Jim Sterling on how to create a good "child" character

[Feo Takahari]

I watch Sterling's show weekly, but it's usually about gaming-related issues. This one's broader, as Sterling himself acknowledges--any medium can make use of a child, but in many cases, children aren't used all that well, treated as emotion sinks rather than characters in their own right. (For that matter, some of what he says reminds me of what I've said about how to write a cutesy character, or how to write a comic relief character.) Anyway, Sterling dissects why child characters are so often annoying rather than sympathetic, then outlines one child whom he thinks was written well.

The Escapist : Forums : Featured Content : Jimquisition: Think of the Children!

 

[Dragoncat]

Is there a written version of that? I mean, a video isn't a bad thing, BUT a written article is a bit easier to work with and get the information out of if that makes sense.

When I write kids, the first thing I consider is the age. Toddler - preschool age will call their parents "mommy" and "daddy", might be shy, or might be hyper, and speaks in almost full, but not quite, sentences...for example. My mom works at a preschool and tells stories about the kids, most of them quite comical...I never really gave much thought to how kids should be written to be honest. I don't think I do emotion sinks...

 

[Svrtnsse]

Sweet. I'll definitely have a look at that.
I've got nine year old girl as a fairly significant side character and I'm a bit unsure about how to portray her.

 

[Feo Takahari]

Is there a written version of that? I mean, a video isn't a bad thing, BUT a written article is a bit easier to work with and get the information out of if that makes sense.

I wasn't able to find one.

 

[JRFLynn]

All mine are mostly annoying, but that's part of their charm. The real young ones are usually flat characters. However, in the part of the story where I'm currently at, most of my mains are around 7-12 years old. I do enjoy the antics of mischievous youth, as then you can grow with them along the way.

Children 5+ are actually pretty developed if you think about it; they have a clear understanding of right and wrong, they have an endearing innocence, and are smart enough to wise crack. Also, kids can remember things that happened early in life, which fades as we get older, and repress traumatic memories. If you look at what goes on in the world, sadly there are children out there that have matured far beyond their years. There's lots of scenarios and plot twists that can be weaved around youngsters; So, with that in mind I wouldn't shy away from creating a "good" child character. It can be done!

 

[Ophiucha]

Is there a written version of that? I mean, a video isn't a bad thing, BUT a written article is a bit easier to work with and get the information out of if that makes sense.

In the interest of making it easier for you and anyone else who would prefer it, I've transcribed it.

[cutting some intro fluff]

Children are easily one of the most exploited elements of modern culture. Helpless by nature, protected by instinct, we have lawmakers and media watchdogs using them as excuses to censor or ban entertainment, and we have entertainment itself mining (?) society's attitudes towards kids in order to gain instant sympathy leverage.

Children are an easy way to raise the stakes in any situation, but it's because of this ease of use that kids in entertainment rarely work out well. Lazy writers glom onto them for instant dilemma fodder, but fail to put the effort in to making the kids themselves sympathetic. The results are infuriating. Most intelligent viewers can tell when a kid's being used as a cynical grab for the heartstrings, and so much media uses kids in this way, listlessly concocting stereotypical and wholly unlikeable characters in the process. Whiny, helpless, always gettin' into trouble. The lazy writer thinks just having a kid on its own is enough to provide a compelling reason to protect or care about them, but used wrong they're just annoying and an anchor that keeps dragging the real protagonist down.

Dawn, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, is a prime example. (What a prick she was.) Even when the world's in danger, she just moans about her own stupid teenage problems. She's a f**king w*nker to all of the main and intellectually superior cast, and she constantly wanders off to get into trouble. So many times, in fact, that those without a tolerance for stupidity just wish she'd f**king die.

Then there are the kids from televisions The [sic] Dexter. Every time the Dexter has important sh*t to do, one of the idiot children are in trouble with a problem that doesn't matter because they're children, and they're f**king passive-aggressive little losers to boot, constantly looking sad or getting b**chy because an adult has adult sh*t to be getting on with.

Don't even get me started on season 2 of The Walking Dead show, where Carl (?) can't stop being either a mouthy little sh*t or eager zombie food, and has to be rescued all of the time even though we don't care about him because he has no personality. Show should've been called Carl Grimes: The One Hundred F**k-Ups of a Four-Foot Burden.

Video games fall into the very same pitfalls. Heavy Rain is a prime example. The entire conflict revolves around a kidnapped child who is given absolutely no definition as a character. We're expected to just feel something, I've been told that you [in a nasaly mimic:] need to be a parent to understand the emotional weight of the situation, but that's bullsh*t. It's bullsh*t because I have a child I'm charged to protect, I know parents, and neither myself nor my child-owning friends really felt any desire to protect an undefined non-entity of a character. The character of Shaun (?) is little more than an idea of a child. You don't have to be a parent at all to sympathize with another human being, but they must be defined as a human being first. Not held aloft as a burdensome concept. We can't identify with something that has no identity, and we can't feel sorry for something that has done nothing to the story other than be a worthless detriment to our hero.

It just doesn't work. If you've got a fish's brain than maybe a kid on its own is enough to make you care, but you're stupid. Real people like me need to care about characters, even the kids, before we give a sh*t. A parent needs to rescue their kid, okay sure, I get that, but you know, I'm not that invested. My default position is to hate children anyway, because they're basically just sh*tty adults. Make the kid a good character and then we're cooking with gas.

[brief interlude in which he slams a doll's head into his podium]

This applies to all media, so where's the video game angle? Well, one game in particular whose shown exactly how a child character should be done. If you aren't a hack writer who thinks children are sympathetic simply because children are children and if you want a compelling non-annoying real character that we'll care about, then play TellTale's The Walking Dead. Not the sh*tty TV series. Consider it your master class, that's what it is. Oh, and be warned, we're going to be going into spoiler territory for episodes 1, 2, and 3 of the game. So shut up now.

First of all, Clementine isn't a useless burden. In fact, she's helped save protagonist Lee's life multiple times. The entire story is possible because she helped Lee fight one of his first zombies, warning him over a radio before handing him a weapon. While Clementine is just a child, is vulnerable and in need of rescue as any other, she's not a walking target. She knows when to hide, where to hide, she doesn't drag her heels and act like a c*ck when something's expected of her. Clementine has a very distinct personality; she cares for other people, she does her best to stay upbeat and friendly despite being all alone and potentially having lost her entire family.

In talking with her, you can find her likes and dislikes, all very adequately defined. Rather than exist merely as the obligatory child, she exists first and foremost as an actual person, and that's very important. Unlike so many child characters who scream and squack (?) with shrill voices and snarky attitudes, ill-fitting their status as helpless victims, Clementine is soft-spoken and shy. She has a reserved nature, a modesty about her, and a knowledge that she needs protection as well as a desire to remain out of people's way. Despite this, however, she also is an incredibly strong person, her timid nature hiding a very mature personality.

One truly heartbreaking moment is when she damages her walkie-talkie, something she was holding onto as a symbol of her parents. Although she's clearly upset by the problem, she holds back her tears, trying her damnedest not to cry. She's entitled to cry, she's not only a child but she broke the one thing she had left. Her resolve not to cry, however, made me feel so much more sorry for her, and hammered home the fact that the zombie outbreak has essentially robbed this little girl of her childhood. It's forced her to grow up, yet she's not grown up at all. And her attempts to be strong make her inherent frailty all the more sympathetic.

During the course of the game, I found myself protecting Clementine, making decisions with her feelings in mind, not because the game was telling me I had to, but because the game made me want to. This real character who has been forced to grow up, but is still very clearly a child in need of my help. The Walking Dead doesn't use Clementine as a mallet to beat me around the head and force me to accept that she's the reason for everything, I willingly allow her to be the reason for everything because she's a sympathetic little girl who I wish to see make it out alive and as in-tact a person as possible. I'm actually compelled by Clementine, not tied to her.

I hate child characters in most media because they're generic problems designed as problems to be solved. However, TellTale has demonstrated that it's not the fault of children themselves, but the fault of the writers behind them. So many stories order me to 'think of the children', but one game actually makes me want to. Anyone who has created a child character needs to play The Walking Dead to see. how. it's. done. Chances are good it will shame them. It takes work and effort and no small amount of skill to see it done, but it can be done. Make your child capable as well as vulnerable, likeable and not just whiny, and for f*ck's sake give them an actual personality outside of ''child in danger''.