What is your favorite character you've created?

[NerdyCavegirl]

I ask this and expect others to answer, but I sure can't. Hate indecisiveness, flip out on people for saying "maybe" and "I don't know" to simple questions, but I'm terrible at picking favorites. If I have to narrow it down though, it'd be the ones who are the most well-developed: Mishaela, Aetna Dauniath, and her wonderful but currently nameless boyrival from my Axis Earth WIP, and then Alex Mikhailovich and his little sister Misha from my modern fantasy. They aren't necessarily my favorites, Aetna and Alex are both major assholes, but those five just feel the most real as of yet. So who are your favorite OCs and why?

 

[Drakevarg]

I think It'd have to go with Otousan, the main antagonist for an early DnD compaign of mine. He was a lich that was leading an army of necromancers to cripple the civilizations of the world to force the survivors to become more independently strong. He didn't actually get the opportunity to do much, but I portrayed him as so cool and utterly secure in his control of the situation that the players couldn't help admiring him even as he committed atrocity after atrocity. I've since carried the character and his cult over to my current setting, but thus far he's remained a background character since I haven't had a good opportunity to use him.

A tempting backup pick would be Nonki, a character from my previous worldbuilding setting, but thinking back he could basically be summed up as "what if the Most Interesting Man in the World was a bisexual undead catboy?" In other words he is pretty much the Stu-est of Stus. Initially an orphan, becomes childhood friends with someone who would eventually found one of the setting's dominant religions, uses that connection to obtain an education as an illusionist mage (and becomes a local celebrity by fronting a successful band in the meantime, using his illusions for spectacular pyrotechnics), takes up necromancy, marries a badass warrior woman, becomes a lich when he outlives her, moves to the setting-equivalent of Japan to become a world-class assassin just for kicks (and leading an even more successful musical act in the meantime), gets bored of the assassin thing and moves back home, eventually becoming one of the top five most powerful mages in the world, period (who are basically forced into an Omniscient Council of Vagueness centered around a mutual non-interference pact because each of them individually are walking natural disasters who could derail the course of nations as easily as passing wind).

So while I certainly had fun at the time coming up with his backstory (mostly because he was... 900-ish years old? And was the type of person prone to always want to try something new), in retrospect he was kind of an awful character in a narrative sense. Otousan's ability to be overwhelmingly self-confident without it coming off as outright arrogance is borne of the same desire to imagine someone completely lacking my personal self-loathing, but his status as a blatant antagonist and the fact that he isn't implied to be the most amazing person who ever lived makes him considerably more usable.

 

[Garren Jacobsen]

My personal favorite is Bertraud. He's a seasoned attorney in a fantasy setting, is arrogant, intelligent, sarcastic as hell, but has a soft spot for what others in his firm call strays (lawyers that don't tick all the "exceptional" boxes). His POV is also a lot of fun to write for me because I get to toss in little jokes about lawyers and use some phrases from cases I have read as a nod to any lawyer reading. I think in the first chapter I nodded to Palsgraff and Calder v. Bull I just love that guy.

 

[Heliotrope]

Right now I'm writing from the POV of a perfectionist 8th Grader. I like her a lot, but actually my favourite character is her dad. He's a single dad, struggling to keep up with his growing daughter, and trying everything he can to hold on to the way things used to be when she was small... but he is losing her. Nothing he does is good enough. She has transitioned from thinking her daddy is Superman to thinking he is an ignorant barbarian who can't even figure out how to text properly.

I think I might be slightly in love with him.

 

[Jerseydevil]

This is a secondary character from a potential Urban fantasy series.

His full name and titles: Sir Steven Kenneth Donovan, Commander of Northern New Jersey, Knights Concordant, Executive Officer to Lord Commander NJ branch, Guardian of the Gates of Hell, Einherjar (though he's not dead yet. Its a long story that may or may not involve Odin, frost giants, and hitting on Freya while making thinly veiled threats to Thor and Tyr), Honorary Knight Templar.
He has nothing but disdain for demons and considers vampires to be an annoyance that have to be put up with rather than a threat that can rip a car door off it's hinges. Despises Crossfit and all it stands for and will mock anyone who participates in it. His weapons of choice are a Mossberg 500, 12 gauge shotgun, his grandfather's Colt 1911 .45, and an unbreakable kreigsmesser, which he somehow wields one handed, though he is less than five and a half feet tall. He will be dating a Valkyrie later in the series, as most human women are put off by him constantly covered in blood and chunks of demon flesh as well as the severe burn on his face that gives him an almost constant scowl. His drink of choice is Cognac (if you give him Hennessy, he might shoot you on principle). If you harm an innocent, and the gods forbid a child, he'll make you beg for the sweet release of mere soul crushing pain before ending you. Has flipped off The Morrigan on at least two occasions.

Quote: "Ragnarok is pregame. I'm the Apocalypse."

Steve is a character with personality. I wanted a character who the phrase "Because he's Steve" is all that is needed to explain his actions. His he deep? No. Does he inspire thought provoking dialogue or life altering conversation? Not a chance. He's too busy being awesome and/or killing things.

 

[Bee]

I have a lot of characters that I love (such as Kaylia from the Anatemia series) but the character that is most loved by readers is Sio. She's a lithe, sarcastic rogue bandit type, from a race called Syltare who are big on self sufficiency but care little for law and order. These are some of her choice quotes:

(to a man she had just become a couple with)
He narrowed his eyes at her “You mean to tell me that you were laying on me awake and hadn’t actually stolen anything? I must be special”
“Well I think you are…” she said “…and you’re comfy, and anyway I stole your virginity”
He looked at her “You haven’t stolen it” he said coldly.
She smiled “Sorry honey, I didn’t mean to dent your manliness”
He made a face at her “I could go off you you know”
“Awww” she began “And so soon after you got on me”
He nodded slowly “Well played” he admitted.

“I arrested her” said the marshal “For stealing from pretty everyone she came across” she said with a sneer “And then she escaped, I still don’t know how”
Sio nodded “Yeah” she said almost dreamily “That was a fun afternoon” she then fished into her pocket and produced some keys “Oh, these are yours” she said dropping them on the table.

“We’ll talk to him” said Sio “I’ll use my feminine charms on him”
Ransha looked at her “Feminine charms?” she questioned.
“I think she means threaten to stab him until he shuts up” said Lain.

Jon was looking a little creeped out by Sio, he turned to Mennon and Lain “Sociopath?” he asked.
Lain shook his head “No she’s just a bitch”

Sio looked at him “What the hell have you done to yourself?” she asked of the wizard with his robe now wrapped around his chains.
“I was escaping” said Mennon defiantly.
“Ok” Sio began “So how is that going for you?”

“What business do you have?” the hulk type asked.
“Well this is a mercenary camp” Sio began sarcastically “We’re here with money, put 2 and 2 together and see if you get 4? If you can add that high?”

 

[WooHooMan]

I had this one character who I liked because she was both very unique and (I thought) likeable.

Her name was Pyas. She was a secretary and amateur economist (in a fantasy adventure story) who likes philosophy and anthropology. She's also an outspoken fascist and possible necromancer who has advocated for cannibalism. All while being the nicest, most helpful person you'll ever meet.
And I mean genuinely nice and helpful. Not like she's putting on an act or is some kind of Stepford Wives crazy person.

I also dug that she could reason through her morals and beliefs regardless of how unpopular (or crazy) they are.
A friend of mine who read the book said she was his favorite character and that she was the "most reasonable and nicest nazi" he's ever seen. Pyas gives a speech late in the story about why she's against democracy. My friend asked "is it bad that I kind of agreed with her" and I said "yes, that's horrible" and rewrote the speech.

In the story, she was the sidekick to the more conventional hero (who was the usual chip-on-his-shoulder, super-tough, sarcastic roguish underdog anti-hero) but she could probably qualify as a deuteragonist since she had this whole backstory and character arc that ran parallel to the main character.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

The last character I was in the head of, always.

So at this moment, an old priest framed for a murder that didn't even happen... so to speak... and who just sacrificed his life and soul for a postulant he came to love as a daughter.

The duality of these characters is my favorite relationship I've ever written... for now.

 

[Gryphos]

Ooo, difficult question. Mine would probably have to be Zariin, the MC of my novel 'Song of the Leviathan'. Her abilities are kind of cool: she's a golemancer, which means she can create golems out of sand and also manipulate sand in general (she's basically an earth-bender).

But what I absolutely love about her is her personality and her character arc, mainly due to the juxtaposition of her traits. On one hand she has an extremely abrasive personality, lacking any sense of tact and being incredibly violent with her language, as well as being unwilling to forgive others. But on the other hand she's also incredibly kindhearted and innocent, wanting nothing more than a world where people can live in peace and pleasure. She knows nothing of the world beyond her paradise-like village, and when she discovers a world that's in contrast to her materialist, hedonist, communist philosophy, it brings out all that rage she has.

Overall, she's just one of the more complex characters I've created and probably one of the most fun to write.

 

[Bee]

Just thought I should add that I edited some of the quotes so that they made more sense on here and missed the "much" from the second quote, I am a dingbat

 

[MiguelDHorcrux]

My favorite character is Julia Goldschild. She went through a lot, having been married off to a sadistic prince at the age of 8 to avoid a war. The prince raped her and brutalized her and all out ruined her. Now in the story, she is mental and has four magical pandas. And I'm not kidding.

 

[Xitra_Blud]

I don't know. It tends to bounce around. It used to be a vampire named Alec. I liked him because he was cold and mean, spoke his mind. He was real direct about everything and had an agenda. If anyone got in the way of that agenda, they were in for it. I'm not sure who my favorite is anymore. I've got a lot of them.

 

[Mectojic]

The main thing with a favourite character is that you know them personally, and intimately.

Mine is called Lance; he lives in the shadow of his much more famous (and magical) brother. He wants a career in music but ultimately, out of his father's demands, joins the army. In battle, he saves a group of cadets from death, and they swear allegiance to him. Though he is young, he has leadership thrust onto him, and people do see him as a great leader. He follows the example of his colonel, who died saving him - and in memento of the event, he keeps that same flintlock pistol which saved him at all times. He raises his own private company of soldiers later on, while letting out his soul through playing the church organ.
Lance feels religiously for a time, which leads to him being exploited and used as a spy for the overlords. He eventually discovers how fooled he was and questions his faith at times - especially since his brother is performing miracles without a mention of religious belief. He is crucial later in revolutionising the religious aspect of the government when it dissolves.

During the war he meets a woman of different race, and falls in love. The law of his country says he cannot marry her, due to conservative xenophobic attitudes. All the same, he saves her life and marries her in her country.
Though I do not know where this character's future will lie, I've always thought of him as underrated, and his disposition and rise to his own success is what makes me love him as a character.
My closest comparison to Lance would have to be Faramir from Lord of the Rings.

 

[psychotick]

Hi,

Mine is Christian Aaron Moody the Third from my book Dragon. Simply because of his single minded nature. He lost his family to pirates / aliens years before and has spent a decade doing nothing more than trying to find out what happened to them, and in the process has sacrificed everything including his mind. I love that he is so utterly dedicated to his quest that he doesn't even think about alternatives. They don't exist for him.

Cheers, Greg.

 

[CarbonatedPimp]

Oh boy, here we go. My dead honest favorite character I've ever written and created is my boy Jacaui Neverwing. He's a cursed tiefling, and a noble of his home city, Jascor. The dragon goddess Acid cursed Jacaui the moment he was born, so he's a demonic fellow, his mother tried to kill him, his father killed her, and years later, the main antagonist of that campaign showed up, took over, and forced the Neverwing family into a life of fighting just to stay alive. Jacaui is the last Neverwing still alive and was fighting in the coliseum for his life. His father told him that he has to kill the main antagonist, and was then beheaded in front of him. The night before his first fight, Acid showed up, gave him an option, and activated her control over him. He shrunk down to 3 ft and literally lost his mind. He shouts out random words and never makes any sense. After the party saves him, they're hunted by the Duke of Jascor's best huntsman, who has like 10 mastiffs. Jacaui walked up to the 5 biggest of them and claimed them as his, so in every battle, a tiny, senile tiefling rides a mastiff into battle, shouting Italian words every 2 seconds. Oh, by the way, he named the Mastiffs Fettuccine, Alfredo, Penne, Lasagna, and Linguini. Then the party helped Jacaui take back Jascor, and he finally becomes sentient again. When he did, he tortured the Duke for hours, and it was probably the most terrifying thing the party had ever seen. Then, later on, he tames an allosaurus. A frickin allosaurus. The party has grown increasingly more concerned over the past few months. He adopted a kid too, who he's teaching how to steal shiz. This was long and makes absolutely no sense, I know, but I never take making characters seriously. I literally made a white Dragonborn barbarian who's 6'7'', has a Russian accent, eats literal rocks, and sells kidneys and hearts on the black market every chance he gets. I also may or may not have made an entire account just to tell more people about my boy. I can't do it too often since I use this campaign with a lot of my friends.

 

[skip.knox]

Reading through this thread, I realize it's not a character but character relationships that I've liked best. In one novel it's Talysse who is half-human, half-elf (or so she believes; she's never known her parents) and Detta, a gnome. I liked having one character have all the skills (Talysse) while the other has the maturity (Detta). In another novel, it's an aristocrat named Julian who gets in waaay over his head while commanding a Roman legion. His family slave is Avitus, who plays the classic Greek role of being sardonic and critical. He knows all his master's faults and likes him anyway. In yet a third, it's the relationship between an ogre and a sprite, who used to do similar military work but in rival mercenary bands.

In short, it's the interplay between interesting characters that is most, er, interesting. The character by himself is just standing in an empty room with a list of attributes.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

This is like choosing a favorite child, but a favorite (and a fan favorite) is Jessie St. James, our teenage wizard. Writing from her POV is always a blast...

“Seriously, who gets business deliveries from an herbal store first thing on a Sunday?”

“I don’t know. This guy does. Just let me up.”

The security guard rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever. Give me his name and I’ll call him.”

Yeah, okay… so it wasn’t Jessie’s best plan ever. “Uh, sure. Gimme a sec.” Why hadn’t she thought about that? She made lots of business deliveries for Curiosity’s, so the sneak-in-as-a-delivery-person idea had made perfect sense when she’d come up with it.

The only thing was she usually made those deliveries to the preternatural leaders and they were all people who knew her.

She turned her back on the big round desk and dug the receipt book out of her delivery bag while her mind spun at a frantic pace. She only knew the names of two people who worked here, and one was the guy who had kidnapped Cian. She really didn’t want the guard to call him. Even if he let her up to his nefarious lair where he was holding her friend prisoner, she could just imagine how that conversation would go. ‘Here, have some herbal lotion. I’m just going to grab this boy and run, now. Kthxbai.’

Yeah, that would fly like a lead turkey.

 

[Chessie2]

Oh, man. I would have to say it's Lila Stevenson, my historical romance heroine. She's a retired Broadway actress so that was fun to write for two books.

EDIT: Felt like I should elaborate. Lila is young and beautiful. She knows she's powerful as a woman and uses her looks, personality and body to charm people. She's manipulative. But aren't we all? The point of Lila as an antagonist and pov heroine is to show that we're all really the same in that regard and that some of us take on the battle to change more than others. There's a fight in Lila's heart between what she believes she wants and what she damn well knows is better for her. It takes her two books to change because she is very set in her stubbornness. Eventually, she starts to figure out that the more she works to manipulate people, the more it blows up in her face and she suffers the consequences of her actions. The guilt starts piling up and that's the catalyst for her change. Also, I really enjoyed writing about a fancy lady.

 

[blondie.k]

Mine is Timothy Pike. He's the kind of friend we all could use. His best friend is Phantom, the most wanted criminal rogue and they've known each other for about 19-20 years. Originally he was to die in the story but I was so upset and emotionally attached that I went back and changed it. I haven't got to the physical writing of that part but I hope to reach it sometime within the next year or so.

 

[Orc Knight]

Zara Redsun of the Southern Reaches.

Went from a side character traveling along with the main elven character Adriel as part of the scouting group and has since turned into a fairly important character over all. Even if she's stuck in a love triangle between said elf and a troll. She's the now rare gun user in what used to be a High Fantasy world gone post apocalyptic. And despite being a little over 5 foot 8" she can take down trolls and orcs barehanded. An exile from her own lands and sent north during the Lich Wars to die with the Red Band, she has proven to be a survivor. And when the needs be, absolutely ruthless and quite willing to step into the Hells for the one she loves.

Mostly seen in her military get up and her brimmed helmet that looks like a world war one helm that covers her curly hair, she tends to stick out like a sore thumb among the wood elves and others in the scouting group. This doesn't really bother her as she can also beat up elves bare handed.