forum Anyone have any clues on how to make an over powered character lovable???

Started January 11, 2019 by @tisyaboi

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Apparently it's super hard to do, but my main character is the definition of OP and I wanted to make sure he didn't come out a complete mess…

If your character is OP make sure there not the stereotypical OP Hero of the story, for example we don't want a charming hero who never fails and does everything perfectly. Make him human, subtly add his little blunders into the story like sure he can fight a 30 foot giant with his pinky toe but have you seen his apartment! The shades of red paint Clash. Make sure he's still flawed, he may be good at archery but have you seen him play basket ball he missed the hoop, it was three feet off the ground and he was two steps away! make him struggle with some mundane part of life like spelling just slip it into his dialog. "Any way so had to send my boss a work email, Thank heavens for Auto correct."

If you can tell they're overpowered, a great start would be to make them less OP, or to at least give them more problems with their powers (e.g. they have special powered eyes? maybe the power wears down their eyesight with time, etc). Give them problems and imperfections! This can make them feel more human, and people connect to that in characters better.

You could also go the One Punch Man route and have the character never really go all out, mostly because they never need to. Have them snap under some form of stress and accidentally hurt someone they care about, or make their power work in many circumstances except for that one really specific case that no one will let them live down (like the Sonic Screwdriver not working with wood).

I think another suggestion is that give them something that prohibits their powers as long as they have it. Like, they have the power to destroy the world with a snap of their fingers, but this curse/item prevents them from doing it. One of my characters is an overpowered god who can destroy and recreate everything in his own vision with a blink of an eye, but can't because he doesn't remember who is his, thus doesn't know about this power and is cursed to prevent him from using his powers.

I write an AU, all my characters are literally all of my friends, and well, myself. Don't worry, this is not going where you think it's going, all of us still retain our human imperfections and little quirks even though the AU is based on the fact that we are all gods. blink

I see a lot of good points here. Regardless of what you're writing, it is vital that you have conflict–It's what drives the story forward. Push the chair? It goes forward. Pull the chair? It goes backward. Push and pull the chair? It turns. I don't think you have to worry as much about your characters being overpowered as you think. Perhaps it will help you to ignore whatever special abilities they have for now and just focus on who your characters are as characters. If you put blood in a chalice it will still be blood. You'd be surprised by the results.

Interesting…

One more suggestion, if you can't think of a way to prohibit your character's powers, maybe their personality is a hinderance. Like, a character is OP, but is a huge narcissist. So any insult to their looks could distract them or something like that.

But I'm not sure that would make them more lovable…

Actually, I've seen a lot of narcissistic characters that were very successful and alluring. Just so you know, a lovable character doesn't have to have a wonderful personality. This may just be my weird side talking, but many of my favorite characters are actually quite dislikable. It's difficult to describe, but there's a fine line between a likable character and one that's just plain fun to watch. Overpowered characters often get very boring very fast. If you just make them this really nice likable guy, that's great and all, but where's the fun in watching some righteous hero save the world time and time again? If you give them these ugly, biting flaws and are merciless with the way you write and worldbuild, you might just develop something that may not be super beautiful but sure is fun to read, which is the most important thing.

My character Aeolus (named after the Greek god of wind) has made a vow to never use his power fully due to personal reasons. Also, I like your use of language.

The whole AU was started by image I found on Pinterest that determined what type of god you would be based on your birth month. I showed the image to my friends and they were really into the idea of making an AU out of it, so I did. I was born in december, making me a god of the universe. But at this point, I've expanded the AU so much that what was once a simple insert of gods into our modern world has turned into a crazy, yet amazing world. I also have different levels of godhood that determines the power cap of a god. I have no life.

make him or her have human flaws that would be relatable to readers and other characters in the story
and NEVER have them constantly brag about their power.

Well it could work as a good character flaw.

Thanks for all your advice so far. I really appreciate it

Every character has human flaws, no matter what

also, I wouldn't focus on "loveable" per say, I would focus on 'believable' or 'realistic'. You want your character to be 'human', so to speak, enough for the reader to make their own opinion on if they like your character or not, and focusing on their believability will most likely lead to more positive opinions.

Make sure your OP character has something people can relate to–something different that makes them relatable to people. As your character is the "god of wind," maybe make them someone who can't stay put; per se, constantly fidgeting could be a characteristic of ADHD or anxiety (the characteristics of those disorders vary, and there are other disorders that hold those said characteristics, so keep an open mind), or "can't stay put" as in constantly moving from relationship to relationship or city to city. Make their big characteristic also a boundary they have to overcome, to show they're not flawless.

The whole thing with Aeolus here is that he is presented to the public as this perfect being with no emotion, and with eternal resolve. But the truth about him is, he's actually really childish and naive, he also has a very tragic backstory and a lot of emotional trauma.

Another character I've developed is a goddess by the name of Kara. She is the definition of a loose cannon and is addicted to the pleasures humanity has to offer. She's the daughter of one of the most powerful gods in existence and is expected to act like a proper lady, but instead she spends 90% of the time out partying and jumping from partner to partner.

@tisyaboi Kara seems like an interesting character, because she while being a Goddess, has a very human weakness. Watching her struggle through maybe overcoming her baseline greed/ maturing (or maybe not, and we just hang on for her wild ride) sound more interesting than following the story of a picture of perfection who cannot do wrong and has every power she could need. Just think about stuff like that. If you wouldn't want to watch a movie solely following around that one character, is the story worth telling?

@LavenderZo Thanks man, much appreciated!

Watch Fairytail, You got Natsu, Erza, and makorov. Watch Dragon ball z That's basically who Goku is. :))))

Anime, the best inspiration for crazy op characters