I was wondering if anyone else does this. I base a lot of my characters off of my friends and family, and it usually turns out quite well, because the people I know are rather c̶r̶a̶z̶y̶ interesting people! I was just wondering if any other people in the worldbuilding community do this a lot, and if it is helpful or if you end up with Mary Sues.
Oh, I do this a lot! I think I've heard some other people on here say that they do the same thing. It really helps me because I know the people well personality-wise, so I can just go off of that, change what I need to, and potentially make them more likable and boom.
My main character, Allison Mercy, is based off a crush of mine. In my mind I thought that she was perfect, like an angel.
Ronald is based off my personality.
Vozreal is based off my crazy, insane side.
I do this with most characters I write, because it's easier for me to do.
My character Sonia is based on my best friend. Also, Sarah's grandmother is loosely based on my grandmother.
Thanks for the additions to my post! It’s nice to see that other people do this too. I wonder if it’s a sort of human instinct to stick to what you know for basically everything. Hmm…
I think I base almost all of of my characters off of people I know, including myself. It helps because I know how those people in real life react to certain types of things, so it helps me understand how my character would react in similar situations! I think all of my characters have a little piece of me in them lol.
It's a mix for me. I have one that's too similar for my liking to myself, mostly because I know the bad qualities are true for myself. As for other people, yeah I'd say so. I did it without even realizing eheh-
A lot of my characters are built around the different parts of my personality. Like the cold, logically part and the dense, emotion-driven part have taken the form of Oliver and Nathan.
Similar to Ikinss, I base lots of characters off of small chunks of my personality that I flesh out more. Like Chelsea is my impulsive, experimental, roll-with-it side, while Theo is more about planning and careful consideration. Cody is based on my brother and some of my good friends rolled into one person.
My main of my current project is based off my mom's side of the family. Solid, honest, hardworking farmers who take their time and know how to do practical things.
…If a little emotionally flat and understated. They're a little hard to write as a main, since most mains are more flamboyant and emotional. But I'm having fun
Like Ilkniss and Nina Roco have said, I also base my characters off of different parts of my personality that I exaggerate and flesh out more. For example, my character Nick is a very introverted and really despises human interactions. His personality is based of off my introverted side except I've exaggerated it and I have other parts of his personality developed as well. Another one of my characters is based off of parts of myself and my brother and another is based on a mix of my friends.
Alright! One of my best friends literally is like a goddess but she has self esteem issues so I made the most bad ass character after her. She doesn't know about it but I did it!