Is your main character attractive? is it important?

[Tanako]

just like the title says, is it important for your main character to be attractive?
I recently started posting my work on a new platform and one of the readers said: " he would have been cuter without the freckles". mind you, I don't think it's important for the main character to be "attractive".

When I first created Braylin, I intended for him to not have the stereotypical look of what is considered attractive because I was trying to send out a message to my readers if that makes any sense. I wanted to create a story that somehow teaches individuals to love and accept themselves no matter what. Braylin is far from that and he is highly flawed, however, as you read further you get to see those reasons why and you the reader starts to empathize with him.
Braylin is created the way he is because I wanted him to be unique. he is the main character and all his body features were intentional. I wanted to create a character who is heavyset because we do not have a lot of those in comics.

so back to the comment, " he would have been cuter without the freckles". I must say, I found this offending for some reason. but since I have the choice to ignore the comment I did just that. I guess she was equating lack of freckles would have mand braylin cute? not sure but that's her business.

so yes, my main character is attractive due to who he is as a person. not because of looks because looks are not all that makes a person attractive. what do yawl think?

Is it important for the main character to be attractive?

• Yes
• No
• Who cares

Show results

[GamerPrincessXI]

Who cares. My first main character was literally a doggie. To say a dog is attractive borders on beastiality so...........I'm not going touch that one. XD

[Tanako]

Lol i feel you. but your doggies are cute tho haha! i checked it out and i was like "Awwww".

[ar-ninetysix]

Not really, but it sure is a plus!

[GamerPrincessXI]

I just hand drawn to the entire story and sent it to Melfie to clean up, line art, and color. It was a fun story.

[GamerPrincessXI]

I was in the process of writing another one and well... Melfie is busy working on different things. She probably has her toy company, now. .

[GamerPrincessXI]

Any in all seriousness though, if they're good looking to you, then that's fine. No need for anybody else opinion on it, though.

[Toastbuster]

By no means does your main have to be attractive! From what you’ve said, I feel like making Braylin attractive would defeat the entire message you’re trying to convey. If I were you, I’d take that comment you got as a compliment. That person is basically proving your point, and I’d like to think that means you’re doing something right. Keep doing you, my dude!

[AceRagz]

With my character I guess it comes down to who you ask. I see Keha as ugly. Story wise he was an actor but the older he got he wasn't as cute as he was younger and even got ridiculed about his looks in his final acting role which lead to the demise of his career. Back in his hometown now and not getting the attention of any of the local ladies upon his return he just gave up. He is now a twenty year old burn out that just doesn't bother with his looks.

For awhile I did try and create characters that are not considered attractive due to a friend. I have a rp group that I've had for ages now and even Keha was created in this group. One friend that belongs to this group literally every character she creates is a pretty pretty princess type or an actual princess and she always always always changes the appearance of my characters. She writes it so that any flaws my characters have are all in their heads and they are actually these buff good looking guys that her princesses fall for. After ten years of this I'm like....eeehhh...whatever and gave up and now I don't care what my MCs look like.

Keha:

[Lucca_Vendramel]

I mean, I think what's important is how the character is written. You can make even a stick figure be cared about by the audience if your writing is good enough.

[Eightfish]

I think making a character conventionally attractive can even hurt in some ways, because attractive sometimes means a character is drawn with normal proportions and has no flaws, which is boring as fuck. I don't want to read about shounen protagonist #1048

Though a character does have to be appealing. I mean, art is like 50% of what comics are, so your readers should still want to look at your main character.

There's a difference between like a well drawn big nose or freckles, for example, and giving your character neon purple hair with bright teal eyes and highlighter yellow skin, you know?

[SleepingPoppy]

I think creating characters that are not conventionally attractive is much more challenging, but the thing that's important is infusing them with things like charm, likability, etc. You might be in a position where you have to work doubly hard to win readers over, but it might be a more worthwhile story as a result.

I still go with attractive characters, and I don't think I'll break far from that mold in the near future, but I would like to at least challenge my abilities and character designs in small ways in time. But I do personally really appreciate creators who manage to get more unconventional. Bonus points if the character is so dang lovable or charming that they come across as attractive when they shouldn't. =)

[Inspector_Spinda]

I gave my character some unconventional traits.

It's hard to say if they're actually 'ugly' tho. In a cartoon even if you have 'ugly' traits, as long as the design is a good one it will always looks aesthetically pleasing. Very hard to say attractive or not in realism standards. Even in real life I've meet very few people that are actually ugly. Yeah teens have acne but that mostly goes away. The only really ugly people are if they dont take care of their bodies at all they can be dirty or have damaged faces and teeth. or if they're extremely overweight. average middle aged and younger people are rarely ugly though obviously we're not all super models.

[AirisKiahin]

I think the character should be attractive in one way or another. I mean it definitely shouldn't be perfect. First of all it is impossible to create a character loved by absolutely everyone. Second, trying to do this, you are likely to get Mary Sue instead of a nice character.

You've said the right thing. The readers should emphasize the character. So he or she doesn't have to be perfect. I guess "average but special in some way" would be a better description.

The guy who didn't like the freckles is just one of those who can't shut up and find it most important to share their opinion nobody asked for. And he should be ignored, because his opinion doesn't matter. You are the author and you know better how your characters should look and act. If you keep reacting on such "experts" you may easily fail your story.

When I started my own comics, there were some people who always complaint about anything just to complain. One said the main pairing developed to slow, others said the same pairing developed too fast. They also complained the main character (male) looked like a girl with his long hair, etc, etc.
People complain about almost every detail. But when I see lots of likes and other loving comments, I understand that those people are either haters, or just silly guys who always "know how to make it better". They don't. It's not their story, not their characters, they know nothing about your plans.

I don't mean you should absolutely ignore any critique. But in case you need an advice, you can ask for it. You don't need it every minute from some anonymous mean haters. And you don't have to change any tiny detail each time some noname doesn't like it

[Tanako]

I really appreciate all the honest comments here. its really interesting to read everyones opinion on this matter. its awesome!

[Tanako]

wow i really like your artwork. and thanks for comment.

But in case you need an advice, you can ask for it

will take you up on that sometime

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Attractiveness is totally subjective anyway. =/ I've seen plenty of characters that were clearly supposed to be attractive that still made me want to gag. But what I think isn't really the point, is it?

All my main characters are attractive to me in their own ways, and whether they could be prettier if they lost or gained a few features is totally irrelevant. I designed them to be the way they are because that's how I saw them in my mind's eye. I did NOT design them to appeal to everyone who sees them. I don't even think that's possible...

[nostalgicroxas]

I'm more upset that someone's offended that a main character has freckles. Have they seen Anna and Elsa? THEY HAVE FRECKLES. Hell I'm 90% sure Rapunzel has freckles. And Eugene isn't the most attractive man out there out of Disney BFs either.

"would've been cuter without freckles"... You'd be cuter without a nose! Sport that Voldemort look >O

[IndigoShirtProd]

I think attractiveness is relative but important to the personality of a character an how they are perceived. When people say: "it doesn't matter how your character looks, just how they are written" you can guess it means their characters are generally perceived as average or slightly above average in physical attractiveness.
Insecurities and confidence can come from physical appearance. A good example is in the popular webtoon True Beauty, where the main character has heavy insecurities about her position in her family and her physical appearance plays a role in that. It can denote lineage and family ties. I have characters in a story of mine who have two beauty marks under their left eyes; a trait that shows they belong to a specific family.
Outward appearance is what draws people to your characters, whether they are ugly or conventionally attractive.
So to the question: is your main character attractive? For me, the answer is yes. That's a personal thing. There is nothing to be gained or lost story-wise if they aren't and having generally attractive characters are easier to draw.
Now, it it important that a character is attractive? That really depends on what you want out of them and the story. But it is something important to think about.

[Tanako]

Exactly and thats why i was irritated.
I understand that some people may not think freckles are cute but saying things like "he would be cuter without freckles?" really in my mind i was like, "if you don't get your half-ass off my page". but we cant talk to readers like that so i just ignored it.
I just really wanted to know everyone's intake on it lol its pretty funny.