The fantasy genre is about the imagination, so it might seem strange to talk about realism in your work, but hear me out. Your characters are what sell your story, especially in the fantasy genre. When the world is utterly bizarre, it is the characters that ground the story in something the reader can relate to. Realistic, well written characters help a reader to lose themselves in the story, to forget for a time that it’s fiction.
It can be hard to create such individuals in a setting where dragons travel the skies, with all the magic and wonder of the world it can be easy to get swept along. Pretty soon your book is filled with dark sorcerers, dashing heroes and hideous monsters. Even if you don’t fall into the trap of outright clichés it can end up difficult to take a character seriously when the trappings of fantasy take hold. So, your protagonist has a developed personality and complex motivations – good start. Oh, he has a magic sword, well…okay. What, there’s a set of magic armour too, and it drips fire? Hmmm. And he’s also the seventh son of the seventh son, with ties to the royal bloodline, and…uh, really? Half dragon too, you say?
See what I mean?
Now that was an exaggeration, but this sort of thing quickly mounts up. For every fantastical trait or ability a character has, the author has to work harder to make sure the reader still believes in them. If they push it too far, the reader will simply switch off from the character, or even the entire story.
One of the most effective and simplistic techniques an author can use to keep their characters realistic is to subvert the expectations of the reader. Try to jar them from their complacency, the idea that they know what will happen because it’s fiction, and it will make a character seem more real if they surprise the reader. As an example, take the classic “leap of faith” moment for your hero. The floor crumbles around them, while a safe ledge lies across a chasm. They take the leap, and the reader’s heart is in their chest, though a voice inside tells them the hero has to make it, the good guy must win in a story. So, we let the hero fall. They plunge into the abyss, clumsy and graceless, striking rocks and sharp edges on the way down. Maybe they get seriously injured; maybe (if you’re George R.R. Martin) they die?
You don’t have to be so severe in your efforts. The important thing is the element of surprise, and if possible you can add a touch of humour as well. Mixing in very mundane actions can be effective when the reader is expecting fantasy. You could have a character making a grand flourish as he is about to breach a door. The reader is expecting some kind of spell or trick, so when he turns his shoulder and slams into it (really hurting his arm), the action jars the reader because it differs from their expectations. It can be little touches like this that make your characters seem real, with odd moments that break the storybook atmosphere.
You might even tweak your characters themselves to subvert the normal expectations of the reader. Your noble hero, make him a fraud and a coward. Your wise wizard is a charlatan and a drunk. The princess they’re trying to save – she’s actually a fat whore that the real princess is paying for a stand in to warn off suitors. These differences might work into the plot or they may just be used to add variation to your cast. Always try to steer away from any characters that might be archetypal if you can, and work to make them different and unexpected.
The next technique focuses on the idea that people are flawed and that they screw up. There are countless writing books that warn you against making a character too perfect, too smooth, too good at everything. These characters are not realistic and they’re not relatable to the reader. Have your character mess up and the reader will believe in them more. Maybe your protagonist tries a flashy sword move and fumbles it, nearly cutting off his foot. Maybe they try to help someone but mess it up, earning enmity instead of admiration.
They could have a serious character flaw like a bad temper, or a fondness for gambling. That half dragon hero with the magic sword and armour – what if he bet it in a dice game and lost? What if his temper got the better of him afterwards and he got into a fight? It might end with him fleeing the city with his belongings while the guards chase after him. Suddenly he’s no longer the archetypal hero figure, but a troublemaker that darts from one crisis to the next. This creates a much more realistic character than a gallant warrior who fights for justice without thought of reward.
To be believable a character must seem like they belong in the world of the story. They would likely have lived in this fantasy world before the story began and would have built a life for themselves. This is a rich area to plumb for your character construction and can provide a number of opportunities to establish the character. An obvious choice to go for is professions; a few common examples are soldiering, thievery and assassination. There are also the more fantasy themed vocations like court wizard or dragonslayer.
Often neglected though are the simpler chores, the common potter, stone cutter, or cobbler. While not the most glamorous of jobs, it can be a good idea to flesh out your characters with a range of traditional professions, not everyone can be dragonslayers after all. Even if it only briefly enters the story before the main plot starts, a character with a past job and history will seem more solid and have a stronger connection to the world of the story. It may even feature in the plot later, perhaps while trapped in a dungeon the stone cutter is able to use his knowledge to find a way out of the cell. A profession can affect a character’s look, their lifestyle and possibly life expectancy as well; draw on it whenever you can.
Any writing guide will tell you to develop your characters, give them motivations, traits, and quirks. In the fantasy genre this can be extended with a host of elements not found in other fiction. But how can using fantastical aspects make a character more realistic? Let’s talk about downsides. When your characters live in a world of magic and wonder there will doubtless be horrible consequences. Once your protagonist is suffering from a dreadful curse that makes things wither at their touch or mutilates their face, things will seem all too real for them.
Reality is all about drawbacks, so show the reader the negative side to the fantasy and how it affects your characters. Perhaps they view magic as merely another tool the rich use to oppress the poor; perhaps you could have a scene showing the toil of peasants as they recover from yet another dragon attack. No matter how unbelievable the world of the story is, showing your characters dealing with the downsides and trials of life will make the reader believe in them.
The characters in a book are the heart of a story, if you can get the reader to believe in them, then they won’t bat an eyelid when you unveil your goblin-powered robotic dragon. Forget “How does that work?” The only question the reader will ask is, “How’s Talon going to get out of this?”
Kellie Doherty
Richard Marpole
I would like to say this is a great article. I have found that people say too often that characters shouldn’t be too perfect but they don’t dwell into ideas to improve characters much. I personally have redone a few characters that seemed too powerful or special into more real people. Of course, they may sometimes have the talent for one skill or another, but they are far from perfect. I made the protagonist, for instance, hate the idea of killing while being a soldier, still loving the thrill of the fight. Some social awkwardness, and some other factors compensate for some of his better characteristics like good leadership.
Another point to make is that characters can grow stronger, into high levels with the people believing in it, if they actually work hard for it. A few months or years can realistically make someone at least a little adept in a skill like archery. This is also a constant in many books I have read, and has much potential. Long lives then are precious, allowing for more learning, or people could be willing to turn into a lich of sorts to be both immortal and ‘perfect’ (obviously with some drawbacks. But that’s the point, no one, whatever they do is perfect. If someone can pull an OP character, be my guest. But it will be a struggle).
Ummm.. can I get a set of the fire-dripping armor? Please?
Cool and interesting article. I thought immediately of Abercrombie’s wizard from “the Blade Itself” – he’s a brawny bald dude, not an old, frail, bearded guy in a pointed hat.
Naturally, everyone has their own tastes. But for me, if a protag is “too good to be true” I’m not as invested in the story because they are never really imperiled or challenged, so there’s no actual tension, let alone development/ transformation/ growth.
I think if a story has a main character who is over-powered, the writer will have a harder time — they have to have other elements that are just… super super awesome! Enough so to make up for a narrative with few to no surprises.
As good as this article is (it speaks so much truth), I’d like to offer another perspective.
Sometimes it depends on what angle you are approaching a story from. What if a character is used to a great deal of success, and exudes a lot of bravado, but later in the story he/she starts to experience at least a few setbacks? And what if you have powerful races that will affect both the heroes and the antagonists that you want to write from the perspective of? As I write this I am still an aspiring author, and I engage with the ideas I’ve just mentioned.
If my characters have ‘magic swords’, there’s a reason why they have them, and perhaps they don’t know the reality of what they are yet. If one of my characters is succeeding a lot and is good at a lot of things, how about just waiting to see what’s in store later. Expect there to be a few downfalls a bit later. If no downfalls then happen, ok fair enough an author isn’t doing it right. It actually bothers me when characters have so many negative issues looming over them and that seems to drag on, and on, and on.
Even my super-powerful characters have flaws though. Some of them are truly immortal, but you know what, think about how they might be suffering. They can be battered to hell and back, and still regenerate/revive over time (not immediately – it’s dependent on the injuries). How about never being able to fully die? Ever thought of having protagonists as ageless beings (though still capable of being killed), but having them not know it until later? Who questions Tolkien’s elves and their immortality? They live for so many thousands of years and then end up fading to another realm to my understanding – that is if they don’t get killed first, but even then I’ve read they will eventually be given a new body. In the Lord of the Rings Arwen is faced with losing Aragorn to age some day, and that in itself is one way for an immortal character to suffer.
Let’s also go back to the first point. Some people I know of ARE just too good at everything. Life just lands in their lap on a silver platter and they get away with a lot that they really shouldn’t. One thing to remember is that characters like this can breed jealousy in others.
I think there are many more points to making characters realistic than always making them frail humans.
I’m actually a bit tired of human heroes who simply age and die if they don’t die in the course of a book for the greater good. There are few immortal or long-lived heroes out there. Few tend to think of the troubles they might face. Yes, we need to try to make sure that readers can relate to our characters as authors, but perhaps it’s worth remembering that we’re writing in different worlds here. Different realities have different peoples and different rules, and different laws of physics after all.
I agree, I think characters are made more interesting by their flaws than necessarily their strengths, that’s why a super-strong hero of noble birth, with a dragon pet and incredible powers lacks appeal. But if you somehow give them really good flaws, then they can appear incredible.
It goes back to what Brandon Sanderson said once in his laws for magic systems, it’s the costs and the flaws that makes the character and magic more interesting. This is why Song of Ice and Fire is so perfect. It’s not a black-and-white setting, but one dubbed in absolute grey.
Shounen main characters fall into the circle of not being relatable–a lot of the anime characters nowadays do–creating believable characters is easier than most people think, all we gotta do is think human, what will we do in certain situations. As for OP characters, lots of character developing in my opinion.