Hello,Â
I am not going in depth unless you want me to (especially on the character history part), so an the overall I think I can see where you want to go with that character, and you spend a great deal of words to describe his good qualities. He strikes me as a gentle soul that probably has a rather introverted side and may also have an obsession for auras and mi'qote, or just whatever is kawaii.Â
I am not sure for what kind of audience and character you are aiming to begin with: are you trying to picture an adventurous hero like in shonen mangas, with many exaggerated traits and following strong tropes, or are you aiming for something more tame, subtle, and mature? Or something else? Comedy maybe?Â
I think you will have to define that before everything, especially in a game like FF where it can vary tremendously in terms of tone and narrative.Â
Ok, now you vaguely mentioned his 'darker' side as a certain pleasure in fight. With that in mind, I think you may have troubles developping a character precisely because you maybe do not dwelve enough on the flaws and more negative sides of the character. I would say that to flesh out a 3 dimensional character with a bit of depth, you will require to spend at least 50 or even 75% of the good sides / bad sides part on the actual negative sides of the character. It is what makes characters interesting, what makes them stand out and original, and what creates drama and incentives for them to evolve above everything else.Â
It doesn't have necessarily to fall into the common cliché of the "dark brooding hero". Maybe you still want to pull out that trope... To draw from the same category of story and license, a character akin to Squall (FF8) pulls that cliché rather well, precisely because the dark brooding side is not there for the sake of it. It has reasons to be there, and it is developped to the point where it will make the character caustic, cynical, and overall detestable to his entourage (now also, take care with that too or you will just paint your character into a corner).
A negative side can be anything really. Very mundane things, and can even participate to make your character more endearing. You say he likes to fight, and has a sadistic tendency. The big question might be, how to make that fit in the same mold than the "very sweet" side you described above? Is he going to be a pure sadist that actually hides that behind a false, honeyed attitude? Is he a pervert (seeing his obsession for some of the fair sex of other races)? Be careful with those themes, they are strong negative sides and not easy to pull without falling into the mustache twirling villain cliché or just the kind of character with no friends that nobody will ever want to play with.Â
If I had to deal with those though, I would try to smooth the edges a little: maybe he is a small lalafel (like all lalafels duh) that has a size complex and can show sadism in situations where he has the occasion to hurt people taller and more intimidating than him? But overall, he is a nice fellow with some flaws like everybody else? Or maybe he got bullied in his childhood and tends to take his revenge somewhat now that he knows thaumathurgy or the likes, but overall, remains a sweet fellow that just can't stand some specific individuals?Â
I hope that helps!
I am not going in depth unless you want me to (especially on the character history part), so an the overall I think I can see where you want to go with that character, and you spend a great deal of words to describe his good qualities. He strikes me as a gentle soul that probably has a rather introverted side and may also have an obsession for auras and mi'qote, or just whatever is kawaii.Â
I am not sure for what kind of audience and character you are aiming to begin with: are you trying to picture an adventurous hero like in shonen mangas, with many exaggerated traits and following strong tropes, or are you aiming for something more tame, subtle, and mature? Or something else? Comedy maybe?Â
I think you will have to define that before everything, especially in a game like FF where it can vary tremendously in terms of tone and narrative.Â
Ok, now you vaguely mentioned his 'darker' side as a certain pleasure in fight. With that in mind, I think you may have troubles developping a character precisely because you maybe do not dwelve enough on the flaws and more negative sides of the character. I would say that to flesh out a 3 dimensional character with a bit of depth, you will require to spend at least 50 or even 75% of the good sides / bad sides part on the actual negative sides of the character. It is what makes characters interesting, what makes them stand out and original, and what creates drama and incentives for them to evolve above everything else.Â
It doesn't have necessarily to fall into the common cliché of the "dark brooding hero". Maybe you still want to pull out that trope... To draw from the same category of story and license, a character akin to Squall (FF8) pulls that cliché rather well, precisely because the dark brooding side is not there for the sake of it. It has reasons to be there, and it is developped to the point where it will make the character caustic, cynical, and overall detestable to his entourage (now also, take care with that too or you will just paint your character into a corner).
A negative side can be anything really. Very mundane things, and can even participate to make your character more endearing. You say he likes to fight, and has a sadistic tendency. The big question might be, how to make that fit in the same mold than the "very sweet" side you described above? Is he going to be a pure sadist that actually hides that behind a false, honeyed attitude? Is he a pervert (seeing his obsession for some of the fair sex of other races)? Be careful with those themes, they are strong negative sides and not easy to pull without falling into the mustache twirling villain cliché or just the kind of character with no friends that nobody will ever want to play with.Â
If I had to deal with those though, I would try to smooth the edges a little: maybe he is a small lalafel (like all lalafels duh) that has a size complex and can show sadism in situations where he has the occasion to hurt people taller and more intimidating than him? But overall, he is a nice fellow with some flaws like everybody else? Or maybe he got bullied in his childhood and tends to take his revenge somewhat now that he knows thaumathurgy or the likes, but overall, remains a sweet fellow that just can't stand some specific individuals?Â
I hope that helps!
Balmung:Â Suen Shyu
