whitedog1

Likeable bad guy

-this is among the most popular characters

-note that this is not the same as “anti-hero”

-he dislikes a good popular character and has some goal/interest that conflicts with theirs

-he can be violent, disturbingly so, but only towards men

-he can kill a lot, even women, but the woman has to be unpopular and the killing should be fast and clean, like a shot in the chest

-can be sexually devious and polygamous, or completely asexual

-shouldn’t be very romantic (however, can have a pet/object/person he’s very mushy about)

-should be egoistic and completely uninterested in others’ feelings (the mushy thing not included)

-should have “a way with words”

-should appear in an embarrassing/humiliating situation only a few times; too much, and he becomes comedic

-if he fights/competes with a good character, he shouldn’t constantly lose or win; it should vary

-can be illegally aggressive in pursuing a sex love interest, but only if he’s gay; if he’s straight, he’s bound by the same rules as the likeable good guy

-some people say the only thing that separates a popular good guy from a popular bad guy is the fact that the bad guys’ goals are not socially accepted

-this especially applies if they both use lots of physical violence; a good guy killing someone is “justified”, a bad guy doing so: not

-can cheat and seduce taken people

-should be very passionate about something, more so than a good character; he really needs something “driving” him

-should be a bit eccentric, but don’t overdo it

-to stay realistic, he should not be very close to his family

-he should be popular/envied/hated/feared by the community; any strong emotion will do

-it helps if he’s kind of emotional and moody

-it also helps if there’s some sexual tension between him and the good character (and if there’s not, the fans will decide so, anyway -_-)

Likeable bad girl

-probably the hardest character to create

-has many of the male’s qualities

-can be in a physical fight with a female but it must not get too gory

-should loathe children and animals, especially the cute ones

-should be completely unromantic and not mushy in any way

-should be surrounded by incredibly stupid male cronies she can abuse

-can go two ways with sexuality: either be overly sexual and use everyone she meets as a sex toy to throw away later, or be utterly uninterested in sex in any way

-to add comedic value, she should be convinced she is normal and everyone else is extremely strange (even when her values are utterly unaccepted by society)

-should be very violent (towards men)

-should be even more driven by something than the male version, to the point of obsession

-should be very good at verbal abuse

-should be impatient

-it’s recommended that she induces a lot of laughter with her dialogue; comedic ones are easier to create than serious ones

-is free to express hatred towards anything at all; has more freedom in this than the male version

Unlikeable bad guy

-should have the opposite values, opinions and methods as the readers

-should be shown doing something extremely unacceptable, like sexually abusing a woman/child, beating an animal, torturing (in graphic detail, with the focus on the victim’s pain)

-these are not necessary; much milder methods can make a male unlikeable

-it’s enough if he passionately hates a popular character and bullies, abuses, mocks and targets them (sometimes successfully)

-he should constantly express opinions that offend the readers

-you should not show his human side

-or if you do, make it very, very brief

-when speaking of readers like mine, this character can easily get hated by being homophobic, racist, bigot, sexist, chauvinist, egoistic, sexually harassing, disrespectful of everyone and everything, violent towards dogs or cats, having many girls at the same time and cheating on them, beating up women

-if you want to keep him on the “legal side”, and not as some super villain, it’s quite enough for him to just insult a popular (preferably female) character’s appearance, and have him believe men are superior to women

Unlikeable bad girl

-largely same as the above, basically; she should stand for the opposite as the readers

-you can make her try to seduce the good girl’s man, or all taken men (or women, if the characters are gay)

-have her be very hot and sexy (and aware of it)

-have her be two-faced and manipulate people

-make her a snob, a bully, very egoistic

-have her hating nerds and fat kids particularly

-it doesn’t matter if she’s openly a good character’s enemy or just secretly hates them

-however, if the hating is secretive, you can make her extremely unlikeable by having her plotting and talking behind everyone’s back; this makes her more unlikeable than open to-the-face rivalry

Mary Sue and Gary Stu

-translated into “characters designed to be likeable but failed”

-see Bella and Edward from twilight

HOW TO MAKE A LIKEABLE CHARACTER

This is not the “truth”; these are just my own observations, based on my experience. I also disagree with some of these things. This is not “How to make a good/realistic character”; this is about likeability/popularity.

I will give tips to people who have the same genre and audience as me (romantic comedy for teen girls). I will also give tips how to make characters of various levels of likeability.

I will focus on their personalities and interactions, not their looks. I will say something about looks very quickly: if you want the character to have a love interest, making him hot makes it easier for the readers. If he’s “ugly”, you must first make sure he’s liked, through lots of interaction showing him as a real sweetheart. After he’s loved, his looks don’t matter and you can pair him up. Same goes for female characters.

Likeable female

-this one girls find hard to create

-don’t make her look too hot

-if she’s pretty, she must have days when she feels that way, and days when she doesn’t

-as in, she must not be completely unaware of it, or too aware of it

-she must not be very popular, or aggressively unpopular (these are mary-sue traits)

-she must not be depressed and negative all the time, nor the opposite

-in a way, you should avoid any constant extremes; it will get annoying very soon

-make sure she has the same core values as your target group (not homophobic, not racist…)

-make her unsure around her love interest

-a good sense of humor is important

-sarcasm has its time and place; don’t overdo it

-she can make fun of unpopular characters/groups (bigots, bullies, stupid people…)

-she can be physically violent only towards men, and unlikeable females of the same age and size

-she can flirt a little, but be careful not to overdo it (girls have a tendency to hate flirty girls)

-to be safe, only have her flirt with her boyfriend

-she should have a passion, but she can’t be the best at it

-she can’t be the best at anything, unless it’s a fictional/”dumb” talent

-other characters should not talk about her/praise her too much; this seems like you’re telling your readers to like her, and that’s not good

-she should have some moments of extreme awkwardness

-she should not aggressively chase her love interest

-if you know your target group and how their life is, add some of it into her life, but don’t be too vague

-if she’s a lesbian, all the rules above apply, but she can be more aggressive in chasing her love interest (this is something I have noticed many times)

-the more popular your character, the more they get away with

Likeable male

-almost all the “likeable female” traits go for male characters, as well

-male characters get away with much more than female characters

-you can make him really hot, whereas with girls, it’s not recommended

-males get away with being completely unaware of all the surrounding girls wanting them, but they must have a certain innocent, simple quality about them for this to work

-accents always add appeal, just like non-american customs and habits (as long as they are somehow close to american/western ones)

-whereas utterly polite, respectful, innocent girls may be seen as boring/annoying, this can really work for boys

-a male can never be violent to anyone but another male (of the same size or bigger!)

-he should “end up” in fights, never start them

-he has to be extremely monogamous and faithful

-he can’t be interested in any other girls than his love interest

-if he is gay, he doesn’t have to be strictly uninterested in other males, and he can be more aggressive in chasing his love interest (almost to the point of criminal, I’ve noticed…)

-don’t make him too obsessed with his looks; the less he cares, the better

-he can sacrifice himself a lot more for a girl than a girl can sacrifice herself for a boy

-he can go to extreme lengths, in general, for his love interest, whereas this is not recommended for female characters

-he should be a bit old-fashioned when it comes to dating

Next time, I will talk about “likeable bad male” and “likeable bad female”.

What do you use to draw?

I sketch on copy paper with hard pencil, erase, draw with ink, markers and ballpoint, go to the library and scan.

How can you update so often?

I have been drawing all my life. I’ve become quite fast.

Can you give me drawing tips?

Look at a lot of art and tutorials, and draw a lot. I can really say no more.

Why don’t you reply to messages?

I have limited time to spend online. I don’t have internet at home, and I get a lot of comments.

Why don’t you get internet connection?

I would end up surfing a lot and drawing less. You wouldn’t like that.

Can I draw fanart of your characters or colour them?

To avoid complications, I’d rather you don’t.

I don’t like the content/style of your art.

Then don’t look at it.

But it’s always on front page!

Every time I log in, I see something on front page I dislike a lot. I still manage to move on and search for art I do like. You should do the same.

You’re the reason real artists don’t get the attention they deserve!

I really don’t think I share the same target group as artists who put weeks of effort into their art.

Why don’t you colour your work?

I dislike colouring.

Why don’t you make it look cleaner, more polished etc.?

Would take more time, and I wouldn’t be able to post daily anymore. My watchers would not like that.

dA is an ART site, not a site for crappy, quickly-drawn comics!

There are many websites where the moderators go through all material and decide what art is good enough to get published and what isn’t. You should get an account on one of those sites.

Why did you block me? I love your work!

There are many things that can get you blocked. Such as:


-wooo first comment!!

-giving crit/concrit

-asking about things I’ve already explained several times

-paying zero attention

-using languages other than English (especially Japanese)

-comparing my characters to other characters in any way

-comparing my art to someone else’s

-requesting things

-being pushy

-ramming things down my throat

-being a smartass

-saying something that has nothing to do with my deviation

-making long threads; replying to other comments

-very bad spelling

-focusing on clearly non-important matters on purpose

-and obviously, flaming

You can’t block someone who loves your work!

I block people whose comments annoy me. This way, my annoyance level stays low and my productivity level high. A few individuals suffer, but the majority of my watchers remain happy.

Why do you block people who give concrit? They’re trying to help!

As an employee and student, I take concrit and act upon it. This, however, is just my hobby. I do it because I enjoy it. I know what to do to get better; I’m a former art student. I’ve participated in courses the sole purpose of which was to give and receive concrit. I liked it, and I was always among the top of class, but I also noticed I started to draw in hopes of getting praise from my teacher and fellow students, instead of the pure, uncomplicated joy of drawing. My dA account is for enjoyment, alone.

Many people would love to get concrit!

Then make them happy and give it to them.

Where do you get your ideas?

I’ve always had an over-active imagination.

Are you going to sell your work one day?

I have no idea.

Do you do art trades and/or requests?

Not at the moment.

You have so many original characters I get confused about them.

Pay attention to what’s going on in my comics, and to my artist comments and journals. It should help.  

Will you finish [insert comic’s name here]?

The chances are so very, very low that it’s practically a “no”. Also, a person asking about it does nothing for my desire to draw it.

Are your characters based on your friends? Are you Chriss?

Some situations in my comics have happened, and most of my characters have traits of mine/traits that I admire (or despise). Chriss is not me; some things we have in common, yes, but she also has features the complete opposite of mine. Nina and Jake are (based on their ref sheets, not their behavior in the comics) almost completely based on people I know, though. The inspiration for Nina hasn’t had plastic surgery, though (even if she’s considering it). And Jake’s inspiration plays a lot of video games, which Jake doesn’t (I’m not into guys who play video games).

If more common questions arise, I will update this version.