Character vs plot driven stories:Which do you prefer?

[Kusanagi]

If its one of my favorite characters.... character driven

If not.. plot

Pretty much my answer. Characters I've been following for years I more inclined to enjoy character driven stories more, whereas if I have less attachment to a character plot would drive it.

[scribbleMind]

Neither. There are character driven stories that ignore all previous plot progression. There are plot driven stories that ignore all previous character progression. What I want more than anything is some long-form consistency. That said, when both are at their best, I probably prefer character driven stories.

[Seren]

Character driven. I like getting into the heads of characters.

That said I am greedy and prefer both if possible.

[tsaimelemoni]

I should have made a poll but its interesting that people would take the crappiest stories with their favourite characters than a good story that butchers the character

I'm not seeing how you're making this link. Maybe you should have asked your question in those terms. Otherwise, I don't think you can make that claim.

[Nick Miller]

Plot.

Story drives character. Period.

Comics are way too invested in "character drama" . Thats not really a story.

[EmeraldGladiator]

There is what I think I should say and what is true. You ask people what they are watching and some will say some PBS show because how it will make them look even though they are watching Honey boo boo and Duck Dynasty. If one is an intelligent mature reader you should say character driven because it 'feels' like the more mature answer but I was sitting back thinking what are your favorite storylines of all time? Sinestro Corps War, Great Darkness Saga, Avengers Forever, Infinity Guantlet, Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Surtur Saga (Simonson), Planet and World War Hulk are the first things that come to mind and they are truly plot driven storylines. Character driven maybe Young Avengers, the Peter David run on Hulk and Byrne and Hickman on FF but they weren't the first things that jumped into my mind the event stories were. So color me team plot, though my insecurities don't like saying that out loud, lol.

[Raye]

I actually think the general perception is the opposite of that. I often see people with the opinion that character is irrelevant and gets in the way of a good story, and that if you really want to be 'mature' reader, you should ignore character attachments and focus on plot.

But i think any good story requires both. A plot rings hollow without strong motivations and personal impact for the characters, you have to CARE for the characters for any of the events to feel impactful. But character development and interactions are also kinda meaningless without a good plot backdrop, and a good plot will put them in more interesting situations for that character development to shine. So a really great story will have a balance of both. I just tend to value the character side of things a little more, and will generally be more interested in a story that is based on how a character reacts to something, or just starts something themselves, rather than a focus on events that unfold with little to no character input or control. I just find trying to understand what is making a character do the things they do, and then following their progress from story to story interesting. It may be why I like a lot of anti-heroes or even villains, their motivations tend to be way more interesting even if they are misguided. I also really love face/heel turns but ONLY if there is a strong focus on character motivations.

I should have made a poll but its interesting that people would take the crappiest stories with their favourite characters than a good story that butchers the character

Well, I will be more forgiving in some ways but less forgiving in others if it has my favorite characters. More forgiving of a boring or dumb overall plot as long as the character remains entertaining, but less forgiving of a character being mishandled somehow. And my favorite characters alone won't save a story for me if it's bad enough. (though I actually tend to be fairly easygoing overall, there is actually not much i really hated, and I am absolutely not in the camp that liking a character means I think that they should never change or go through rough times, I just expect those changes to make sense and be handled well) Like, I am a big Nightcrawler fan, but I don't read EVERYTHING with him, because I mostly enjoy a certain take/focus with him (more fun, less religion) and he has been mishandled fairly frequently.

[Beaubier]

Without a doubt character.

Characters often hold the idiot ball or make some really OOC and inane choices to help the plot along for plot-driven stories. And that is my number one pet peeve when any story does that.

[CentralPower]

I want idea-based stories first. Plot comes after that. Characters just need to be useful.

[Sandy Hausler]

If the story is really really good and adds another interesting angle to the mythos then yes i'll take a writer who picks one trait of a character to explain a good story while completely forgetting every thing else that defined a character in the past --- for comic books i expect ideas that aren't restrained to character. I'd be 100% happy If a writer can manage to stay true to the character and tell a really good story but most of the time that is not possible.

Character driven stories doesn't mean it's going to be a good story and also a plot driven story doesn't mean it is going to be bad. It depends on the writer

All super hero stories are plot driven. That does not mean that characterization is ignored, but, at bottom, they are all good guys versus bad guys.

Sandy Hausler

[Carabas]

I want idea-based stories first. Plot comes after that. Characters just need to be useful.

That's how we get Civil War, AvX, House Of Meh, and all those other stupid events.

Come up with a sexy concept, hammer out a plot around it, and then just call it a day and ignore characterisation.

[Sutekh]

Character, usually.

I absolutely will pick up a book because it's got a character (or multiple characters, ideally) that I like in it.

I generally won't pick up a book because it's part of an event or whatever.

There are exception, obviously. I pick up a fair number of books either because I like the creative team, or because the premise sounds interesting, even if I don't yet know the characters (Power Company, Dynamo 5, New Mutants, when it first came out, etc.).

And, naturally, a badly written character-driven story is a badly-written story, and a great plot-driven story is a great story. It just so happens that, IMO, many plot-driven stories seem to have the characters behaving ridiculously out of character, or even so behaving so impersonally and woodenly they are interchangeable (so that a line could be been delivered by Banner, Barton, Stark or Rogers, and it literally makes no difference who said it, since the writer didn't bother putting any thought into it and just has the little interchangeable faces spouting off his own dialogue, whether or not it makes sense for them to do so).

[Dante Milton]

Character driven, by far. I mean, really, if you've been reading superhero books for a good amount of time you pretty much know how the plot of most of these stories is going to play out. What matters to me is how it affects (effects?) the characters and their interrelationships.

[L.R Johansson]

Listen well, for here there be knowledge...




SLAY YOUR ENEMIES AND ALL YOU DESIRE SHALL BE YOURS!


...there then, is your answer.

[CentralPower]

That's how we get Civil War, AvX, House Of Meh, and all those other stupid events.

Obviously, the idea has to be competently handled.

Millar was not qualified to write a comic that was supposed to be a riff on US politics. Millar did not even understand how US political associations work, such as the distinctions between public and private center. (Though, given how well he did with the moral hazard in "Red Son", I can see why Marvel thought he would be a good fit for "Civil War".) The question regulating supers is a good starting point. But, it was done badly.

I never read "House of M". But, many of the complaints I have seen/heard are people crying about how it was not in continuity. "Secret Wars" was amazing.