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How would you describe this character's personality?

srebak

Troubadour
Before i begin, let me just say i can understand how this might look. It implies that i care too much about what other people think, which isn't that good a sign. But i really need to know how one would describe the personalities of these characters.


One is a young character who was born without 2 specific abilities and has fallen into general gloom and despair because of it. He was bullied and teased by 3 jerks and, finally, all that and his personal grief force him into running away. Upon running into those who would become his friends and seeing their issues, he begins to look deeper into his own character.


Another character is a member of the U.S. Army who serves a minor role and wants a bigger one (I know, not a new concept). He tries to take advantage of an opportunity to become a war hero, but in the end, it costs him his best friend and makes him go into a self-imposed exile.


Finally, the main antagonist of a fanfic i'm trying to write was born to a middle class family that openly favored his younger siblings over him. His mother always supported his little brother because he was a bit of an idiot savant charmer and his father always gave his little sister plenty of attention because she knew how to capitalize on her cuteness. In contrast, his mother barely noticed him, while his father expressed a very open disappointment of him. All of this, eventually, pushed this character into running away in an attempt to find his place in the world. In time, with the help of magic, true cunning and careful planning, he rose to be one of the most powerful people in the country. Now he seeks to cause chaos and disorder wherever he goes because he has become a firm believer in old sayings like "Miserable being must find more miserable being, then he's happy", he takes pleasure in the misery of others. Though, it is very rare that he acts without a plan or doesn't have a backup plan waiting in the wings. In fact, nearly everything he does is a part of some long term scheme. He cares deeply for his own child, lets her have anything she wants and grants her enough authority in his private army to make her command second only to his. Speaking of his private army, he usually treats them with respect and only threatens and intimidates those who he must recruit for short term reasons, however, his people do not doubt for a second that he would eliminate them should they go against his orders or fail him. What's more, when he wanted to recruit the hero to his side, his plan was to set into motion events that would break his spirit and cause him to sever all ties to his friends and family, basically turning the hero in a reflection of himself.


So, i repeat, how would you describe the personalities of these characters?
 
Hi,

Character one is hard to describe inmany respects simply because you have so limited your outline. However to me he sounds like he is walking the heroes journey as he discovers all sorts of things about himself. In short he's growing.

Character two, I have even less understanding of. He's ambitious maybe. What will define him is how he responds to misfortune. Does he learn that the loss of his friend was more terrible than all his dreams of advancement were? Or does he grow angry that his dreams were shattered?

Character three is an arsehole. You can call him other things - conniving, cunning, manipulative, homicidal, cold, uncaring, sadistic etc and you can blame his childhood and try to give him a single positive focus of love for his daughter, but at the end of the day he is what he is. And I don't buy that he actually cares for his daughter. Given everything else that seems unlikely. This sort of person does not love. I would suggest redeeming him somewhat. People do terrible things for different reasons. He's doing them as far as I can tell because he has a chip on his shoulder and is determined to advance himself. Instead I would change that to his undying hatred for something that was done to him which he cannot undo. Such a character can love. But essentially a completely self involved character doesn't care for others. Captain Ahab could have loved another even as he was swept away in his mad quest to kill his whale. Ming the Merciless could not because everything was about his ambition.

Cheers, Greg.
 

srebak

Troubadour
Hi,

Character one is hard to describe inmany respects simply because you have so limited your outline. However to me he sounds like he is walking the heroes journey as he discovers all sorts of things about himself. In short he's growing.

Character two, I have even less understanding of. He's ambitious maybe. What will define him is how he responds to misfortune. Does he learn that the loss of his friend was more terrible than all his dreams of advancement were? Or does he grow angry that his dreams were shattered?

Character three is an arsehole. You can call him other things - conniving, cunning, manipulative, homicidal, cold, uncaring, sadistic etc and you can blame his childhood and try to give him a single positive focus of love for his daughter, but at the end of the day he is what he is. And I don't buy that he actually cares for his daughter. Given everything else that seems unlikely. This sort of person does not love. I would suggest redeeming him somewhat. People do terrible things for different reasons. He's doing them as far as I can tell because he has a chip on his shoulder and is determined to advance himself. Instead I would change that to his undying hatred for something that was done to him which he cannot undo. Such a character can love. But essentially a completely self involved character doesn't care for others. Captain Ahab could have loved another even as he was swept away in his mad quest to kill his whale. Ming the Merciless could not because everything was about his ambition.

Cheers, Greg.

After thinking it over, my main idea in regards to character 3's relationship with his daughter is that he wants to prove that he's a better parent to his child than his parents ever were to him. To him, this meant treating her with dignity, respect and offering her sincere praise and affection, and since they spent so much time together, some of his personality rubbed off on the child and she inevitably became just like him, which made him very happy.
 

Legendary Sidekick

The HAM'ster
Moderator
After thinking it over, my main idea in regards to character 3's relationship with his daughter is that he wants to prove that he's a better parent to his child than his parents ever were to him. To him, this meant treating her with dignity, respect and offering her sincere praise and affection, and since they spent so much time together, some of his personality rubbed off on the child and she inevitably became just like him, which made him very happy.
He's still a…
 
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I tend to agree that the third dude is a dick, but for the other two you might try searching through TvTropes.org
Is fairly comprehensive when it comes to character descriptions and such.
Good luck.
 
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