Home Page › Forums › Fiction Writing › Characters › Most Common Character Traits?
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December 12, 2023 at 8:49 pm #169390
I think my characters are pretty diverse when it comes to looks. I used to just have grumpy introverts with black hair and green eyes, but I’ve grown out of that by now. XD
Usually my mc’s are anywhere from 11 to 25ish. Also, I’ve been giving characters brown eyes a lot more recently because I realized how pretty they are! Like some of them are a rich, dark brown like coffee, or tree bark, or the earth, speckled with little bits of gold. (Lol sorry I’m ranting)
I just have brown hair and… actually Idk what color my eyes are. But I am somewhat tall and I think I might make a lot of my characters really tall as well.
As for personality, I think it’s pretty mixed, but they seem to always have a tiny piece of me in them (even if I don’t want them to).
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December 12, 2023 at 9:31 pm #169405I don’t have a lot of characters who look or act exactly like me. Actually, a lot of them have significantly opposite traits. I think the character most similar to me would be Hugo Angelo (my sweet gentleman), because we are both have spidery tall legs, similar hair and eye colors, and we both enjoy watching people for the sake of watching people 😂
Trends in traits?
Oof, I have a lot of blond protagonists. Otherwise, I have a pretty diverse array of appearances. Personality-wise, I used to have a lot of INFJs and INFPs since I fall between those two, but now that’s no longer the case (although most have some therapy-giving tendencies 🤣). I love writing all sorts of perspectives.
I have noticed each of my WIPs tend to have a certain circle of traits which appear to some degree or another in each character, like themes. Like if a protagonist has an issue trusting people, trust is going to be either deliberately added or taken away to the other characters. Also, one WIP will have mostly extroverts, while another has mostly introverts.
That’s all I can think of right now.
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December 12, 2023 at 9:37 pm #169406Hmmm. I feel like I’ve been pretty intentional with creating characters that have different hair/eye colors, but I haven’t strayed outside the realm of browns/blonds/reds, etc. Like you wouldn’t see any of my characters with pink or blue or green hair, although maybe I should do that sometime to spice things up. Brown, or different shades of brown, would probably be the dominating hair color/eye color, but I have a good mixture.
Where my characters tend to be alike is in personality. I’ve tried to make some characters more extroverted, but usually my characters are a reflection of me, so as hard as I try, they’re not often extroverted. Some may have a few extrovert characteristics, but slip into introverted habits. That’s as far as main characters go, however… I can do other characters that are more extroverted, probably because as I’m writing I’m observing them rather than being in their head, if that makes sense.
"Real love is for your good, not for your comfort." -Justin Whitmel Earley
December 13, 2023 at 7:45 am #169448I never really go into dyed hair, most of it’s their natural color, I even cringed when I had Terry Darr dye his hair blond for a couple weeks. Reason: I actually promised my grandmother I would never dye my hair. So I just never usually think about it.
I also rarely go into makeup with my charries too. Reason: idk, maybe cuz most of them are warrioresses, or too young in my opinion to wear it.
I usually never mention if a character has earrings, only one charrie I specifically mention as having earrings, and those are actually clip-ons. Reason: I don’t have pierced ears, and I don’t plan on it, so I don’t think about it often.
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#AnduthForever (hopefully 💕)December 13, 2023 at 8:43 am #169450Anonymous- Rank: Chosen One
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@hybridlore OOH, great topic!! 😁
Hmm…I don’t know my personality type, but I would say that I have a fairly even balance between introverted and extroverted characters, bc I try to make all of them unique, and I’ve taken a personality quiz for some of them and they all have varying personalities.
for example, Riker is a Turbulent Defender (ISFJ-T) whilst Leon is an Assertive Executive (ESTJ-A)
Most of my charries probably have brown hair, quickly followed by blonde, then black. I have very few with red hair, and a few with gray.
Most of my charries probably have blue eyes, followed by brown, then green, and I also have a couple that have hazel eyes and a couple that have gray eyes, and also a few with a mix of blue/green.
My MC’s tend to be men (idk, they’re easier to write somehow🤣), usually between the ages of 20-30, although some fall in the 16-19 range.
December 13, 2023 at 8:45 am #169451Anonymous- Rank: Chosen One
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OH, and most of my male characters are muscular XD
December 13, 2023 at 8:56 am #169452My charries almost never have colored hair or makeup, probably because 1, I mostly write fantasy so it would seem really out of place for someone or have blue hair, and 2, I have zero internet in smearing wax and powder all over my face aka makeup, so I usually forget it exists lol.
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December 13, 2023 at 9:15 am #169455I don’t actually like makeup (on myself anyway) and don’t want to wear it. However, my (adult) characters will wear makeup sometimes… but that’s typically for special occasions and such.
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December 13, 2023 at 9:57 am #169461@freedmwriter76
My MC’s tend to be men (idk, they’re easier to write somehow🤣)
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#AnduthForever (hopefully 💕)December 13, 2023 at 10:37 am #169462I really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts! I’m just guessing here, but I feel like brown is the most popular hair color, followed by blonde and black… And then other colors like white and blue lol.
For eyes, I’m going to guess blue is most common for characters? Then brown, then green, and then other colors?
I’m not really sure what kinds of traits are underused, I’ll have to Google different hair and eye colors and see about it!
Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. ~ C.S. Lewis
December 13, 2023 at 10:38 am #169463@freedomwriter76 @rae
I don’t think I have ever written from the perspective of a male character… I don’t know how XD But I guess it’s a little intimidating having never done it.
Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. ~ C.S. Lewis
December 13, 2023 at 3:01 pm #169478Anonymous- Rank: Chosen One
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@rae Yep, you are most certainly not alone 😂
@hybridlore It’s not as scary as you may think, lol! I’m a girl who tends to hide her emotions/stuff away her emotions, so I do understand men more in that vein. But I think it’s also important to remember that not all men are those tough guys that stuff everything away, have a stiff upper lip, and all those other stereotypes. Just as women differ in personalities, attitudes, etc, men do too!!December 13, 2023 at 3:53 pm #169489I don’t really think about what my characters look like as much as I should. When I do, I usually think what their culture/ethnicity looks like, but then I have to think about the physical characteristics of the different cultures and ethnicities I’ve made, lol! My sister who drew N’nesha for me had to pry out hair and eye color from my tongue, and it just feels completely arbitrary to me, unless there’s some unique and distinctive element that is actually more telling of their nature/character/history, ect, like N’nesha’s skull shape with the crease down the back, physically showing her Shal’le heritage in how she thinks in a completely different way from how a human would. I honestly need to suck it up though, and just accept that not all elements need t be necessary or meaningful.
As for personality, I like to have a colorful cast. I like characters that think and ponder, more like my myself, but also those who are incredibly bold and eccentric in some shape or form. Like Tailen and Thing, one being more survival focused, but also contemplative, vs the other, while being a literal robot, is earnest, wanting to please, but also being excited about every little detail of life, being bright and poppy. High contrast leads to more meaningful dynamics and relationships between the characters.
He is perfect in Justice, yet He is perfect in Mercy, even when we fail Him. For this, He is good.
December 13, 2023 at 4:06 pm #169491and who wants brown eyes?
Lol, that’s actually really funny because I love describing my characters’ brown eyes. XD
Also, I’ve been giving characters brown eyes a lot more recently because I realized how pretty they are!
THANK YOU @loopylin!!! *ahem* Yeah, I totally DO NOT have brown eyes. Not at all. Pfft, no way. I mean, what would I have said that would make you think such a thing? Naw, no way.
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Sorry, I couldn’t resist. 🤣
Write what should not be forgotten. — Isabel Allende
December 13, 2023 at 4:17 pm #169492@hybridlore @freedomwriter76
It’s not as scary as you may think, lol! I’m a girl who tends to hide her emotions/stuff away her emotions, so I do understand men more in that vein. But I think it’s also important to remember that not all men are those tough guys that stuff everything away, have a stiff upper lip, and all those other stereotypes. Just as women differ in personalities, attitudes, etc, men do too!!
yes, very much so.
I think I write mostly masculine MC’s cuz I worry if I’m portraying women right, I mean, I want strong characters, but I don’t want my feminines becoming basically masculines in women’s bodies. Ya know?
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