Characterization

Warning: Big block of text and possible spoilers ahead!

First things first, I did continue my coloring work today. Specifically, I got Honhelm the governor tweaked and colored in, but haven't shaded him yet. He's like a strange cross between Dracula (because of the clothes and creepy expression) and an Asari from Mass Effect (because of the hairstyle).

...Is it weird that I think he's actually kind of handsome? Ustyz even more so. Even though he's a grumpy old man now, I bet he was quite a stud back in the day.

The other important thing I did today was think about characterization. This thread on the Lemma Soft Forums reminded me that 2D characters aren't nearly as interesting or attractive as multi-dimensional ones. Unfortunately, the way I think of characters tends to be very simplistic; I come up with one or two words that sum them up, and then base everything on that one characteristic. Then I'd throw in a short back-story and call it good.

In my head, there's actually much more to these characters, because I've been developing them for several years now. But it's hard to get that down onto paper, specifically in the medium I've chosen. In many cases, I had to deviate from the true image of the character to make them more appealing, since the main point of the game, after all, is the romance. So even though I have these very detailed characters, I end up falling back on classic stereotypes and simple character traits to incorporate them into the game.

For example, Chael is, originally, not a friendly person at all, mainly because he can't feel anything, neither physical sensations nor emotional "feelings," due to years of extreme physical and psychological abuse. The only reason he "rescues" Zuleika is to use her as leverage; in other words, she was his hostage. He generally sees people as tools (because that is how he was treated all his life and has never known anything different) and would therefore reject any sort of intimate connection with another person. The fact that Zuleika falls in love with him anyway exemplifies her fatal flaw, which is her belief that people are inherently good and refusal to see the bad in people. She believes she can "fix" him, but she can't.

While that wouldn't be a bad story by itself, and it's realistic in that you don't always get the happy ending you wish for, it makes for a pretty lame romance path! Imagine spending years trying to woo this hot, single elf prince, only to have him say, "No matter how much you love me, I can never return your feelings. No, really, I literally can't." But this is a game; the point is to fight to achieve a goal so you can get the reward at the end. Complete rejection is not much of a reward.

And so, stereotypical "quiet guy" Chael comes to the rescue. He starts out as the stoic, silent type, but watch as his cold exterior magically melts away due to the warm, friendly influence of the MC, leaving a cute, blushing, shy boy in its wake. The fangirl chorus goes "awww" as he awkwardly admits his feelings for the heroine, then gives her his first kiss, then goes back to being serious...except when he's around the heroine.

See what I mean? While "quiet guy" Chael is cute and loveable, he's lost all of the dimension he had before. Thus, my task over the next few days (in between all the coloring) will be trying to add dimension to my characters (or bringing the dimension back, as the case may be) without alienating possible players of the game at the same time.

...Why is writing a story so difficult? ;o;