By Rachel Leitch
Character questionnaires get a bad rap.
Many authors suggest ditching them completely in favor of journaling whatever comes into your mind about your character. (Cue look of terror from ISTJ author who needs guidelines to get her bases covered.)
They’re right. You probably don’t need to know your protagonist’s favorite ice cream flavor (unless it’s his weapon of choice in the climax).
The problem with character questionnaires isn’t that we’re asking questions.
It’s that we’re asking the wrong questions.
Behold! The seven things you absolutely need to know about your protagonist before you start to write.
1. Ghost
Ghost is the writerly term for the big terrible thing that lurks in your protagonist’s past.
Maybe it’s a way he was hurt. A way she hurt others. A way someone he loved was hurt. Whatever it is, it haunts your protagonist to this day, coloring her opinions and decisions. The ghost is the foundation for the want, need, lie, and fear (other puzzle pieces that we’ll discuss in a moment).
For example, in Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, Raya’s ghost is Namaari’s betrayal, which results in watching her father turn to stone.
This leads Raya to believe no one can be trusted (lie), to embark on a quest to repair the Dragon Gem (want), and to protect herself against all betrayal (fear)—when what she truly needs is to open herself back up again.
2. Want
The want is exactly what it sounds like—what your protagonist wants more than anything and is moving towards.
The want needs to be something tangible that we can watch progress throughout the story. It’s based in an internal belief that causes them to work towards an external goal.
The want is also a great potential for the false victory and low point—the character can get what he wants and realize it doesn’t make him happy, or he can realize he can never achieve this want and decide whether or not he’ll move on.
Whether or not her want is perfect, it needs to look good.
If your protagonist wants to blow up the world just because she hates people, who would want to read about her?
For example, in Disney’s Big Hero 6, Hiro wants to find the man responsible for his brother’s death (looks good, right? Justice and all) and secretly wishes to make him pay. He comes so close to achieving that goal, only to realize it didn’t take away the hurt. It wasn’t the need he thought it was.
3. Need
A protagonist’s want is not the same as his need. In fact, his want couldn’t be further away from his need.
While his want can be anywhere on the range of good to selfish, his need is usually the place your protagonist will wind up in the resolution.
It’s the healthier, but more uncomfortable place.
If her want and need are both good things that come with high stakes attached, the tension automatically escalates.
For example, in Pixar’s Up, Carl wants to take his house to Paradise Falls to honor his deceased wife (ghost). (Good.) But what he actually needs is to move on and live life again—to have new adventures. Which is about the last thing he wants as well as a total opposite. (Better.)
4. Fear
We’re talking more than a fear of bats or heights or small spaces (although protagonists certainly have these, too).
What does your character fear more than anything? What is the one thing that would bring her to her knees? What is the one thing that could turn your protagonist away from the story goal and convince him to never return?
Oftentimes, a protagonist’s fear is related to either losing their want or their ghost repeating itself. This fear will become reality in your third plot point and low point.
For example, in DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup fears his father’s disapproval (because the thing he wants most is his father’s approval).
Even as he makes steps in the right direction, he still keeps Toothless a secret from everyone because of this fear. In the low point, his father captures Toothless and disowns Hiccup. This worst-fear-turned-reality forces Hiccup to a decision—his need to become his own person.
5. Strengths
If your protagonist isn’t good at anything but getting knocked down by the villain, readers start to yawn—because they know how every fight will end. The villain will win over and over until the miracle of the climax.
Besides that, strengths offer a lot of insight into your protagonist.
Strengths can hint at so much from their personality to the way they grew up. It could have sprung from their ghost, or even play a big part in what they want or need.
For example, in Disney’s Moana (yes, I have a penchant for using Disney and other animated films as examples, thank you for noticing), the whole point of Moana’s character is that she doesn’t have clue one what she’s doing.
She can’t sail or do much of anything. She is, however, a fantastic leader. She’s resourceful, creative, positive, hopeful, and confident. So we watch, just to see whether she’ll pull out a victory, or fall on her face.
It also tells us a lot about Moana as a person. She grew up as the daughter of the village chief, which is shown in her strong leadership and her good sense of responsibility. She also tends to see beyond what is, which relates to her draw to the water, even though she had been forbidden to go there by her father (ghost).
6. Weaknesses
If your protagonist isn’t bad at anything, we still get bored, because now we know the protagonist will always win.
The same as with strengths, weaknesses can play a huge part in conflict, character personality, and that ever-present ghost.
16personalities.com has an MBTI test where you can learn more about your character—complete with some general strengths and weaknesses as well as typical reactions your character might have. It’s great to get your brainstorming started.
For example, in Pixar’s Luca, Luca loves learning, is the classic “good kid,” and cares deeply about others.
If that were all there was to him, we all would have gotten tired of the perfect protagonist. But he also has this weakness of being overly cautious and anxious, and makes some pretty big mistakes along the way. We can relate to that, and it even makes us smile occasionally. Which means when Luca does start standing up, making his mistakes right, and making his own decisions, it makes us cheer.
Luca’s weaknesses make it hard for him to take the chances and risks required to make it in the human world and cause all sorts of conflicts both with that world and with his friends. His anxiety and erring on the side of caution sprang from his childhood with a very protective mother (ghost).
7. Lie
The lie is the most important thing about your protagonist. It fuels their want, summons their ghost, pushes away their need, and amplifies their fears.
The lie is the driving motivation.
The “why” of your protagonist. If you figure nothing else out about your protagonist ahead of time, do this. It gives your protagonist a why, instead of random acts outside of character.
The lie causes the protagonist to make both good and bad decisions, but those choices get progressively worse leading up to the climax.
For example, in Disney’s The Lion King, Scar blames Simba for Mufasa’s death (ghost), and Simba believes it’s true (along with his previous lie that being king was all about him—the reason he snuck into the elephant graveyard and played into Scar’s game at the gorge).
This belief affects his decision to run away, his “hakuna matata” mentality (bad decisions), and even his decision to eventually return to Pride Rock (good decision).
In Pixar’s Monsters University, Mike believes what the bullies tell him (ghost)—that he doesn’t belong on a scare floor. This affects his decisions to study hard, enter the scare games, and help his teammates’ succeed (good decisions). It also convinced him to sneak through a door to the human world (bad decision).
There you have it! The seven things you need to know about your protagonist. To recap:
Now go figure out their favorite ice cream flavor. But that might be a want, not a need.
*How do you see these seven things at play in your characters? Are there any things that you add to the list? Let me know in the comments below!*
Rachel Leitch
Rachel Leitch discovered the book of writing when she was seven. She’s been turning pages ever since! When she’s not hidden away penning young adult historical adventures, she’s trying to fit all her reads on her shelf in a somewhat organized manner, rambling through history, daydreaming at the piano, or teaching students to be just as bookish as she is. In all her adventures, she learns how to shine brighter for the Father of Lights.
For more lessons drawn from books and movies and other stories, follow her adventure journal at https://racheljleitch.weebly.com!
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*gasp* I LOVE pretty much about all those movies! Also, did you notice that Raya and the Last Dragon and Luca both focused on dragons or dragonlike creatures? Disney and those kind of people seem to be doing that more recently.
What if a character’s need is like a variant of their want, though? What if what the end up with is similar to but not exactly what they’d been striving for? Does that ever happen or is it something that never should?
Also, what if a character’s ghost is not their fault or even something involving them? Such as, in a story I’m writing, the main character’s father left the family and is now part of the enemy, and that ties in to the character’s lie–that his mom’s clan doesn’t trust him or care about him and that he’d be better off joining his dad’s. (Both ideas are wrong, by the way. That’s why it’s his lie.)
That’s absolutely possible! Even if the character is not directly involved, it still affects them in some way. So as long as that event is affecting them, you have the potential for a ghost.
That’s because dragons are awesome. XD
Those are some good questions. I wouldn’t say it never happens . . . Nadine Brandes’ Fawkes was a little bit like that. He sort of achieved his want but it wasn’t like he imagined. I personally think it would be very doable and would be a great way to add that conflict to a novel. The want doesn’t always have to be something bad–in fact, if it’s something good, the plot and conflict are generally stronger. Great questions!
Yes, I love all those movies, too. XD
Yes, dragons are most certainly awesome! And that makes sense.
Love this! I’ve seen some variation for all of these concepts before, but seeing them all in such a clearly laid out format was great. I’ll need to remember this article for future reference!
Yay! I’m so glad it helped you.
Raya and the Last Dragon had a great concept and incredible artistry, but unfortunately, it had absolutely terrible writing and a toxic moral (Trust everyone, at all times, no matter what happens? No thanks! Forgiveness and trust are two completely different things; we should forgive our enemies, not everyone is trustworthy. Especially if they are actively trying to hunt you down, like Namaari). I wish it was a good movie because it had so much potential, but the execution was atrocious.
But Up is a masterpiece! It’s one of my favorite movies!