Jan 2017
14 / 20
Jan 2017
Oct 2021
idamessygirl
Jan '17

Hi Everyone!

I draw a lot and sometimes I draw a design of a human/creature that I really, really like a lot. Eventually, I give him or her (it's usually a him) a name and then I repeatedly draw this character over and over, with no particular future in mind for the thing.

I was wondering if other people creates characters without a particular story in mind?

What are they like? And do you plan to do with them?

~Idamessygirl♥

  • created

    Jan '17

  • last reply

    Oct '21
  • 19

    replies

  • 2.2k

    views

  • 20

    users

  • 10

    likes

  • 3

    links

punkarsenic
Jan '17

oh yeah, like, everyone i know has characters wandering around without stories. sometimes its because they gave up on the story but kept the characters, sometimes theyre created for RP, and a lot of the time theyre just created, like yours.

i tend to create my characters for their stories, or otherwise a story will be born from their creation. but a lot of them fall through, and im left with the character (the ones i really like, anyway) and ill recycle them when the time is right.

for example, i have a whole host of abandoned characters from my old webcomic that i cancelled - i still like some of them, and will probably use them as side characters in later projects.

octopusfwb
Jan '17

I've absolutely resurrected characters created just as a doodle years ago and included them down the line in either a comic or a novella I've created. Most of the characters I create I will develop some level of backstory in my head to help inform the design. Sly, the boy-crush in OctopusFWB, was named after Sylvester Stallone because Sly's dad, who will look like a drawing I made years ago, is a big Stallone fan. (His dad has not yet been drawn into the comic, but he will show up eventually.) Knowing that Sly's father is that level of 'butch' helped me to know what kind of physique Sly would have, how his hair and glasses would look, and how his personality would develop in contrast to an overbearing father figure.

abbastudios
Jan '17

I do it all the time. Sometimes they get names, but that is rare.

It's just part of the process of being an artist. You are always creating.

jordanthelass
Jan '17

In my comic Whose World2, no one really has a "story" per say, but their personality plays a huge role as a whole (if that makes any sense).

I think it depends on what you're aiming for, really. If it's a long-form comic with a complex story, it might be better to have backstories for your characters. However, in short-form (gag a day, etc), I don't thik backstories are necessarily required unless you want to include flashbacks or something like that.

xEijix
Jan '17

I'm more like:make a story then create characters or create characters then make a story.But well,mostly,I prefer the second one.(•̀ᴗ•́)و
Which artist doesn't like to give names to her/his characters? •w•

Let me say,if you are good draw but can't make up a story,you can work with someone.
For example,author(like one of your friend who is good about it) makes story and you as an artist draws them.((☆＾w ＾☆)╭

shazzbaa
Jan '17

Oh, absolutely. I usually have a concept in mind, but they're loose things like "reclusive CEO hiding terminal illness" or "modern day necromancer lady with roadkill zombies" or "video game glitch that functions like a vampire" -- some of those might suggest stories, but they're definitely not stories all by themselves. I can't think of a time I've created and gotten attached to a character based on visuals alone? it's always more the concept that I get attached to.

I dunno! Maybe they'll be a comic one day. Maybe they're just for fun! I'm always looking for what their story might be and wondering what kind of world they fit in -- if nothing else, a story is more scenarios to imagine and draw -- but I never know what's going to stick and what I'll lose interest in, so I really don't worry about that part too much. Designing characters and working with ideas is never a waste of time, to me; the practice will serve me well no matter what, and those ideas might later come back in a new form!

joannekwan(ง ˙o˙)ว here to help~
Jan '17
1

Absolutely! I've got tons of characters who don't quite have a story yet or their story dissolved into sand carried away by the wind. I keep them around until I come up with a vague plot and need a cast, then their personalities or backstories usually fill in the plot and steer it in a direction. Or other times I'll create another character and pair it with an earlier one and build a story around those two, which was what happened with my story Heavy Horns.

tayo_rafferty
Jan '17

I have good news for you! You are doing something that most storytellers don't understand the value of! The best stories begin and end with interesting characters! So keep making those characters and start asking questions about them; Who are they? What do they want? What do they fear? Eventually you'll find a story.

SynergyEclipse
Jan '17

Several characters who are in my comic now were originally written without a story, or I gave up on the original story, but kept the characters. A few times where I was needing to introduce new characters, I retooled some of these old characters without stories and incorporated them into it.

Each character without a story can be a starting point for a new story, or be incorporated into an existing story, depending on how they're developed.

fighterxaos
Jan '17

Lots of times! Sometimes I eventually make a story for them, but there are some that still don't really have a story. Like my characters Kelly and Molly. They don't fit in any story and were created just to be well... ecchi distractions at first. Although Molly is also a mascot for the website thebrokeninfinite. I eventually came up with a story that they're roommates who are always broke and looking for jobs.

heterodont
Jan '17

I luvv designing characters but if I don't get a good idea - writing wise - for them right off the bat, I end up scrapping them. I have too many characters as-is and too little interests to actually write a long-term story that doesn't already cover a topic I love.

Sometimes I keep them around because I like drawing them, but usually I just toss them out if nothing's holding me to them.

AnnaLandin
Jan '17

I do, yeah!

... But in my case, the story tends to follow pretty closely after, because my brain does not like to leave things like that alone. >.< It isn't always a functioning story - like, they don't all come with beginnings, middles and ends - but there's enough of a framework there that I could pick them up and plan a story around them if i wanted to.

... I have 450+ characters, 30+ story-worlds, and entirely too little time on my hands to do anything with all of them.

haleymewsome
Jan '17

That's how Unfamiliar started! I drew Planchette in different cute outfits and I just kinda liked her design. I started trying to make a story for her because I realized I really liked drawing her, and I was really missing comics. c:

indagold
Jan '17

I have never really created a character that doesn't even have a snippet of story behind them. If they do have no story it's usually a background character or original species/race I like to draw.

TheKawaiiGarden
Jan '17

Its always fun to just sit down and draw up some random characters, especially when you're really bored and not in the mood to do anything else. I think around 80% of my background characters in Legends of Kayal were made in that way.

4 years later
irotanagatchi333
Oct '21

I'm more into the personalities of characters rather than stories so although I do have plans to write something for them it's never happened. I'm starting to think that I'm just content with just having them and conveying their personalities.

esmesn
Oct '21

all the time. pretty much every drawing i've made other than stuff for my actual comic. i really like the mystery of having so much potential, but no real backstory, so i can fantasize about the character and all its possibilities with no commitment to anything. makes it a lot more fun to draw, i think.

i dont wanna get all philosophical, but i'm terrified of linear time. i get scared by beginnings and endings. that's a really intense kind of permanence, and it's something every story has. i like my random characters to exist in a timeless void where i don't know where they are in life, what they're doing, how their story will end. idk, it makes me uncomfortable to know the future an an author i guess. and it's fun to steer away from that sometimes

TedGravesArt
Oct '21

Sometimes, sure. The main characters of my comic started out as random designs. Usually, the designs of the main characters of a story come first before the writing for me. 90% of them end up as just a doodle, but every once in a while I hit on something that spins out a story.