Character flaws...

[nubins]

Abbercrombies character Gorst is a great example of clever use of character flaws.

Gorst is one of the main characters in The Heroes and a bit part player in some of his other stories.

He has all the best traditional characteristics of a fantasy hero. He is incredibly strong, tall, handsome, disciplined, has respect for the common man despite noble upbringing, trains himself hard, is unmatched as a fighter as far as we can tell (would love to see him clash with Logan come to think of it) but he is also smart, practical and has a solid head for tactics as an officer.

However, he spends much of his time mired in loathing and self hatred, he has no respect for himself and some of his inner monologue in The Heroes is kind of tragic. And its all because of one, seemingly silly character flaw. He has a high pitched "girly" voice. I didnt really think on this much when it was first mentioned, i just thought it was just one of thse comedic things.

But a friend commented on it to me and suddenly the whole lot made so much sense. All those heroic and fnatastic character pluses of his, are nullified by his voice. Women may swoon when they see him an hear of his great exploits, but as soon as he speaks.. they laugh at him. He may understand tactics and see the error of peoples strategies, but noone takes him seriously because of his voice confers no authority. He may be smart and kind but he always feels afraid to talk. So he is filled with loathing for himself.

Taking it further, you can then see exactly why he is so strong, so skilled, so driven and disciplined.. he is compensating because of his voice. Its really very clever and the first time i have ever "got" how character flaws can really add depth to a character.

 

[Gordian Knot]

Darth per your request and expanding on your last post. One of the tried and true ways of having good character flaws is the rogue persona. Hardly original, but a time honored way to get a character that is on the side of good, but has a hand in the bad.

Typical examples are Robin Hood type characters, Han Solo (He did shoot first!), Captain Jack Sparrow, etc. This nets one a character fighting for good, who also gets to have great lines because of his bad streak! It also allows them much more leeway from the moderation trap that can plague a classical good guy.

Another time honored tradition in a good character having serious character flaws (which is particularly in vogue these days) is the character that does bad things - but only does bad things to the bad guys. The classic vigilante isotrope. There are too many to bother mentioning; we can all come up with a list quite easily.

Yet a third way, which has been around forever, is a good character who for whatever reason is not capable, or has no desire, to behave with "accepted" social skills. Everyone from Columbo of years gone by, to The Mentalist (and all his copycats) currently.

Nothing new about any of the above; they have all been around forever. They remain in good standing because they work!

 

[Darth Angelus]

Abbercrombies character Gorst is a great example of clever use of character flaws.

Gorst is one of the main characters in The Heroes and a bit part player in some of his other stories.

He has all the best traditional characteristics of a fantasy hero. He is incredibly strong, tall, handsome, disciplined, has respect for the common man despite noble upbringing, trains himself hard, is unmatched as a fighter as far as we can tell (would love to see him clash with Logan come to think of it) but he is also smart, practical and has a solid head for tactics as an officer.

However, he spends much of his time mired in loathing and self hatred, he has no respect for himself and some of his inner monologue in The Heroes is kind of tragic. And its all because of one, seemingly silly character flaw. He has a high pitched "girly" voice. I didnt really think on this much when it was first mentioned, i just thought it was just one of thse comedic things.

But a friend commented on it to me and suddenly the whole lot made so much sense. All those heroic and fnatastic character pluses of his, are nullified by his voice. Women may swoon when they see him an hear of his great exploits, but as soon as he speaks.. they laugh at him. He may understand tactics and see the error of peoples strategies, but noone takes him seriously because of his voice confers no authority. He may be smart and kind but he always feels afraid to talk. So he is filled with loathing for himself.

Taking it further, you can then see exactly why he is so strong, so skilled, so driven and disciplined.. he is compensating because of his voice. Its really very clever and the first time i have ever "got" how character flaws can really add depth to a character.

Sounds like a complex and potentially interesting fictional character. The author must have given quite a bit of thought into that one, and I have already been a bit instpired to check out Abercrombie (the closest Science Fiction/Fantasy store to where I live was more or less sold out when it comes to Abercrombie, when I checked yesterday.
Thanks for the recommendation!

Darth per your request and expanding on your last post. One of the tried and true ways of having good character flaws is the rogue persona. Hardly original, but a time honored way to get a character that is on the side of good, but has a hand in the bad.

Typical examples are Robin Hood type characters, Han Solo (He did shoot first!), Captain Jack Sparrow, etc. This nets one a character fighting for good, who also gets to have great lines because of his bad streak! It also allows them much more leeway from the moderation trap that can plague a classical good guy.

Another time honored tradition in a good character having serious character flaws (which is particularly in vogue these days) is the character that does bad things - but only does bad things to the bad guys. The classic vigilante isotrope. There are too many to bother mentioning; we can all come up with a list quite easily.

Yet a third way, which has been around forever, is a good character who for whatever reason is not capable, or has no desire, to behave with "accepted" social skills. Everyone from Columbo of years gone by, to The Mentalist (and all his copycats) currently.

Nothing new about any of the above; they have all been around forever. They remain in good standing because they work!

Thanks for a good post, Gordian Knot!

I have seen these character archetypes, of course, particularly the rogue (and yes, Han is a good character).
However, my current WiP will not really have them, at least not as main characters. Unfortunately, they do not quite fit all too well into the intended setting (well, the last one might, sort of, in a sense).
I can't really follow blueprints for flawed characters. I just have to go with characters that are slightly too perfect at first sight (they aren't human, actually), as they are, and add fitting flaws to make them more relatable. It is tricky to strike this balance.