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What makes you favor a particular character?

Guy

just a guy
  • 7,128
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    16
    Years
    ..or characters, with an s?

    One of the best outcomes when getting into a new series, whether it be a television show, book, or movie is we end up falling in love with the characters we are introduced to. Maybe not all and maybe not most, but there's usually at least one character in particular that stands above the rest; one character we favor the most.

    Now, I'm not asking you which characters are your favorite ─ although you're certainly welcome to name a few of them as examples ─ but rather, what qualities is it you look for in a character? What is it that these characters have or do that makes you favor them so much more than the rest? That they end up leaving a memorable imprint in your mind.
     
    I tend to perfer the characters who are cheerful, chrasmatic, and brave aka the standard shonen hero archtype.

    For them to stand out in my view they simply need to have to do or say stuff that are genuinely funny imo.
     
    I like the characters that aren't what they "should" be. Like a big jock who's actually pretty smart and insightful. They start out as one thing and you learn that there's more to the character than you thought. I know that's just character development and every good character has it, but I especially like seeing "bad" or "evil" characters having a good side, or at least good intentions. Gentile giants especially make me like them because they're usually long-suffering due to their appearance and yet they have good hearts. Sometimes they'll let their hatred or rage get the better of them, and that just makes them even easier to empathize with.

    Aside from that I gravitate toward characters who are nerdy, bookish, and quiet because I'm nerdy, bookish, and quiet.
     
    I tend to like characters who have had really bad experiences, but still put a smile on their face, and/or continue to live their life right (eg. The Doctor [particularly number 10] in Doctor Who, and Zuko from Avatar)
     
    I'm naturally drawn towards slightly 'off' characters, the ditzier the better. For example, Pheebs from Friends. She's my favorite character because she's, well, Pheebs. She has her sad moments and it's in those moments that we see the most character development, but happy-go-lucky yet simultaneously cutthroat Phoebe is by far my favorite sort of Phoebe. They just draw me into a show, those sort of characters. But what I love are the stern, uptight characters. They're truly the most interesting to me.
     
    As boring as this is going to sound, my favourite characters in entertainment are the ones that seem truly original. For the most part, that means that main characters are rarely my favourite in anything, whether it be film, TV or books - most of them fall into similar archetypical patterns which mean they often can't be truly original in their personality and mannerisms. Because of this, I often tend to prefer supporting characters. Often, they're allowed to be more sarcastic/witty, and just generally have more of a personality, given that they're not massively concerned with propelling narrative, like main ones.

    There will of course be hundreds of exceptions to this main 'rule' that I have above, but it's proved surprisingly resonant over a number of years, for me personally.
     
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