I have two main characters.
Both are flawed people with their own viewpoints and opinions. Depending on what you look as inspiration, each of them could be considerable inspirational.
One is trying to up-end a centuries old oppression through his actions and deeds.
The other is displaying impossible levels of discipline and stoicism for the greater good and his family even under harsh discrimination just for who he is.
The character you see the story through (Gavin) is relatable as he is a normal guy. Mid 20's living a normal life. While Gavin is certainly not evil, he isn't good either. Just like in real life he does have a code of conduct he does live by, but it's more of a personal code. He doesn't have some grand hero code.
The character the title is named after (Baul) is not inspirational as you would never want to meet her in an dark alley. I wouldn't call her relatable as she is literally a demon. The final character is Baul's twin (Isador) which also makes her a demon. While not as brutal as Baul, she would still not make a good person to hang out with. They make no excuses for being what they are and expect no understanding from anymore either. I would say all are flawed in some way (as all characters should be) and the interesting part is just seeing how they react to different situations.
My main character is a lion paladin of wind named Sir Kiljaos, and his struggles in a fantasy world fighting monsters and other dangers may not be directly relatable, but the struggling itself in general can be. In the current ongoing story arc "Tourney In Aborku" he also has to fight bureaucracy when he was presumed dead and his belongings taken away.
I have aimed to make him be inspirational more or less, by being a hero who fights off the dangers and protects the others and never gives up, like many classic superheroes. And while also showing good example on other things too like being polite and not drinking alcohol. He's not perfect of course, for example sometimes he can lose his temper, but he tries his best.
I think depending on the person my main characters can be relatable. One of my main characters, Hrann, talks about praying, other religious stuff, and the absence of her parents on the first pages, which could potentially be a bit alienating or unrelatable for some people. But I think there’s a lot to connect to, like her sense of humour, her introvertedness, her determination, and being the underdog in her situation.
Personally, whether or not a main character is relatable or inspiring doesn't matter to me when I'm reading or writing, I just want to read about interesting and fleshed out characters.
Well I relate to him, at the very least XD In general, I don't try to make 'universally relatable' characters2; I feel like sincere portrayals of uncommon experiences can still make a lot of people go 'wow, I'm nothing like this character but what they thought/felt/went through just now? I felt that.'
As for inspirational? Kinda, tbh Not like in a heroic way, but I know a lot of people dream of just saying 'screw it' and doing their own thing regardless of what society thinks is sensible, and taking charge of their own life. I feel like Saku is inspirational in the sense that he does that, and his version of 'taking charge of his own life' isn't the usual 'rags to riches/conventional success/becoming famous and showing all those people who told me I can't' kind of thing so one might consider it refreshing
My MCs an idiot. He's ignorant of the world and doesn't know about women. And falls in love with the first girl he ever encountered. Until he learns about what life is like in the big city and how people can be cruel and kind to each other. This expanded his horizon to the point he wanted to fix what was wrong, but in the shadows where no one could see.
I'm not sure he's entirely relatable, except maybe to the people who wants change in a corrupt society. He's not even inspirational. He's really just an idiot with ambitions.
Honestly... I feel like whether you think Rekki Lune is relateable or inspirational is really up to you.
Going off comments I've had, some people definitely do find Rekki relateable. She's a young adult woman who made some bad choices in her teens; you know, she had a crush on an older guy, and she was young and naive and so overlooked a bunch of red flags, neglected her best friend and ultimately is now stuck with the consequences of all that. She's tired and isolated, and she feels like nothing she does is ever really good enough, and no matter what she tries, she'll always just get criticised. Some people see that and go, "Yes. Mood."
I don't know about "inspirational" but people do admire some of her traits. Rekki has a strong sense of responsibility, and she's always willing to jump in and put her neck on the line for others. She's pretty much allowed herself to be the King's chewtoy with an exhausting and sometimes thankless job, and the target of anger by the very people she's trying to help, just so she can protect the people who are trying to save the country.
I think of Rekki as a person who's trying, but can only succeed if she works together with others who can give her support and offer complementary skillsets or personality types. Some people might find her relateable or even inspirational, while others might resonate more with one of the other characters. Personally, I think I'd like to be friends with her, but I wouldn't want to be her.
Only in some ways. Even though she's a vampire we can still relate to her on a human level because at heart she's still a human, and we can all connect to things such as the desire for love, experiencing joy or loneliness. She was forced to adapt to changes she was mercilessly thrown into and we can all relate to that spiritually i'm sure.
But I think if you were to tell her that you could relate to her beyond a base level, she would probably disagree as most people do when their experiences run much deeper than surface level feelings. Also she's like two steps from being an animal and is missing a lot of her primal human instincts or in some cases has entirely new ones.
I guess she's inspirational in the sense that her character is built around transcending her nature by learning how to deal with it in ways that don't end terribly. That probably includes finding ways to compromise with it instead of totally avoiding it or accepting the "inevitable" and discarding what makes her- her humanity, love for goodness and the gentleness she is capable of. She's gifted with the power to make her own decisions which includes not giving in to being a total monster.
Yes for the most part they seem relatable/inspirational, for me it's what makes it fun to write in first place.
The story of siblings/ brotherhood, growing up are all common to humans, but prefer to leave it up to the reader to connect and interpret their own way. To me relatability is important if 'you want readers to care and stay along for the ride!'
Season 1 revolves around 2 MCs who are brothers, both sharing bits of myself
Owen (the younger) = the child/ noob, thrown into challenges, it's either survive or die and becomes stronger overtime
Evan (older)= the young adult who seems to have everything under control, he takes risk to survive, master his surroundings, explore his limits and protect loved ones
The story mechanics and horrors that await aren't something common either so it required an MC that was easy to get behind.
Saw Owen, the younger as relatable from the start: a naïve and sheltered 12 year old, average boy who enjoys videogames and cartoons, he an amateur Vlogger with his trusty camcorder (which isn't uncommon as everyone uses YouTube to some degree, recorded footage on their phone). His reactions are more genuine than Evan's when it comes to superpowers and horror.
Saw Evan as the 'cooler brother', plays guitars in a local rock band (I'm also hobbyist musician), former jock. He's mysterious, full of surprises and daring. He 'opens up more' to the audience overtime. However, his responsibility as big brother is what keeps him grounded from the start (To ensure Owen's safety as the brothers are stranded from their family during the course of story).
Relatable? Very.. (for me) but that's to be expected with what essentially starts as a self-insert-turned-transformation/power-fantasy.
Inspirational? I honestly hope it gets to that point someday. I've been writing a lot about jealousy, probably because it's something I really struggle with, personally, and I hope my story ends up having something useful to say about that. It's still very early though, and more focused on the day to day than any grand plot. I expect I will eventually write a few time skips (decades or more), and those seem like the time to really address some of these aspects. But we'll see.. for now I'm just having fun writing it.
I will add that kindness and empathy are my mc's two defining qualities, the latter of which is partially due to super-human ability. She won't always make the right choices, nor will her options always be good ones, but she will always try, sometimes to her own detriment. But that's a lesson too, I suppose.
I doubt anyone would find The Action Fruits relatable. Then again:
• One of them possesses exceptional leadership abilities
• One of them is naturally gifted in math and science
• One is a slacker goofball with a sense of humor
• One is short tempered, and never smiles
So those are traits that people find relatable.
That is a hard one; I'd say my MC (Danielle) is relatable, that's 100%. Someone who struggles with finding her identity, knowing what she wants to do, if it's right or wrong, plus handling the traumas of her past. At the same time, I wouldn't say Danielle is inspirational at the start. I'd say she struggles, and pulls through. Even if she doesn't overcome all the obstacles, Danielle is resilient, and that's important.
If I had to describe her, Danielle is a flawed woman who is caught in a spiral of depression and anxiety at the start, but sincerely wishes and starts fighting to find her path in life.
My MCs are dicks, lol. One is a cranky college student and the other is a literal villain. Not a good one, but he's still a henchman who moonlights as a hero to help his boss' rep without her knowing. Not very inspirational at all. They're very relatable though! They're not that bad though, and they do care about their friends and are brave even though they're also very stupid.
I have three main characters, two are boys and one is a girl, all three of them are relatable to me in various degrees. Being neglected, actively wanting to run away as a kid, controlling and threatening parents, etc.
As for inspirational? Not really? Maybe once my story started developing the characters they'll probably be inspirational characters but right now there's not much to say except the past is what makes everyone different.
For my series Crow’s Worth, I can see Crow maybe be inspirational despite being very flawed. The comic is about him finding his self worth despite the hardships he faced in his past.
For my newer series Frostpeak West… I am not sure. Ken is definitely flawed and destructive but he’s not evil or bad, which is sort of the point of the comic. I don’t really want people to emulate his behavior.