Do not give me specifics unless they are an example of a more general point.  I'm saying that first, because, honestly?  My war stories are not as interesting as I think they are, and I fear that you may be in the same boat.

No, I have an actual question.  A question, indeed, that I've asked elsewhere:  What is it that makes a lovable character that we're happy to see in the game (or on screen, or on the page) whether they're in a good story or a piece of stupid fluff?  What makes yer Malcolm Reynolds, yer Chewbacca, yer Doctor Who?  What separates them from characters we don't give a hoot about who are in stories with very much the same apparent structure?

When I ask in some of the more theory-oriented boards, the answer tends toward talking about conflict.  About how tensions between the character and his environment (and other characters) drive the story, and all that jazz.  I'm pretty well unconvinced of that.  I think conflict's central to telling a good story, but not necessarily to creating a good character.  I think that, for instance, I'd still like Mal in a story about the crew of Firefly shopping on some planet where nothing goes wrong.  It'd be a damn boring story, but I'd still find Malcolm Reynolds a fun character, and be glad to see him.

So, anyway, this is a board with very different viewpoints on things, right?  What'cha got?

The flaws.

Quote from: blakkieThe flaws.

Why?

I like characters who know what they're doing.  Competency and level-headedness go a long way towards endearing a character to me.  For instance, I can't get enough of The Unit (for all its flaws) because the characters are so damn good at their jobs.  Bill Adama is my all-time favorite SF captain, in no small part because of his expertise and the confidence with which he uses it.

Quote from: TonyLBWhy?

I suppose my full answer really should be the mixture and counterpoints of their merits and their flaws.

"He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." -- Winston Churchhill

But the negative of that. Their merits are what keep them from being a totally despicable waste of skin. Their flaws make them human and give them texture. I will point out that some of my characters are ultimately a person you, or at least I, wouldn't nessasarily seek out as a friend. But mixed in they always have something that makes them worthwhile.

Sort of like Churchhill himself I suppose. I don't expect I would have enjoyed being his friend and hanging out with him. By accounts he was one miserable SOB, and it wasn't that long after the war that he found himself out of office. But he was good enough to be the right person at the right spot in time to help pull his country, and perhaps by extension the world, through a very dark and dangerous time. And intreging because he accomplished this inspite of his deep flaws.


Even better yet look at Malcolm Reynolds. Even stripping away, if you can, the dead-on smooth delivery by Nathan Fillion. That's what makes him so interesting, at least to me. His particular contrast of merits and flaws, the light and the dark, and the resulting play of shadows.

Quote from: TonyLBWhat is it that makes a lovable character that we're happy to see in the game (or on screen, or on the page) whether they're in a good story or a piece of stupid fluff?  What makes yer Malcolm Reynolds, yer Chewbacca, yer Doctor Who?  What separates them from characters we don't give a hoot about who are in stories with very much the same apparent structure?

Honestly Tony, you cut out all the conflict stuff, and all I'm left with (perhaps the most important aspect), is how the actor or player potrays the character. Ultimately the story whatever the medium may not be very interesting, but hell, what a performance.

Regards,
David R

I don't like Mal Reynolds....and I tend to think of the character as a way to tell a story. If nothing's going on, I'm not interested in your character – or to put it another way, what I'm interested in about your character is their decisions and actions.

What I love most is that I never get to PLAY them, because I'm always running a game instead of getting to play. That means i never get tired of them, never get burnt out, I'm always dying to play.