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

Not really, but it sure is a plus!

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. .

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!

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:

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.

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?

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. =)

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.

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

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...

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

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.

Who cares, Consider my MC has yet to be revealed, I don't see how being attractive will benefit his goals of forming a unity.

In all due honesty, he would work more on his brain and gain supporters to reach his success than his looks.

From what I've seen and "analyze" especially on Webtoon and the webcomic world, people do get more excited and get attached quicker to the character if they are perceive as appealing. The easiest way to make them appealing is to make them attractive.
Because let's be honest, people do judge a book by its cover specially in a business that have a fast-food type of production.

Even though people like to say that look don't matter, the stat (that I pull from my ass) says otherwise
A good character design (that for some reason is attached to attractive characters) is always important if you want people to remember your characters as quickly as possible. And like I said above, the quicker someone remember your work, the better.

Of course if your character doesn't fit their standard, it won't kill your comic. You just miss the boost that you can potentially get from the start. But let's not forget that a perfect character design won't hide bad writing
And to be honest, it's better to have support from people who stick around for the story than people who stick around because the characters make them feel all sort of way down there

I draw them beautifuly regardless of what others might think, if I am going to spend years drawing them they better be appealing and keep me motivated!!

Some of my comic characters have gotten some compliments but my other characters get comments like "weird" "creepy" ... "Sick" I Iove those So, I draw what I like and hopefuly others can see beauty in them.

Its not important. Look at Build-a here!

She is a robot, and not conventionally pretty. But we do reasonably well for ourselves.

Yes and no, it depends on the plot and the genre.

A good example is "the hunchback of Notre dame", the main character is anything but beautiful.

My main character is not bad when she smiles, but she's not the most beautiful woman in my story. Purely wanted by the way, I do not want the character to impress because she is "beautiful" but by her actions and her story.

It keeps you from having a boost at the start if your OC isn't a fanart magnet, but in the end, it's not that important. It's about the writing and making your character still look good through the art even if they don't have conventionally attractive features. Good lineart, good rendering, light and shadow, AND a well written story, all those things can make the mood of the comic enjoyable more than anyone with a pretty face.

As for my own, Mortimer is far from a pretty guy(though he somehow kept a nice looking back). He's no face that only a mother could love, but the years haven't been kind to him and his inability to dress well doesn't help. Like, look at what he decides to put under wizard robes minus an essential pair of shoewear. This ain't it, chief.

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But, art skills allowing, I want to make him good to look at through the good looking art, not by "improving" him in some unrealistic way. However, I will admit that he might look better than he actually "is" because it's a learning curve to go from anatomy that looks exactly like the textbooks to real person appearance.

He looks pretty. At least for me. But I don't draw characters with exaggerated characteristics, so in his world his look is considered common and sometimes he's more kid-like than handsome.

...... if only it were possible to click both "Yes" and "No". The main character of my comic was specifically designed to have a mix of attractive and un-attractive traits. She's got a mix of sharp and soft features, a big nose, physically fit, big ol-eyebrows and a chin that sits somewhere between masculine and feminine..... I...... can't really recall why I chose to give her such a balanced appearance but I think it benefits the character and her personality in the long run.

up to you!

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personally, i think cath especially is... pretty hot. but i did once get a comment abt how its great that shes not a 'conventional beauty' but is approached as gorgeous by the text. she is a spotty, gnc black girl with crooked teeth, so even though IM REALLY INTO HER i get that shes not the convention. raises questions abt what an attractive protagonist even IS, right? it all depends on your audience's sexuality, culture, age... im sure as kids yall had crushes on violet from the incredibles, but hopefully your parents didnt, right?

balor on the other hand, is way too attractive. if i had a twaw do-over, i'd make balor significantly more monstrous and conventionally hideous (which, paradoxically, id prolly be really into). i wanna see more romance comics between people who dont 'look the part.' in fact, between people who look conventionally unattractive

I'm reading lots of Chinese novels and honestly, I've started to roll my eyes at every 'jade-like beauty' that gets introduced. Like, seriously, just have some normal-looking person once in a while! Isn't it enough that they're super-good at what they're doing, come from a wealthy family and have very coincidentally (yeah, sure ...) married Mr. Perfect? Do they need to look like some celestial deity too?
And then people always say how those Chinese novels are supposed to be self-inserts ... I'm sorry, but how many people are able to insert themselves into that kind of overly perfect character? Gosh, give me some diversity!

Well, kinda? I mean, I purposefully designed my protagonist of DRAGOONS to look kinda of not traditionally heroic to subvert expectations. So I made him look kinda "Evil" in a way.

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As for the rest of my characters, I'd call them less "attractive," and more "cute" than anything.

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Though there were a few characters I designed to be explicitly "handsome" in their comic world more than anything.

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So Yes and No I guess......

To me, physical attractiveness of a character is not very important, and it's very fortunate, because I'm generally very turned off by conventional beauty criteria, whether Western or Eastern; so if that was important to me.. I would be left with very few comics to read.

However, I do read more stories with non-conventionally beautiful people, but I don't think it's due to the fact I find them more attractive. Rather, I feel there is a tendency for stories that escape conventional beauty, to also escape conventions in a more general sense.
I think @punkarsenic 's comic is a very good example; as the unconventional characters fit so well in the unconventional art, story etc. I don't really imagine this story, with this art, with characters looking conventionally pretty.

The only case when unattractive characters can put me off badly, is when the artist exaggerates traits to make a character attractive, but it completely backfires. Exaggeratedly gendered traits being the worst. If your men and women look like being from two different species, I'm out.

In the case of my characters, I did not think of it at all for most. Most are teenagers and probably younger than my readers, so I did not aim to make them attractive really. I don't think they are particularity attractive or repulsive to the reader? There's one of the adults who got a few compliments, though

In your case @Tanako , I don't think Braylin is particularity unattractive physically, but certainly unconventional, and his personality is very unattractive. This being said, in my opinion, it what makes your story interesting.

I'll be honest, it's really not the type of story I usually like, and I'm not subscribed to it, but I read it from time to time because I'm intrigued by this character. I'd like to see what you have to tell us about him, I'd like to see what explanations you could give to make him more likable. To me, it's an unlikable character that I would like to be able to like, you see? To read more to understand. I really like the idea that he may appear ugly to people at first sight, but that is not actually where the real ugliness is. And how we're given the hope that, the same way that he is not physically ugly if we don't follow arbitrary social conventions, he may not have such a ugly personality if we one day understand where he is coming from.

So maybe you have a very good compromise here: a general setting and story outline that are pretty conventional for the genre and may attract the usual public, + an unconventional (on many aspects) character who may interest a different set of readers.

not attractive but appealing in design. Really it all come down to design and the purpose of said design. If the character is a model of course they are supposed to be attractive unless you are planning make an issue of them struggling the cut throat industry despite what they see as beauty flaws. Design appeal is a bit harder to explain but I think its pretty much you can look at the character and know a little bit about them and want to root for them. This doesn't mean attractive but it those mean you need strong character design.

And whats the hate on freckles. I think their cute on many people.

Well said!
I noticed that about MMOs too, not only with the eastern ones but also with western ones. It's even more glaring with those that give you oh-so-many design choices of attractive face A, attractive face B, attractive face C ...

Another thing (not in response to what you said but something I just remembered ) I think attractiveness can be important if it has an actual effect on the story.
For example, the main character of my novel "Romancing the Son of Heaven" is exactly the type of "jade-like beauty" I just ranted about (joke's on me, I guess ) but it's a major influence on how he is as a character: He isn't just attractive. He's attractive and knows it and knows that everybody else knows too. But then he's having issues because he feels that while he's outwardly perfect, he has issues with his personality which (among other things) makes him majorly depressed. He might not have been that way if he wasn't that beautiful so his appearance is important to him as a character and, in turn, to the story itself. It's not just being beautiful for the sake of being beautiful.

I don't know if my main character's attractive in Mean Boys; he sure is cute as a button, and most importantly super easy to draw (let's be real: that's what actually matters), but I personally wouldn't call him attractive. Just... round and baby-faced and squishy. (He's fourteen years old at the beginning of the story, so I think it'd be weird for me to call him attractive anyway.)

For those wondering, this is him:

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In my personal opinion a main character doesn't have to look attractive in or out of universe, it's more important that they're recognizable and fun to draw. Looking at Braylin, you definitely succeeded with the recognizability; the freckles add to the uniqueness and personality of the character and should absolutely not be streamlined away for actual or perceived attractiveness!

I don't think it's important unless it's centered around the plot (ie a story about a beauty pageant, etc).
I think the reason that main characters are often designed as conventionally attractive is that it's guaranteed to get an audience. It's the reason why characters that are considered ugly in their universe aren't really ugly, such as Meg Griffin, Kuroki from Watamote, the love interest in Ready Player One.
Or if they are written as such, they get portrayed by a good looking actor.

Some people can be really shallow though. I know someone who refuses to watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame because Quasimodo is ugly.
I honestly don't get why people think freckles are ugly. I think they're cute!