forum Favourite Flaws on a Character

Started September 27, 2018 by @indecisiveinvalid eternal brain fog

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In doing some critiques recently, I've found some very interesting flaws that people have come up for their characters. What are some of your favourites (yours or otherwise)?

I find that my favorite flaw for a character is for the character to be shy and not outgoing. I thinks it really cute when they get nervous around new people as its something that many people see as bad but the writer can show that it's really a good thing in some ways.

I think my favorite single flaw on any of my protagonists is cowardice. I have one character who wants to run from all his problems, will turn away from a fight, and is willing to turn from acting right to survive. It just seems like something most protagonists aren't. There's just so much focus on bravery of main characters that we forget that people feel fear. Some people feel a lot of fear and are flawed because of it.

I honestly can't decide on one particular flaw that I would say is my favourite, so here's a few that I really love to write about:

• I have a lot of characters who are emotional train wrecks and I love them. I don't know what it is about writing characters with sad backstories who let their emotions cloud their judgement and get so worked up over seemingly small things, but I really love it.
• Impulsiveness. I have have one character who just never thinks before he says or does anything and it makes him so fun to write about. He has no verbal filter so he often pokes fun at other characters without even realizing it. He also does a lot of stuff that's not necessarily bad, but just… questionable.
• Conceitedness/arrogance (i guess?) I find this one fun just because there's so many ways to do it. I have a few characters who fall into this category but they're all so different from each other. One of them acts like he's God's gift to humanity, the other is more "I'm the smartest person here, and therefore the most important," the third is also really in love with himself, but he's a little more subtle about it. Like when someone compliments him, he usually responds with "I know" and he often makes jabs at other people to lift himself up, but often in a way that comes across as not serious and is otherwise a decent person.
• Taking strengths and turning them into weaknesses. I love this so much. You have no idea. Like I have one character who likes to help other people, which isn't a bad thing but it becomes a problem when he starts to spread himself to thin and people start taking advantage of the blind trust he puts into others. I have another character who is brave, but to the point of recklessness where he's throwing himself into dangerous situations just because he believes that he can do it.

Some of the flaws I've got on my characters are based on those I've seen on people in my personal life. Berating others for not knowing something that they consider trivial or common knowledge, and the "tea kettle" personality. Cool in most situations, but when the heat is on you can see them visibly start to boil. Steam out the ears, bright red face, everything. My favorite quote: "I've got a tea kettle in my head right now. If you don't want me to BURST, then lay. Off. The heat."

I haven’t been making characters for a while but one of my favorite is the panic flaw, it’s very simple but it does so much.
(Also read everyone’s stuff and it kinda goes to show that some people don’t like the over the top character who has balls of steel and runs at every problem with either a gun or sword.)

I find that my favorite flaw for a character is for the character to be shy and not outgoing. I thinks it really cute when they get nervous around new people as its something that many people see as bad but the writer can show that it's really a good thing in some ways.

Yoo I love that! I'm a huge fan of the "shy but secretly a badass" trope in characters

I think my favorite single flaw on any of my protagonists is cowardice. I have one character who wants to run from all his problems, will turn away from a fight, and is willing to turn from acting right to survive. It just seems like something most protagonists aren't. There's just so much focus on bravery of main characters that we forget that people feel fear. Some people feel a lot of fear and are flawed because of it.

100%. This is actually a flaw that I haven't really considered; cowardice can be such a powerful tool on a character, especially if it's used as a roadblock that they have to overcome.

insert giant post from starfast here

EMOTIONAL! TRAIN! WRECKS! MY JAM!! I have a character where my motivation for creating her was to give characters with traumatic backstories happy endings. Impulsiveness & arrogance are also fantastic and flaws I love very much.

Some of the flaws I've got on my characters are based on those I've seen on people in my personal life. Berating others for not knowing something that they consider trivial or common knowledge, and the "tea kettle" personality. Cool in most situations, but when the heat is on you can see them visibly start to boil. Steam out the ears, bright red face, everything. My favorite quote: "I've got a tea kettle in my head right now. If you don't want me to BURST, then lay. Off. The heat."

Yummy, I love that conceited personality trait.

I haven’t been making characters for a while but one of my favorite is the panic flaw, it’s very simple but it does so much. (Also read everyone’s stuff and it kinda goes to show that some people don’t like the over the top character who has balls of steel and runs at every problem with either a gun or sword.)

Ironically, I think I might have… one character like that? Out of well over eighty characters. The panic flaw is very good though, I love it very much.

My MC doesn't do well with high-pressure conversations. He can converse normally, though when words fail he resorts to his fists (not when it comes to dealing with friends, family, and situations where physicality isn't appropriate). In fact, it's mostly his smart comments that land him in hot water. Anyone not having one-liners directed at is either in shock at the statement or rolling on the floor because it was timed oh so perfectly.

My main character has maladaptive daydreaming, but over time she has learned what is real and what is a fantasy. She is perfectly capable of stopping her wild imagination from overtaking her, but her past is traumatizing and bitter, giving her no wish to face reality. So, she hides away in her fantasy world, refusing to believe the real thing. But there is always a small piece of her that tugs at her feelings. In conclusion, she is constantly at war with herself.

ooh I love these

My personal favorite is when a character is super self-conscious, the sort that hates looking at themselves in mirrors and criticizes every move they make. It makes for a lot of interesting scenarios and challenges to overcome