How do YOU determine if a character is good or not?

[lemonpeace]

it's a pretty straight thread. people are very quick to voice how bad a character is and often times it's vague and subjective. I'm curious about the opposite, i wanna know what exactly are your criteria that should be met to considered a character good?

[Killerbee911]

For me it is couple things

1. Character design- which is basically is the character the cool, can this character ever be made cool, how hard would it be to make this character cool

2. Story design- Does this character have a good story ? Can you tell interesting stories with this character? how hard would it be to make this character have an interesting story

3. Hierarchy- Where does this character fit in to the hierarchy of DC ? Can this character be successful in this place in the universe.

Now for my definition of a bad character A bad character is any character that requires a lot of work to be made an interesting character AND requires so much work that the end result is functionally new character. Basically it is like building/repairing house, A bad house is one that you have tear completely down and start over. You could easily buy house already made a skip that work or build new house in a different spot and not have to break down that house. In the comic book world we like to pretend that character who was repaired after completely being broken down and rebuild is the same character. Note I am not call this character bad I am just giving an example, Bendis could have made Solstice into the Naomi concept because in comics you can complete change a character. If Solstice was a bad character then as you can see it would just be easier to introduce a new character and not worry about Solstice again.

A large amount of time when people say "It takes the right story, artist and writer" they are talking about a bad character. A good character doesn't take much effort to work. A good character is character who does their one role very well aka Wonder Woman or you can drop them multiple situations and genres , and the characters still works aka Batman. Batman works serious, Batman works funny, Batman works with a power suit, Batman would work without costumes, Batman works with out Batman begin around, etc. So when someone says they are no bad characters in comics that is lie, They are a ton of bad characters in comics. And many times it is not worth the effort to repair them when you can just create a new character.

[John Venus]

Design.

Purpose.

Conflict.

Role.

[Jekyll]

Echo on design.

Echo on backstory/history.



I will add: Entertainment factor and does the character resonate with me on a personal level? Can I relate to the character? This one is usually my no.1 in criteria.

[sifighter]

Honestly it can be a bit fast and loose but these are the general things I look for.

1. Entertaining/Story(?)-First important rule of comics for me, it’s got to be fun. That means the character and what they are doing, if I’m going to like the characters then I’m going to need to like what they are doing.

2. Supporting cast- Obviously a good character needs other characters to bounce off of that he regularly interacts with.

3. Place in the universe-These characters exist in a shared universe, so how they interact with others in it is important to me.

[Alpha]

A large amount of time when people say "It takes the right story, artist and writer" they are talking about a bad character. A good character doesn't take much effort to work. A good character is character who does their one role very well aka Wonder Woman or you can drop them multiple situations and genres , and the characters still works aka Batman. Batman works serious, Batman works funny, Batman works with a power suit, Batman would work without costumes, Batman works with out Batman begin around, etc. So when someone says they are no bad characters in comics that is lie, They are a ton of bad characters in comics. And many times it is not worth the effort to repair them when you can just create a new character.

I know you don't mean anything bad by this, but i can't let it slide. Wonder Woman can be put in a greater variety of stories than Batman. The only type of story I can think of where Wonder Woman would be out of place but Batman would work is if it's a realistic cop drama. Having an amazon from a secret society with super powers would break the realism.

But otherwise, Diana can be fierce, funny, poetic, dramatic, political. She has been a space pirate, a goddess, she has fought the mafia, been in real wars, fought mad scientists, bond villains, space invaders, science experiments, etc.

[stargazer01]

it's a pretty straight thread. people are very quick to voice how bad a character is and often times it's vague and subjective. I'm curious about the opposite, i wanna know what exactly are your criteria that should be met to considered a character good?

I like to watch him/her.

I care about what happens to him.

I think about him often and can't wait to see more stories.

Stands out from the crowd.

Has charm, heart Or is a magnetic villain to watch.

Has an interesting look and swagger.

Has some good catch phrases.

[Restingvoice]

it's a pretty straight thread. people are very quick to voice how bad a character is and often times it's vague and subjective. I'm curious about the opposite, i wanna know what exactly are your criteria that should be met to considered a character good?

They help when they don't have to

Oh you mean narratively

Wait a sec...

They don't annoy me when I read them.

This is entertainment, so I can enjoy a murderer if they're smart and hilarious, and dislike a main character if they're rude, overbearing or a bummer, since I spend longer with them than other characters

Oh Damian's rude, but the situation where he's rude tends to make me laugh so he ends up entertaining

Bruce on the other hand, is a serious character in serious situation most of the time, so when he's annoying, he's really annoying.

[Lightning Rider]

Design and likeability are strong factors.

I can see potential in almost any character. The trick is to find something that makes them a little bit different and lean into that. There are only so many ways to motivate a hero, but if it feels fresh, like a person you haven't met before, then that's enough. The origin is pretty critical here.

Each major DC hero is so different. They feel like fully realized people, while also carrying the weight of mythic mantles. There are stories you can tell with them individually that you can't tell with other characters - at least not in the same way. And overnight, a character can go from being just cool or fun, to rich and memorable. Look at what Tom King did with Mr. Miracle. Both his inner circle and the backdrop of war with Apokalips were realized in a way that can't be lazily duplicated by some other character.

The worst characters are, for me, cliches. I'm surprised that there are relatively few characters in comics that I would truly consider cliche, given how many there are. Historically the villains were given less development, but that's changed over the last few decades. It's up to a good writer to make a character more than just "one thing", also.

[MajorHoy]

Why does this thread make me think of the Jessica Rabbit line:

I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way.

A good (or bad) writer and artist can really play a part in whether a character is "good" or not.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Instinct and a gut feeling. I have taken a few writing classes so I can explain it more thoroughly later. But often it's how I feel in the moment when reading it.