Favorite Character Archetypes

[sabazurc]

I do not like damaged characters. I like IET novel main leads, I like ISSTH main lead. Grounded, talented, not too crazy, and has similar morale to mine.

 

[SootShade]

I like the deeply mentally and emotionally scarred ones who are still determined to make the most of life and keep trying.

Bonus points if they're the type to protect/act as a guardian to others.

There's something incomparably touching about a character who's struggling but still sympathises with and cares for the needs of others.

This is exactly what I'm all about. A character that can overcome tragic personal circumstances and emotional adversity, and emerge from it as a heroic and admirable figure, is simply by far the most rewarding for me to read or write about.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Seto Kaiba, Tony Stark. The point is that their companies used to make weapons, but they don't do that anymore.

 

[sabazurc]

This is exactly what I'm all about. A character that can overcome tragic personal circumstances and emotional adversity, and emerge from it as a heroic and admirable figure, is simply by far the most rewarding for me to read or write about.

Hmmm...for me sometimes such characters feel shallow because often they feel unreal. They are damaged but they do not feel realistic, "damaged" just seems just another badge to make a character seem cool.

 

[SootShade]

Oh yeah, that can absolutely happen. I find that adding a tragic aspect to a character to make them more cool/badass generally has very mediocre results, maybe because it tends to be used as a reason for the character to be emotionally distant and closed off, for the sake of mystery or whatever, which obviously doesn't really make particularly good use of whatever the tragic aspect of their character is.

On the contrary, I prefer for the story to be told from the perspective, and inspect the internal world, of a character with such a trait. The actually admirable aspects emerge from them actually dealing with their difficulties, and from overcoming them successfully, rather than from being tragic in itself. It's really the good ending that they strive for, and hopefully reach, that makes the struggle on the way take on an inspirational quality.

 

[Moonpearl]

Hmmm...for me sometimes such characters feel shallow because often they feel unreal. They are damaged but they do not feel realistic, "damaged" just seems just another badge to make a character seem cool.

It depends how it's handled. Anything thrown in with little to no thought will come out shallow, whether it's happy or sad.

But it's not uncommon for real people who are traumatised to react by wanting to stop other people experiencing that same trauma in the future, and working hard towards that goal. Or by developing strong principles to never become like the people who hurt them, pushing them to do good and look out for others.

 

[EternalSunset0]

Some interesting answers. I can kinda see a pattern, too.

Keep the answers coming. Thanks!

 

[sabazurc]

But it's not uncommon for real people who are traumatised to react by wanting to stop other people experiencing that same trauma in the future, and working hard towards that goal. Or by developing strong principles to never become like the people who hurt them, pushing them to do good and look out for others.

Maybe it's sometimes the skill of the author but when they try to write it comes off as shallow. Tbf writing about some deep trauma and its effects in a way the reader genuinely feels it is not easy. But I would rather see a "normal" character written on a poor or average level than a poorly or averagely written "damaged" character.

 

[gaylolis]

i guess the best aspect for my waifu character is to be a good listener, genuinely care about the protagonist, and is trustworthy.

it's kinda like best friends with an extra step.

their personality doesn't really matter. it's more about their chemistry with the protagonist.

if i limit myself to specific personality types, it just eventually gets boring to me. i guess it's more important to have a personality that feels alive. i don't need them to act in a way i like, but i want to admire how they're just being themselves and makes me smile when they're with the mc.

 

[EternalSunset0]

i guess the best aspect for my waifu character is to be a good listener, genuinely care about the protagonist, and is trustworthy.

it's kinda like best friends with an extra step.

their personality doesn't really matter. it's more about their chemistry with the protagonist.

if i limit myself to specific personality types, it just eventually gets boring to me. i guess it's more important to have a personality that feels alive. i don't need them to act in a way i like, but i want to admire how they're just being themselves and makes me smile when they're with the mc.

Yeah chemistry goes a long way. It is the magic element that can elevate even plain relationships to something that you really feel something for when watching something.

 

[BenJepheneT]

Horny AND honest. Those who are self-aware on how fucking slutty/horny they are compared to the general populace (instead of "oh no I'm sleeping in the same bed with MC in nothing but a two piece I don't see no wrong in this")

 

[LoliGent]

For males, I like the typical young shonen style guy who is proactive, loud, just gets in and gets things done or messes up big time, but gets up and tries again. This is mostly for young boys, hence the shonen, but young men are also of this preference. I do like a more subtle young man as well that is more meticulous and more careful, but I still prefer them to be confident. Older men, I prefer them to be more cunning and shrewd, think outside the box, use that thing in their head called a brain. This is the whole experience thing in play as they use their honed skills rather than their brawns. Not that that I don't mind a guy who can fight, but I prefer if they can use both their muscle and their brain.

For females, I wish to see more meek and timid women in fiction. I feel like we have way too many of these strong, independent, amazonian women that can tear apart a car with their pinky finger and can fight an army for hours on end. That's all well and good, I don't mind reading a woman like this, but I gravitate to the woman who is the opposite. Not necessarily weak, they can still fight, but I like the more sweet and innocent woman who is just calm, shy, and maybe introvert, though that last one is not necessary. Pretty much, I like women who are cute and and gives you that warm feeling. Girls, on the other hand, I want the opposite, what most people write women as. I want to see them as badasses who fight back, who sometimes stands up against the adults (though secretly I wish this happened all the time but that's not really realistic) and act more like their shonen boy counterparts. The younger, the more proactive I wish for them to be. Do I like cute meek girls? Yes, but I do not prefer them. I prefer those traits go to a woman. I guess what I am asking is that I want at least one meek woman and one strong and independent girl, i.e., the roles reversed for each.

 

[Derin_Edala]

I like "rival/minor enemy who catches Feelings partway through the story and is really grumpy about it"

 

[BenJepheneT]

This is exactly what I'm all about. A character that can overcome tragic personal circumstances and emotional adversity, and emerge from it as a heroic and admirable figure, is simply by far the most rewarding for me to read or write about.

Conversely, I enjoy writing such characters but instead of emerging as victorious over their trauma, they compromise.

As much as overcoming their past is rewarding, I think it just undermines how far pain actually burrows into people, in many occasions. Of course, it's fiction; having it be wish-fulfilling isn't wrong. But for me and some others, it just feels fake. It feels cheap. Instead of a protagonist overcoming their pain, it's the author constructing an ache that's tailor made to be overcame by the protagonist.

Speaking from experience, some problems aren't solved by looking down intensely at your closed fists. Not all pain dissipate with one heartfelt speech or life-changing moment. Those strong enough sticks with you like a baggage and, if heavy enough, changes you on a fundamental level. We're only human, after all.

As I've said, it's not bad to write a character that overcomes his pain, and it isn't unrealistic either. Luffy from Wan Piss steps up from Ace's death. Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei moves on from his self-admitedly 'tragic' past. They are still great characters, but not ones you'd point towards paragons of writing real, human characters.

Instead of writing a character that steps above reality, I'd like to write something that hits closer to home. I want to write a character to still carries the permanent effects of his past, but moves on regardless of it. I've been trying not to bring up his name for four paragraphs but fuck it; Guts from Berserk is the perfect example for this.

Guts doesn't just ups and forgets about everything post-Eclipse. Hell, not even the things pre-Golden Age. Raped as a kid and betrayed by his parent AND partner, he doesn't just forget about it once he gets his companions. He sees them as a melancholic reminder of a past he never had as a child and unwittingly threw away as a teen. He doesn't fall to become a victim, nor does he just becomes okay with his new friends. The pain is still visibly there in his actions and behaviour; he just lets new people into his life in an effort to move forward towards getting an upper leg over his trauma.

I've seen some people try to do the "heavy trauma gotten over" plot and most of them fail, simply because the efficiency in which their characters recover either makes said characters look like sociopaths or undermines their traumatic past. Worse, if a character just ups and trusts a protagonist from judge of surface personality alone and then reveals they've been a rape victim before. I'm aware people treat trauma differently, but really? Not even gonna show the dangerous, untrusting solitude that comes with it?

Wish-fulfillment is fine and all, but for me, I prefer a bit of realistic comfort from my fiction, especially in the department of pain. Who in God's green Earth wouldn't want to get over their past at a snap of a finger? But that's not how it is, and instead of wishing for miracles, I'd rather work for a compromise to get as far away as the deadzone as possible. If I can't get far, then at the very least, I want to see someone who does. Someone who doesn't just shrug off the pain, but doesn't let it wholly define them either. They catalogue it, put some sticky notes as indicators, file it among other experiences, and move on with their new information.

Not everyone can get through the thorny bush that is a painful past; but at least we can move on with it. As lesser of two evils, it's better to lick the wounds than to have it fester and rot.

 

[EternalSunset0]

For males, I like the typical young shonen style guy who is proactive, loud, just gets in and gets things done or messes up big time, but gets up and tries again. This is mostly for young boys, hence the shonen, but young men are also of this preference. I do like a more subtle young man as well that is more meticulous and more careful, but I still prefer them to be confident. Older men, I prefer them to be more cunning and shrewd, think outside the box, use that thing in their head called a brain. This is the whole experience thing in play as they use their honed skills rather than their brawns. Not that that I don't mind a guy who can fight, but I prefer if they can use both their muscle and their brain.

For females, I wish to see more meek and timid women in fiction. I feel like we have way too many of these strong, independent, amazonian women that can tear apart a car with their pinky finger and can fight an army for hours on end. That's all well and good, I don't mind reading a woman like this, but I gravitate to the woman who is the opposite. Not necessarily weak, they can still fight, but I like the more sweet and innocent woman who is just calm, shy, and maybe introvert, though that last one is not necessary. Pretty much, I like women who are cute and and gives you that warm feeling. Girls, on the other hand, I want the opposite, what most people write women as. I want to see them as badasses who fight back, who sometimes stands up against the adults (though secretly I wish this happened all the time but that's not really realistic) and act more like their shonen boy counterparts. The younger, the more proactive I wish for them to be. Do I like cute meek girls? Yes, but I do not prefer them. I prefer those traits go to a woman. I guess what I am asking is that I want at least one meek woman and one strong and independent girl, i.e., the roles reversed for each.

Not too fond of the shounen guy, but I am similar with older men.

For the female side, though, we're pretty much the same
I like meek female characters who can still kick ass. Even if they're not meek per se, I prefer girls who are badass but also have an adorable and awkward side when the fighting's over. First actual fictional example that comes to mind is probably someone like Momo Hinamori. For more modern examples, I basically gravitate more to the Emilias and Asunas over say... the Ghislaines.

 

[melbisbelbis]

An exceptional ability to think objectively and exempt from social ideas like morals. It basically ensures that the writing in general will work how I like.
There’s no such thing as a story that is read/watched/listened to just because of one character.

 

[EternalSunset0]

An exceptional ability to think objectively and exempt from social ideas like morals. It basically ensures that the writing in general will work how I like.
There’s no such thing as a story that is read/watched/listened to just because of one character.

That's more or less on par with what a number of people here have as their favorite character. Interesting.

On the second statement... *raises hand* I have watched a lot of anime because I got baited by waifu characters.

 

[The_Everdistant_Utopia]

Favorite character archetype, huh?

Probably either the reluctant leader kind of character (as in forced to take a role of leadership and having their character development around coming to terms with it) or the curious and inquisitive kind of character. Gender doesn't really matter as long as they're interesting~

But if I had to say, my favorite archetype for female characters would be the little devil archetype. Even though it's something that would probably be aggravating in real life, I'm surprisingly fond of it in fiction.

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

I like female twins and doppelgängers and clones.

Also like stabby yandere girls.

And dashingly scary older male characters.

And older motherly women characters, too.

Also, detective / sleuthing characters.

 

[ShrimpShady]

Asshole with no real goals in life who tries to redeem themselves after getting diagnosed with a terminal illness.