Write Character Profiles for Anime Characters

Many anime characters have been created, but only a few manage to be "perfect" characters. What makes a character truly draw you in and hold you securely at attention, refusing to loosen its grip on you? There are probably several answers. You must know what drives your character. And in order for your character to drive your story, you must know them intimately as if you were inside of them, feeling what they feel, thinking what they think, and speaking what they speak.

Steps

Sample Character Profiles

Doc:Male Anime Character Description,Female Anime Character Description,Villain Anime Character Description

Writing Your Own Character Profiles

  1. Write a description of your character’s life, past and present. Has the character's past affected him in any way? What are the circumstances in the character's life now? Try not to make it too long. A paragraph or two is good.
  2. Decide basic statistics. Any basic you can think of goes in this section. You can add more to the list if necessary. It would be good to expand a bit when describing the different relationships.
    • Name:
    • Age: If you don’t know the exact age of your character, then you can put its approximation, such as late thirties, mid-twenties, etc.
    • Birth date:
    • Blood Type:
    • Zodiac:
    • Nationality:
    • Hometown:
    • Current residence:
    • Occupation:
    • Income:
    • Birth order:
    • Siblings: (describe relationship)
    • Spouse: (describe relationship)
    • Children: (describe relationship)
    • Grandparents: (describe relationship)
    • Grandchildren: (describe relationship)
    • Significant others: (describe relationship)
    • Best friend: (describe relationship)
    • Worst enemy: (describe relationship)
  3. Create physical characteristics. This is the section for letting your mind roam free. You'll want your character to look completely different from any other anime character. Make it yours. Make it unique. Your character's appearance can reflect a lot about him/her, so keep that in mind as you create.
    • Height:
    • Weight:
    • Race:
    • Eye color: Be specific about the color.
    • Hair color: Again, make the color specific.
    • Hair style:
    • Glasses or contact lenses?:
    • Skin color:
    • Distinguishing features:
    • Style: (elegant, shabby, etc.)
    • Habits: (smoking, drinking, etc.)
    • Health:
    • Disabilities:
  4. Decide intellectual, mental, and personality attributes, and attitudes. In this section, you'll be discovering your character's overall being, what makes him/her up as a person, the depths of his/her personality. Don't let yourself be limited in any way. This is another section for exploration. Go where others have not yet gone with their anime characters. Make your character as unique as possible.
    • General demeanor: This is how your character generally acts and comes across to other people.
    • Educational Background:
    • Intelligence Level:
    • Prejudices: Does the character hate slow drivers? Or maybe the prejudice is against anyone who doesn't play video games. Against anyone who doesn't enjoy dinosaurs? Against anyone who doesn't engage in political debates?
    • Any mental illnesses?:
    • Learning Experiences:
    • Character's short-term goals in life:
    • Character's long-term goals in life:
    • How does Character see himself/herself?:
    • How does Character believe he/she is perceived by others?:
    • How self-confident is the character?:
    • Does the character seem ruled by emotion, logic, or some combination of both?:
    • What is the character's favorite childhood memory?:
    • What is the character's least favorite childhood memory?:
    • What was the character's worst childhood fear?:
    • What is the core need of the character?:
    • What drives the character?:
    • Mannerisms:
    • How does the character walk?:
    • Hobbies: Are these hobbies old (from childhood) or new?
    • Favorite Sayings:
    • Speaking style:
    • Greatest flaw:
    • Best quality:
    • Talents/Skills:
    • Relationship skills:
  5. Decide emotional characteristics. Here, you'll find out about the temperament of your character and how he/she responds in various situations in life. You'll delve a little deeper into your character's soul, and dig out his rawest emotions from underneath the surface of his persona. Perhaps, the role that your character displays in public is separate from his/her inner self.
    • Strengths/Weaknesses:
    • Introvert or Extrovert?:
    • How does the character deal with anger?:
      • With sadness?:
      • With conflict?:
      • With change?:
      • With loss?:
    • What does the character want out of life?:
    • What would the character like to change in his/her life?:
    • What motivates this character?:
    • What frightens this character?:
    • What makes this character happy?:
    • What makes the character laugh?:
    • Is the character judgmental of others?:
    • Is the character generous or stingy?:
    • Is the character generally polite or rude?:
  6. Decide spiritual characteristics. If your character is spiritual, be sure to describe exactly what form of religion he/she believes in and/or practices.
    • Does the character believe in God?
    • What are the character's spiritual beliefs?
    • Is religion or spirituality a part of this character's life? If so, what role does it play?
  7. Decide how the character is involved in the story. You can expand a great deal here. It's up to you to create your story and how this character and other characters will play their roles in it.
    • Character's role in the novel: (Main character? Second main character? Side character? Hero? Heroine? etc.)
    • Scene where character first appears:
    • Relationships with other characters:
  8. Pull out this anime character profile worksheet the next time you're stuck on characterization, and get to know someone new. With this detailed profile, your vibrant, multifaceted characters will come to life!

Tips

  • How will the character grow within the story you create? Truly developed anime characters learn something and evolve within their plot.
  • In interviews many famous authors have stated that they came up with the basics of a character's personality and then they found that the character just "came alive" for them and ended up driving the story all on his own. So, a good character plot can be key!
  • If you create a back-story, it will help you to figure out what events made your character the way they are. Did a childhood incident or friendship shape the way they react to situations today?
  • If you get stuck on one character who doesn't quite seem real, try adding a new characteristic, a hidden trauma, a fabulous skill, or a burdensome secret.
  • When focusing on your character's strengths and weaknesses, try not to make your character too perfect. A flawless character that makes no mistakes is not as interesting to an audience as a character that makes mistakes every once in a while, like us humans.

Warnings

  • This article is only a guide. Expand on it. Add whatever you want to.
  • Remember that characters should never be "all bad" or "all good." Each character's story should be more complex than that.

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