The Third step I do is to decide on character alignment. For those who have played Dungeons & Dragons this is a very common concept. It can be easily applied to characters of fiction as well. I’ll make another post on what each alignment means, but I use the 3.5 listing of alignments.
By using these alignments, you can determine what your characters will do in certain situations. This can be a very useful method of determining character decisions and ideals as well as motivations. It should be noted that these classifications are also organic for characters and can fluctuate between different situations and different characters in the same alignment. Darth Vader /= Charles Vi Britannia, although both are Lawful Evil.
After you’ve covered these three steps, repeat step 2 as many times as you need to. Your characters don’t just change in the story, they change in you head. Keep things flexible and be aware of how the character interacts with other characters.
These rules are general and not very specific to different kinds of characters. What determines a protagonist as opposed to an antagonist is the difference between the traits (obviously), but also between the alignments (also obvious). This works like you might think, but it is very vital to determining the actions of your characters.
Good Characters: These are typically your protagonists (For counter examples see Doctor Horrible’s Sing-along-Blog, Megamind, or any other story where the protagonist is a villain). It is important to make the traits for these characters as reasonably balanced as possible. No hero is perfect (Making them perfect is called “Mary Suing” and it is evil.) It is also important to however make them be more good in their traits than bad. (Duh), but don’t make them be angels (even angelic characters 😛 ) Make them imperfect, you can even have their faults be obstacles to overcome, thus making the character more like-able. Negative traits are a good thing (Who knew?)
Neutral Characters: These are your anti-heroes, mercenaries, and “Noble” Villains. You can keep them REALLY balanced in their traits which is a hard line to walk. Another method is to make them have one characteristic that stands out from the rest. A cop who kills sex offenders and writes it off as “self-defense.” A Black Knight for the Evil Emperor who gives the hero a sword to defend himself as his code demands it. So on and so forth.
Evil Characters: Typically your Antagonists. These Characters are typically selfish (More so than Neutral Characters). You can really work with them two ways. First, you can make them be entirely EVIL and I mean they step on puppies for fun, and burn down a village for breakfast. Kefka from Final Fantasy VI is a good example of this kind of villain. Second, make them tragic/sympathetic. Mr. Freeze from Batman Comics is a great example for these guys. In the end, Villains are the most flexible. You could even make them be really nice, but just want to rule the world and are willing to crush anyone in their way. Possibilities are varied.
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