Characterization Rant
Apr. 23rd, 2004 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dagas_isaYes, the new member at WS is bothering me too... probably because she seems a little too snobbish about characters. Very stuck in the anal stage and in a retentive way.
So, my little mini rant.
Mary Sueism isn't about characters that are perfect or special per say. They're about characters that are perfect and special without having soul in them. They're flat, boring, and deviod of any distinctive traits. Sure they're bad characters, but they're not bad because just because they're special, they're bad because they're not really charaters. They're the author perfected and set to paper while disregarding canon and stuffs.
Yeah, I'm probably eating some words when I say this, but there is no fail-safe formula for creating good characters. Good characters depend on the author and the story. A lot of the characters that I most admire are Sues and Stus by the definition of a litmus test, but their creators inject them with .... well soul to be all teary-eyed and metaphysical. Aros, contrary to what some people might say *coughAkaicough* has a soul. He's a Keyblade master, connected to Sora, and he's powerful. But the kid has mental issues to make the average asylum patient jealous. And Megumi plays him as the kid with issues first and the super powerful Keyblade weilding Sora opposite sencond. And Chev's, even if Athan is a Stu, you know him well enough and capture his mannerisms enough that I believe Athan. He is real, even if he is a Stu.
Lana started from a formula. But she hadn't come into what I believe is a good fic character until I pulled her out and got her interacting with others. It wasn't the formula that made her good, in fact keeping her a formulaic OC would have made her just as boring as any Mary Sue. It was the fact that I gained experience with her over time and gave her texture to her personality. I still adjust my conception of her. If I hadn't deigned to give her a soul to go behind those flaws, she would have been just as flat and boring and yes Suish. Because she is a borderline character and her soul does save her.
The problem with all the forumlas I've seen is that they concentrate on how to not make your character a Mary Sue. They don't take into account what makes a character intriguiging. They hint that it should be a character that readers can relate to, but they focus too much on cosmetic aspects.
Wake up. If a character has a personality and inner traits they can be special without setting off the Sue alarms of the intelligent populace. Lana has rare magic (that has both advantages and disadvantages) and an interesting past that connects to something in the canon, and yes, although I don't beat readers over the head with a meat cleaver to get my point across, Lana does follow at lot of the western ideal of attractiveness. However, I leave it to the characters and the readers to judge for themselves. However, people (not characters) enjoy her.
And because I have about five minutes to wrap things up, I shall say this: The overall traits of the character don't matter. It's the way that the person behind the character plays them that's important. And formula's while helpful, are not be all end all systems to follow.
Over and out.
So, my little mini rant.
Mary Sueism isn't about characters that are perfect or special per say. They're about characters that are perfect and special without having soul in them. They're flat, boring, and deviod of any distinctive traits. Sure they're bad characters, but they're not bad because just because they're special, they're bad because they're not really charaters. They're the author perfected and set to paper while disregarding canon and stuffs.
Yeah, I'm probably eating some words when I say this, but there is no fail-safe formula for creating good characters. Good characters depend on the author and the story. A lot of the characters that I most admire are Sues and Stus by the definition of a litmus test, but their creators inject them with .... well soul to be all teary-eyed and metaphysical. Aros, contrary to what some people might say *coughAkaicough* has a soul. He's a Keyblade master, connected to Sora, and he's powerful. But the kid has mental issues to make the average asylum patient jealous. And Megumi plays him as the kid with issues first and the super powerful Keyblade weilding Sora opposite sencond. And Chev's, even if Athan is a Stu, you know him well enough and capture his mannerisms enough that I believe Athan. He is real, even if he is a Stu.
Lana started from a formula. But she hadn't come into what I believe is a good fic character until I pulled her out and got her interacting with others. It wasn't the formula that made her good, in fact keeping her a formulaic OC would have made her just as boring as any Mary Sue. It was the fact that I gained experience with her over time and gave her texture to her personality. I still adjust my conception of her. If I hadn't deigned to give her a soul to go behind those flaws, she would have been just as flat and boring and yes Suish. Because she is a borderline character and her soul does save her.
The problem with all the forumlas I've seen is that they concentrate on how to not make your character a Mary Sue. They don't take into account what makes a character intriguiging. They hint that it should be a character that readers can relate to, but they focus too much on cosmetic aspects.
Wake up. If a character has a personality and inner traits they can be special without setting off the Sue alarms of the intelligent populace. Lana has rare magic (that has both advantages and disadvantages) and an interesting past that connects to something in the canon, and yes, although I don't beat readers over the head with a meat cleaver to get my point across, Lana does follow at lot of the western ideal of attractiveness. However, I leave it to the characters and the readers to judge for themselves. However, people (not characters) enjoy her.
And because I have about five minutes to wrap things up, I shall say this: The overall traits of the character don't matter. It's the way that the person behind the character plays them that's important. And formula's while helpful, are not be all end all systems to follow.
Over and out.
