The "What Makes That Guy/Gal so interesting?" Thread

[Kyanbu The Legend]

So while working on story element for my own projects. I was thinking a lot about some of the Shows and Movies I've seen. And the characters those stories focus on and around.

What makes a character interesting? What is it about them that helps draw you into the story? What makes you care about their triumphs and struggles?

For me it's more their interactions with the world around them and how the world reacts to them that makes a character interesting. I've never really found my self being drawn away from or bored of a character solely because of their personality alone. At least that doesn't happen often. There are some rare cases where I can't stand them. Usually only when the "Idiot Hero/Heroine" trope is taken a little too far. For example, Spongebob and Patrick during and after Season 3 of the show.

What about all of you? What do you feel makes a character interesting and why?

[phil_]

Unnatural hair colors and some kind of samurai or mendicant monk motif.

Self depreciation aside, my best answer is depth. That is to say, there should be something to know about a character. Trivia is easy (birthday, height, favorite food, most hated animal). Giving a character history is better and way more difficult, because you can't just write another story and call that their background. First, it's a waste of time you could be writing the story you want to tell, and second, if it doesn't tie into the story you want to tell then it is, essentially, just more trivia. So a character becomes interesting and engaging if they have stuff to know about them and that stuff is relevant to the story they exist in, such that it decides or at least flavors their actions and emotions. But then you have to get that depth across somehow, either through flashbacks or dialogue or hints or promotional websites or other, better means, and the audience has to pick up on it.

But yeah, give me stuff to know about a character and the time I spend learning that stuff gets me pretty attached. That and ( O ѡ O) mouth.

[Arhra]

Failure.

A good character has an interior. They hold beliefs and have opinions and all that sort of thing. Some strong character establishing moments are those where you see that their idea of how the world works doesn't match up with reality. This usually means failure. This can be as simple as 'I'm a princes so you need to do as I say!' or 'I'm a hero so I'll stand up to that terrifying killbeast!'

Also, an expressive design can work wonders. One of the most popular characters I've created was a mute eyeball on a stick. You need to think about what about a character might convey information about them, and how to use these elements to communicate details.