Perfect

[kidpixkid]

I always want my characters to be perfect. Flaws are bad. Every good character is perfect. What are your opinions on this?

 

[Flora]

I can understand the feeling that your characters absolutely need to be perfect; I've felt like that before, and most people can relate.

The big problem with perfect characters is that they often turn out to be Mary-Sues, because, well, they're perfect, and thus can, pretty much, do anything and the entire world would change.

 

[Harlequin]

When you're writing a character you have to be aware that a good character should be like a person. People aren't perfect - they're complicated, often mean, selfish and ignorant. Perfect characters don't seem real enough to the reader because nobody's perfect. You get people who, on the surface, seem perfect but most of the time they aren't - and that makes for quite an interesting character.

Treat your characters as if they were people. People have "flaws." Characters should, too.

 

[surskitty]

People relate better to flaws than to positive traits.

Why would you want your characters to never do wrong?

 

[Sandstone-Shadow]

People relate better to flaws than to positive traits.

This about sums it up for me. You want your reader to like your main character, and if that character makes mistakes and has problems, chances are the reader has also made mistakes and had problems, so the reader is more likely to be sympathetic and care what happens to the character.

Characters that have no flaws cannot draw me into a story. Everyone has made some kind of mistake or had some kind of flaw. A perfect character is not believable to me at all.

 

[Autumn]

Flaws are bad. Every good character is perfect.

I doubt you're perfect. I can already think of an example on this forum where you've demonstrated flaws.

If every good character is perfect, I suppose that means most of my favorite Warriors characters are perfect (and I can tell you right off the bat that no character in Warriors is perfect).

 

[OrangeAipom]

Characters are not a list of flaws and virtues. They are who they are, and whether they are perfect or not is subjective.

 

[kidpixkid]

Mary Sues are fun and cool to me! I would love to write a story about the girl who is chosen by Mew to save the world from the evil Giratina and the girl has a level 100 Palkia with Spacial Rend and the attack can defeat the Giratina in one hit! And after that there is a big party! Oh, and the girl is incredibly beautiful. And Leafpool, when did I demonstrate flaws?

 

[Clover]

If you would love to do so, then do so. Just be aware that if you post it anywhere on the internet, people are going to laugh point out the fact that it's ridiculous. It's wish-fulfillment to the highest degree.

 

[Zeph]

From that last post, I'm sure you're joking. I'm sorry.

 

[H-land]

To me, perfect is boring.

 

[Autumn]

And Leafpool, when did I demonstrate flaws?

Here.

I'm sure that doesn't seem incredibly flawed to you, but it does to the rest of the forum.

 

[nastypass]

i call troll

 

[ultraviolet]

lame troll is lame :(

 

[1. Luftballon]

a level 100 Palkia with Spacial Rend and the attack can defeat the Giratina in one hit

let's see the damage calcs... max+ SpA Palkia Spacial Rend against min- SpD Giratina-O guarantees OHKO with minimum HP, with a very slim chance against maximum HP, and but if the Giratina simply runs minimum SpD, then the even maximum damage fails to OHKO, unless you crit.

I have problems, no?

 

[Sandstone-Shadow]

let's see the damage calcs... max+ SpA Palkia Spacial Rend against min- SpD Giratina-O guarantees OHKO with minimum HP, with a very slim chance against maximum HP, and but if the Giratina simply runs minimum SpD, then the even maximum damage fails to OHKO, unless you crit.

I have problems, no?

But it's a Mary Sue! =D Of course her Pokémon will get a critical hit! =D There's no problems there at all! xD

 

[1. Luftballon]

But it's a Mary Sue! =D Of course her Pokémon will get a critical hit! =D There's no problems there at all! xD

But the Giratina got +6 everything from this Calm Mind Bulk Up Rock Polish Baton Pass Mew I have, so it goes first and hits (minimum damage due to Plot Device) with a Super Effective Outrage for 1175 damage, OHKOing Palkia! xD

 

[kidpixkid]

That was not the games, mind you. And the Palkia had dodged the Outrage attack.

 

[Darksong]

Well, here's what I think...

When it gets right down to it, flaws aren't all that bad. Either you don't read a lot, or if you do, you avoid the books with no perfect characters. Really, if you expand your reading repertoire (i.e. don't be so picky about what you read), you'll notice that in a lot of the books, a lot of the characters either get over their flaws (like your partner in PMD2; he starts out timid but later becomes brave) or find that their flaw can be a strength, in a way.

But here's what I really came here to say. Without plot twists, your fiction honestly isn't usually that exciting. If you always know what's going to happen next, what's the point of reading it? Mainly, the fun of reading is surprising and learning things. And a story with characters who are perfect and always do everything right usually -- no, almost all the time -- are repetitive and don't excite the reader.

 

[Harlequin]

It's not even that perfect characters aren't exciting. It's that they're totally unbelievable. Nobody's perfect - everyone has "flaws." It's what makes us human and it's why we don't like perfection in our characters.