While forging bravely through the wild and dangerous world of webcomics, one is sometimes called upon to create characters. While this is a daunting - some might say impossible - task, we writers and artists leap into the fray with deranged abandon, laying about us with the twin cudgels of creativity and inspiration until all of our foes lie broken before our majesty. It is a great burden to be asked to create a character, for we must call upon dark and terrible arts to uncover this, the most jealously guarded secret of the webcomic lords.
Creating a character is like creating life. Do not take this task lightly, for when you dream up a new character to put to use in your story, you are a god, creating new life to populate your creation. Just as the Bible says that God created Adam and Eve, you must first craft a Protagonist around whom your world will be constructed. Then, as Lucifer was cast from Heaven, you shall create an Antagonist. Finally, you will create a bunch of other characters that nobody really cares about, much like most of that other stuff in the Bible.
The Protagonist
Every good story has a single, primary protagonist on whom the reader’s attention rests. It’s okay for the story to occasionally center on other characters, but this protagonist in particular is the Main Character, and should therefore be the main focus of the story. Some stories boast multiple Main Characters, attempting to weave different plotlines together into a beautiful tapestry of drama and intrigue. This is a mistake! Any attempt to divide your efforts among multiple, equally-important protagonists will always end in a disastrous failure. Your story will be terrible and everyone will hate you.
The Main Character should be unique and exceptional, because nobody is going to bother with a story in which a fat baker makes bread or an unremarkable Russian noblewoman has an affair or something. He needs a special gimmick that’s never been done before, the better to grab the reader’s attention. Perhaps he is a master of his style of swordsmanship? Can he use mystical arts to perform amazing feats of speed and strength? Is he a plucky underdog who prevails through guts, determination, and fiery courage? The best answer, of course, is, “all of these.” The more special your protagonist is, the more special your story is! Always remember this helpful tip.
Your readers will identify with the protagonist. They will envision themselves in his shoes, doing whatever it is that he does. For this reason, you must ensure that he possesses qualities that some of your readers are likely to have. You could try making him somewhat shy in social situations, or perhaps he loves reading webcomics and dreams of making his own some day. Remember, though: the Main Character must be unique and exceptional! He should serve as a stand-in for the readers, allowing them to experience adventures and excitement in the guise of a devastatingly attractive renegade with a strong sense of justice.
The Antagonist
Once your Protagonist has been created, you need an Antagonist for him to face! You will note that “antagonist” sounds a little like “Anti-Protagonist,” which is fortunate, as that is exactly what an antagonist is. The Antagonist’s purpose is to rival the Protagonist at every turn, providing a “bad guy” for the readers to hate. He should either be driven by a need for revenge over some terrible injustice inflicted upon him, or caught in a moral dilemma which forces him to carry out his evil deeds. This forces the readers to reconsider their shallow ideas of morality, transfiguring them into much more intellectually flexible people through the healing power of webcomics.
The Antagonist can be approached in one of two ways. The easiest and best way is to make him a very simple character, since he exists mainly as an enemy for the Protagonist to defeat. It is okay if many of his decisions go completely unexplained, as he is a Bad Guy and Bad Guys do evil stuff just because they are so very bad (or driven by a lust for revenge, as noted above). The other option is to make him a very deep and complex character. This is a poor idea, as it takes attention away from your Protagonist. Nobody actually likes learning about a villain’s complex and intricate motivations, and whenever someone writes about them it’s just because he is a pretentious jerk.
The Supporting Cast
Now that the Protagonist and Antagonist have been created, you need other, lesser characters to populate the world around them. The main character needs a love interest and a motley gang of misfits to run around with, while the villain needs faceless goons and a traitorous lieutenant.
When designing a supporting character, simply think of what the character “is.” For example, the main character’s love interest is just that: “love interest.” You can think up his or her name later! For now, you know that a love interest should be lovely and interesting, so you decide that the character should be devastatingly attractive and also royalty from an exotic land. Hot damn, you’re halfway done already! See how easy this is? As another example, a villain’s “faceless goon” should be intimidating but featureless. For this reason, you decide that the villain employs a private army of ninjas, because ninjas are scary and wear masks. This method is used by all the pro writers, and the sooner you master it, the sooner you will be on your way to character-building greatness!
Details: Appearance
Once you’ve established the storyline characteristics of each character, it’s time to move on to their appearances. A character’s appearance is hugely important, since the reader will be looking at or imagining the character all the time.
Obviously the protagonist should be attractive, because nobody cares about a fantastically ugly man defeating evil with his inner beauty and finding acceptance. However, there are various other elements of physical appearance to consider, such as hair and eye colour, hair style, the character’s style of dress, his or her height and build.
If your protagonist is female and has an unusually large bosom, you should cleverly avoid making your female readers feel inadequate by occasionally posting links to comics with even bustier protagonists and then going off on rants about how demeaning and childish their creators are. If she is fairly flat, you should go to great lengths to have other characters compliment her on her sexy and petite figure, proving that small girls are beautiful too. Your readers will appreciate this kind of intellectual honesty, and will respect your wisdom in holding up society’s silly foibles to be examined in the noble medium of webcomics.
There is one exception to this advice: it is considered very forward-thinking and high-minded to make the protagonist very busty as a symbol of female empowerment and the liberation of the fairer sex. If you choose to do this, anyone who makes derogatory comments like, “why does every female character in your comic have DD breasts?” or, “that is not how boobs work, have you ever actually seen a woman?” is a sexist bigot.
The Antagonist should be either alluring or intimidating, depending on the qualities you want the Protagonist to show while fighting him. He can either be attractive and dangerous, so that the main character proves his strength of will by overcoming him, or huge and mighty, so that the main character proves how powerful he is by defeating him. Any other kind of appearance is to be avoided like the plague, as it complicates the moment, detracting from the sense of triumph that the reader feels when the Protagonist prevails against the evil Antagonist.
As a note, it is always okay to give a female Antagonist an extremely large bosom, because then she represents the excesses of our image-obsessed culture, and her defeat at the Protagonist’s hands symbolizes the triumph of individuality and inner beauty. If anyone comments negatively on the Antagonist’s bust size, you are within your rights to condescendingly explain that it’s ignorant to criticize something when you just don’t understand the symbolism.
When it comes to the supporting cast, simply use the same method that you used to create them! The words, “traitorous lieutenant” are very nasty-sounding and have a military ring, so make the lieutenant a tall, muscular, heavily-scarred man in a military uniform. If you can’t come up with anything using this method, just assign a single distinguishing characteristic, such as “has an ugly moustache” or “is fat” to each supporting character. It’s not a good idea to spend more than five minutes coming up with a single supporting character’s appearance. You have better things to do with your time!
Details: Personality
A good writer knows that a character’s personality is invisible, and therefore doesn’t need to be described in detail. It’s always best to keep things simple: just write a short list of a character’s most interesting personality traits. The Protagonist should have the most detailed and interesting personality, while the Antagonist’s should be simple and easy to understand. The supporting cast doesn’t really need any kind of personality, because they’re just in the story to give the Protagonist people to interact with and be better than.
To show you that I mean business, here are two example characters:
Sir Magnus Lightbeard (Protagonist) - seems like an outcast but is actually a nice guy when you get to know him - will never hit a woman - has a fierce sense of justice and will never back down in the face of evil - never breaks his word - is a badass Lord Jerkhammer (Antagonist) - executes his minions when they fail him, and also sometimes when they don’t - hits everyone he ever meets, just so they know who’s boss - has a fierce sense of injustice and will never back down from a chance to be a dick to someone - makes lots of promises just so that he can break them later and then laugh - is bad, and an ass
Sir Magnus Lightbeard (Protagonist)
- seems like an outcast but is actually a nice guy when you get to know him - will never hit a woman - has a fierce sense of justice and will never back down in the face of evil - never breaks his word - is a badass
Lord Jerkhammer (Antagonist)
- executes his minions when they fail him, and also sometimes when they don’t - hits everyone he ever meets, just so they know who’s boss - has a fierce sense of injustice and will never back down from a chance to be a dick to someone - makes lots of promises just so that he can break them later and then laugh - is bad, and an ass
As you can see, Sir Magnus Lightbeard and Lord Jerkhammer both have very rich and interesting personalities without being boring, stuffy, overly-philosophical weenies. Writing up a summary like this takes no longer than ten minutes, leaving you free to do important things, like describing the intricate engravings on the Protagonist’s sword in excruciating detail.
In Closing
That’s everything you need to know! You now have the experience required to create truly fascinating heroes and villains. Armed with this knowledge, it is only a matter of time before you take the webcomics community by storm. Your daring protagonists will trounce their way into the hearts of your readers, while your evil antagonists go down in infamy. If you follow the advice provided here, you will have people clamouring for updates year round, desperate to know what happens next in the gripping saga of Jimmy Sprogan, Swordfighting IT Specialist.
If you are reading this, it is probably because you have the greatest idea for a comic ever, and you want to turn it into the most famous and lucrative thing ever achieved by mankind. Your story is going to revolutionize the industry and change the world. It is a work of art. “How,” you ask, your voice tremulous, “shall I capitalize on this? How shall I enlighten the masses with my grandiose vision?” Never fear! I will share my techniques with you, and you will be wallowing in fame and wealth in no time!
The Summary
Your first move should be to write up a bare-bones summary of the ideas you’ve come up with so far. Focus on the primary characters and the central thread of the story, but if an idea occurs to you, toss it in there - you can always take it out later. Point-form is fine, and if possible the summary should be completely stream-of-consciousness and largely incomprehensible to anyone but you. Otherwise, other (lesser) writers might steal your secrets!
Here is an example summary which is chock-full of writing genius:
As you can see, this format combines the meat of the story with handy little notes to oneself. It makes it easy to apply changes or place reminders for yourself, and it can be typed out quickly, with minimal headache. If you decide to post your ideas online for critique, you should definitely use this format, because it is what all the expert writers use. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.
Critique
Next, you need critique so that you can figure out which parts of your story are the best and which parts are merely exceptional. You should show your story to close friends and ask for their input. Remember that talented writers like us can sometimes inspire jealousy in those less blessed! If someone gives you negative feedback, it is very possible that he is simply speaking out of resentment because he could never write anything as cool as your story. In this situation, it is acceptable to overlook his comments in favour of more objective, positive critique.
You may also wish to post your story summary online to invite critique from others. Bear in mind that internet forums are full to overflowing with bad writers! For every encouraging and helpful critique you get, there will be a dozen that are either open trolling or bitter envy disguised as “constructive” criticism. There is nothing wrong with ignoring these ignorant critics. I will share a special trick with you: if you wish to find out which users are honest, helpful, positive critics, simply begin angrily defending your story when someone criticizes it. The users that defend you or apologize to you for the actions of other users are good critics and can be trusted. Not many people know this little trick!
One thing worth remembering is that the internet is full of thieves. If you reveal any part of your story online, make absolutely sure to post a legal warning along with it! This should say something like, “this story is my property because I made it. Do not steal my story or I will hire a lawyer to sue you for my story back.” This will also earn you cool points with the pro writers (like me), because it gives off an air of experience and professionalism. There is nothing we respect more than a writer who comes to the table with all of his legal ducks in a row.
Fleshing it Out
Now you start “fleshing out” your story, which is not nearly as erotic as it sounds (unless you are writing an erotic story). This basically means that you will be going through your summary and tacking notes on wherever there is something missing. If you are not sure how the story progresses from one point (point A) to another (point B), just think up another, smaller story that starts off at point A and must end at point B. How it gets there is completely irrelevant. In fact, the more random and unpredictable this part of your story is, the better! Once the reader has finished laughing uproariously at your clever slapstick humour, she will have arrived at point B with a smile on her face, ready to bask in the radiance of your masterful plot.
Fleshing out also entails attention to detail. Put in little touches here and there that really bring the story to life. Does the main character have cat ears? Perhaps the ghost girl can’t hold her liquor? Does the main character have a perverted therapist who moonlights as a paranormal investigator? This phase of the writing process is a great place to use the ideas that have been kicking around in your head without anywhere to go. Did you once think of a really funny gag involving shoe polish and a panda, but you didn’t have any use for it? Use it to flesh your story out! Clever winks to the reader such as this are what really make a comic immersive.
Finally, while fleshing out your storyline, you will want to think about the major characters. You will need to give each of them histories and personalities before your story is done.
Character Profiles
Since your characters are an important part of your story, you will need to create profiles for them. A character profile describes the character and brings him or her to life. Your main character should have the largest and most detailed profile by far, since the story revolves around him. The other characters do not need to be nearly as detailed in order to be believable, since they don’t get as much attention from the reader anyway.
When writing a profile, you will need a few basic things. First is the name, followed by some basic information such as age, gender, birthplace, occupation, and possibly blood type or astrological sign. Below these you should write a paragraph describing the character’s appearance, personality, outlook, and background. Make sure to emphasize any bold and unique features, such as a strong sense of justice, unusual hair colour, or uncanny ability to master any technique more quickly than anyone has before.
As a token of my goodwill, here are two example character profiles:
Name: Joseph Maudlin Age: 20 Occupation: Artist Blood type: O Joe is a compassionate and caring guy. He is always willing to stick up for those who are weaker than him, and sometimes suffers for it. He is depressed because the world is full of cruelty and nobody cares about art anymore. He lives alone in a condo which he is able to pay for by selling his drawings. Joe is brave and independent but secretly longs for a companion who will always be at his side. Despite these qualities he sometimes comes across as a bit of a clown, but his exterior hides great inner strength. Name: Rose Blanche Age: 24 (died at 19, has been a ghost for 5 years) Occupation: Ghost Blood type: ectoplasm Rose is shy and introverted, but very emotional and capable of deep friendship and love. She is hesitant to trust people at first, but does so unconditionally once her trust is earned. She has an uplifting outlook on life and is always quietly sure that everything will turn out fine. She is often sad and lonely because she is a ghost. Rose can sometimes possess living people when her emotions become too intense.
Name: Joseph Maudlin Age: 20 Occupation: Artist Blood type: O
Joe is a compassionate and caring guy. He is always willing to stick up for those who are weaker than him, and sometimes suffers for it. He is depressed because the world is full of cruelty and nobody cares about art anymore. He lives alone in a condo which he is able to pay for by selling his drawings. Joe is brave and independent but secretly longs for a companion who will always be at his side. Despite these qualities he sometimes comes across as a bit of a clown, but his exterior hides great inner strength. Name: Rose Blanche Age: 24 (died at 19, has been a ghost for 5 years) Occupation: Ghost Blood type: ectoplasm
Rose is shy and introverted, but very emotional and capable of deep friendship and love. She is hesitant to trust people at first, but does so unconditionally once her trust is earned. She has an uplifting outlook on life and is always quietly sure that everything will turn out fine. She is often sad and lonely because she is a ghost. Rose can sometimes possess living people when her emotions become too intense.
As you can see, these descriptions focus more on the intangible elements of the characters in question. As a writer, you need to make your characters seem like real people that the reader could meet and talk to. The physical details aren’t important to you, because the artist won’t need your help with that and will mostly make it up anyway. You can just say, “this character is very beautiful and well-endowed. She should have long hair and look sort of sad but friendly most of the time, and also she is a ghost,” and that will be more than enough for any decent artist to create a vividly detailed image of the character. If your artist is unable to do this, or complains when you offer constructive criticism after the art is done, you should get a better artist. Your story deserves only the best!
Art
Now that you have all of the elements of your story in place, you’re ready to go! Simply have your artist take everything that is in your summary and put it in pictures, because that is what comic book artists are trained to do. If your artist wants a timeline or is asking for a script, simply laugh, because you are a writer, not a timeliner or a scripter! Tell your artist to do his job and stop trying to foist part of his work off onto you.
In addition, you will want to offer constant input to help your artist stay on the straight and narrow. Do not accept any guff about scheduling or free time; any comic book artist worth his salt is more than capable of completing a full-colour graphic novel in his off-time. If he is incapable of creating believable dialogue, tell him to leave empty word bubbles in the panels for you to fill in with your superior writing skills. That way, your characters’ personalities are sure to shine through, buoyed by your talent as a writer.
Done!
Congratulations! Your masterpiece is complete. Now all that’s left is to post your comic online, or get it published, or distribute it yourself. You are on the road to fame, recognition, and limitless riches! Feel free to write as many sequels to your comic as you like. A sequel’s artistic value is derived from the original it builds upon, so all of the sequels you write will be just as valid, and just as excellent, as your initial work. This is an easy way to get lots of fans and exposure, as well as money if you have found someone to publish your comic.
Your artist deserves some of the recognition, but everyone knows that artists are nothing without writers to tell them what to do. You may need to remind your artist of this if he becomes too uppity. In extreme cases he may leave, or you may need to fire him. This is perfectly okay, since, as a recognized pro writer, you will have no difficulty at all finding skilled, professional artists to work for you. Simply post on any comics forum, and you will have your pick!
With the advice I have given you here, you are guaranteed to become a pro writer like me. Maybe some day we will meet at a convention where we are both speakers on the same “how to become rich and successful and also sexually prolific” panel. Perhaps we will offer one another high-fives as we sip martinis and watch a bevy of attractive females vie for our attention. Truly, when you are a pro writer, the world is your oyster. Simply remember everything that I have taught you, and you will never have any trouble creating brilliant storylines for your comics.
