How to write different characters archetypes and not make them all the same?

[Chocolate]

Please give advice on how to write your character’s without making them all sounds like cardboard copies of each other lmaooooo

[kalmia]

Well, usually it helps to start with giving them all differing personalities! My two main characters are quite the opposites in many ways. One is very chill, down to earth, and could be considered to be boring and unmotivated by some. The other is very outgoing, fun, adventurous, and probably has a little bit of ADHD. It's important to let these differences shine through in the story, especially when it comes to opinions and decision making! Both of them are probably going to have wildly different opinions on things. Perhaps one character really wants to fight the big bad head on while the other is more inclined to stay back and fight from the shadows. You don't need to exaggerate the difference in opinions or make your characters complete opposites like in these examples, but showing their differences in thought and action will help distinguish them from one another.

Another important aspect is giving your characters a distinct voice. This doesn't necessarily mean in terms of like high pitched voice or a rough voice, etc (though it could be a part of it I guess). Giving your characters distinct voices means that your readers are able to tell who is talking just by dialogue and action. Some characters are going to be much more enthusiastic in the way they talk, while others will seem uninterested in all topics. Some might use slang or repeat words like "um" or "like" often in their dialogue. Some characters might use their hands a lot when they speak and other characters might lean on the nearest object whenever they have nothing to do. There are lots of ways to give your characters a distinct voice! If you were to remove the visuals and take out the names, would you be able to still tell which of your characters are speaking just by the things they say and their actions? If not, then you probably need to work on making their "voice" more distinct.

[darthmongoose]

Try to imagine how different people could say a thing based on their personality, age, background, how they want people to feel about them. etc.

If I imagine the characters in my comic each telling somebody to wait because they forgot something, it might go something like:

Rekki: "Hey, hold up! You forgot this!"
Rekki always speaks in as short and direct a way as possible, and uses a lot of casual slang. She wants to be liked, and sees herself as a tough gal and an approachable big sister.

Sarin: "Wait a moment. This is yours, right?"
Sarin has the most neutral and academic way of speaking. She speaks with clarity and confidence. She sees herself as a romantic heroine and the person who would be in charge if people had any sense.

Subo: "Ah-! Hey-! You forgot your thing!"
Subo is a gentle guy who doesn't tend to see himself as an authority, so needs to be really pushed before he'll actually use imperative language. He's casual and relaxed.

Jules: "Stop! You might prefer not to lose this."
Jules is a weird mix of a person from a rich family raised to believe they are important and smart (and to be fair, Jules probably does have the highest IQ of the main cast) but also being autistic and uncomfortably aware of people's instinctive discomfort and so quite low self-esteem. So Jules will often give out these very bold, imperious orders... and then follow it up with an unnecessarily long, rambly explanation after the person has done it, that might come off snarky (sometimes intentional, sometimes not).

Try to think about:

Age: My parents are boomers, and so they never say "cool!" or "awesome!", but they do say things like "fab!" A person's vocabulary tends to crystallise a bit around their twenties, so older characters tend to use older slang, and if they do try to use very modern slang, may use it wrong, or use it when it's gone out of style and be "a bit cringe".

Location: A person who grew up in a region with a dialect may have a dialect, but how strong it is can depend on how strongly they want to belong to that community, or how much time they've spent outside of that community. A person's native language and at what age they picked up the second language they're speaking also has an impact on pronunciation, sentence structure and word choice. Even among native English speakers speaking polite English, you'll notice differences in structure and word choice between British, American, Canadian, Autralian, Irish and New Zealanders, even very simple ones like English people will ask about where the "Toilets" or "Facilities" are, while Americans might say "Bathrooms" or "Restrooms" (and in casual English this gets even more fun with British colloquialisms being things like "loos" or "bog" and American ones including "can" and "john").
Be wary that in a comic or novel this can make a character really hard to understand or relate to, or lean into stereotypes, so don't go too far on this one.

Education or Expertise: Getting educated or reading lots of books teaches a person a bunch of useful, more precise words for things. The ability to expand "sadness" into "melancholy", "grief" or "despondence." Then having specific knowledge or expertise in a field will give a person specific, precise words to describe things to do with that field. A person with no expertise sees a sheep and says "That's a sheep", but a seasoned farmer says, "That's a herdwick ewe". Some people have a wide vocabulary, but prefer to use simpler words to fit in, or be easier to understand, others might love showing off the fancy words they know to impress others or seem more authoritative.

Personality: Some people are aggressive and direct, stating what they believe to be true very bluntly and barking out orders, others are more gentle and will try to soften everything with a lot of "maybe", "perhaps", "I think", "just my opinion." etc. Some people are sarcastic and passive-aggressive, often getting across the feeling of somebody who is used to not getting what they ask for, or having their suggestions or orders ignored.

So if you add all of these together, you might get:

"Mate, wipe yer grubby boots before you come in here!"
-Direct, casual, maybe British/Aussie. Might be a tough working class guy from London.

"Dude! Wipe your kicks, man! You're making a mess of my house!"
- Comes across like a casual, younger American. It's direct, but in a more pleading, less aggressive way than the one above.

"Excuse me, but could you maybe wipe your shoes before you come in? Thanks ever so much."
- Indirect, polite, but not formal, American. Might be a fussy, slightly old-fashioned older lady from Texas.

"Sir. You are strongly encouraged to remove the dirt from your shoes before entering this residence."
-Formal and polite, but quite direct. This sounds like a fussy butler who is being polite, but kinda thinks he's the one in charge on some level.

"Oh don't mind me, just tramp mud all over my place!"
- Passive-aggressive and sarcastic, casual. This person is angry, but kind of indirect. They probably are used to not having a lot of power to get people to do what they want, and vent their frustration by complaining.

[powerplantanimations]

For me, there needs to be four voices when doing dialogue: your own, your fictional universe's, your setting's, and yes, your character's. I feel like @darthmongoose summed up character and location in her post best, but I also want to staple two more. I remember making a post on here earlier about how I read this one comic (Mister Miracle Vol. 2). It was one of the greatest things I've ever read but then they switched-up the artstyle and everyone sounded the same DESPITE still being from the same writer. Biggest whiplash ever. I can only say that the artstyle is its own character and it'll affect how the character's act when they speak. If the artstyle's off, then you wind up making everyone sound the same. But when you give it character, then people will act differently.

Another is yours. At the end of the day, you're the one speaking through these characters. I feel like you should know thyself before writing. How do YOU speak? Why do you speak the way you do? For example; in my comic the stick people speak in a dry, sarcastic, flat way like me. I use some influences to explain why they're conditioned that way.

You can also use this to keep track of the characters? Like "this character is speaking too flowery like me... I gotta dial it back". I recommend talking to yourself like improv sessions when playing games or taking a shower to make the characters stand out a little more. This adds in little quirks. For example; D from my comic gets a shakey voice whenever someone insults him or hears someone putting on what he THINKS is an aggressive tone.

Or... y'know... you can study how people speak in real life or videos where people argue with each other helped me out. I love watching videos that make you go ".... did he really just say that?"... because people wind up saying the dumbest stuff in reality lmao.

[Chocolate]

I hate writing dialogues because it feels like I’m talking to myself and not really the characters interaction with each other.

[powerplantanimations]

That's why I recommend doing the improv until it doesn't seem like you're talking to yourself :v

[NickRowler]

You could try giving your character interests. What do they like? What do they dislike? How do these interests complement their personality?

You could think of how a "loud" and "very social" person who's into art vs a "loud" and "very social" person who's into sports. The type of person you picture for each may not be the same person despite having similar personality traits.

[ThunderChicken]

You must give your characters distinct personalities in addition to different physical properties.

My main character, Daecon, was an arrogant twenty-something rich prick who thought the world revolved around him, but has learned differently and is developing into a kind, wise, and benevolent person. In his human form he has long white hair, medium dark skin, and has mismatched eyes (right dark blue, left light blue). He is tall (6’5”) and is thin-muscular. His animal alternates are a pure white eagle and ???? (Hasn’t been revealed yet, he himself does not know)

Owen is a middle-aged father who is strict but fair. He is highly intelligent and set in his beliefs but eventually discovers that maybe he should be a little more open to new ideas. He has light (Caucasian) skin with mottled brown & grey hair, a goatee, and yellow eyes. He is tall (6’2”) and is thin-muscular. His animal alternates are a golden eagle and a Kodiak bear

Leander is Owen’s husband and is his polar opposite. Cheerful, silly, sappy, nostalgic, but also a fierce protector of his family. He has dark brown skin (African) and is bald (he will not say whether naturally or shaved) with bright green eyes. He is short (5’7”) but thick and muscular. Owen says he looks like an attack hamster. His animal forms are a black horned owl and a black Jaguar.

Evander is Owen and Leander’s son and is shy and reserved (and incredibly good looking but doesn’t realize it). He’s also kind and thoughtful. He is the object of Daecon’s desire and is the one person on Earth who Daecon thinks is too good for him. His skin is dark caramel covered in freckles, his hair a curly orange-brown, and his eyes are mismatched (right yellow, left green). He is tall (6’2”) and thin-muscular. His animal forms are an osprey and a cheetah.

Daecon’s father Dion is a wise and mystical aging hippie type who pays attention to what is going on around him. Because of this he knows a lot. He is built much like Leander (short and stocky). His skin is a medium caramel, his long hair is silver, his eyes are light blue. His animal forms are a silver raven, a silver wolf, and a silver house cat.

Daecon’s other father Darion, whom Daecon had never met, is a spoiled brat in a position of power, which he uses to the peril of everyone else. Like Daecon, Darion’s hair is white, but is kept short, and he has a goatee. He is medium height (5’11”), very thin, and his animal alternates are a white eagle (though much smaller than Daecon), a white stoat, and a white wolf.

[BoomerZ]

Another point to make is who they are talking to. If you characters are normal blue collar working guys, understand insulting is caring. Friends will insult the hell out of each other and nothing is taken seriously. Those same guys talking to a stranger or at work talks completely different, so your dialogue will be situational. Try not to talk in monologues. Use shorter sentences and fewer sentences to back and forth dialogue. And you can all make people sound different by using contractions or not using them (Data from Star Trek doesn't use them so he sounds far more formal.) I would stay away from accents or slang unless your audience won't get confused and you are good at it. Plus slang will date your work badly.

[GodbreakerComic]

Simplest way for me was make a chart. A good example is the Dungeons and Dragons alignment chart, but you can always make your own. It helps when trying to decide how characters would react to a situation and why.

[cherrystark]

Archetypes refer more to the role than the character's personality. So the "chosen one" could be 56-year-old mother of five and the "wise mentor" could be the 17 year old manager of Taco Bell. Anything could happen.

But if you want your characters to "feel" different, write them as people first. Characters tend to feel like cardboard cutouts because people rely on tropes too much. Writing a female gunslinger is cool, but when she's written as a "strong female character", she's not cool anymore.

I found that it's much easier to write when you focus on the "human" element instead of trying to assign types to them.

[HGohwell]

When it comes to dialogye especailly, I'm afraid a lot of that is just practice. There are even traditionally published pro writers who struggle with this. It's also very personal. I've seen people complain characters sound all the same in a piece, but when I read it they all sound very different. Also, don't try to overdo it. Sometimes, people will sound the same when they speak, especailly if they're of similar backgrounds/age groups and so on. I've seen some people try to take this far too far and try to make every sentence of every character sound drastically different. Sometimes, people all just say "thanks", not everyone needs to say it differently. One thing that can help you practice if remove the dialogue tags, especcailly if just between two characters, and see if it has the right feel. Or have text to speech read it for you, the monotone really helps pick up weirdness.

If you mean more characters in general, for things like narrative or reactions, I often think that knowing the character is important (this is where people saying things like "the character isn't cooperating" comes in, it's knowing your characters to well your instincts are saying something's wrong) but at the same time, sometimes reducing a character to a single character trait helps. Not tropes (you're never going to avoid tropes, but they're not helpful for this) but sometimes saying what is this characer's most prominent trait can help to get things rolling. Someone impatient as their main trait will think and speech about things being too slow, wanting to get moving ect. The family orientated character will often be thinking of things this reminds them of that someone in the family did, or flashing back, or thinking about how something will effect their family. Chaotic party boy has thoughts that wander to causing trouble or teasing. Sometimes, it can be helpful to think of their most prominent trait and make sure that's at the forefront, especaill for things like first dafts.