#character flaws

[luna-azzurra]

List of 40 character flaws

Stubbornness, Unyielding in one's own views, even when wrong.

Impatience, Difficulty waiting for long-term results.

Self-doubt, Constant uncertainty despite evident abilities.

Quick temper, Excessive reactions to provocations.

Selfishness, Prioritizing one's own needs over others'.

Arrogance, Overestimating one's own abilities.

Trust issues, Difficulty trusting others.

Perfectionism, Setting unreachable high standards.

Fear of change, Avoiding changes.

Haunted by the past, Old mistakes or traumas influencing the present.

Jealousy, Envious of others' successes.

Laziness, Hesitant to exert effort.

Vindictiveness, Strong desire for revenge.

Prejudice, Unfair biases against others.

Shyness, Excessive timidity.

Indecisiveness, Difficulty making decisions.

Vulnerability, Overly sensitive to criticism.

Greed, Strong desire for more (money, power, etc.).

Dishonesty, Tendency to distort the truth.

Recklessness, Ignoring the consequences of one's actions.

Cynicism, Negative attitude and distrust.

Cowardice, Lack of courage in critical moments.

Hotheadedness, Quick, often thoughtless reactions.

Contentiousness, Tendency to provoke conflicts.

Forgetfulness, Difficulty remembering important details.

Kleptomania, Compulsion to steal things.

Hypochondria, Excessive concern about one's health.

Pessimism, Expecting the worst in every situation.

Narcissism, Excessive self-love.

Control freak, Inability to let go or trust others.

Tactlessness, Inability to address sensitive topics sensitively.

Hopelessness, Feeling that nothing will get better.

Dogmatism, Rigidity in one's own beliefs.

Unreliability, Inability to keep promises.

Closed-offness, Difficulty expressing emotions.

Impulsiveness, Acting without thinking.

Wounded pride, Overly sensitive to criticism of oneself.

Isolation, Tendency to withdraw from others.

[imbecominggayer]

How To Write Character Flaws

One of the most important aspects when writing a character are flaws since flaws increase reader immersion, reader investment, and the overall compelling energy of a story.

Flaws are necessary in creating character arcs where either these initial problems are improved or exacerbated.

Despite the fact that flaws are important, writers can struggle with how to seemlessly incorperate flaws within their characters in an interesting and natural way without just feeling like they're throwing bad traits in randomly.

Here we go!

A) All Character Traits Are Both Flaws And Strengths

Flaws are often dark reflections of the positive qualities identified in an individual.

If your lover is a strong and determined person then you are also likely dating someone who is stubborn.

If your friend is emotional and caring then they're also overly sensitive.

This is due to the fact that flaws are really just character strengths taken to their logical extreme. As the saying goes "the dose makes the poison". An excessive amount of carelessness, curiousity, love, emotion, confidence, and every single virtue inevitably results in personality defects.

You most likely have your character's strengths somewhat laid out whether these strengths be open-mindedness, kindness, determined, and anything else.

Taking these strengths to their logical extreme, you will often find flaws such as naivety, savior complex, stubborness, and other such flaws.

B) Whether Something Is A Strength Or A Flaw Depends On Context

Character A is trusting and Character B is distrusting.

Let's put them in the situation of meeting someone in order to illustrate how both character's defining traits could be their downfall depending on who this character is.

If this "someone" is a helpful individual, then Character B's flaw of distrust create unnecessary discorse within the group and could drive away this positive influence.

If this "someone" is a manipulative someone, then Character A's trusting nature harms the group as it allows someone harmful to enter.

Whether or not a character's actions are perceived as beneficial or harmful depends on if the result is good or bad for the character's goal.

This means that when you are presented with a character who seemingly has no flaws, what you can do is create situations where these good actions result in bad results.

An open-minded character might accidentally walk face first into a cult because they were too accepting of the weird activities

A kind character might cause their allies to become overly dependent on the individual's generosity

A determined character might be so obsessed with succeeding at this specific task that they fail to see the bigger picture and the more effective solution

[helpful-writing-tips]

A character flaw is only a flaw until it becomes useful.

Is your protagonist overprotective? That sucks... until someone they love is in danger.

Is your protagonist manipulative? Well, that's awful... until they manipulate the antagonist into making a decision that saves the lives of their friends.

Is your protagonist a skeptic? Well, that's not good... until someone tries to lie to them.

Is your protagonist remorseless? Well, that makes them pretty unlikeable... until a hard decision has to be made.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Character Flaws

Nobody is perfect.

By depicting characters who mirror that sentiment, it’s easier for us to understand and connect to them.

Flaws don’t just add character depth though, they can also drive the entire story.

They can create personal arcs that raise the tension of the main conflict.

Flaws make the character’s success (if it comes) that much more rewarding.

But when we’re developing our own characters, how do we build flaws into them? There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but we can pull some tips from some examples.

A lack of flaws: Characters like Superman who don’t have a lot of character flaws need other kinds of things to create compelling stories. Superman was intended as a symbol of hope. The fact he fights people or lifts heavy things is rarely ever interesting these days, but the way he handles problems and fights for the downtrodden still resonates with people.

Flaws & plot work together: A character flaw should have some meaning to the plot. Haymitch’s (from The Hunger Games) drinking isn’t particularly interesting until you learn about his history and realize that it’s a coping mechanism. Irving’s (from A Strange Loop) get-rich-quick schemes create the conflict in the story. And Hinata’s (from Haikyū!!) flaws are something that he’s constantly working to overcome to reach his goals.

Proceed with caution: Finally, character flaws are an important part of creating well-rounded and believable characters, but if you treat sensitive topics too lightly—or misunderstand them—you risk upsetting part of your audience.

While you might have the best of intentions, if you’re dealing with serious issues that real people deal with, it would be a good idea to do some research or get a sensitivity reader. Or both.

Source ⚜ Writing Notes & References ⚜ "Well-Rounded" Character Worksheet

[lumieumie]

I’ve seen a lot of stuff abt Keefe being emotionally manipulative and I’m not gonna disagree but I do want to point out what he grew up around. Like, his parental environment is very obviously one of the most unhealthy dynamics in the lost cities, and I think it’s been made pretty clear throughout the books that the very last thing he wants is to be like either of his parents. The emotional manipulation everyone points out is very likely not intentional and he probably doesn’t even realize what he’s doing. It doesn’t excuse it, but I just feel like ppl need to look a little deeper than just “Keefe manipulates everyone”. It’s the same thing with Fitz and his struggle with regulating his emotions. Yes, he lashes out and hurts people, but it’s not the intention. These actions are done because these people have been hurt and traumatized in different ways and they respond in an unhealthy way, not because the characters have malicious intent for anyone. It doesn’t excuse it, but it’s important to remember before jumping the gun and being like “xyz is horrible and irredeemable!!1!11!1!!”

[thepedanticbohemian]

[ahb-writes]

Writing Problem: The Villains Are Cartoonish, Evil-for-the-Sake-of-Evil

Problem: The Villains Are Cartoonish, Evil-for-the-Sake-of-Evil

Solution: Villains require just as much character development as the novel's heroes, protagonists, and perspective characters. Effective villainy incorporates consequential decision making, relatable character motivations, believable perspectives and experiences, and most important, intention. When a writer diversifies these facets of a so-named villain's free will, humanity, personal interests, and relationship with the story's main conflict, one is better-positioned to craft a more diverse and more engaging villain.

Writing Resources:

How Your Character's Failures Can Map A Route To Self-Growth (Writers Helping Writers)

Good Character Flaws: Create Complex Antagonists (Now Novel)

50 Questions to Ask Your Antagonist (Alyssa Hollingsworth)

Antagonist Starts Good, Becomes Drunk With Power (related, master list) (Writing Questions Answered; ahbwrites)

16 Villain Archetypes (Chosen by the Planet; ahbwrites)

How to Give Your Antagonist a Little Humanity (Fiction Writing Tips; ahbwrites)

How to Write the Perfect Villain (Jericho Writers)

How to Build an Antagonist (How to Fight Write)

Negative Trait Thesaurus (Evil) (One Stop for Writers)

Theme and Symbolism Thesaurus (Evil) (One Stop for Writers)

❯ ❯ Adapted from the writing masterpost series: 19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)

[sskybooks]

MASTER POST!

These are character development prompts 1-100. There are some funny, some serious, but all of them to help flesh out your character. (I also screwed up the numbering somewhere soo... things may or may not be out of line."

#1 What if your character was in a zombie apocalypse?

#2 What would your character do if they got everything they wanted?

#3 What would your character do if they were evil?

#5 What would your character do if they saw a tyrannosaurus-rex?

#6 What would your character do if accidentally hurt someone really badly?

#7 What would your character do if a cult member asked them to join them?

#8 What would your character do if they met the Grinch?

#9 What would your Character do if a gun was put to their head?

#10 What would your character do if they were kidnapped?

#11 What would your character do if they were deserted on an island?

#13 What would your character do if they met the Batman?

#14 What would your character do if they got reincarnated as a child?

#15 What would your character do if they met the hulk?

#16 What would your character do if someone slapped them?

#17 What would your character do if there was an earthquake?

#18 What would your character do if the world flooded?

#19 What would your character do if the president suddenly showed up at their front door?

#20 What would your character do if they where told “you can’t come.”

#22 What would your character do if they owned a Walmart?

#24 What would your character do if they could only eat one food for the rest of their life, what food would it be?

#25 What would your character do if they were a superhero? (And what would their powers be?)

#26 What would your character do if they were forced to perform on stage?

#27 What would your character do if they were a ruler of the world?

#28 What would your character do if time machines existed, what would be the first thing they’d do?

#29 What would your character do if the mailman handed them a baby?

#30 What would your character do if they were homeless?

#31 What would your character do if there was a serial killer on the loose?

#32 What would your character do if their wanted poster went up?

#33 What would your character do if they turned into a monster? (like their body turned into a monster form)

#34 What would your character do if they went to a farm?

#35 What would your character do if during of of the biggest battles of their life their mom called them?

#36 What would your character do if they discovered their sibling/friend was abused?

#38 What would your character do if they could be granted three wishes?

#39 What would your character do if they got magic powers? (or if they already have them, what would they do if they have none?)

#40 What would your character do if they were deaf?

#41 What would your character do if they couldn’t speak?

#42 What would your character do if they can’t feel anything?(physically)

#43 What would your character do if they were blind?

#44 What would your character do if their hair fell out?

#45 What would your character do if they were imprisoned?

#46 What would your character do if every time they said a mean thing a disfiguring tattoo appeared on them?

#47 What would your character do if their best friend died in front of them?

#48 What would your character do if a loved one turned evil?

#49 What would your character do if they got a surprise kiss?

#50 What would your character do if they met Jinx? (From arcane)

#51 What would your character do if they were placed in front of the end of the world button?

#52 What would your character do if they couldn't use their legs?

#53 What would your character do if they where stabbed?

#54 What would your character do, if didn’t have a phone? (Or if they already don't have one;) What would they do with one?

#55 What would your character do if a lost child came to them?

#56 What would your character do if they where shunned?

#57 What would your character do if they where handed drugs?

#58 What would your character do if they couldn’t talk

#59 What would your character do if someone stalked them?

#60 What would your character do if someone had a crush on them?

#61 What would your character do if can't use their arms?

#62 What would your character do if they found treasure?

#63 What would your character do if they met Thor?

#64 What would your character do if they where called ugly?

#65 What would your character do if their car was hijacked? (Or their mode of transportation)

#66 What would your character do if their home was invaded?

#67 What would your character do if they were stalked?

#68 What would your character do if they were treated as property?

#69 What would your character do if they witnessed a murder?

#70 What would your character do if they were paralyzed from the waist down?

#71 What would your character do if they lost an arm?

#72 What would your character do if they were failing at school? (or if they already are what if they suddenly got an A+)

#73 What would your character do if they failed at their goal? 

#74 Bird talking to a sea fish goddess and ask to turn into a fire breathing dragon and to have multiple different pastries shops.

#78 How does your character do with a discriminatory world, culture, or home life?

#79 What would your character do if they became allergic to their favorite food?

#80 What would your character do with wings (or without)?

#81 If your character was a ghost who/where would they haunt?

#82 What would your character do with a key that unlocked any door?

#83 What would your character do if (in universe) they found a book written about them?

#84 How would your character react if faced with their greatest fear?

#85 What would your character do if they found out they only have a year left to live?

#85 What are some favorite headcanons and fan theories? or small details about them.

#86 "What would your character do if they met an AU version of themself"

#87 "What would the OC be like without trama (or with trama)?

#88 What would your OC do if a person they knew was dead. Was chilling at a cafe.

#89 What would characters think of Bob Ross?

#90 what would your characters do if they started turning into a tree?

#91 what would your character do if someone told them they looked like an in-universe celebrity/famous person?

#92 what would they do if someone stuck a spoonful of mayonnaise in their face and told them to eat it?

#93 What would they do if they woke up and their hair was a different color?

#94 What would they do if a donkey started following them around (or any other animal)

#95 how would they react to a dancing chicken (with music coming from who knows where)

#96 What if they fell off a very high cliff?

#97 What would your characters do if suddenly they couldn’t understand what each other were saying? Then had to communicate other ways?

#98 what would your character do if they got turned into an animal?

#99 how would your character respond to back hugs?

#100 How would your character respond to scalp massages?

[olis-inkwell-symposium]

A Character’s Flaws vs. Strengths

When it comes to balancing your character’s flaws and strengths, the goal is to create a multidimensional figure that feels real and relatable—someone who’s defined by both their virtues and their imperfections. Here’s how I approach it:

Make the Flaws Integral to the Plot

Characters need their flaws to feel human. But it’s not enough for them to just have these flaws—they should actually affect the story.

When a character’s impatience or distrust leads to mistakes, it makes their growth feel earned. Their flaws should push the narrative forward, not just sit there in the background.

Don’t Overbalance Toward Strengths

One of the biggest traps is giving your characters too many redeeming qualities to offset their weaknesses. A character who’s too good at too many things, with only one tiny fault (that’s conveniently not a big deal), won’t hold the reader’s attention. It’s all about dysfunction; flawed characters who still manage to push through the shit.

Reflect Flaws in Relationships

Let the flaws ripple out. Does a character’s arrogance put them at odds with their best friend?

Maybe their insecurity makes them sabotage a potential love interest. The flaws shouldn’t just affect them personally—they should shape how they interact with the world and the people in it.

Make Strengths Earned

Rather than giving a character prepackaged strengths, have those strengths grow organically from their flaws. Maybe a character’s stubbornness makes them unwilling to give up on a tough quest, or their mistrust means they’re great at detecting lies.

The best strengths are those that arise from a deep understanding of their weaknesses.

Balance in the Journey

Don’t be afraid to let your character break down. Sometimes they’ll fall, make the wrong choice, and face the consequences of their flaws. But that’s what makes their eventual triumphs even sweeter. It’s about letting the flaws and strengths dance together, creating a push-pull dynamic that keeps readers invested.

In the end, flaws and strengths shouldn’t feel separate. They’re two sides of the same coin. It’s in that tension, that friction, where the real depth of a character comes to life. That’s how I build my characters—flawed, messy, deeply human, and it makes them all the more interesting for it.

If you want to see how I pull this off in my worlds like Tenebraethia, Novaxiom, or A Healer’s Vow, check out more over at @oliolioxenfreewrites.

[whosthere54]

Noooo babe put your clothes back on I’m going to talk to you about the parallels of destruction and creation as character foils.

[hauntedraggedyanne]

Little flaws to give to your characters

They won’t be EVIL if they do these things, but it makes them seem a bit more rounded by giving them little flaws

—Can’t keep a plant alive to save their soul

—Gives up too easily

—Every time they go out to eat with others and they all order their food, they go last so that they can condescendingly ask for a salad

—Acts surprised when someone has a hobby and they’re not monetizing that hobby (ex: crochet. Actually this all about crocheting)

—cyber bully

—Keeps turning the conversation on its head so that they have an excuse to talk about themselves

—The type who compares traumas (oh I’m so sorry your dad’s a terrible person. BUT AT LEAST YOU HAVE A DAD 😭😭😭)

—Never asks for permission to do anything. It stops being cool and bad-boy after a while

—Nonchalant about everything. Even when you shouldn’t be.

—Steals little things for absolutely no reason. It’s not like they’re poor. It’s not like they need it. They just take it.

—They question every single detail about the things you say like they’re solving a murder case. (“Yeah, life has been really tough���“ “IF things have been as difficult as you say, then WHY—“)

—Talks about how unique their music taste is. All the time.

[luna-azzurra]

Character flaws for an anxious character

Constant worrying: Obsessively fretting over even the smallest details.

Overplanning: Creating elaborate contingency plans for every possible scenario.

Indecisiveness: Struggling to make decisions due to fear of making the wrong choice.

Social anxiety: Feeling extremely nervous or uncomfortable in social situations.

Perfectionism: Setting impossibly high standards for themselves and others.

Avoidance behavior: Dodging situations or responsibilities that trigger anxiety.

Overapologizing: Saying sorry for everything, even when it's not their fault.

Hyperawareness of physical sensations: Being overly sensitive to bodily sensations and interpreting them as signs of impending doom.

Catastrophizing: Jumping to the worst-case scenario in any given situation.

Need for reassurance: Constantly seeking validation or reassurance from others.

Rumination: Getting stuck in a loop of negative thoughts and overanalyzing past events.

Difficulty relaxing: Finding it hard to unwind and let go of stress.

Overthinking: Overanalyzing every word or action, leading to anxiety about social interactions.

Physical symptoms of anxiety: Experiencing symptoms like sweating, trembling, or rapid heartbeat in stressful situations.

Avoidance of confrontation: Going to great lengths to avoid conflict or uncomfortable conversations.

People-pleasing: Putting others' needs and desires above their own to avoid conflict.

Overpreparation: Spending excessive time and energy preparing for events or tasks.

Self-doubt: Second-guessing their abilities and decisions due to fear of failure.

Fear of the unknown: Feeling anxious about uncertain or unfamiliar situations.

Imposter syndrome: Believing they are not worthy of their achievements and fearing they will be exposed as a fraud.

[imbecominggayer]

What Are Archetypes And How To Use Them!

Character archetypes are one of the many tools in a writer's arsenal to write believable and universally relatable characters which transcend geography, time, and culture!

Throughout this post, I will be discussing what archetypes are, how to use them, and how to subvert them.

What Are Character Archetypes?

What are character archetypes? Archetypes are kinda like templates that are grouped into categories depending on their traits, experiences, and actions.

When thinking about "archetypes", your mind may jump to the archetypes in the major Arcana which represent different aspects of life! Like character archetypes, the archetypes represented in the Arcana encompass a multitude of various traits, experiences, and meanings depending on the reader of the tarot or, with character archetypes), interpretations by the author!

Archetypes are meant to transcend time, geography, location, and the differences between other individuals to communicate universal truths about humanity.

But it's important to use archetypes correctly! All characters require character development and if you don't use character development or there isn't enough character then the characters are going to be flat, boring, and unoriginal.

The difference between "stock characters" and "archetypes" is the fact that stock characters aren't meant to be main characters. Stock characters are the strict librarian that tells the lovers to be quiet, the mean bully that gets humiliated, or the MC's lovingly dead mom.

They are static, flat characters who are meant to serve as filler. Archetypes are the foundation to create complex, changing characters!

Mixing Character Archetypes

Most characters fall into multiple character archetypes depending on the perspective that you are looking at. Mixing character archetypes allows your characters to be familiar but not cliche!

Character Archetypes (And How To Subvert Them)

There are way too many archetypes so I'm just going to give a quick run-by!

The Caregiver

The caregiver is a character who selflessly and whole-heartedly supports their loved ones. They often tend to fall into the Mentor role, the Best Friend role, or something else. It's common to see the Caregiver as an accompanying character to the Hero.

Traits: Selfless, Kind, Compassionate, Honorable, Loving

Pitfalls: Too selfless, tends to lack growth or goals, a bit too dedicated to assholes

Subvert: Caregiver can serve as an enabling force who encourages the Hero or the Villain to follow all of their desires and will force their loved one to deny any healthy accountability for their bad behavior. The Caregiver can be a shallow individual who has a tendency of nearly abandoning the group when things seem hopeless. The Caregiver can show some selfishness

Everyman

The Everyman is your regular Joe-Shmoe who isn't smart enough to be a Mad Scientist but not dumb enough to be the resident Idiot. They aren't particular ugly nor particularly attractive (but they tend to get the love interest anyway). They are kinda average in most respects.

The Everyman is humble and cooperative but not stand out.

Traits: Humble, Hard-working, Grounded, Relatable, Cooperative

Pitfalls: This is the protagonist for 95% of stories. Tends to flail around so much that the audience wonders why they are even needed.

Subvert: The Everyman tends to fall into the Innocent type. Basically, oblivious as all heck and a bystander. The Everyman could be a secret mastermind behind the whole operation and more aware than anyone suspects.

The Creator

Constantly creative and constantly making something. Their creation can be physical (inventor) or in the divine sense. To the Creator, there is nothing that is more important than what they are trying to make, and they are willing to sacrifice themselves and others to reach their goal.

Traits: Obsession, imaginative, strong-willed, egotistical

Pitfalls: The Creator tends to be unsympathetic and not that obviously relatable to the non-creative types.

Subvert: Actually try and make this Mad Scientist or God relatable. Many people have that one thing that they would sacrifice their time and life for whether that be their job, their family, their identity, or their creative pursuits. Connecting that creation to these universal truths will turn your one-dimensional character into a tragedy or masterpiece.

The Explorer

They want to break boundaries, take risks, and travel the world for something new. They yearn for something more than a normal life. They want to find their purpose and they don't believe their purpose lies in the mundane life everyone wants them to live.

Traits: Courageous, independent, nonconforming, driven, curious

Pitfalls: Explorer types tend to be the garden-variety " I want to explore this place". Highly common protagonists.

Subvert: Have the Explorer be a little bit lost in the world. They aren't courageous about their desires and they don't even really know what they want. They just know they don't want to spend the rest of their life here. They are afraid of stagnation. They are afraid of looking back on their life and only being able to feel regret. Make it spiritual. Make it about fear.

The Hero

The Hero rises to the challenge. They can't or refuse to stand by any longer to the injustice surrounding them. They fight the villains.

Traits: Honorable, Justice-Orientated, Strong

Pitfalls: One-Dimensional. "really? another story about Superman going rogue and killing people because angst?"

Subvert: At this point, having a character who is genuinely a good person who wants to try and be a good person is a subversion. Seriously, if you can only write an interesting character when they are evil or "morally complicated", they you are putting yourself in a box. They aren't perfect but they try. That's the thesis statement for heroes.

The Innocent

The Innocent is defined by their unending optimism and naivety with a child-life attitude (if they aren't an actual child). The Innocent tends to be the starting place for a character who will eventually have their comfortable life radically shifted by worldly events until their ignorance is swept away from them.

Traits: Trusting, Loving, Sincere, Open, Powerless, Oblivious

Pitfalls: So innocent to the point where they are obnoxious and not relatable to anyone above the age of 7. "Why is a man who has the ignorance of a child the Chosen One?"

Subvert: What if the Innocent isn't this childish person but actually acts serious? A story could have a character going on this journey to become the Innocent in an effort to get rid of their memories of the horrors of life that they have deemed unbearable. And they succeed. The Innocent could be someone whose naivety about the world often has them acting in cruel and insensitive ways.

The Lover

Ranging from the hedonistic players to the dreamy romantics, Lovers are guided by their heart. Like Creators, they also have an all-consuming obsession and dedication, although, in this case, the object of their obsession is the receiver of their love whether that be a person or an object.

They often overlap with the Caregiver.

‍Traits: Devoted, compassionate, caring, protective

Pitfalls: They often tend to be one-dimensional and horribly problematic.

Subvert: The recipient of their love could be an object, a friend, or a family member. Their love could also be demonstrated as purposefully toxic as their codepedent traits have the potential to intersect with Superior Complexes, Inferiority Complexes, and/or Savior Complexes.

The Rags-To-Riches Orphan

While not always a literal orphan, the Orphan starts in a state of poverty and unimportance who transitions into a life of opulence and excitement.

Beyond that, Orphans tend to fall into Found Families, as a desire for belonging often reunites them with either social outcasts or the Riches group.

‍Traits: Survivalists, empathetic, determined, driven

‍Pitfalls:  Another orphan? Really? Wow, you got picked up off the street and became unbelievablely rich? How relatable.

Subvert: The Orphan uses their skills and resources from their time in poverty to secure power, influence, and popularity from the masses as their relatable upbringing, connects to the underground market, and survivalist mentality leads them to be even more cunning and manipulative than the natural-born. The Orphan isn't as innocent and ignorant as everyone seems to think they're. The Orphan falls from their rich status. The Orphan hates their found family and relishes in the opportunity to leave them.

The Rebel

The Rebel leads the charge against flawed leaders and power structures when the balance of society is threatened. They might be the public head of a rebellion, a charismatic outsider, someone who works in the shadows, or just someone whose another James Dean- knock-off.

‍Traits: Natural leaders, courageous, inspiring, strong, charismatic

Pitfalls: Romancization of rebel groups and abusive behaviors as , more often than not, rebel groups establish a new order that is the same or even worse than the previous group.

Subvert: What if we didn't contribute to the massive romantization of rebel authority and instead investigated how extremists groups can manipulate desperate citizens into horrible governments. Because Hitler was a rebel who instigated a national rebellion. What if we explored the topic of co-option as previous signs of rebelliousness and civil rights are being commercialized for right-wing non-pocs and "rebellious" teens?

The Mentor

The Mentor is the character who is typically off in the corner, training the protagonist with life advice such as "life happens man" and "if you klll a killer, that's somehow worse than being that killer".

Because writers don't know how to write actual wisdom so they copy facebook quotes and look up a thesarus for some "fancy" words

‍Traits: "Wise", caring, patient, insightful, rational

Pitfalls: "Author! Arthor! This a serious topic with a huge diversity of variables and an imperfect solution as humans are inherently imperfect! This advice seems really oversimplified and kinda biased!

Subvert: What if the mentor's teachings are revealed to be heavily biased and based on misinformation which is reflective of the mentor's upbringing? What if the mentor is secretly working with the antagonist to feed the fledgling Hero with false beliefs? What if the mentor genuinely hates the Hero but is still on Team Good Guys?

[helpful-writing-tips]

giving characters flaws:

turn their best qualities completely upside down. turn those traits around on them.

they're too compassionate? maybe they're way too easily forgiving and get screwed over by it repeatedly.

extremely outgoing and extroverted? maybe they're apathetic to those who struggle with even having small talk, and make those people highly uncomfortable.

brave? maybe they can be reckless and often get themselves in unnecessary danger.

[notetakers-blog-of-holding]

Writing Your D&D Character Backstory

Creating your D&D character can seem a bit overwhelming, especially if you're new to the game. You have to remember the numbers and abilities that tie into other numbers and your characters species- On top of that, you have to write a story for them? I'll admit, it gets to be a little much.

You can choose to not have a fully fleshed out backstory for your character, and build them with the world you're playing in. (Utilizing amnesia, forgetfulness spells, or curses are always good) Open ended backstories can become a great way for you and the DM to "Yes and-" your way into new plot hooks.

However daunting it might seem, writing your D&D character backstory can be one of the most fun things about the game. 

No matter how you play your game, backstories can come in useful, for both role playing your character, and for the DM to write more interesting plot hooks surrounding specific character arcs. It can provide you with contacts in certain cities, allied factions that can help you out in a pinch, or recurring rivals that seek to undo your best-laid plans. 

Without further ado, let's get into these tips and tricks I hope will help you through the process of writing your backstory.

1. Who are you?

The most important thing your backstory needs to cover is who exactly your character is. This is essentially what the whole backstory should be about; Building a fleshy cover for that skeleton you made on your character sheet.

A few major essential things your backstory should cover are: 

Your name, age, and a physical description of your character.

Where you came from

Does this character have a family? Do they know who they are?

At least one character belief and/or goal.

Simple, right? Your backstory doesn't have to be a 60 page epic about how you went from your hometown to the town over and found a sword along the way. 

Getting these things into a backstory is generally enough to begin role playing at a very basic level. It also provides you with a really good basis for adding more to the backstory at a later date, with your DM's approval. 

2. Add a bit of Drama

Once you have a good understanding of who your character is, writing drama into your backstory will add depth to your character. 

Does your character have love interest that was killed, breaking their heart? Or, maybe your barbarian resents her tribe for choosing a new leader above her? 

Whatever the drama is, it's important to have some be open-ended. Unresolved trauma/dramatic events can be an early present for any DM, and gleefully they may unfold your characters story arc in front of you. (Some DM's are not as excited as I am about backstory integration, so make sure to talk to your DM before adding them in.)

Having a few dramatic events in your backstory can help tie your character to the world. Maybe they can't go back to a certain tavern since they got caught cheating at dice, or maybe they need to get to the church several months ride away as quickly as possible to stop their true love from getting married. 

Your characters drama is what makes them more 'real'. Having talks with their new-found allies about their lives around campfires, or while in a lull traveling through hyperspace, these stories form unbreakable bonds between characters and will strengthen your own love of your character. 

3. Play to your weaknesses

You are flawed, and so is your character. Every character should have at least one major flaw, and a handful of minor ones. When creating your character (unless you are particularly lucky) you should have an ability score in the minuses: Utilize It!

A character with a minus in charisma could be a lovely fool that always manages to say the wrong thing, or a grumpy teenager unable to express themselves properly. 

Starting at level 1, your character is going to be inherently weak, whether that be due to lack of experience (EXP) or by some tragic mishap of having all of your powers and abilities stripped away. Writing for the situation is vital, you probably won't have achieved world peace, killed an evil demon, and reinvented the wheel before the campaign starts. 

Whatever your character flaws are, there are some simple guidelines that I tend to follow when writing weakness into my character: 

Don't go overboard. 

Use your character sheet and stats to help.

Don't be a god when you're level 1.

Tie your flaws to your dramatic/traumatic section.

Remember, your flaws are what makes your character interesting, but don't have so many it intrudes on other players fun. 

4. Work with your DM

It helps to ask your DM for help when it comes to writing your backstory, since they know how the world works. 

With their input you can develop secrets to keep from the other players, write in rivals to challenge you at every turn, write additional characters that can help you out when you need a place to stay in the middle of nowhere. 

Any DM worth their salt will help a player develop a character that they enjoy playing. After all, it is a game that we're playing for fun. Don't be afraid to do something weird and off the wall, characters that stray outside of the conventional character stereotypes are often really fun and interesting. That being said, character conventions are nothing to be scared of, adding a twist to the expected can be just as fun.

5. Do multiple drafts

Doing multiple drafts of a backstory is both a luxury and a necessity. 

I know I've made many MANY drafts for my PC's, it's fun to scribble down little ideas throughout the day or add in cool details you find in books or on the internet

Sometimes, you simply do not have the time to do multiple drafts, asking your DM if you can change and add certain things once the story starts should not be a problem. If you are unable to do multiple drafts prior to starting, an evolving backstory in this way is a great way to compensate, so long as your DM is game and you don't just make up game breaking character changes midway through a vital encounter. 

If you do have the time to do multiple drafts however, this is a vital thing to do. Drafting a characters backstory allows you to take a break, come back and adapt things, change the way some things are written, rethink and rework some of those weirder plot lines. 

Making sure that you wrote things in a clear cut, simplistic way so that ambiguity doesn't end up leading to a big misunderstanding in the plot line is very important. More-so, the more drafts you do, the better you end up knowing your character, which, helps those who are new or not confident at role playing.

6. Write in the first person

This one should be obvious, it really helps to get into character. 

Writing from your characters perspective allows you to make out-of-character notes within the backstory that clarify situations for anyone reading. Plus your character may have a skewed view of what happened in certain events. 

Checklist

Here is a small checklist of things that you might want to consider putting into your backstory, some that I've written about above and some I will leave until a later post. Feel free to pick and choose what you put in and what you leave out.

Description of your character

Information on their hometown and family

The story of how they got their powers/abilities

A good friend that you've lost contact with

A rival 

A major flaw

A few minor flaws

A secret

A mystery

An unresolved bit of trauma

A love interest

An object they need to get their hands on

Ties to a particular town / city / faction

A vice

A morally questionable belief or ideal

Odd quirks

I hope this post helped you to write your character backstory in some way, I will be doing a part 2 and further posts in my tricks and tips series, for players and DMs alike.

Thanks for reading my first ever post!

[gunsandspaceships]

Tony's flaws

As I promised in this post, here's a list of flaws that MCU Tony actually has or had in the past (before Afghanistan, but not necessarily his entire life before that):

Absent-minded Aimless (in the past) Anxious (after The Avengers) Audacious Childish Closed-off Clumsy Fixated Forgetful Grumpy Guilt complex Haunted by the past Hotheaded Insecure Irresponsible Irritable Lacking ambition Lacking boundaries Naive Nervous Non-assertive Overly trusting Overthinker Passive-aggressive People-pleasing Perfectionist Quick-tempered Reckless Reclusive Restless Sarcastic Secretive Self-blame Self-centered (in the past) Self-destructive Self-doubting Self-isolating Self-martyr Skeptical Suicidal Tactless Withdrawn

Some of them he has all the time, some appear rarely (for example, sometimes he is tactless, but more often he is polite with people and knows when he has said something inappropriate).

If I missed anything, feel free to let me know in the comments, and if he actually has/had it, I'll add it to the list.

P.S. Personal opinions of haters, such as their favorite "who can be considered a war criminal", are not accepted. You can go hate yourself.