How BALANCED is your Main Cast? ^^ [Character Balance Sheet]

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I thought this was interesting and I really wanted to see whether it was any good...so I figured the only way to do that was to try it for myself. So I did a quick trial run with the cast of the novel I just finished.

Spoiler alert: The sheet kinda sucks. =/ I found it biased, inadequate, and misleading.

Some things I noticed while filling this out:

-There aren't enough emotional/interpersonal positive traits: 'Lucy' got a 3 despite being the friendliest, funniest member of the cast, just because she isn't conventionally "useful" (BTW, 'funny' isn't even a listed trait, which is kind of ridiculous considering how ubiquitous it is in fiction). This is forgivable, though; nothing is all-inclusive.

-I don't know what's missing in the negative traits, but something is, because 'Azor' is borderline evil and got a 3. One of the most abrasive, aggressive, insulting characters I've ever written just barely scored on the negative side. Something is up. =T

-'Weak character' and 'Strong character' are bad labels for the extremes, considering what's actually in the charts. 'Mature' vs. 'naive', I understand. But 'attractive' vs. 'ugly'?? Being ugly does not make you a weaker character...you could easily get a 'weak' result for any unconventional/rough-around-the-edges character this way, which is not good.

-Just in general, character weakness and strength is better assessed by the characters' roles in the story than on their traits by themselves. A weak, lazy, stupid, good-for-nothing character can be very strong, even essential, when put in the right place. Meanwhile, a character that doesn't contribute enough is automatically a weak one, no matter how 'balanced' they are on paper.

Assessing the results:
=MC got a zero, which is cute, but seeing as it was a 3-3 it doesn't mean much.
=Already mentioned Azor...
=Pitch is 'too strong' even though she's the most complex character in the cast (and she does have negative qualities; many of them, just not the ones on the chart apparently).
=Lucy (and Dred, for that matter) just barely registered on either side... I take this to mean that characters with mostly interpersonal skills will give inaccurate/inconclusive results in general.
=Uriel scored 'strong' even though he is undeniably the weakest member of the cast; he's practically an NPC...as in, he's kind, useful, but not particularly close to the events of the story or the other characters. Unfortunately, this chart doesn't take that last detail into account...you can see why I'm unsatisfied with it.

-To conclude, I agree with the blurb at the end of the chart...but I wouldn't use the chart itself to assess those qualities. ^^; I kinda feel like filling it out was a waste of time...if it's gonna be this wildly inaccurate, it could at least be funny...

[Sethstiel]

But 'attractive' vs. 'ugly'?? Being ugly does not make you a weaker character...

I'm 100% with you with that one, no doubt!
Actually, I agree with most of the things you said, even tho I don't KNOW your characters I completely understood what you mean ^^

This was the first sheet I found and I'll post v2 soon and I hope it'll be MUUUCH better ^^ Aaaand I'd really really like to hear more characteristics suggestions from you ^^

[allenT]

This is like another fun chart, but i don't have enough named characters more than 2. Next year maybe....

[Sethstiel]

Your main cast CAN be 2 characters~ No limitations here ^^

[Kittyfox]

Surprisingly, my cast is well balanced. I did this for most of the introduced cast so far, and here are the results!

Aerith: 4 (Well Balanced)
Luci: -2 (Well Balanced)
Hanako: 6 (Strong Character)
Hyacinth: 5 (Well Balanced)
Jin: 3 (Well Balanced)
Rose: 7 (Strong Character)
Kuma: 4 (Well Balanced)
General Tanaka: 8 (Strong Character)
Satsuna: 5 (Well Balanced)
Hayabusa: 4 (Well Balanced)
Mirai: 2 (Well Balanced)

I also have some new characteristic ideas for the next, though, for example...
Positive:
- Determined
- Creative
- Flexible (In the context of adapting to new situations)
- Polite

And Negative:
- Quitter
- Annoying
- Antisocial (As in pushing people away)
- Irresponsible

If you're interested, here's my comic!

Dreamcatcher | Tapas

[AHaplessFool]

Did my two main characters from Fires in the Alley! I put in the tiny lil chibi faces honestly for fun, very unlike my normal style but ~~It Was Fun~~. Also decided not to do the ugly/pretty bar because everyone's cute whether they like it or not.

[Sethstiel]

Also decided not to do the ugly/pretty bar because everyone's cute whether they like it or not.

I also just ignored "ugly" on my sheet ^^
But I think being extra attractive might be a character's trait..? At least this is what I think ^^

Btw your characters are pretty well balanced wooww~ ^^

[Puck]

My characters have all the negative traits

[Sethstiel]

Ooopsy daisieeees~

[Puck]

it maybe fits because it´s a dark comedy kind of story

[Llyrel]

Okay, this was fun to do (also: old chibis are old).

Would have been nice to have a few more traits to choose from, especially ones that aren't necessarily the opposite of the other. I had a bit of trouble with some traits, like "mature/wise" or "charisma/charm", as to me they feel like very different things: one can be "mature" (as in older/experienced) but that doesn't necessarily make them wise (and that would be Adrian's case: he's mature, but he doesn't always pick the wisest choices XD), or they can be charming, but not necessarily charismatic (like Jorn, who's definitely charming, but not much of a leader).

Overall, though, I had fun filling this! ...And it kinda cracks me up that Aaron, of all people, appears to be the "most balanced" out of all my characters :'D

Oh, and another note: technically speaking, all of my characters would fall in the "attractive" category. However, I decided to put an X only for Jorn, since being pretty had a huge influence on his life, while all the others are... actually pretty damn insecure about their looks (Adrian and Chris because of their scars, Aaron because of his height and nose... and so on and so forth).

[Shredder]

It was really interesting to discover that the majority of side characters are much, much better than my main character. Jay and Harry OP and I never knew it, which is fine because they are stabilizing side characters which I wanted them to be.

You might be wondering "Why are you writing about a group of psychopaths?" because Karen its a story about a merc company and there is a lot of action.

I feel like violent aggressive doesn't do any favours as there are a few ways to direct that aggressive response and most of them fit into the bottom left category

Most of them practice "Controlled Aggression" where my understanding is waiting for the perfect chance and then letting it all out and/or making it the fuel to your fire and not an uncontrolled response where you leave yourself open to attack.

[voyager-gt]

This is a really neat idea! I'm trying it out! Though I'm not sure about "mean" and "short temper" necessarily fitting in the same box. That one's throwing me off a bit. I have plenty of characters who have short tempers but aren't necessarily "mean." Hmmm

[NickRowler]

I did it for Crow's Worth

I think I generally like having characters with flaws. I don't think Shoo being weak is a bad thing tho, because he is suppose to be like that. Blake and Shoo are foils. I don't agree that Blake is without faults, he does get jealous and is prone to manipulation.

Tho as a small question, why is "attractive" on here as a positive trait?

[AHaplessFool]

Thanks! To be honest I thought they were going to show up weaker, but hey, it worked out.

[Sethstiel]

I think it means "or" since the creator probs tried just to get the negative traits..?

[Sethstiel]

I think I generally like having characters with flaws.

I think it SHOULD be that way, since it gives characters more space to grow~ ^^
And I think "attractive" IS a positive trait since we can see npcs treat attractive characters better even tho they have shitty personality and I think the creator meant "pros and cons" kinda way..?

[grotesqueice]

Thank you for sharing this. I have quite a hard time compiling my character profiles so all I have is a plain excel file. This serves as a good example. I would probably modify some aspects to make it more suitable for my story but nevertheless this is a great idea. I'll try doing this as well.

[NickRowler]

And I think "attractive" IS a positive trait since we can see npcs treat attractive characters better even tho they have shitty personality

What you are referring to is a privilege. I think that is less a personal trait, and more of a social/environmental aspect.

[BreakingChalk]

Lol, my main cast is exactly 7 (8 if you count Seymon is result of mergin Simon and Key) (Left to right):
Seymon, Stephanie, Salamon, Rose, Margot, Chiclen, Sunasol.

Ironically, Rose is the strongest character being the only normal human of the seven, just as I wanted to.