Qualities of a character?

Karamazov

Karamazov

Pokémon: Gen 8.0 You Can (Not) Catch 'em All
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In your opinion, what qualities, quirks, or characteristics make a good character? Bravery? Consistency? Intellect?

(And please, don't turn this into a debate about characters not being good.)
 
Moved out of the Live Caster because there's a chance that there won't be much heavy conflict over this issue. If we see fit, it'll be moved back.

And to answer the topic, I love humor, especially in social awkwardness. If the character makes me laugh, even indirectly, it makes them so much more bearable. This is why I kinda find Paul humorous...can't see the kid having too many friends growing up XD And Cilan's direct approach at hero worshiping and extravagant speech...Conway's stalkerish mannerisms. Yeah, I go for the weirdos XD
 
I just want a character to be interesting, well-written, have a enjoyable personality, go through character development, and contribute something to the show. Given the show is also about the Pokemon, I also want said character to have good pokemon and good battles from time to time.

You know, what you'd expect from any character in any form of media.
 
I tend to warm up to characters that I like making up Alternative Character Interpretations for... Or ones that are just plain adorable/bishoujo/bishounen
I tend to turn Aces into Broken Aces... This isn't Pokemon, but Ryo Akiyama, you are most definitely a broken ace in my book.
Or I make up freudian excuses...

I like characters that can do complete 180's with their personality, repress and overcome internal tribulations (...probably why Haruka is my favorite character), and go through development. I particularly enjoy characters that seem to unconsciously show the sanctity of their existences and how precious/fragile/elastic their relationships/interactions with other characters are (...probably why Dent is my favorite character).

I completely agree with Scott's criteria of the importance of entertainment value, endearing personalities, and development.
 
I don't know about good.. Because it's such a subjective thing, I suppose a good character is one that is indistinguishable to somebody than a person they might talk to every day or meet in the street, separated by the physical plane.

The traits that draw me to characters are the same ones that draw me to corporeal people. But the most important one is mystery.

Have you ever seen somebody on the street, and simply wondered what their story is? Or maybe even a person you've known since your childhood, you know there is something very deep and mysterious about them that only they can understand. And you want to understand it too, you try as hard as you can, and even though you know you are only an observer for a bit you can feel like you've touched an incredible secret.
 
I don't think a character has to be intelligent to be likeable.

I mean Ash in the early seasons was a loveable idiot, and people liked him back then because he was so stupid. As time went on he lost this idiocy so he stopped being funny.
 
I tend to like humorous, yet at the same time, eccentric characters :) if they make me laugh or smile, they'll be a favorite of mine for sure.
 
I like characters that make me care about them. There are many different qualities a character could have to make them a good one. They could be funny, brave, smart, mysterious, sneaky, rude, wise, watchful, ditzy, and so on. To me, the best characters are simply those who have strong personalities. Whether that personality is kind, rude, or whatever, I just want them to be someone, to draw my attention, to make me, like I said, care about what happens to them- care about their goals, their past, their future.
 
For me I would have to say humor. I like those characters that give some good laughs through out the show; also having a good plot to the character and learning more about their history.
 
It's not so much a question of being good, but more of a question of not being handled badly.

Ideally, any character introduced should intergrate well with the rest of the cast, by intergrating, I mean they need to be interesting characters themselves while interacting with other characters to create more dynamics. They must not be dull in other words.
 
I would like to have a character that has at least a very remarkable quality, because to me, a character with a positive quality makes them likeable. It gives me reason to stay interested to the character, because I am not one of those people who demands high expectations of the character, unlike some people. This means that I like a lot of characters, like Ash's determination and bright spirits, Iris' jungle girl attitude, and obviously Cilan's talents. Of course, this extends to the humour of the characters, because ultimately, a show that puts me in bright spirits requires humour as one of the ingredients. I really enjoyed BW so far because of this.

If a character is able to achieve something very significant, that is also a type of character I like, as long as the character is a good guy or girl, because a hero represents in all of us, so it actually feels great that they achieve something great, because it makes me feel like I achieve something too. Of course, the evil characters doing them too is nice, although for me to admire them, they have to not face the main characters first (except Team Rocket in some cases). Yes, struggles are welcomed, but only if the result of the outcome is victory.

I think those are what I look for in an anime character.

That's it for now.
 
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