Character Manipulation

[KFelidae]

Every writer of fanfic has done it. We've taken a character and make him or her do something that seems so out of place for them, so... out of character, that people reading the story stop and go, "Huh?" But, hopefully, they don't stay that way, and if you're a good enough writer, it might even make sense in the plotline.

HOWEVER...

Many fan-authors now not only give characters cardboard personalities, but ignore their traits, mannerisms, and quirks in favor of writing something so horrendously out of character that readers immedietly click away in disgust. Well, most anyway. The bad part is, a lot of people easily accept it without a second thought.

What's that, you say? Seto Kaiba just ran through the hallway, stark naked, with nothing but a fluffy little plot bunny covering his more embarrassing parts, and this is a SERIOUS STORY? Humph!

So, my question... What's the worst use (or lack thereof) of characterization, and [i]how far is too far[/i]?


-KF

[Rebus]

It's a tough line to tread... on the one hand, you don't want to just create a stereotypical version of such-and-such who only ever reacts in one way, but on the other hand you don't want them out of character.

Then again, it's fun to push the boundaries. I've had fun writing a few Harry Potter fanfics about Lord Voldermort, for example, and it's been entertaining to show a more human side to him while still making it clear he's a nasty piece of work.

One of the pleasures of fanfiction is exploring the personalities of characters in directions the original author didn't. And putting them in different situations and seeing how they react... sometimes these things run away with you :)

So I don't really know. I guess our judgement gets better with practise. Hope so, anyway B)

R

[silver_dreams]

Like said before, there's a VERY fine line inbetween being OOC and being just a different side of a character's personality.

For example, in Gravitation fanfiction (because i can think of nothing better...). Taki, a character hated by most, is either written off as incredibly lusty and slutty, or much nicer than he actually is. Yuki, a very standoffish and uncaring character, often gets turned into a mushy, cuddly freak by the end of most fanfiction.

I've had quite a few reviewers ask me how come i can manage to put a standoffish character in a fluffy fic without them being ooc.

It's simple, actually, so long as you can easily relate to the character's main persona; in a way, pretend you ARE that character.

I make no sense, do i?

[Stratadrake]

Most of the only fanfics I've read (y'know, like 90% of) were FF7 fanfics. There are a few jewels down in that mound of trash, but the rest are... well... trash.

Fan-made pairings tend to be OOC, almost as a rule. Perhaps the weirdest OOC pairing I've seen in the FF7 universe is Red XIII / Yuffie. Once you know who those characters are, you know EXACTLY why that . . . just doesn't work.

Another way that characters can be drawn OOC is that the author [i]does[/i] something to them, a major change sort of thing. In one FF7 fic I've been reading, the author turned Yuffie into a cat-anthro. A neko. The whole story starts off with that, and while it certainly is a strange thing to do, sometimes strange things just happen, and the author has worked rather hard to try and keep the rest of Yuffie in character.

On the other hand, later on in the same story the author turned Reno the Turk into a vampire (and then Elena), and I just didn't buy it. I told her so, too. Didn't really comment on anything specific for that chapter, either, most of my comment was simply explaining my position on the matter.


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[Suzaku_Of_the_South]

Hi! I'm Suzaku_Of_the_South! But you all can call me Red. I'm a newbie! ^_^

Okay, now on to the thread...


Yeah, I know what you mean. Sadly enough, I've come across countless fanfiction over the past several years that is not only poorly written, but the characters are *so* OOC that I can't bear to read the stuff! Don't the authors of these things take the time to work out a good storyline? Or make the character react in a way that is believeable to the readers? :::sighs::: ...makes you wanna cry sometimes, don't it?

For example: If someone was writing a fic about say, Seto Kaiba from 'Yu-Gi-Oh!', then they would know that he's a very hard shell to crack. He wouldn't be nice all of a sudden unless it were to Mokuba, his younger brother whom he adores. Also, he would *NOT* fall in love immediately with some girl off the street or a random Mary-Sue. It would take someone with quite a bit of patience and understanding to crack the surface of his cold exterior, and even that could take a while. I've taken a look at quite a few fanfics that have taken that route, and it frustates me to see that some people don't care enough about their work to take the time to develope the story or the character.

[silver_dreams]

with the cold exterior thing, that's kinda what i was trying to say with my example before.

People make characters too..superficial, really.

[fallenangel]

A lot of out of character moments are the result of poor explanation or introduction.

Take this for example (being no fan of anime, I can't use that, so I'll use Jareth the Goblin King instead. For those who need a summary, he's an arrogant goblin king who treats everyone else like dirt throughout the original film but has a softer moment at the end where he's rejected, yadda yadda yadda, but basically he's just a bastard. And he's also David Bowie, which is why I watch a story about goblins in the first place )

Story 1: Jareth randomly appears in Sarah's bedroom, sweeps her into his arms, and carries her away to live like a queen, all the while doting over her like a hopeless romantic.

Reader is left thinking: Wha-?! Sarah hates him. She rejected him. He hated her for doing that. They were in different worlds. Why the hell is he randomly showing up and acting like it's a chick flick?

Story 2: Jareth is left seriously wounded and stranded aboveground. He appears before Sarah in a weakened state, and she begrudgingly gives him a place to stay. Throughout several chapters, they gradually come to tolerate each other and even enjoy the other's company. When he has returned to full strength, he must leave her and attend to some important matter in the underground (stereotypically some rival taking the throne, but let's not even get into recycled plots ). Both become depressed as time passes, and Sarah begins to think he won't return. Blah blah blah, a few mushy scenes of him watching her in a crystal, "Sarah my darling...", slam a few doors, kick a few goblins, and the nice happy ending of him going to get her.


I think almost anything can be acceptable with the right lead into it. Like I recommended probably almost a year ago to someone, don't do the little author's notes of "in this version, these two are best friends". Write the intro.

So yeah. I'd be tempted to say there is no "too far", because a truly skilled author can make you believe a character would do almost anything. And I like it that way. I never thought I could picture Jareth sleeping on a pull-out sofa in a log cabin and acting relatively nice, but there's an author that made it work, and made it work brilliantly. Had she started the story with that behavior, it would have been horrible, but she transitioned into it perfectly.
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