Everyone knows her. Most people despise her. I'm talking about Mary-Sue.
She's that character that is always one step ahead. All good characters love her. Bad characters may hate her but can't stop obsessing over her. She has no faults. Her heart is pure which is frequently mentioned by others. She's always the one to save the day. People look up to her because every now and then she drops a pseudo philosophical phrase. Any character of the opposite (and sometimes same) sex feels an amazing attraction towards her. With other words, she's everything we want to be. And she also has a counter part. Her antagonist is usually ignorant, ugly, uncharismatic and easily disposed of. Oftentimes he possesses certain traits of people that the author finds repulsive, like that arrogant bitch who gave you a hard time in school or the guy that would bully you after gym class.
While really good movies seem to stay away from a perfect hero (see my article Anti-Heroes) and focus more on a perfect villain (see my article Charismatic Antagonistic), I believe that Mary-Sue does have her place somewhere. And I think that place is among immature audiences.
Children can't appreciate a well-developed character as much as we do. For children it is important to easily distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys. Trash talk Mary-Sue all you want but she makes for a damn good role model. Would you want your child to imitate Hannibal Lecter? Probably not. So when it comes to stories targeting children I suppose the good guys should be good and the bad guys should be bad. Literally.
I'm personally not a big fan of the Twilight Series and I hear a lot of people complain about the heroine. She doesn't seem to have any specifically desirable attributes yet she is the object of affection/obsession of every other important character. So how can the series be so darn successful?
Who reads those books and watches those movies? Mainly girls in their puberty.
Girls who are self-conscious about their bodies and wish for acknowledgement from people who are probably too concerned about themselves in the same way (which is completely normal at that age). To them the heroine is a projection of their deepest wishes and fantasies. That is what makes the Twilight Series so compelling (to some).
Another great example for a successful Mary-Sue is Son-Goku. Who doesn't love Dragonball?
Son-Goku has a pure heart which is demonstrated by him riding Kinto-Un. In the beginning he seems a little stupid but in later volumes he is usually the one who comes up with all the good ideas rather than Bulma who is a genius. He is the strongest person in the universe and he's always one step ahead. Every one of his friends frequently talks about what a great person he is and he even manages to turn the majority of villains into good guys.
Dragonball is a shonen manga and the shonen genre targets young boys. So how come this manga is so successful even with adults? I think one major factor is that we grew up with it. The other factor is that Dragonball offers a variety of characters. My favorite character Vegeta is arrogant and shares some traits with a sociopath. But that is the type of character that mature readers are drawn to. Dragonball has a wide-variety of characters and I'm sure there's one for everybody.
That doesn't mean you should try to mix all types of characters into one story. It worked for Akira Toriyama (Author of Dragonball) but it is unlikely that a lot of people can pull a stunt like that.
Decide on a certain genre and stick to what the target audience likes.
It also can't hurt to find out if your character is a Mary-Sue or not. The best way is to ask other people in my opinion but if you're too shy or don't trust anybody's opinion, try the universal Mary-Sue Litmus Test.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Charismatic Antagonistic
When creating your antagonist you have a tendency to make him unlikable. Which makes sense right? The readers should like the hero and dislike the antagonist. That way they will cheer on the hero on his quest to defeat the antagonist. But does that always apply?
If your target audience is in elementary school then yes, definitely. But more mature audiences sometimes won't like it if you tell them who to like and who not to like. If you make a person seem particularly undesirable they may feel as if you're trying to manipulate them.
The other day I watched a movie from the 50's or 60's in which a career woman told the protagonist that she wants to get married but she wouldn't want to stand behind her husband. She would want to stand beside him. The protagonist answered something along the lines of "never gonna happen". Knowing it was an old ass movie and that's how men thought back then I immediately figured out she's gonna be the bitch in the movie. Needless to say I wasn't a big fan of the protagonist and the movie just turned out to displease me. Of course in the end the big bad feminist bitch wanted the protagonist to send his child away. At this point I should have felt sorry for the kid but I sided with the feminist bitch.
Don't try to make a negative statement about a certain type of people by making them the antagonist.
Your antagonist should not be hated. In fact I believe that your story would be far more successful if the readers like the antagonist. To be honest I actually think a charismatic antagonist is even more important than a charismatic protagonist.
But how do we create a charismatic antagonist? In my article about Anti-Heroes I suggested too harness the protagonist's weakness. But I wouldn't necessarily suggest that for the antagonist. You can actually make your antagonist a Mary-Sue (see my article Is Mary-Sue always to be avoided?) and most people will be ok with it. Although it should be noted that certain negative characteristics that would be weaknesses to a hero (arrogance, selfishness, etc...) are not necessarily a weakness to a villain. I think the more invincible the antagonist seems the better. And if you want to be a people pleaser, you may even let him win at the end.
As an example I will talk about my favorite 3 movie villains. All three won an Oscar, so appearently I'm not the only one who was impressed. Also the main characteristics of my favorite movie villains are sophistication and/or insanity/psychopathy.
One of these was Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker in The Dark Knight. A lot of people say he only won an Oscar because he died shortly after shooting the movie. I don't think that's the case. I think Heath Ledger was an incredible actor and took the Joker to a higher level.
The Joker in the Dark Knight is completely insane. You can't even really say he is evil because his agenda is not to hurt anyone. He just doesn't care if his actions will cause pain. He just wants to spread chaos. He's very human and his capabilities are reduced to that. But at the same time he seems smarter than the protagonist because he is always one step ahead.
Another one of these was Christoph Waltz's performance of Colonel Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds. Could there be anyone less likable than a Nazi-Officer? But we love "The Jew Hunter" because he is irresistibly sophisticated. From the effortless juggling between 4 different languages over the subtle indications of superiority (the bigger pipe, ordering milk for Shoshanna, the whole Italian conversation) to the poetic way he speaks about cows - Hans Landa is just too charming to not be adored. Even for a Nazi.
The last one of my Oscar-winning favorites is Anthony Hopkins performance of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. He is both insane and sophisticated. A cannibal, who is a well-respected psychologist? Sounds like the stuff dreams are made of. He takes a quick look at you and knows your worst fears and innermost secrets. But he certainly likes to play with his food. One minute he stuns you with a philosophical question, the next minute he eats your brains. Hannibal Lecter is so good the protagonist's success depends on the crumbs of insight he throws at her feet.
So when you make your antagonist, make him good and evil.
If your target audience is in elementary school then yes, definitely. But more mature audiences sometimes won't like it if you tell them who to like and who not to like. If you make a person seem particularly undesirable they may feel as if you're trying to manipulate them.
The other day I watched a movie from the 50's or 60's in which a career woman told the protagonist that she wants to get married but she wouldn't want to stand behind her husband. She would want to stand beside him. The protagonist answered something along the lines of "never gonna happen". Knowing it was an old ass movie and that's how men thought back then I immediately figured out she's gonna be the bitch in the movie. Needless to say I wasn't a big fan of the protagonist and the movie just turned out to displease me. Of course in the end the big bad feminist bitch wanted the protagonist to send his child away. At this point I should have felt sorry for the kid but I sided with the feminist bitch.
Don't try to make a negative statement about a certain type of people by making them the antagonist.
Your antagonist should not be hated. In fact I believe that your story would be far more successful if the readers like the antagonist. To be honest I actually think a charismatic antagonist is even more important than a charismatic protagonist.
But how do we create a charismatic antagonist? In my article about Anti-Heroes I suggested too harness the protagonist's weakness. But I wouldn't necessarily suggest that for the antagonist. You can actually make your antagonist a Mary-Sue (see my article Is Mary-Sue always to be avoided?) and most people will be ok with it. Although it should be noted that certain negative characteristics that would be weaknesses to a hero (arrogance, selfishness, etc...) are not necessarily a weakness to a villain. I think the more invincible the antagonist seems the better. And if you want to be a people pleaser, you may even let him win at the end.
As an example I will talk about my favorite 3 movie villains. All three won an Oscar, so appearently I'm not the only one who was impressed. Also the main characteristics of my favorite movie villains are sophistication and/or insanity/psychopathy.
One of these was Heath Ledger's performance of the Joker in The Dark Knight. A lot of people say he only won an Oscar because he died shortly after shooting the movie. I don't think that's the case. I think Heath Ledger was an incredible actor and took the Joker to a higher level.
The Joker in the Dark Knight is completely insane. You can't even really say he is evil because his agenda is not to hurt anyone. He just doesn't care if his actions will cause pain. He just wants to spread chaos. He's very human and his capabilities are reduced to that. But at the same time he seems smarter than the protagonist because he is always one step ahead.
Another one of these was Christoph Waltz's performance of Colonel Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds. Could there be anyone less likable than a Nazi-Officer? But we love "The Jew Hunter" because he is irresistibly sophisticated. From the effortless juggling between 4 different languages over the subtle indications of superiority (the bigger pipe, ordering milk for Shoshanna, the whole Italian conversation) to the poetic way he speaks about cows - Hans Landa is just too charming to not be adored. Even for a Nazi.
The last one of my Oscar-winning favorites is Anthony Hopkins performance of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. He is both insane and sophisticated. A cannibal, who is a well-respected psychologist? Sounds like the stuff dreams are made of. He takes a quick look at you and knows your worst fears and innermost secrets. But he certainly likes to play with his food. One minute he stuns you with a philosophical question, the next minute he eats your brains. Hannibal Lecter is so good the protagonist's success depends on the crumbs of insight he throws at her feet.
So when you make your antagonist, make him good and evil.
Anti-Heroes
When you create your main character and you want to avoid eye rolling you'll probably want to refrain from making your character too Mary-Sue-ish (see my Article Is Mary-Sue always to be avoided?).
Every "How to design a character" guide will tell you to give your main characters some faults. "It makes us identify better with the character" they say. And so you try to make up some kind of fault that you slap on your character without getting in the way of his overall awesomeness.
But I think you're doing something wrong here. The fault you give your character should not just be overlooked. Your characters fault should be what defines him. In a really good story, the main character's weakness is what makes him appealing. If you can pull that off then you're on your way to creating a good character.
Look at Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow for example. That character is incredibly quirky and unbelievably flamboyant. He's doesn't seem that courageous and he also seems rather selfish. But would he be more appealing if he wasn't? No, we like him because he's such a bad role model.
Another example of a very similar character is Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes. Drinks a lot, very quirky.
One of my favorite characters from a tv show is Dr. Cox from Scrubs. He has a huge problem controlling his anger, he drinks, he's mean and everyone is afraid of him. But we love to hear his elaborate insults. They're hilarious.
One of my favorite characters from a manga/anime is Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion. She's also an important example because she's different from the other characters as in her fault is not only a device to make people laugh. She's a bitch. In funny and serious situations alike. Of course we like her because she's a badass but wouldn't she be less of a badass if she was nicer?
Same thing goes for another one of my favorites Vegeta from Dragonball. He's introduced as a sociopathic murderer who kills his long-time companion Nappa at the first sign of weakness. And even after turning "good" he is anything but. His arrogance is probably his most notable attribute and a lot of the other characters are repulsed by his personality. But we ain't. We love him for being such a bad person and we can't get enough of such bad-assery.
I'm not saying you should copy these characters. These are just examples to show you that negative attributes can work in a character's favor and in my experience (and my personal opinion of course) those are the better characters.
So don't make people love your character for what they have to offer but rather for what they lack.
Every "How to design a character" guide will tell you to give your main characters some faults. "It makes us identify better with the character" they say. And so you try to make up some kind of fault that you slap on your character without getting in the way of his overall awesomeness.
But I think you're doing something wrong here. The fault you give your character should not just be overlooked. Your characters fault should be what defines him. In a really good story, the main character's weakness is what makes him appealing. If you can pull that off then you're on your way to creating a good character.
Look at Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow for example. That character is incredibly quirky and unbelievably flamboyant. He's doesn't seem that courageous and he also seems rather selfish. But would he be more appealing if he wasn't? No, we like him because he's such a bad role model.
Another example of a very similar character is Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes. Drinks a lot, very quirky.
One of my favorite characters from a tv show is Dr. Cox from Scrubs. He has a huge problem controlling his anger, he drinks, he's mean and everyone is afraid of him. But we love to hear his elaborate insults. They're hilarious.
One of my favorite characters from a manga/anime is Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion. She's also an important example because she's different from the other characters as in her fault is not only a device to make people laugh. She's a bitch. In funny and serious situations alike. Of course we like her because she's a badass but wouldn't she be less of a badass if she was nicer?
Same thing goes for another one of my favorites Vegeta from Dragonball. He's introduced as a sociopathic murderer who kills his long-time companion Nappa at the first sign of weakness. And even after turning "good" he is anything but. His arrogance is probably his most notable attribute and a lot of the other characters are repulsed by his personality. But we ain't. We love him for being such a bad person and we can't get enough of such bad-assery.
I'm not saying you should copy these characters. These are just examples to show you that negative attributes can work in a character's favor and in my experience (and my personal opinion of course) those are the better characters.
So don't make people love your character for what they have to offer but rather for what they lack.
Getting your Manga published
You probably have an epic story on your mind that you cannot wait to get published.
But what's the best way to approach a publisher? Would you send in 100 pages readily inked and screen-toned?
On the internet site of the German publisher Carlsen Comics it tells you to submit a single project you would like to realize. Tell them what genre your story belongs to, how extensive the story is planned to be (epic, short story, etc...) and submit a short summary. They want character sheets of every main character in different poses and with different expressions on separate sheets. For side characters, settings and machinery they only need sketches. They only want 4-6 finished pages of your manga that represent it. So if you send in your first 3 volumes it's likely they won't even bother to look at what you drew.
Now I have also read a manga called "Bakuman" that I can only recommend to any mangaka in spe.
In this manga two aspiring mangaka make their way into the world's most famous manga magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump". It is explained that Jump expects mangaka in spe to submit the first 3 chapters of their manga for review. That's a lot closer to the 100 pages you were gonna submit and they can probably get a better insight of your manga.
But it's 3 chapters. No more, no less.
You may have the whole story in your head already but it's inadvisable to draw them all out.
Weekly Shonen Jump has a questionnaire that determines how popular each manga they publish is.
If your manga is not popular, your editor may tell you to change the direction of your manga in order to save it. That's why you're always only 3 chapters ahead of what's being published.
So my advice before applying to any publisher - call them and ask specifically what they want and expect.
But what's the best way to approach a publisher? Would you send in 100 pages readily inked and screen-toned?
On the internet site of the German publisher Carlsen Comics it tells you to submit a single project you would like to realize. Tell them what genre your story belongs to, how extensive the story is planned to be (epic, short story, etc...) and submit a short summary. They want character sheets of every main character in different poses and with different expressions on separate sheets. For side characters, settings and machinery they only need sketches. They only want 4-6 finished pages of your manga that represent it. So if you send in your first 3 volumes it's likely they won't even bother to look at what you drew.
Now I have also read a manga called "Bakuman" that I can only recommend to any mangaka in spe.
In this manga two aspiring mangaka make their way into the world's most famous manga magazine "Weekly Shonen Jump". It is explained that Jump expects mangaka in spe to submit the first 3 chapters of their manga for review. That's a lot closer to the 100 pages you were gonna submit and they can probably get a better insight of your manga.
But it's 3 chapters. No more, no less.
You may have the whole story in your head already but it's inadvisable to draw them all out.
Weekly Shonen Jump has a questionnaire that determines how popular each manga they publish is.
If your manga is not popular, your editor may tell you to change the direction of your manga in order to save it. That's why you're always only 3 chapters ahead of what's being published.
So my advice before applying to any publisher - call them and ask specifically what they want and expect.
Introduction
Whenever I tell people I want to become a mangaka the reactions are usually negative.
People not interested in manga usually think it's a silly fad and that I'm not being serious.
People interested in manga usually tell me that there are thousands of other talented people with the same dream and even if I was the lucky one to land a job, I would only make a ridiculously small amount of money.
So why even try? The answer is simple. It is my dream and even if I don't succeed, I would surely regret it if I hadn't tried everything in my power.
So I spent some time researching material and information to get one step closer at a time to my goal of becoming a mangaka. I also spend my time analyzing certain attributes of not only manga but stories in general. And if I figured out some good stuff, why not share the wealth? I figure there may be one or two other mangaka in spe who will find this information useful. And even if you're not going the professional route it may spice up your Doujinshi or Fanfics. And if I'm really lucky, a few people who I've helped will click on ads and help me earn a few bucks in return. Does that sound so bad?
People not interested in manga usually think it's a silly fad and that I'm not being serious.
People interested in manga usually tell me that there are thousands of other talented people with the same dream and even if I was the lucky one to land a job, I would only make a ridiculously small amount of money.
So why even try? The answer is simple. It is my dream and even if I don't succeed, I would surely regret it if I hadn't tried everything in my power.
So I spent some time researching material and information to get one step closer at a time to my goal of becoming a mangaka. I also spend my time analyzing certain attributes of not only manga but stories in general. And if I figured out some good stuff, why not share the wealth? I figure there may be one or two other mangaka in spe who will find this information useful. And even if you're not going the professional route it may spice up your Doujinshi or Fanfics. And if I'm really lucky, a few people who I've helped will click on ads and help me earn a few bucks in return. Does that sound so bad?
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