If it's an evil villain, go crazy with the double chins and ugliness. Think Ursula from The Little Mermaid as your example. Being unattractive on the outside ALWAYS assumes the same on the inside.
Especially if that scar is never explained/addressed and has no significance to the character outside of their appearance!
I've got another one; CAT EARS! For no reason! Because it's kawaii!
Also, give them human ears as well! Not like it matters, right?
-You don't need to research Japan or anything, you know enough from all that anime you watch.
-But then again, you really don't know everything about Japan, so make up a fake Japanese town and do whatever, so no one can get mad if it is not like the real thing.
-If you can't write a personality or decent jokes, just make them super kawaii
-Adult women should look like teenagers. Teenager girls should look like little girls. And young girls should look like babies (and act like them too).
-Handsome men don't have facial hair or body hair, that's only for the old and uglies
-Teenage girls and adult women acting like toddlers or cats is adorable.................(gag)
- Diagnose them with every mental/personality disorder listed on DSM-5
- Clumsiness will never affect them adversely except when falling right into their love interest's arms!
- Their eye colors must change with their moods!
- So he/she's a fighter, huh? Good! Make sure to equip him/her with sensible battle gear! Accouter them with frilly dresses, long skirts, neckties, helmet horns, and all other bling that definitely won't put them in danger!
- Make them homosexual for no plot-related reason at all except for fanservice
- Give them super-long names that only you can pronounce
- BAWWWW NO ONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT THEY'RE GOING THROOOUGH
I've got 4 words for you that will totally change your idea of good character design for the better.
It's simple:
Spiky
Anime
Protagonist
Hair
Remember that males and females have the exact same face type! just add long eyelashes and BAM! It's a girl. You're welcome.
- Your character used to be morally upstanding and good, but now they've gone evil? Better trade in that fancy goody-two-shoes outfit for skintight leather and fishnet stockings! Everyone knows that skimpy clothes barely disguise an evil heart!
- Is your character an Asian girl in a cast full of white people? Give her an edgy haircut and make sure to dye some part of it with a streak of bright colour, like blue or purple of green. This will surely make her unique and memorable, and not at ALL like the literally hundreds of other Asian female characters in multiple franchises.
- Everyone knows that fat people exist only for one reason; to be laughed at. Your main character can only be fat if she gets bullied for it, and works hard to get rid of that weight, just so she can knock the socks off her former bullies by being pretty. Additionally, it's okay if a character is fat and stays fat, as long as you make sure to signal to your audience that they are a.) mean and evil, or b.) pathetic.
- All female characters who aren't your lead girl in a romantic story have to be either a.) less beautiful than your lead girl, or if they ARE as beautiful they must b.) be your lead girl's bitchy, personality-less rival in love.
its a fantastic idea to put tits and hair and makeup on anthropomorphic female (species etc)s if the males dont have any defining characteristic like that (like.....think kids movies with animals as the protagonists that do stuff like this like happy feet where they gave the female penguins a huge chest bump. or that one screenshot of the worm with boobs). sausage party? love those bun titties
if you have a female character in a sci fi setting who wears armor you always have to include at least one (1) spot completely uncovered to reveal her Sexy Skin to appeal to the viewers. definitely not an exposed weak spot where she could get shot and killed! better yet? give her a bikini just do it you hunk of garbage.
female characters only exist for love interests if they don't get in a relationship by the next scene theyre in or show that theyre In Love with youre male character she's only good for background material. ninjago was absolutely brilliant with this. if shes a villain or Independent her motivation should be from a male partner dumping her or cheating on her (good job with that strange magic! (ugh))
black to (any color, usually red or purple) gradient hair colors are all the rage nowadays! (it's still the 90's right??)
In order to keep your readers from getting confused make sure that all your villains wear black. You may use a bit of red for contrast, especially if your villains are from the military. Nothing says evil like red and black, right? If you want to be reaaally subtle, then add some skulls somewhere. Perfect.
A capable woman can battle in the highest heels and shortest skirts, so don't forget those. Double points if she has long hair that's flowing freely even in the middle of intense action.
Wondering how to make sure all your readers know who the hero is? Worry no more, just give them a really big weapon! The bigger the weapon, the greater the hero.
Are you writing a BL comic and feel stuck about how your male lead will end up realizing that it's a man they want and not a woman? The solution is simply: Make sure all women are horrible and evil! That will certainly drive your romantic male leads together. (Exception to the rule is mothers. Mother are always loving and kind. Or dead.)
If your character is bisexual, then they must be promiscuous. Also constantly flirting with everyone.
- Characters never can do things that go against their character. In real life people aren't hypocritical or spontaneous, it's jarring to see someone break their own stereotype.
- Have body parts larger than the rest of their body.
- Never talks except for one time per story arc.
- Do droll things like rolling around or staring at walls.
- Talking heads.
- Be extremely simplistic, it's a good thing if your character is confused for Finn the Human or Steven Universe.
- TaLk iN uNuSuAl AnD aNnOyInG wAyS tHaT'S hArD tO rEaD sOmEtImeS
- Is always playing video games
- Talking penis.
One thing I'm noticing is that a lot of things mentioned on here aren't bad character design, but either overused stereotypes, or just things that wouldn't work in certain genres.
Like catchphrases would work in a cheesy action comic or a silly cartoon, but if you're doing an epic drama... like that bird won't fly.
That and like, I think talking heads is the stupidest thing, but people do like that. So it might just be that, there is no good or bad, just what you like and dislike.
I would like to see someone make a talking penis a beloved character though. Like that's nobel peace prize material right there. GG no RE.
Have a BL? Save yourself some time and just make everyone look the same! No one will notice, they just wanna see some frick-frack anyway. But if you want to spice things up, give a different color palette to one of the guys and make them some non-descript poc!
