Animation Source Forums

Oh. Okay, now I'm embarrassed. Sorry Cat.

And, yes, IW21, I have to agree wholeheartedly. This tutorial is rather, maybe not sad, but, perhaps, depressing.

^ And practically a year old.


Why's everyone taking this so seriously (Cat excluded of course)? xD

Given how slow the forum AND the shoutboxes have been of late, I'm not surprised. "Any port in a storm", and all that.

I thought of pitching into this too, but by now anything I say would only be repetition of what has already been said, in just slightly different language (including how much I despise any sparkle character designs, no matter how *ahem* "good" they are said to be...and how I find the very notion of suggesting them as a means of "very good or at least good" character design as utterly ludicrous). So I just deigned instead to keep tabs on the fun.

I will only add my two cents to this one item:


Anyone actually interested in being reasonable, sensible and realistic in naming their dog characters...especially if they want to stick closer to how dogs were really named back then in Alaska, will steer clear of both Native Alaskan, Native American or fanciful, fantasy or science-fiction-inspired names...or something out of silly anime cartoons, and instead stick with names derived from European origins. As this was how dogs were almost exclusively named in Alaska back then. Any search of historical records or photographs, where dogs are identified by name, will prove this conclusively. Native Alaskan or Native American names, while they were occasionally used in naming dogs, were exceedingly rare. As uncreative as the concept may seem to many of you, that is how it went historically.

Haha, this is true.

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Well, if anyone thinks this should be locked, I'd be more than happy to agree. Personally I think one can learn
a thing or two from what others have posted from this. Perhaps an updated guide could be made though.

I agree, Roi, an updated guide is a good idea.

A detailed and updated guide would be nice to have on the site for members. But Steet doesn't even want to make a new page for character RULES (where we could put a link to a guide), so I wouldn't count on seeing on any time soon. (laziness)

Also, there is a filter at least on BS to allow you to hide sparkle characters. (why it's not on the other sites I have no idea)

Though I do want to clear one thing up. Sparkle characters, while mostly ugly and completely un-related to the fan site, ARE ALLOWED. I don't like it at all, but it's not our choice. Steet wanted to have 'variety' and little to no restrictions. So please don't go blaming the mods. Just because we don't do anything about certain things doesn't mean we like it.

I believe there is a filter on LKS, and as much as I myself hate sparkle characters, I don't use it. As you said, it isn't our choice, which I have to admit really stinks As mods, we must shut our eyes and endure, as do the members who agree with us about sparkle characters.

Well, I won't say this guide is all bad; you do make a few good pointers. HOWEVER, it overall seems like less of a "make good characters" tutorial and more of a "make popular-type BaltoSource characters."

So...if you don't mind, I'd like to try and add a bit.


1.) Yes, design is and important aspect of a character; it generally gives the viewer a first impression. However, you never really pointed out what to do to give the character a "stylish" design. Here's my advice: I don't care if your character is "realistic" or "sparkly" as long as the colors COORDINATE. Pick a group of colors in the same general scheme and use those. I doesn't matter if it's brown and white or blue and purple, if you can choose colors that look good together AND arrange them in a good way, ("random" marking just look...well, bad) then great. There's a "stylish" character.

Also, don't be afraid to play around with body types and general features rather than just making a generically-shaped dog. If you can draw the character WITHOUT markings/colors and/or in a silhouette and it still looks like that character, THAT'S a good design. (NOTE: This dose NOT mean bizarre additions like wings or something...this means subtler stuff like build, eye shape, paw size, etc.)

2.) And interesting history is interesting in a character, but a long history is not always a good history, though good histories are often long. You don't necessarily have to list everything that happens from "puppy until death", just summarize their general story. Point out the important or dynamic moments in their lives. Be sure to avoid cliches and common plotpoints and take the character's personality to heart. The personality determines the actions and the actions help determine the history.

3.) Not all good canine characters have accessories. Many don't. In fact, if you're trying to make a good character, I'd say that you should avoid giving them something to wear, especially if it's a wild animal like a wolf. Collars and bandanas are understandable for domesticated dogs.

4.) No. Definitely not required. Yes, we all like out little love stories, but having a mate is certainly not necessary to make a character a good one. That's just the personal option for the creator.

If your character dose have a mate, however, keep in mind both's personalities as you come up with their story and interactions. It really will make a difference.

5.) Same with number four. Yes, people like to see it--I'm a fan of "offspring characters" myself--but again, it's certainly not necessary for a good character. Cute, yes, but not necessary. And I'm sorry, but DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT make the possible pups look like Balto or Jenna as a puppy. If it's a coincidence, yeah, that's fine, but doing it purposely to make a more popular character? NO.

If you do decide to give your character puppies, consider genetics. Don't make it look like either a carbon copy of a parent or one of those awkward mixes of them, but rather, design them as you would a stand-alone character. Keep its family's traits in mind, but make it look like its own individual, not just a mix of its parents.

-cough- Ok, that was slightly off-topic, but going on now...

6.) Yes, this, to an extent, is something I agree with you on. Putting the character in a story can do a great deal on its development. I don't know about everyone else, but it often gets to a point where when I'm writing a character, the character almost starts to develop itself, and I'm just there to write it down and experiment with it. Put your characters in different situations, test them. I wouldn't call this essential, but I'd say that it definitly helps YOU to create that character and develop them well. (Though as I said in #2, be sure to avoid cliches and overused plotpoints. That won't be interesting to anyone.)

7.) Artwork (I refrain from saying "fanart", as because it's your own character, it's not considered FANart unless there's an official character in the picture, too), yes. Like stories, this can help you develop your character through experiences, as well as work on its design. Taking the time to draw your own characters also help you to feel more in touch with that character and often inspires more ideas for their history.

Renders and linearts, on the other hand? No. I'm sorry, guys, but all renders and linearts are are coloring pages. Yes, like those books you played with when you were five. All you have to do is splash on some colors, and LOOK, MY "CHARACTER". Sorry, but it doesn't work like that. If you're taking no real effort and just designing to design, then that's not a good character. That's boredom and laziness. Now, renders do take a little bit of work, but only if YOU are the one doing the rendering. Blank renders are no different from linearts.

If you wanna develop your character, DRAW it. Renders and linearts are perfectly OK to be done for fun, but in terms of creating a character, they're just a waste of time. :\

8.) See #1.

And though it's perfectly OK if you wanna make a sparkledog, that's up to you, I'll just say that in most cases, "realistic" type characters are more often considered "very good"...though that may be because as one gets older, he/she tends to move away from sparkle and by the time he/she is older, it's much more likely that he/she will understand character development better....but whatever. -shrug-

9.) Interesting names are...well, interesting in a character, and there's not doubt that a good name really adds something, but the problem is, what's "interesting" or not is a matter of opinion. For example, I don't really find "FrozenStorm" or "Sunset" to be very interesting names...rather cheesy, in fact, in my opinion.

Basically, just wait until you find a name that just sounds...well, right. It may not be the coolest name to others, but if YOU are satisfied with it, then great! There you go, the perfect name.

10.) NO. NO. NO. A fursona is a character that represents YOU. Design is as such. Don't just take a character you think looks cool and go "OH! You'll be my fursona now! 8D" Ok, no. It just doesn't work that way. I'm sorry. And do NOT give your fursona a different history than yours. What part of "represents YOU" do you not understand? In fact, I think it would be best not to give your fursona an official history at all. All a "fursona" is is an animal character (or perhaps I should just say design) that can be used in place of yourself.

(Sorry if I sounded rude on that one...ranting a bit. ^^" I apologize if I offended anyone.)


...And now that I'm done voicing my opinion on those ten points, I'd just like to add one more pointer that is CRUCIAL for a good character. I mentioned it a few times in my explanations.

PERSONALITY.

Please, please, PLEASE work hard a character's personality! It really dose make it that much better, I promise!

Good character personalities are well-rounded and dynamic (meaning they change over time.) A character should have multiple sides, but it shouldn't have traits that totally clash, if you know what I mean.

And ALSO, AVOID what are called "Mary-Sue" and "Gary-Stu" characters. These are characters that are perfect and flawless, usually always the perfectly good-natured, humble, strong, powerful, life-saving, ever-triumphant hero who just can't do wrong and is often cliche. Everybody has their flaws.

Now, I'm not saying you need to make your character "evil", per say, but I AM saying to add a few traits that aren't so "perfect." And when you are making evil characters, give them a good side somewhere inside.

Moreso, give the characters REASONS for their personalities. Yes, they will be born with specific traits, but it's their lives and experiences that decide which traits are gonna come out and glow for the world and which are going to become lesser and more dormant.

Basically, personality and history go hand-in-hand in well-developed characters.



All summed up in one statement: Design is important and you should work hard on it, but what a good character really boils down to is the development of the history and personality.


...I hope that helps. ^^" Thank you to all who took the time to read it.


--Nattikat8