As Ralph Miley noted in our previous blog posting: "It is important for the writer to really know their character. Their history, their passions, political view points, flaws, family, etc. Hopefully the reader will make some kind of emotional connection (negative or positive) with the character. In future blog articles, we hope to explore some of the techniques writers can use when creating characters."

To give our readers a glimpse of what goes into the making of a character, we now present one such "Character Creation Guide", an article originally written for Alpha-Omega #100 by Kevin Yong.


This is a list of questions that I use when brainstorming new characters. The questions were compiled over several years, gleaned from a variety of sources: comic book reference guides, creative writing workbooks, fanzines, etc. I make no claim to having invented all these questions on my own. I rephrased them to suit my purposes, threw them in a blender, and categorized the results.

These questions may touch upon matters of interest to your readers (like the old Marvel Universe or DC Who's Who series), but the questions are meant to primarily serve as aids to you, the writer. Writing down obscure details helps keep them consistent throughout the story. They also serve as idea springboards for future stories.

Not all question here must be answered--in fact, I've never answered every question here for any of my specific characters. Unless you happen to be J.R.R. Tolkien, nobody expects you to invent a character and immediately chart out the character's family genealogy for the past thousand years. However, asking questions about the character's family relationships might get you thinking about possible story ideas.

CHARACTER CHECKLIST: QUICK REFERNCE
Putting a name to a face (and a face to a character).

Name: Superhero name, character's birth name, other titles, pseudonyms, nicknames, etc. Also note of the source of the name has a particular significance for you or an intended symbolism for the story.

Physical description: If you're an artist, you can work out these details yourself, but if you're a writer partnering with an artist, it’s important to provide as many details as possible. This is especially true if you have a large cast and you need the artist to be able to keep the characters' height, faces, body types, etc. consistent. Also note any distinguishing marks like tattoos, birthmarks, scars, etc. It's embarrassing for a birthmark to be a major plot point in issue #3 if you forgot to show it when your hero was swimming in issue #1.

Nationality: What's their citizenship? Where they born there or did they immigrate from elsewhere? If this is a fantasy or sci-fi tale, what planet or otherworldly realm do they come from? Unless your fantasy world has some monolithic one-world government, indicate what group/state/clan/race/religion the fantasy character is a part of. (Don't assume that aliens never have disagreements over religion, or that Elves won't argue over politics?)

Race/Ancestry: Not necessarily the same as national citizenship. By this I mean their sense of their family's ethnic and cultural history, not merely a skin tone.

Age: This doesn't have to be exact, and you may choose never to directly mention it due to the flexibility of time in comic books. However, your character's age will make a difference in defining their experiences and expectations. (For example, if your teen sidekick 14, 16, or 19? All three would be within the "high school" range, but the concerns of a high school freshman adjusting to a new school and trying to find the courage to ask a classmate for their first date will be vastly different from the concerns of a 19-year-old on the threshold of legal adulthood facing college and career choices.)

General Health / Medical Conditions: Is he a burly superman with has never been sick a day in his life? A scrawny nerd with chronic asthma? A generally healthy fellow with a bad knee and weak shoulder? Also note any allergies, diseases, injuries, inherited illnesses, etc. that may be used as plot points later on.

CHARACTER CHECKLIST: SUPERHERO STUFF:
(also known as the fun part for your inner fanboy)

If you're writing a superhero comic (or any sci-fi or fantasy story featuring characters beyond the normal human expectations), this is where you list off the details (if any) of any powers or abilities far beyond those of mortal men. You can be as generic ("he has super strength") or as specific ("he can lift up to 1456 kilograms") as you need. This list is for your own reference and as springboards for story ideas. Do they have physical powers like super strength or invulnerability? Energy powers like shooting lightning bolts or manipulating cosmic quasi-quantum superstrings? Mental powers like super hypnotism or mind reading? Or powers that just defy categorization, like the ability to change the colors of any cloth into plaid?

Often, it is the limits we impose on our characters powers that provides the challenges and conflicts needed for an interesting story. Are there specific things that your hero is vulnerable to? (Such as Kryptonite for Superman, or silver for werewolves?) Are there unusual limitations on your heroine's powers? (A time limit on her transformations... her X-ray vision can't see through copper... etc.) Are there practical limits to how their powers work? (If he is super strong but not invulnerable, he may be strong enough to push through a brick wall but perhaps his bones wouldn't be strong enough to support lifting a truck over his head.)

Perhaps there's more to your action hero than just being faster than a speeding bullet or more powerful than a locomotive. What are their other talents, skills, or training? Is she a black belt in Karate? Fluent in Hebrew and Greek? A gourmet cook? An expert sharpshooter? A brilliant heart surgeon? A certified Xerox repair technician?

If your character is a costumed hero, what sort of costume is it? Beyond just the visual design, the details of their costume and gear can make for interesting story springboards. Is their costume normal spandex or is it a fireproof alien cloth? Could their bulletproof chain-mail be held down by giant magnets? If they have their own unique tools like wrist-mounted web lasers, how did they get them and how hard are they to maintain or replace if damaged?

CHARACTER CHECKLIST: BACKGROUND HISTORY:

Group affiliations: This is more than just if they are a member of the Legion of Super-Avengers, or the Justice League of Society. The groups your character is a part of tells us more than just superhero team ups. It can tell us about their...

Hobbies: are they part of the school chess club? A Christian comics APA-zine? A knitting circle? An online gamers' team?

Profession: Are they part of a professional group? Did they just sign up for the free newsletter, or are they active participants? Are they part of a union? Did they join willingly, or is membership mandatory in their state?

Politics: Are they on the mailing list for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals? Are they volunteer spokesmen for the National Right to Life? Are they part of the Young Libertarians Club in between their college classes?

Religion: I suppose church membership would count, but I was thinking more along the lines of "para-church" organizations. Promisekeepers, Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, the Salvation Army, etc.

Legal record: Think back and try to imagine what might be dredged up against your character if they were ever a political nominee appearing before a Senate confirmation hearing. Have they ever been arrested for anything? Convicted or sentenced? Is he squeaky clean? Only a few minor offenses? Skeletons in the closet? Their past record may include anything from hit-and-run drunk driving, to being arrested for civil disobedience at a peaceful political protest.

Employment record: Assuming your character's adventuring is not a full-time paid profession, what do they do for a living? Is this the only career they've had, or have they worked other jobs prior to their current job. Does their manager's file for them have any complaints or commendations? What did your character write for their résumé? What is written up about them during their annual employee performance review?

Financial status: If your character struggling in poverty? Comfortably middle-class? A wealthy billionaire? Living frugally? Living beyond their means? Are they paying their Visa bill with their Mastercard? Is his wealth invested precariously in high-risk stocks? Is her life savings buried as gold ingots in her backyard?

Extent of education: Did your character drop out of high school? Stuck in junior college for years, trying to get their units to add up properly? Zipped through a university graduate program? What was their area of study? What grades did they get while they were there? What degrees did they earn? How do they view their education -- a source of legitimate pride in the hard work it took, a source of arrogance against those from "lesser" schools, a source of disillusionment over how little of what they studied actually applies to life in the real world?

Military experience: For people in peacetime who don't make a career out of it, this might fall in the gray area between an education and a job. Why did they join? A duty to country? A love of adventure? A family legacy? A pragmatic choice to pay for education or as a career stepping-stone? All of the above? None of the above? For those of an age where the draft was in effect, they may not have had a choice.

Transportation: A person's personality (or income) can often be reflected in their mode of transportation. Do they ride a bike? Take a bus? Own an electric car? A pickup truck? An SUV? A luxury sedan? A custom-built drag racer?

Inventory of personal possessions -- items of note? What valuable or unique things does your character own? A mylar-bagged comic book collection? Souvenirs of trips to foreign lands? Cosmic treadmills or Phantom Zone ray projectors? A Babe Ruth signature baseball? Seven spare copies of the Mona Lisa? A stone from the beach where they first met their future spouse? Unless your character has taken a vow of poverty, they probably own something interesting. (Interesting to them, at least, if not to the rest of the world.)

Current address: Be it 221-B Baker Street, or an Antarctic fortress of solitude, be as specific or as vague as you need to be with your character. You can map out his town, or just hint at a general area. Does he rent or own the home? Does he have more than one? Or is he always traveling from one adventure to another, without a fixed abode? If money were not an issue, where would he prefer to live? What kind of home would he prefer?

Brief description of their home: "In a hole in the ground, there lived a Hobbit..." If we were a stranger visiting your character's home for the first time, what would our first impression be?

Decor of their personal space: How does your character keep his home, lab, office, or cubicle? Is everything neatly arranged and orderly? Are the furnishings expensive, cheap, clean, sloppy, comfortable, cluttered? Is the work space meant to be attractive, and if so, to whom? Is it meant to impress visitors, or was it designed only with the character himself in mind?

Other occupants of their home: Does our heroine live at home with an elderly mother? Does our hero have roommates sharing a cramped apartment? Does he live alone, and if so, does he enjoy the solitude or wish for company?

Relatives: Parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, spouse, children, in-laws, etc.

Marital status: Single and desperately looking? Single and gleefully promiscuous? Contentedly celibate? Engaged? Married? Unmarried, but "shacking up"? Separated? Divorced? Widowed? Remarried? Did he have his marriage annulled when he discovered that his "wife" was really an alien shapeshifter impersonating the synthetic android impersonating the clone impersonating the woman he had married in a parallel universe?

Married life: If married, what is the nickname by which they address their spouse (and vice versa)? Did they marry for love, convenience, money, obligation? Do they have any children? If so, what are their names and ages? If not, do they plan to? Do they wish they could, but can't?

Type and number of close friends? Is your character the type who cheerfully befriends everyone they sit next to at the bus stop, or an enigmatic loner whom the neighbors worry and spread rumors about? Are their close friends most likely to be old classmates, current co-workers, acquaintances from church, or fellow sci-fi fanboys? Who is their best friend? Who are they people they spend the most time with after work when they're "off duty"?

Allies and aquaintances: These might not be close friends, but are people your character knows well enough to send a Christmas card to during the holidays, or to call for help if they're in trouble. (Our hero might not think Aunt Mabel is his favorite relative, but they're close enough that he could ask to use her guest cottage if his neighborhood burned down. Our heroine might not be a member of the Avenging Justice Legion, but she knows them well enough to have her unlisted cell phone number on speed dial in case of emergencies.)

Enemies: Does our hero have a grudge against someone, or attract grudges from others? Does he have a particular arch-enemy or group of villains who target him from among the other heroes? Does she have a viciously personal rivalry with a classmate or co-worker. Does he have a neighbor with whom he trades police noise complaints, zoning board violations, and loose dogs on the lawn?

Travel record: How far has your hero traveled in his life, and for what purpose? Did his family go on cross-country vacations? Did her family move to another country when she was young? Has he ever had to relocate due to a job? Has he traveled the world in search of adventure, or has he been always stuck in one spot, never able to leave Bedford Falls?

Brief history: This can be as long or as short as you like. These are not meant to be an outline of the events of your story's plot, but rather the background details known only to you regarding the history and motivation of your character. Explore their formative experiences, and list the things that shaped their personality and led them on the path that brings them to the point in your story where you first introduce them to your readers.

End of part one. To be continued!

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