MiguelDHorcrux
Minstrel
My problem is that my MC turns out to be the weakest among my slate. His name is Aguia Zimurgh. His mother was killed and his father left them, leaving his brother to became king of the Kingdom of Zalir and him as one of its Lords. The story will revolve around Aguia travelling to the Everwinter Union to find and destroy a sword, the only thing that can facilitate the return of dark magic into the world.
His character is weak.
Aguia is conservative. He does not believe in democracies, though him and his brother are actually good leaders. Other than this political and moral conservatism though, he is just the classic reluctant hero who somehow find his way into the crossroad. Other than to finish his quest, all he really wants is to have all his siblings in their kingdom and co-rule with them (one of his siblings was taken by their father, another one ran away because he hates politics while the last was thrown into another continent because he is a dud at magic). Just one driving force. Even as he is enacting his biggest mission, Aguia just couldn't wait to get it over with so he can live quietly with his siblings. I just find the character flat and boring.
In contrast, my other characters turn out to be more interesting.
Cody Christian is your usual brute, big and muscular and all that. He is a hit among the ladies, a heart throb if you will. He is brave, though reckless and oftentimes stupid. On top of all this though, he loves his country (even though its society bullies dappledfolks - magic users) and near the end he will gladly lead the suicidal charge to break the siege on his city, despite knowing that the government is just withholding actual help so the dappledfolks would be pressured to volunteer and die. His father and sibling died in front of him years ago, while his mother was yanked by the government into military service. His fiance will be killed while he is at a faraway island acting on the faulty suspicion of my MC. Despite being the punching bag of society and circumstances, he stays righteous and I find that interesting. Not to mention that he may or may not be gay
Mitchel Paskins is a prodigious weapons inventor and a powerful fire mage in his own right. He is a fair weather friend though, and money motivates him just as much as his innate goodness does. Throughout the story, he is in a constant internal struggle if he will do the right thing or the profitable thing, and of course he will undergo a character development to goody goodness.
Jubilee Melea is a powerful druid engaged to Aguia's cousin Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a prince of Royal Skies, currently embroiled in a war against about five other nations. She agreed to help Aguia thinking that with the sword destroyed, the war her love is fighting will be over, and of course because she is naturally good, and because Aguia helped her get her sister back (see next character). She is a mother hen kind of a character, but she often enacts the Gordian knot solution. She kills indiscriminately in the name of saving her kingdom and her loved ones. She also has a massive internal battle, because she wants to turn her back on the Druidic Order of Mas Maria (their doctrine is focused on tending the Gaea Tree - more like a forest encompassing their entire kingdom - and staying there as the lifelong guardian of every life form in it) and instead explore the world, either alone or with Nicodemus. I think a druid who kills indiscriminately and desires to leave the druidic order she is in, inside the shell of a mother hen kind of a character has more layers than my MC. Oh and she is also battered by guilt. See next character.
Julia Golds is Jubilee's cousin, though her parents are dead and they are now basically sisters. Julia is also a druid, and she has four spellbound panda bears. Jubilee brokered a deal with one of the kingdoms that Nicodemus' is at war with, marrying Julia off to the thirteen year old Emperor Reon of the Moorns Empire in exchange for a thirty years peace deal. Emperor Reon reneged on the deal, and instead has his guards and himself rape and abuse Julia everyday for the entire year she was with him. It was Aguia's diplomatic maneuvering that eventually saw Julia returned to Jubilee. She is of course damaged. I have no idea yet about her exact character, but I am set to talk to a child psychologist friend to help me develop the Julia character, though I am already sure that the outcome will still be better than the flat Aguia character.
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Now, do you guys have any identical experiences? How did you remedy it? Can you please give me your opinions as to how to improve my MC? Any opinion is greatly appreciated.
His character is weak.
Aguia is conservative. He does not believe in democracies, though him and his brother are actually good leaders. Other than this political and moral conservatism though, he is just the classic reluctant hero who somehow find his way into the crossroad. Other than to finish his quest, all he really wants is to have all his siblings in their kingdom and co-rule with them (one of his siblings was taken by their father, another one ran away because he hates politics while the last was thrown into another continent because he is a dud at magic). Just one driving force. Even as he is enacting his biggest mission, Aguia just couldn't wait to get it over with so he can live quietly with his siblings. I just find the character flat and boring.
In contrast, my other characters turn out to be more interesting.
Cody Christian is your usual brute, big and muscular and all that. He is a hit among the ladies, a heart throb if you will. He is brave, though reckless and oftentimes stupid. On top of all this though, he loves his country (even though its society bullies dappledfolks - magic users) and near the end he will gladly lead the suicidal charge to break the siege on his city, despite knowing that the government is just withholding actual help so the dappledfolks would be pressured to volunteer and die. His father and sibling died in front of him years ago, while his mother was yanked by the government into military service. His fiance will be killed while he is at a faraway island acting on the faulty suspicion of my MC. Despite being the punching bag of society and circumstances, he stays righteous and I find that interesting. Not to mention that he may or may not be gay
Mitchel Paskins is a prodigious weapons inventor and a powerful fire mage in his own right. He is a fair weather friend though, and money motivates him just as much as his innate goodness does. Throughout the story, he is in a constant internal struggle if he will do the right thing or the profitable thing, and of course he will undergo a character development to goody goodness.
Jubilee Melea is a powerful druid engaged to Aguia's cousin Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a prince of Royal Skies, currently embroiled in a war against about five other nations. She agreed to help Aguia thinking that with the sword destroyed, the war her love is fighting will be over, and of course because she is naturally good, and because Aguia helped her get her sister back (see next character). She is a mother hen kind of a character, but she often enacts the Gordian knot solution. She kills indiscriminately in the name of saving her kingdom and her loved ones. She also has a massive internal battle, because she wants to turn her back on the Druidic Order of Mas Maria (their doctrine is focused on tending the Gaea Tree - more like a forest encompassing their entire kingdom - and staying there as the lifelong guardian of every life form in it) and instead explore the world, either alone or with Nicodemus. I think a druid who kills indiscriminately and desires to leave the druidic order she is in, inside the shell of a mother hen kind of a character has more layers than my MC. Oh and she is also battered by guilt. See next character.
Julia Golds is Jubilee's cousin, though her parents are dead and they are now basically sisters. Julia is also a druid, and she has four spellbound panda bears. Jubilee brokered a deal with one of the kingdoms that Nicodemus' is at war with, marrying Julia off to the thirteen year old Emperor Reon of the Moorns Empire in exchange for a thirty years peace deal. Emperor Reon reneged on the deal, and instead has his guards and himself rape and abuse Julia everyday for the entire year she was with him. It was Aguia's diplomatic maneuvering that eventually saw Julia returned to Jubilee. She is of course damaged. I have no idea yet about her exact character, but I am set to talk to a child psychologist friend to help me develop the Julia character, though I am already sure that the outcome will still be better than the flat Aguia character.
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Now, do you guys have any identical experiences? How did you remedy it? Can you please give me your opinions as to how to improve my MC? Any opinion is greatly appreciated.
Istar
Inkling
Myth Weaver
Acolyte
