I try to give my characters very clear personalities rather than make them too "real life" just because it makes them more distinct and easier to work with. I also think that characters that are created to be more realistic (having lots of flaws or interests or being well rounded like most real people are) makes them seem surprisingly fake. I think characters, at least for manga/anime need to have something solid about them, something very defining about their personality that people can pick up on right away or they turn out to be boring.

Wow. what a rant. Sorry Tama!

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~Kitsunedajfox~
I choose to be happy, I choose to be free and I choose to eat lots of ice cream.

There are two ways i go about when creating an OC. I either have a description in my mind of their personality and a bit of background then build around that or I start off with a few random concept sketches and if i like them i'll flesh out the character a bit more. But over all my characters start out fairly flat until i tie them into a story and decide what roles they will be playing.

I remember when I was a kid, the OCs I did were a bit too Gary Stu/Mary Sue-ish. Nowadays I try not to make the same mistake again. I'd prefer fun characters!

Other than that, sounds like you had fun! And besides that, what a kawaii new avatar you got! Can I give you a hug please?

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Black Vegetable - Origami Folder.

Blackadder: "Sod off!" (while being attacked by a Tyrannosaurus Rex) (From Blackadder: Back and Forth)

Quite frankly, I think I STILL have the Gary-Stu/Mary-Sue in my characters, I just kind of evolve them into being a little more substantial over time. Hopefully.

Ha ha, my new avatar was made from *nekoshiei's drawing of my OCs, Hana and Sumi. She has such an amazing style and I'm quite honoured she even considered doing an art trade with me.

As for the hug...

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A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. - Winston Churchill

You and me are SO related in the OC building block stages. It's hard to have a complete character right off the bat!

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A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. - Winston Churchill

I'm all good for reading opinions! I agree if a character is too complex like a real life person, it's hard to associate them with their own story because they're just bursting with so many little facets of humanity and fade into the background of society. That solidity really helps distinguish a character's story.

I wonder if it's possible for a character to be so.. normal it's abnormal.

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A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. - Winston Churchill

dont worry too much about the request, you can take all the time you need ^^

about the characters... is true that lately I am focusing more into drawing fanart that my own characters, but, as everybody does, I have them ^^

they appear in a several ways. sometimes I just want to create a new character and focus into designing him/her in a white paper, from skcratch. if I do so it may go ok or it may be faliure. Still usually things dont go that way. Sometimes I am doing other thing and the character just appears in my mind, inspired in a dayly object (my character DX is designed after a cell phone I used to have XD) or in a person I just saw, or even just in clothes. In other ocassions, I just made up with an story, and then, depending of that I give them form.

Other times is just something I listen or read that gives me inspiration. for exemple: while I was taking classes about enterprices organization, I just needed to draw a character that was in charge in some part of an organization directive, until I get all the chiefs from the company of my story - Acom -. Something I have in mind is to make some komas about that company and its chiefs XD

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"Knowledge is the real power"

To one of your questions, in my experience of creating characters and observing them as well, I find that it's probably impossible to create a 3D character off the bat. Of course, if you introduce them at a different time than you create them, that's a different story. XD; But generally, it's usually not, unless your very talented. Mostly it takes time and lots of planning and thinking to flesh them out.

When I was younger, I used to watch my shows and then get brain surges XD I would walk away, or do something mindless, think about the events that happened in the episode, and place my own made character in the show, thinking about the situations they would run into or reactions. Least to say, they usually spiraled into Sue-sodes XD But it was usually quite fun X3

How I would get those characters... I dunno. I remember one of my earliest ones was for Beast Wars (XD) and I kind of got ideas from the show's characters themselves. XD it was a girl, and somewhat inspired by Airazor but it was a mix of deer and a bird, similar to Silverbolt. I can not for the life of me remember what her personality was, but it's probably better that it remains that way XD

Lately though, I find that analyzing a character often depends on the medium in which they are presented in. Like Doujinshis for you, and RPs for me (I only have 'two' though, and one's inactive XD). And in RPs, I see that most new people start with a clean state, a flat character, one that would, with a little hope and some planning, but molded by their actions and history.

However, most of the ones I see are the ones that at the first sign or mention of the evil force in the game are the ones that will either go "BRB Gotta save the world!!11" or "Gotta go train to be the strongest" or something else to that degree. And while it does give them something solid and a personality trait, in an RP if you have too many characters like that it gets very tiresome. And some, well, it's the only displayed quality of their personality. It's nice to see a bit more to them than that.

I mean, come on, even Goku from DBZ had a large appetite and liked to relax from time to time XD

Speaking of RPs, I tend to like characters that are somewhat realistic, even if the fandom they're from isn't. XD It's just a bit of preference that I've gained over the past two years or so, but it's a lot easier to like a character if they are not so unrealistic. XD Of course, this could also be due to the style of writing, but I've found a few that I don't particularly like simply on the basis that they are flat-out Sues (and not necessarily just the hero-boy types) and hard to relate with.

But for stories, I'm not sure XD It probably depends on the fandom and I haven't read a lot of doujinshi or fanfics in years. Usually I'll be okay with any sort of character so long as they fit. I'm not really picky about whether they are OC-centric so long as the character is bearable XD; Some times though when I look at fan-character art on DA and read about the character I get a little put off because of the character's design. Sometimes it just doesn't fit in with the style of the fandom and even though it makes a for diverse character selection in terms of aesthetics, I just don't see it fitting in so much >.<

Hmmm, as for me creating my characters, they get created through many different ways. XD Sometimes it might be a character stereotype I want to try, and then flesh it out from there. Or even a character appearance that I want to put a story too. With one of my less loved but more recently made characters Hark, I made her for the sole purpose of having a rather <strike>slutty</strike> different physical appearance and clothing design, and then from there her personality and history was made. ^^
Sometimes when working with a theme that involves animals, I like to choose the less loved kinds. Like above with my Beast Wars example, you wouldn't except a deer to be chosen as a suitable beast mode, or with my Spiron character whose a bat when I could have chosen something else. Heck, my other Digimon RP character has a Mikemon for a partner, which is just a recoloured Gatomon and no one else in the game has that particular Digimon as their partner. It makes it fun and diverse when you look at the big picture when you have different kinds of just ' physical' traits.

I also like to give characters flaws to make them special. Unless the fandom commands it or I just feel like making that type of character, I tend to not like the "Supah Speshial Powah!" types unless well played out/likeable/relateable. Instead I like to hinder them, whether it be a rough childhood (but not the stereotypical kind, sometimes I like to make characters that come from the poorer status just to shake them up, because a rough childhood doesn't have to mean getting beaten by parents or cutting your wrists), or even maybe lop off a leg or take away a sense. I think there's more than just powers that can make a character stand out, so I like to torture them a bit


((OMG this comment is way too huge and I think I lost my train of thought somewhere along the way @.@ Sorry Tama ; ))

I like reading stuff like this although I think you did get lost somewhere along the way. I especially liked your:

BRB Gotta save the world!!11" or "Gotta go train to be the strongest"

...when it comes to games, although the emo soldier/hero (FFVII, TWEWY, FFXIII, No More Heroes) are very popular too. Ha ha! Creating characters are just too much fun. Making them enjoyable for others is difficult though.

I miss Digimon and Beast Wars too.

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A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject. - Winston Churchill