thing to be able to relate with characters, empathise and become emotionally invested in their story and actions. This and the desire to know more about a character are large parts of what drives many gamers to pursue the game and it’s storyline. A good character is adored by fans and is the centre of not only his own story in-game, but also fan theories, fan art and fiction written by fans. A memorable, beloved, character can be the driving force behind a successful game, film or book franchise; think of Lara Croft, or Harry Potter. All icons in their own right, their franchises would be just another drop in the fictional ocean if their figureheads hadn’t been so memorable to fans.

Curse of darkness Castlevania; generating memorable character with girlish hair (http://castlevania.armster.org/scans_cod.php)

As a child most of my favourite characters came from fantasy Literature – Garion of the Belgariad, Harimad –Sol from the Blue Sword and Gil and Rudy from the Darwath Trilogy. It’s certain what made them memorable for me; normal people, often young, brought up in a normal setting and risen to greatness and adventure through time. It’s easy to see how these characters would interest and inspire a young mind who’s grown up in the same little village for her entire life. They’re relatable; everyone’s felt like that little person before. Aimless, small, pointless. To see a character break from this gives the reader hope that they can too. They may not even have to; living through the character is often enough and this investment in the character’s success and failure. This is a simple wish fulfilment technique.

As I’ve gotten older, my taste in characters has changed; though still firmly routed in the fantasy genre, it’s diversified in terms of character type. I no longer need to find a character I relate to personally to generate interest in them.

Finding a decent picture of Garion is suprisingly tricky

One of the characters I find most interesting right now, along with half the internet, is Loki Laufeyson. Not only from the Avengers Assemble film but also from Marvel comics, particularly journey into mystery’s recent Kieron Gillan run. Loki’s actions and Loki’s origins are by no means relatable; he’s stolen, murdered and generally proven himself time and again to be a reprehensible character not to be trusted or sympathized with. But that’s not the only things that make a character memorable; Loki is characterized by his ruthless nature, sharp cunning and distinctive dress sense. He’s an antithesis to Thor the hero and he’s equally as beloved despite a nature that should be repellent.

Loki's in your City, destroying your infastructure and coveting your Tesseracts

The ability to do things the reader might want to do but knows is unreasonable is another good reason for a memorable character; remembered for their actions and the shock they cause, they also fulfil the wish fulfilment part of the human psyche; the character will do what you wouldn’t dare, and you’ll love them for it; for who doesn’t desire to be at least a little wicked?

Of course it’s the character’s design that makes them recognisable; at a glance you can differentiate between Link, Sonic and Mario. It’s the design that makes you notice and recognise, but it’s definitely the job of the script and the acting to make the character memorable. With the best design in the world, if a character is one dimensional, wooden or boring then all the fans will say is ‘What a shame; they looked so promising’.