Fantasy Characters

In this column, I will discuss three types of character that would suit a fantasy write.
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1. Real Characters
2. Unreal Characters
3. Surreal Characters
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First of all, I would like to start by mentioning why vital characters are so important in Fantasy stories.

You have a plot for a Fantasy write and you have a good setting, what could it be?

Vampires, werewolves, elves, lycans etc, most plots are based around well know “critters”

The setting? Modern times with character that almost live a normal life? Medieval era? Or a whole you world created by much work of imagination? I think, I can say, all these ideas have been tried before. So, what do you do now?

How do you make an original fantasy story?

I would recommend making original characters. Craft them to perfection, so that you can feel for them. Make them fabulous if you want to but, make them believable. Fantasy characters often have to go through hardships and accomplish unbelievably tough feats for the greater good. They make sacrifices. They are heroes that inspire you. All this would be meaningless, if you don’t feel for your character, if your reader doesn’t feel for them. All the accomplishments would seem worthless if your reader doesn’t aspire to them.

No, let’s start with the first type of character mentioned above.

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Real Characters
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Every story needs believable characters. Fantasy genre is no different.

To write a real character, I would recommend writing a character‘s biography first. Write about the hardships they have been through, the traumas of their pasts.

This is important because in fantasy stories your character is going to be placed in situations that are not possible in real lives. They might go to unknown lands, meet fairies or monsters and other such stuff. You must always know, how you character is going to react to situation you have put him in.

You need to know what he is going to do if he meets a demon.
Will he run? Or perhaps he will fight? Or may be he’ll try to reason with him that he’s not real.

What is going through his mind? How quickly is he going to accept that something strange is happening to him?

If he’s superstitious he’ll be fairly quick, if he a science geek, it might take sometime until he gives up trying to find scientific reason for everything that’s happening.

For starters, I would recommend writing about yourself. You know how you’re going to react to situations; you know everything about yourself that you need to know about a character. This way you are always going to know, how “you” means your character is going to react.

Going further you can develop you friends, siblings and other people that are close to you as potential characters of a storyline. You can change their soul, make them completely different people. But you need to carry the essence of their sprit with you.

You can change their background. You can alter their life experiences as you start to get hang of it.
Sometimes while making alteration on a character inspired by a real life person, you find that you have a totally unique character that has no resemblance to the real person but is as believable as the real thing.

How do you know your character is good?

The answer is simple, when a situation arrives and you know in a split second how your character is going to face it. You know, all there is to know about their reaction; you don’t need to think about it. You just know it. I say, you have your perfect character.

Let consider this example.

Lucy your character has found a magical object that can make her invisible.

What are her initial thoughts?

Is she going to use it for good?

Does she immediately think about robbing a bank?

Does she think about having some fun with it?

I am not talking about how she is going to end up using it. I am merely considering the first thing that comes to her mind. If you need to give a minute to think, what is that first thought, then I would say Lucy needs work. She is still a 2-D character, just flesh and bones. You need to give her a soul and sprit. It’s time to go 3-D!

Once you have successfully mastered your characters that are inspired by real life people. It’s time to create something original, time to make your own brand.

Imagine a face, imagine a setting. Give that face a name, an identity. It’s time to write about his experiences, good ones and bad ones. His fears, his qualities, his nationality, his accent, everything matters. Don’t over look a single detail and keep polishing your character until it has evolved from a vague imagine to a clear picture. However, you don’t need to preplan everything, most of the times a character evolves during the course of the story.

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Unreal Characters
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Mostly unreal characters are created by mistake or negligence.
This is true in most cases but not all the cases. I feel that in a fantasy story there must be a character that doesn’t obey the rules. That is different, unique and unreal. They break the rules.
How can you create character like these?
I think there is no set rule on how to break the rules. And also, think these characters don’t need biographies, since the characters are supposed to be unreal. They are random but predictable i.e. they are predicted to be random. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it.

Unreal character can shock the reader. They can even shock the author because they really run out of control and there is no way you can control them. They are the beast of the jungle and are suppose to roam free. Unreal characters mostly don’t evolve in real character through the course of the story. It ruins them. Unreal characters are good for adding a bit of twist and excitement to the story. They are also great for adding humor. Try writing a serious plot with an unreal character and you’ll be amazed by the result you get.

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Surreal Characters
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There is a thin line that differentiate surreal and unreal characters. I think the best example I can give you is of “Luna Lovegood,” from Harry Potter by J.K Rowling. These character stay in a dreamy and blissful state, they act in a way you expect a ‘weirdo’ to act. If you start a story with a surreal character in the lead, and evolve them in real one, it would make a magnificent story just in the evolution part and it will work as a vital sub plot to a novella, I won’t be surprised it’s the main plot of the story.

That’s all I had to say. I hope you found it helpful. Just remember if you have an interesting character, no plot is dull.