forum What makes you distrust a character?
Started by @Moxie group
tune

people_alt 46 followers

@Moxie group

So I got this real creepy villain dude for my story but I'm not totally sure how to make him appear that way. I want to be describing him and have the reader instantly distrust him in a slippery snakey evil businessman kind of way. So list some traits here that would make you distrust a weird businessman in a suit with a white silk scarf. I would greatly appreciate it!

@Rainy_is_back

Well for one, you can make him take the normal too far. His smile could be a bit too wide or he could reassure you a bit too much. That's something that kind of sets me on edge for regular human beings. Maybe have him come up kind of out of nowhere, not like in cartoons. But he's too quiet and just sneaks up on you. He whispers to himself sometimes, making you wonder what he's talking about, and you catch a few words that are harsh and you don't know how you feel, because as soon as he finishes his mumbling he breaks out the largest grin. Make him too perfect and too "nice" seeming for his own good.

@ninja_violinist

I saw a creepy businessman on TV the other day, so here's some stuff that really set off my creep-radar:

  • it took him really long to smile?? it felt like he was putting in a lot of effort and then it wasn't even a very convincing smile. It was like there was a tiny person pulling at the corners of his mouth but that tiny person wasn't paying attention so it was always late and out of sync with what he was saying
  • he could drop the smile in like 0.5 seconds.
  • very… deliberate voice, with weird pauses in between words that didn't belong there
  • super weird head tilts? that came out of nowhere? Because other than that his head was really stationary

Yeah idk it's hard to put into words but he just made me super uncomfortable