Do you love/hate your characters (as people)?

[Choosybeggar]

I've come more and more to unequivocally, unconditionally, and impartially love all of my characters. I might like some more than others, but I love them all equally. As far as I can tell, there's just no such thing as a bad fictional character. Sure, they be canonically evil in a certain story, but what about for the character as a whole? They can exist outside of their main work and it's no less them! I've never met a character that hated me, and I choose to see them all in the same light.

[Miniaome]

The character I'm going to mention here doesn't belong to any comic I'm publishing or anything but I thought it would be fun to mention XD

He's name is Julen and he's a little kid, I tell that to myself, He's just a kid, but god! How annoying he is XD as you might see (in my super quick sketch) he is a cry baby and he cries all the time and is scared of everything. It's funny cuz even though I dislike him so much he is actually a very important character in my story. In the end he's the one that is going to grow the most as a character

[Kura]

At a creator's standpoint I love my characters despite their flaws, also as a creator though, I understand that a reader's view is subjective and I can't force them to like characters that I do. So I don't go out of my way to make characters 'likable' to the audience and focus more on making the character they character they are, their personal development, their views, their story. Weather or not this causes the the audience to hate or like them is not something I really have control over. It just like having friends in real life, you are not always going to like the same people as your friends do, and vice versa.

As for liking/hating them if they were people. Honestly, if I look bast the creator standpoint then no, I would not get along with all of my characters, and some I would be very standoffish toward if I did not know them, but would probably grow to get used to them or even like them if someone were to introduce me. It's not to say I hate them, just that there are several characters whose would be difficult for me personally to get along with.

[Robosaur]

Well even though i don't HATE my protagonist, i probably wouldn't be friends with him in real life ahah. But nonetheless, i love all my characters even when they can be lil shits because they're like my own children to me xD Funny thing tho , i actually like Kay's open personality!~ ^^

[SpavVy]

I love all my characters, I spent years on them but I have to look at this as though they were real people...that's a tough one.
My story is on a hiatus and I took the old pages down, it will be re-released in October.
Soul Ascendance

Let's see, Lucy and I like some of the same things but I can't picture us ever becoming friends. My story takes place in the afterlife which is where she and the other three are, but when she was alive she did things I do not approve of and I wouldn't be able to trust her.

Jack is quite the instigator and mocks his enemies in a vulgar fashion which could get us both into trouble so I'll have to pass on that one too...

I'd actually get along great with Trent xD We both tend to be the voice of reason.

And Mel... she'd drive me nuts >m< she has the mind of a child and children annoy me.

[epiale]

I adore my characters as parts of myself that have branched off and kind of developed a mind of their own. I love them all in some form or fashion.

As people, though, it varies a bit, haha. My two mains I actually do like. I like Raul because he's just genuinely a pretty nice person most of the time (when he's not dealing with idiots), he's interesting, and if we met I think while we may not be best friends we'd at least get along. Uni I admire as a person, but with his current personality in the comic I'd find him insufferable irl, haha. He's such a jerk it's awful. Similar to myself in all the worst ways lol.

[AnnaLandin]

I kind of love all of my characters, even the terrible antagonists! XD

How I feel about them doesn't really influence their actions in the story, or their amount of screentime - those things are determined by the demands of the story itself. I mean, I disapprove quite strongly of Masahiro's decisions at times - like his refusal to be nice to the traumatized selectively mute orphan girl he finds in the woods covered in blood - but I love him and his grumpy little self all the same, and he remains that grumpy and unwilling to care because it's a vital part of his character arc.

Love does not equal approval of their actions. I mean, I could name any number of problematic characters in fiction that I love not because I'm rooting for them to win and be admired, but because they're problematic. I like seeing people run into trouble and fail or get blamed for things they've done and have to deal with the consequences of their actions, even when they're horrible actions, etc.

The only one where my like/dislike for a character might influence their ultimate fate is one character who is going to be introduced later, and I haven't decided 100% how his character arc ends yet. But that's a pretty small thing - all the other parts of his role in the story will remain the same, regardless of whether I like him or not.

[KSlinger]

I don't hate writing any of the characters in West (yet). I like Jed because I know him, plain and simple. I can see all parts of him and rationalise his behaviour. He's like a family member. I can't hate him, only be embarrassed by him or feel happy for him. Will probably get sick of looking at him sooner or later, but nah, I don't think I could hate him.

[zetina]

@shazzbaa It really is a kind of Godly love, huh. You can't really hate your creations because you're responsible for them. That quote though-- it's like the authors were on some vendetta against the character. I believe in an ability to step back and look at your story and characters objectively, understand it all, and act accordingly. So it's more about how you deal with a character you personally find unlikeable? Because even if you can empathize with a monster, it's not like you necessarily have to give them actually justifiable reasons. They can be ignorant and stupid and machiavellian. That's what I take from this anyway :'D

@heterodont It's like revelling in their awfulness lmao

I suppose if I'm writing and drawing them every week, why would I want to "hang out" with characters that annoy me?

GOOD POINT. I'd say making a character annoying to start with makes getting them through character development kind of satisfying. It's like some power-fantasy type of thing - you can't change annoying ppl in real life so at least you get to teach your own idiots |D;;

@raintowns IT'S COMPLICATED BEING A PUPPETEERING PARENT haha

(Discounting the fact that my characters might just hate me for some of the things I've put them through - sorry guys!)

I have actually imagined one character of mine would definitely give me a beating haha

Their decisions and experiences are a culmination of my past so it's a little like, "Aa, you guys'll learn a lot from this. Please pay attention, you'll be better in the future!" If that makes any sense at all~

It does! I'd say this kind of what Kay has in store but on a smaller scale and not actually based on my experiences directly. But opinions, yeah. <'D

@Choosybeggar Well, they can be badly written... But when taking into account that they exist in the audience's mind too, then they can actually become anyone and gain a lot of depth. Sakura from Naruto comes to mind for me, since I feel like she's great but Kishimoto didn't do by her good.

In the end he's the one that is going to grow the most as a character

yes yes yes that is my favourite haha~ I love contrast so much! I hope you get to show his growth ;v;

@Robosaur Silly, misbehaving children, heh~ AND EYY i'm happy ppl like her ;v;

I'd actually get along great with Trent xD We both tend to be the voice of reason

I assume he's like the momma's boy of the family who helps you keep order among his "siblings" xD (i hope this analogy makes sense lmao)

The only one where my like/dislike for a character might influence their ultimate fate is one character who is going to be introduced later,

And that character is basically sat on trial, awaiting to see what they get away with <'D

[StevenDacasin]

Levy from my series Simon Nero. Looking back she did make irrational judgements about people especially Simon. For most of my characters they don't have a set personality which I sometimes see as bad writing because the way they interact with their environment is all over the place. I don't know.

[DeadAccount]

Even our particularly annoying characters are the ones I love to hate, so I kinda like all of them, as long as they're entertaining and fun to think about. Our protagonist is the one I relate to the most though, and the one I've been drawing and developing for a long, long time, so I'm probably a bit too biased and have no problem with any of the shit he pulls 8D

[getsuart]

I'd be friend with Echo. While I would despise Hrodland because he would despise me.
Besides this, I love them all. They all have stories, making them interesting in every way. I regret some characters have less screen time than others, but maybe it's why i love them that much. Because they will still have some mysteries : D

[efdvorsky]

As for Cosmic Fish, I have characters I absolutely love and even when they've done terrible things I would be the kind of person who'd forgive them either because it was an accident or they were really trying and didn't succeed. Other characters their negative qualities are very in par and yet they wouldn't be characters I'd befriend but wouldn't downright avoid (like most of the ghosts such as Acantha or Gallo), and there are some I would rather just...not be in the same country as them.

Later on I want to work on a comic where everyone is pretty much downright terrible and they would be in no way people I'd befriend, but I would still admire and love what they do, and the fact for some it's a constant uphill battle.

I think there's a difference in loving a character as they are written versus "would I avoid this person with a 10-foot pole for the rest of my life? Yes I would." So, I love all my characters, as they are written, love to hate the ones I'd distrust, but it doesn't mean they're characters I'd particularly befriend if (impossibly) given the chance. Hahahah

[shazzbaa]

I'd say making a character annoying to start with makes getting them through character development kind of satisfying. It's like some power-fantasy type of thing - you can't change annoying ppl in real life so at least you get to teach your own idiots |D;;

I feel like this is something to be reeeeeaaaaalllllly careful of, though, and can kinda go with the problems with a hated character for some creators.
When someone has a character who represents views they find "idiotic" in real life, if they look at that character and go "lol what an idiot, but he'll get better [once he agrees with me]," I think it will hurt their ability to portray that character honestly.

Generally the things we think are "annoying" or "stupid" in real life are the behaviours we can't relate to, that don't make sense to us, that we would never do. But if we can't relate to a character, we cannot write them believably -- we'd be writing a caricature of "what those annoying people do."
I think we can meet someone IRL who's, idk, grossly racist and homophobic, and we can chalk that up to fear and know where that emotion and motive comes from, and still not relate to them. I think the tricky part about writing honestly is that you have to find a way to relate even to characters like that; even when you believe someone is unjustifiably wrong or behaving idiotically.

Nobody in your audience needs to be able to relate -- they might look at that character and just hate them, and that might be your goal! -- but you do.

---

I generally write characters that I could get along with in real life. If I'm not friends with them I could at least tolerate their company. [...] I suppose if I'm writing and drawing them every week, why would I want to "hang out" with characters that annoy me?

This is really interesting to me!! I'm definitely with you on the "annoying" part but like..... I think for me a lot of the characters that interest me most are those I wouldn't get along with as well, because I wouldn't get along with them well. I'd have a hard time hanging out with this person in real life, if I actually needed/wanted emotional validation from them and got my feelings hurt when they were rude to me. But as the creator of a story, I don't need those things -- I love them whether they love me or not -- and I can spend time with people I'd have a much harder time spending time with IRL.

[Miniaome]

I hope so too, I'm just still working on so many things XD but eventually I will :3

[Dingbat1991]

Each character I put into my comic other than by-standers has to have something going for them which allows me to develop, invest and to further including them in because I'm interested in them. 4 of my 5 main characters in Lento are based on myself and people I know. Lento and Trent are mostly based off me, Sasha and Marty are based off people I know.

I have to LOVE my characters to continue pushing this comic forward. If my hate my character, that means I hate putting in the effort to adding it to my comic and there's no point in including it.

[SpavVy]

I assume he's like the momma's boy of the family who helps you keep order among his "siblings" xD (i hope this analogy makes sense lmao)

Well, you're not wrong, he'd totally be the mamma's boy of the group xD and probably the snitch.

[Silerna]

How can I not love my characters? My main character is myself..and all the side characters are my friends and housecat.

[MichelleAntisocial]

With the exception of characters that are only in my comic for a few seconds (the police guy, some of the crusty kids), I genuinely care for and love my characters.. I mean, I made them. And I agree with a bunch of folks here- it's really hard to push a story forward and make it believable if you don't like your characters. How can we expect anyone else to care for them, if we don't ourselves?

I have a secondary character in my comic, that I originally didn't plan on having in more than one scene. Originally I really didn't like him.. he kind of embodies a lot things that really piss me off about people I know. However, when I decided to give him a bigger role and make him one of my main characters roommates, I had to give him more thought.. and I think I turned him into someone that despite being very naive, is also not too hard to relate to-- at least I can relate to him (he's an Otaku who likes to make comics, so I'd better..). And now it's going to be sadder and more believable when he has to leave the story in a few chapters..

[zetina]

@getsuart Mysteries! Yeah, when you know way more about a character than the audience... And when there's still lots unexplored... They're like our lil' secrets. uh... idk \D;;

Later on I want to work on a comic where everyone is pretty much downright terrible and they would be in no way people I'd befriend, but I would still admire and love what they do, and the fact for some it's a constant uphill battle.

Oh, that sounds pretty interesting.

@shazzbaa To be fair, I was mostly kidding BUT YEAH there are dangerous extremes to most things. Something like this can end up being unavoidable. When the narrative rewards behaviour we find problematic, for example; it's a result of smth of the sort since whether we like it or not we express our views through our stories.
I wouldn't really write "annoying person gets better" character arc by treating them like a joke. They're still a character who needs to be written well, like you said =v=

@MichelleAntisocial I find that kind of story for a character's creation really sweet, haha! It's kind of like getting to know a person who gave a bad first impression and realizing you actually get along pretty well :'>