On the Matter of Flawed Characters

[Frostblaze]

The most important piece of your character is the flaw. What keeps them from becoming a Gary-stu/Mary-sue? What makes them relatable? What gives them inner conflict?

So, one might come here to look up a flaw to give their own character, or to post one. All you have to do is say the character's name, a brief personality description, and their flaw(s). If you want to take it a step further, say where their flaw derives from.

I shall start:

Chris, pensive, awkward, nervous, passionate
He has a weak heart, and he's quite gullible. He can become too emotional at times.
He's always been very compassionate and emphatic, and he knows very little of the world, which would cause him to believe almost everything he hears or reads or sees. He's an emotional wreck at times, but we can blame that on the bouts of trauma he's experienced at such a young age.

[Gracithe1andonly]

okay so I just realized that a lot of my characters have a central virtue they're built up around like perseverance or compassion.

But they still need flaws, as this isn't an allegory.

Arthur: He can be bullheaded and stubborn at times, and is often a bit too altruistic for anyone's good.

Win: She's compassionate, but very, very nosy. In fact, her nosiness creates half the plot ><

Hal: He's happy. Overly happy, and he's not exactly sure how to deal with his other emotions.

Ben: He's not smart, but is an absolute teddy bear.

Tom: He's got a sharp wit and a good brain, but has a bad tendency to talk himself into a corner.

Mr. Quarterman: His anger has been dormant for so long. Now that it has a direction, he's almost losing control; and he isn't even aware of it until he puts Tom in harm's way.

Natalia: She knows more than anyone gives her credit for, but she has no idea how to deal with people.

Halle: She often is inactive when she should be doing something.

Aida: In a crisis situation, she tends to panic and do something very foolish. Even though she's an old woman with white hair.

Bucephalus: He's also very annoying, but is chivalrous, and can often compensate for Aida in a crisis.

Gratia: Hm... hard one. I think she just tends to get a little carried away sometimes, and the fact that she's uber-Godly rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Elias: He puts up a strong front, but he doesn't know about himself, and he's barely sure of anything within.

I think that's all

[SilverMoon]

ppl be like "don't forget to make your characters have flaws!!" and im like.... my character concepts always emerge from a pile of character flaws.

[otaku]

Percival: short tempered, kinda arrogant, can be overbearing
Kinda comes from being the youngest sibling and all, as well as of noble birth, but it's also part of the way he acts from his character
Somnus: afraid to get attatched, kind of a hypocrite

[Zelda]

@SilverMoon accurate :P

Zyair- Easily distracted (probably ADD), plus he's developing a tendency to play the blame game on himself too much.
Mercer- Never freaking sleeps, undervalues himself.
Isaiah- Has trust issues, she has formed a foundation for her life on the trust of a select few people, which is stable currently, but in the long run would leave her vulnerable and shaky if one or more of said people left or were removed from the foundation.
Acid- Poor anger management, isolates himself, extremely self-conscious
Raleigh- Is super competitive, and tries too hard to be seen as an adult.

[july3girl]

*like half of my characters are like semi-racist/sexist/xenaphobic but they're going to figure it out, ok?!?! also, despite that they're all badasses and i love them*

[SilverMoon]

Originally Posted by SilverMoon

ppl be like "don't forget to make your characters have flaws!!" and im like.... my character concepts always emerge from a pile of character flaws.

oh boy.... where do i even begin

[SilverMoon]

Alexander: loves too much, massive guilt complex, feels responsible for everything, sometimes has conflicting interests because he loves everyone too much, emotional wreck, lowkey has a gigantic dark side, doesn't have an accurate view of himself at all, sometimes wants to die and then feels guilty about wanting to die, lowkey hates himself and thinks he doesn't deserve to be alive,,,,,,,,,,,,, all wrapped up in the package of a perpetually-cheerful Mom Friend TM

[strawberry]

Originally Posted by SilverMoon

Alexander: loves too much, massive guilt complex, feels responsible for everything, sometimes has conflicting interests because he loves everyone too much, emotional wreck, lowkey has a gigantic dark side, doesn't have an accurate view of himself at all, sometimes wants to die and then feels guilty about wanting to die, lowkey hates himself and thinks he doesn't deserve to be alive,,,,,,,,,,,,, all wrapped up in the package of a perpetually-cheerful Mom Friend TM

whOa i just realized how many characteristics alexander and i share...guilt complex high five bby
Rio is honestly a morally screwed person and is horrible tbH, he'll use and manipulate anyone for his gain and has little to no empathy for others and is..so flaky with people. he's the worst

[Zelda]

I've found a common flaw with a lot of my characters:

Hannah: Dead
Chastin: Dead
Koda: Dead
Jeanelle: Dead-ish
Darcy: Dead
Abu and Salome: Hella dead
Serilla: Even more dead
More charries (but sh, spoilers): dead

Death seems to be my favourite flaw to dole out.