Two dimensional characters are easy to write.

Example - Frank is the toughest man ever. He's the leader. Suzie is super sexy and fun. Dobunimueger is the crazy one. He also likes cheese.

Boring. I'm not saying I have an answer to creating more believable characters but I have an exercise that might help get a bit closer.

For the next two weeks I thought it would be a good idea to refine who our main characters are and why they do what they do. I believe when you fully understand WHO your character is, it will be easy to write conversations and know how they will respond to a situation as you write your story.

So here's the challenge. Choose three of your main characters (antagonists, protagonists or whoever) and write down where the came from(past), where they are now(present), and where they are going.(future)

Example with an old highschool story of mine:

[Edit] I forgot to clarify that this is only about characters, NOT THE OVERALL STORY ARC. Each character has baggage, blessings or both from the past that affect who they are today. What happens today will in turn mold them into who they become in the future. Each character has her own journey that intertwines with the overall story arc.



Phobos' Past - He was a once powerful vampire who dominated the world and all other vampires. He was merciless and ruthless and selfish. One day he fell into a puddle of toxic waste and was knocked unconscious for 10 years. When he awoke, he was stuck in mid-transformation between bat and human forms.

Phobos' Present - He is now completely shriveled, weak and useless. He's half bat, half man. He can't fly; he lost most of his memory of his dark past; he can't go out at night without sunglasses because the moonlight is too bright. His castle is overrun by others who are pushing him around and he can't do anything to stop them. He has to accept that he is weak and not in control. Others fear who he was but he doesn't know why. He knows there is something deeper and darker about himself but he can't seem to remember what it was. He has grown fond of his new friendships and could never imagine that he use to be a heartless, merciless beast.

Phobos' Future - When enough clues reveal who he use to be, he eventually remembers his dark past. He has a choice to take back all the power he once had at the expense of his new friendships and sacrifice everything he recently learned about love and friendship or he could continue with his new life without the ultimate power he once had. Luckily for his friends, he choose them over ultimate power. They live happily ever after. (sorry, cheesy ending)


If I did this with all my main characters then imagine how much deeper I could write their conversations. Now I know Phobos could easily be frustrated when being bossed around or get depressed when he sees bats. Maybe he has unsettling flashbacks or likes being alone. He might have a hard time communicating since he never tried doing it much before. Maybe he's easily angered with violent threats but can't do anything about it.

There is plenty more you could pull from this and I hope it's a clear example. I haven't thought about this character in 15 years and when I wrote him, he was just 2 dimensional. I would write him completely different if I was starting over with this story now. haha

Good luck! Remember, 3 characters, 2 weeks.

...Dobunimueger? o_O

Ack, this is what I'm struggling with right now in my story. No promises, but I am going to try.

I forgot to clarify that this is only about characters, not the overall story arc. Each character has baggage, blessings or both from the past that affect who they are today. What happens today will in turn mold them into who they become in the future. Each character has her own journey that intertwines with the overall story arc.

(I edited this into my first post too)

That`s a nice challenge! All my characters come from 2 dimensional stereotypes and most of them have grown into more complex characters, but I`m still struggling with a few of the side characters, so I think I`ll pick them for this challenge.

I hope it wasn't my reply that made you think your post was unclear. Because for me it wasn't. I just typed that real early this morning, around 5 am, while I was getting ready to leave for work. So I'm afraid I chose the wrong words.
What I mean is that I am currently working on my character biographies, and that is what I'm kinda struggling with. Although I also enjoy the character creation process. I just wonder if my characters are going to be interesting enough, and then I keep changing things. Ah well. I got 2 weeks, and this challenge came at the right time for me, so I'm going to try my best and then I can see what you all have to say about my creations.

No worries. I just realized that I rushed my original post too. haha. I second guess myself when I'm writing stuff all the time if it comes across the way I intended. Glad it came across right this time.

I tend to be the idea person, then my writer gets to do all the fun stuff, but I decided to give this a try. I'm trying to change up who I use for each challenge so 'everyone' gets a chance. So here are my boys. Stuff doesn't quite have an end because there probably will be another series that follows up an intentionally loose end in the comic.

Carl "Frost" Jungan, hereby referred to as "Frost." He's only made a few appearances so far so almost all of this info is unknown to my readers.

Frost Past: Frost wasn't always as tall as he is now. He was still a tall lad. Quiet, but never angry, which earned him his nickname. He met Myria and they became friends because their exes had cheated on them together. He soon discovered Myria was not a normal person but her eccentricities didn't hurt anyone. They stayed friends after school and went into "business" together. Starting as investments that always paid off it strayed into more unusual ventures like magical rituals. One such ritual promised to grant him strength unrivaled. He agreed because he thought it would make him a better Rugby player. It turned him into an 8 foot tall and broad monster.

Frost present: Operating on the idea that they are trying to cure Frost, the duo set around the world gathering more magical lore and power. They come across the main characters. Unwilling to physically fight pregnant girls Frost uses their male tag-a-long to barter their willing participation in another ritual. It fails and he escapes with Myria. Frost is somewhat dependent on Myria because his size makes him a spectacle where ever he goes. He gets upset if his height is mentioned, which is a common occurrence. He is the Brawn, but he isn't brainless.

Frost Future: Frost leaves Myria when she goes too far with her obsession with the main characters. He joins up with the main characters and starts a romantic relationship with one. He never regains his normal height, but because of the fame of the group and the love of a girl it doesn't affect him as much anymore.


Pan as he is portrayed in my comic.

Pan Past: Pan is, of course, the Greek god. He was born to Hermes and a Nymph who ran and the sight of him. Pan was a mood swing wrapped in a goat skin. One moment he'd be chasing women, the next, terrifying people who entered his forest. When it came to affairs of the heart he was serious, giving advise to Psyche or cherishing the reeds that were once a Nymph he was forced to lust after by Hera. Over the years he has been called by many names Faunus, Kokopelli, and the horned god of the Wiccans enabling him to exist without wavering for thousands of years.

Pan Present: Thousands of years of existence has let him watch the evolution of human behavior. He is aware of the social dos and don'ts of the times and tries to keep himself in check. He is also aware that modern humans are terrified by his monstrous appearance, but he is not ashamed about how he looks. He wishes humans didn't care. He is approached by Zues and told he needs to help them with a mission in exchange for the ability to change his appearance. Outfitted with a more attractive facade he haphazardly does his job while having as much 'fun' as possible.

Pan Future: Slowly the magic he uses to trick people and change his appearance fades and he reverts to his satyr form. He reveals himself to one character and is surprised that she's not afraid of him, but his nudity. He decides she's fun to tease. He takes his 'job' more seriously since he can't go on as many outings.


Adam Conners, is a normal dude. Adam is "The chick."

Adam Past: A typical kid into ninja turtles and Nintendo, Adam grew up the single child in a fairly well-off family. At an early age Caitlyn was thrust into his life because her family was often out of town. They became friends and nearly siblings.

Adam Present: Adam is struggling with his pregnancy fetish and his feelings for Caitlyn. He doesn't realize he as always been attracted to her and is afraid if he makes a move it will ruin their friendship. He pushes Caitlyn away, but realizes its making her miserable so pulls her back and tries to keep his emotions in check. He wishes he could have gotten powers so he could help, and have a comic book made about him. Being a normal guy he's prone to getting injured. He often uses pop-culture references to explain his plans to the group. His other best friend is his car. His job aspirations are Police officer or Stunt man, he can't decide.

Adam Future: Adam finally manages to profess his feelings to Caitlyn. Then she finds out about his fetish and their relationship becomes rocky again. Eventually someone forces them into a closet to work their feelings out. At the end of the story he dies, but he gets better. (Helps if Hades owes you one.)

KaileighBlue, those look like some very interesting characters! Thanks for posting because it helped me to read about your characters.
This is a very interesting challenge and I am going to try to do this for all important characters in my story.

Okay, here are 3 of my characters.

NAIRA
I'm not entirely sure yet I like this name. But Ayla had to get a new name, for obvious reasons. Naira is not too different from Ayla when I pronounce it, so I hope I get used to it.

Past
Naira is a young woman, she's about 20 years old. She has lived her entire life on the vast grasslands that are home to her tribe. They have no permanent residence, instead they move regularly so their herds have new grass. They also gather roots, berries, nuts, etc. And whenever it's needed there's some hunting going on.
Naira has never been away from her tribe and she has limited knowledge about people who live in other parts of the world. She has no partner or children, which at her age is a bit unusual. The other people in her tribe see her as someone who is lost in thoughts, daydreaming about things only known to her.
In reality Naira simply enjoys the little things in life. Like feeling the warm summer wind on her skin, or the sound of the grasslands when the wind blows through it.

Present
Naira is worried about a recurring dream in which a friend of her dies. No one really shares her worries until this person does die, exactly as Naira said he would. Even though she does not want to she eventualy needs to leave her tribe and the only life she has ever known behind.

Future
Her world will get a lot bigger very fast. She will be phased with many unknown places and customs. Meets new people and learns that she is a lot stronger then she ever thought she was. The way to her new future and family is hard and painful though. And along the way she will discover that the world is not just what it seems to be at first glance.


NUR
It is difficult to really describe him so I hope this is not way too confusing.

Past
Nur is a being with an eternal life. He stands outside the boundaries of time and space. He is one and many, here and everywhere. He is fall and winter, he is death and decay.
He is the one who ends all life on the world. This has been his task for eternity, and will remain to be his task for an eternity to come. He has no regrets because he has not been given the ability to feel emotions. He does not question his existence or his task. It has always been this way, and will always remain to be like this. Or so he thinks.
There is also a being much like him, yet in some ways she is his oppposite. She is the one who brings life. He does not know her name, and he rarely catches a glimps of her. But sometimes he hears her weep for the lives he has taken away. She knows though it is his task, and that she cannot interfere.

Present
One day, without a real reason, he ends the life of a butterfly two days too soon. Never has he ended a life too early before this. So he has no idea of the extend this one desicion will have on his existence.
At first it seems like no harm has been done, but then she is there. Never has she been this close to him. Never before did she reach out to touch him. But today she does, and at the moment she touches his skin he feels for the first time since eternity. Her pain and sorrow flow through him, it feels as if the world stood still at that very moment. The emotions overwhelm him, and for a few seconds these emotions are his entire world. And then she is gone, and with her the emotions. He no longer feels.
This is how it all started. It's like a game to him. He carefuly picks out a victim, and she tries to raise her defences to protect the victim. If he succeeds she 'rewards' him with a few seconds of her emotions.

Future
Nur will learn the value of the lives of lesser lifeforms (humans, animals, etc). He will also learn about other emotions, and other ways of being able to feel emotions. But emotions are nothing to play with. And that is something he will have to learn the hard way.


SEHLAN

Past
Sehlan spend the first years of his life near the sea. Although he was abandoned as a baby by his parents he did get the chance to grow up with a family who provided him with a home. A tragedy made him homeless and alone at the age of 11. But Sehlan soon managed to make a living by doing all sorts of chores for people who wanted to pay him for them.
He started to travel from village to village, and saw several big cities along the way as well. During the coming years he traveled further away from the sea, and it has been may years now since he has seen it.

Present
Sehlan is now 25 years old. He is living in a small village, but like always will not remain there permanently.
One day he saves a young woman from the river that runs past the village. He is shocked to discover that he recognises her from a recurring dream he has had the last few weeks. And it is even a bigger shock when it turns out that she recognises him as well.

Future
Sehlan joins Naira on a journey that will make them face many dangers and ultimatly death himself. For the first time in his life he will learn what it is it to feel responsible for someone. The word 'family' will get a whole new meaning for him.


And yea, that's it. I really hope my characters don't suck too much. And hopefully they are not way too cliché.

Rynn1, I love the symbolism of killing a butterfly being the tiny thing that sets the story in motion and changes the future.

It's a little hard for me to pick a past, present, and future, since our stories are spread out over thousands of years, so all my characters have already lived and died, so everything is in the past. Here's three chronological sections of one of their lives though.

Rielatal Vihnress of Risingveil

Past:
Vihnress' mother was out gathering food in the tidepools when her twins came early. Twins are very uncommon for Turikasuul, and because Turikasuul new borns have a voracious appetite, the birth can be quite dangerous. Separated from her party, exhausted from giving birth, and unable to provide enough nourishment to two babies at once, her zealous youngsters ate her alive.

Each sister was affected differently by growing up without a mother or a father. Both were taken in by a loving and wise uncle, Taksullra, but still the experience made Vihnress unusually shy for a Turikasuul, and her sister became distant and very aggressive. Taksullra's position in his clan afforded the twins many opportunities to learn about the world. Once he even hosted an interstellar ambassador (Vihnress and her sister were forced to dispose of his remains). The wisdom they gained from living with their uncle allowed them to grow into strong leaders. Vihnress' ambitious sister also pushed them both to achieve. It was her sisters idea that after years of being inseparable during military training together, they should split up and go their separate ways, that way they would be forced to learn their own lessons instead of relying on each other, and they wouldn't be competing for the same promotions. During this time, the last hints of Vihnress' shyness disappeared, leaving a strong and self-possessed woman who was just as much a master of tact as she was a master of combat.

Present:
Years later, the two sisters had raised in ranks until they were both commanding their own ships, and eventually their own fleets. In a time of relative peace and military inactivity, the two sisters nevertheless found a way to fill their lives with the glory of combat. Their viciousness earned them the name The Twin Vipers. They fought in nearly every significant conflict and rose to the highest echelons of military leadership. Vihnress recognized her duty to her species, and participated in the species wide effort to increase the Turikasuul population. She had 5 children, which is a large number for a Turikasuul. All the while she continued fighting. Her sister did not share this interest, and attempted to satisfy pressure to reproduce by informally adopting one of her crew and treating him like a son.

Always hungry for war, the Twin Vipers called out for a new era of military expansion. The Turikasuul Empire had grown enough in the last centuries that their ancient desire for conquest was finally within grasp, and the Twin Vipers insisted that their successful military careers were an example of what the Turikasuul Empire could achieve. These words came at an influential time, as the value of the Kaean species was just being discovered. In fact, it was a major impetus for the Kaean Invasion and resulting Siege of Bairyth.

Future:
The Twin Vipers were among the handful of admirals chosen to lead the Invasion, and, nearing the end of their lives, they recognized that this would be the glorious climax of their military careers. They anticipated a swift victory, and Vihnress allowed herself to become pregnant with her 5th child shortly before the first attack. When the Invasion turned into a months long siege, Vihnress was forced to return to Suulmalla because in her old age, she could no longer perform combat duties while pregnant. Although immensely frustrated that she had to leave the invasion to her sister, she contributed to the efforts by leading the training of new troops on Suulmalla. It is here that she meets with a young trainer and teaches him a Hard Lesson about why the Porgs are an enemy far greater than the Kaean.

Denied their victory at Bairyth, both of the Twin Vipers concluded their lives uneventfully, dieing of old age on their homeworld, Suulmalla.

Wow, I loved reading that Ecna! I feel as if I can ask you any question about your characters and universe and you would always know the answer. This really inspires me to create characters that are deeper and more complex then I had imagined at first. And I do think that my story will need that.
I hope more people will post something in this challenge.

Oh and I'm glad you like the butterfly murder. It is really a bit of a ripple effect, and I like that.

Past, Present & Future: Alan, Bernadette and Kathy

Alan Corbett

Past
Alan was born in East London to a gangland boss and his wife. His Dad officially retired and ceded control of his affairs to his successor, opting to retire to Essex and run a pig farm. Amazingly this seems to have been accepted by his rivals strengthened by the fact that he refuses to intervene or accept any visitors from the authorities. He did have designs however on his son moving to London to advance his interests that way.

As he grew up in rural Essex, Alan knew that this was his future and wanted no part of it. He promptly joined the Army aged 17 and when turned 18 just in time for the first Gulf War. He passed the SAS selection course aged 21 and joined 22 SAS. He served in Bosnia, Pakistan, South America and Africa before retiring in 2000 on the cusp of Kosovo and Macedonia.

He turned to becoming a Private Security Contractor (PSC) for work, performing close protection (CP) work for VIPs and so on until 2002 when he was invited to work in Afghanistan doing more CP work.

Present
Alan is invited by MI6 Officer Frank Yardley to form a special black ops unit. The composition and training of which is completely up to Alan and completely off the books. His first mission is to track a package that is being transported to Iran by way of Afghanistan and Pakistan. His job is to find out what the package is and capture/destroy it if necessary.

He reveals his rough and no-nonsense attitude first when capturing and interrogating a Russian Mafioso in Tajikistan and then dealing with Taliban militants first in Afghanistan and then Pakistan, freeing Kathy in the process whom he feels a little squeamish about indicating that he fancies her a bit to say the least. He works well even with so called former enemies such as ex-Irish Dissident Bernadette.

Future
Alan will find out Kathy’s secret and will have to take on a new objective to his mission, capture the treasure to which the package is a link and protect the key to that treasure which is Kathy. Knowing that everyone is after Kathy he has to take difficult decisions which will almost cost him his life. He does the right thing and secures the fortune and keeps Kathy safe while protecting his own hide.

Kathy Easter

Past
Daughter to a well known banker father and PR executive mother. She travelled the world with them as they worked in Europe, Japan and North America. Her last journey abroad was with her family aged 11 as they went to Bosnia in 1987 for a lucrative job her father had secured. As the situation in the former Yugoslavia deteriorated by 1991 they had to leave but her father disappeared in the process. She has been haunted by the loss of her father ever since.

Present
Kathy, fresh out of University in America and from several successful internships at major news publications travels to Pakistan on her first freelance photojournalism assignment. She aims to cover a major earthquake int he region but ends up getting kidnapped in the process.

Rescued by Alan, she is forced to travel with him if she has any hope of survival but finds that she has jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire as she witnesses Alan and Bernadette kill and murder. She does however feel uncomfortable when near Alan yet is feels attracted to him all the same. When she sleeps she has strange dreams including her Dad, their experiences in Sarajevo and her parents urging her to “protect the book”.

Future
She finds out the contents of the package include a US treasury bond worth a billion dollars and a notebook in her father’s handwriting listing combination codes and locations of up to $10 billion worth of laundered money all part of a secret UK government slush fund to fight Communism in the 1980s. Knowing that her life is now in serious danger, she has to travel to Sarajevo where she decides that the bulk of the money needs to be made public. During this period she almost gets killed, gets betrayed by an old friend but doesn't get kidnapped (shock! ) and even has a one night stand with Alan which earns her a sharp rebuke by an angry Bernadette. After many twists and turns this is acheived but at the expense of a huge scandal which is felt in London and Washington. She allows Alan and Bernadette to take $100 million each.

Unsure about how she stands with Alan, she leaves things as they are between them.

Bernadette Montez

Past
Born to an Irish Republican mother and a Columbian FARC militant father in a jungle somewhere in South America. Her name is a compromise between famous Republican firebrand Bernadette Devlin and 19th century femme fatale Lola Montez. She moves back to Derry, Ireland with her mother where she witnesses the death throes of the Troubles. As a young woman she initially allies herself with the Dissident Republicans such as the RIRA and INLA but leaves in disgust after Omagh in 1998. Moving back to Columbia she hears that her Mother and Father have both been killed in an ambush by drug gangs. With nowhere to turn she instead turns to mercenary work and eventually gets tapped by Alan to work with him.

Present
After almost breaking several of Alan’s ribs with a chair, she accepts his offer of a job and works with him in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and slowly starts to feel some affection for Alan as they work together closely. She feels jealous when Kathy comes on the scene yet also starts to have a motherly affection for Kathy as well.

Future
Bernadette works hard to protect Kathy and in the process goes through several more scrapes to that effect. She finds out that Kathy and Alan were closer than she thought and while initially angry and hurt she eventually learns to accept that it was pretty predictable and blames Alan completely. She finds out that the criminal elements who are also tracking the fortune were the ones who killed her mother and father and immediately plots revenge. Getting this but being severely wounded in the process. After the saga she recovers and uses the money Kathy gives her to set up a Women’s charity in Derry while also working with Alan on future projects.

Interesting characters Prestwick! Kinda nice also to read about the past of characters from GN's I follow online.

These are all interesting characters and enough of stuff to build an entertaining story around. Rynn, KaleighBlue and Ecna, I love how your stories sound so supernatural but how those characters still sound like you could relate to them, even when they`re non-human.

My GN has several volumes and each one focusses on a different character. This is a character who you`ll come to know more of in the second volume of my GN. I struggled a lot with her character, I didn`t really feel she was adding something and I even did a few tries to write her out of the story. Recently I worked more on her character and decided she could stay.

Tessa:
Tessa comes from a loving but also a turbulent and active family. She is friendly, shy and very good at studying and absorbing lots of information. Being the quiet one, she keeps to herself and doesn`t mind to be alone once in a while. She also likes cheering people up and sharing her knowledge.
Her biggest passion is working with animals and ever since childhood her biggest dream is to become a vet.

Past:
Tessa was a quiet and shy kid in primary school. She wasn`t very daring and kept to herself a lot. With that attitude, and being the serious type (studying a lot) she became the victim of bullying. Suzan stood up for her, and has done that ever since. This caused the bullying to stop but Tessa gets overshadowed a lot by her popular and outgoing friend. She is insecure about her own abilities and studying is the only thing she feels confident about. Tessa will avoid conflict and often hides her feelings, she sees anger and sadness as vulnerabilities and she hates being vulnerable because that has caused her to get bullied. She sees herself as weak and intelligent but is blind for a lot of her other qualities.

Present:
She knows she is friendly and thinks that is a good quality, but she also thinks that she is boring and unattractive. But this is more a product of her attitude, choice of clothing and insecurity.
Tessa is happy to be able to go studying soon. She sees it as a new chance to make friends. Her results in school are very good and she`s looking forward to being finished here and to moving out.
So when she`s sucked into another world (Janaija) with Suzan, her whole life gets turned over. She`s seriously injured and sick for several days before Suzan and her newly made friends even discover she is there.
Being away from her known surroundings and being with all those strangers causes her to get very anxious and depressed. She closes down to everyone, especially to Suzan.

Future:
At the end of the first volume the events going on shake her awake for a bit. But she stays sad and desperate.
In the second volume Anouk (another character who lives on Janaija) decides it might be better to separate Suzan and Tessa so she takes Tessa with her to do research in another part of Janaija. Tessa gets a job there where she has to care for some animals. She gets to know some new people. One of these is a guy named Tristin, who she has to work with sometimes. He is a very straight forward guy who judges other fast. He can come across as rude and Tessa feels very uncomfortable around him. Through the plot of the volume they spend more time together and though her insecurity annoyed Tristin greatly at the start they both start to relax and learn from each other. Tessa becomes more open and Tristin learns to be less rude. Through the events of the story Tessa also learns to trust herself and to get more active. At the end of the volume Tessa feels more confident and in control of her own life.

This is a really good idea - character sketches like these are extremely important to do for any kind of creative writing, for comics or prose. There's always a hesitation to "tell too much" with these kind of things, but it's really good to see fellow writers here being willing to open up so much about their character developments, especially KaileighBlue and Ecna. Rynn1, you also have really well-worked-out characters, though the past and present seem to be a lot heavier than the future/resolution. That's legit, as well: it's is often the case with me, as well, that I work out the past and then let them resolve themselves as I go.

I, trying to be the "participatory" type, as well as being in need of a warmup for my afternoon's cartooning labors, I'll take this one on myself. These are three characters from my "B Project." The whole thing is of course far more complicated but I distilled it for this exercise.

PROTAGONIST: Mike Malloy
Full Name: Michael Matthew Malloy

Past/Background: Mike Malloy was born to a farming family in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1901. Feeling trapped by his family's isolated and laborious existence, and in spite of the entreaties of his high school sweetheart (who wanted him to come to New York with her when she went to college), Mike left town at the age of 16, lied about his age, and enlisted in a newly formed "International Aero Squadron" which went off to France. During the Great War he was shot down over Germany, and spent the remaining years of the war in a POW camp. After the war he dragged around Europe and Russia, doing odd bits of work where he could find them, and eventually finding himself turning to petty crime on the streets of Hong Kong.

Present/Conflict: Initially arrested as a thief in Hong Kong, Malloy's toughness and savvy impressed his captor, a talent scout for an Anglo-American law enforcement group called N.E.T.Wo.R.K., Sir Richard John. Inducted only half-willingly into this organization and under the constant supervision of his mentor-cum-watchdog, Malloy is gradually adapting to a more circumscribed lifestyle. Lacking any formal advanced education, Malloy is more used to living on his wits and chafes under Sir Richard's "babysitting." He feels like he never really "got his chance" and carries a deep resentment that his hoped-for adventure has turned into what he perceives as an early middle age burdened with rules and bureaucracy. The events of the story give him the opportunity to finally have the adventure he had hoped for, but it turns out to be so big that it threatens to overwhelm him.

Future/Resolution: Malloy must come to terms with the fact that he is not able to exist solely on his own resources, that he can't escape the limits of his own innate nature and upbringing, and that he should not be trying to do so. When he is captured by the antagonist, he must submit himself to the truth that, without his friends' help, he cannot hope to escape And when he comes to this realization, he is finally able to take his place alongside them and together they "save the world" (this is pulp, after all).

ANTAGONIST: Baron von Krome
Full Name: Baron-Elector Karl-Leopold IV von Krome of Voldstein and Tluridtz

Past/Background: An Austro-Hungarian petty-noble and a brilliant young scientist, student of Nikola Tesla, Baron von Krome developed innovative and very unorthodox theories on the generation of electrical power by tapping the force that holds together molecules themselves. Ridiculed by the scientific establishment and cast out by Tesla after a heated and almost violent dispute, von Krome left Austro-Hungary in disgust, managing finally to secure a small grant from the Russian Empire to pursue his theories a a lab he built in central Siberia. When his project went too far, the Russian government sent soldiers to shut it down, , and they unwittingly interfered with von Krome's experiment at a critical phase, causing a massive explosion that left him crippled, blinded... and quite mad.

Present/Conflict: Baron von Krome, like Malloy, feels like his chance for glory was stripped away from him by circumstance. With his superior intellect and calculating, scientific mind, von Krome is slowly and secretly maipulating world affairs in an attempt to reclaim his lost glory and finally carry out his experiment, which he, in his own twisted way, is convinced will usher in a new world order of peace and prosperity, provided the world sees sense and follows his commands. His agents fan out across the globe buying, bargaining for and stealing the components von Krome needs to complete his device, and these become the means by which he is brought into conflict with Malloy and his comrades.

Future/Resolution: Where Malloy concedes that he cannot go it alone, von Krome moves ever deeper into his own delusions, believing not only that the ends justify the means, but also with a fanatical confidence in his own righteousness. His madness mounts as Malloy and his group get closer to him (both storywise and physically as they get nearer to his hidden lair) and, as he rushes to complete his project his mental derangement reaches its crescendo in his confrontation with Malloy.

SECONDARY CHARACTER: vaan Dootlaaand
Full Name: Colonel Jaan Daayvid vaan Dootlaaand

Past/Background: Colonel vaan Dootlaaand, an Afrikaner, grew up in the Cape Colony, South Africa, and followed family traditions by going into a military life. When the Boer Wars broke out, he remained loyal to the British despite calls from friends and family to leave and join with the Boer Republics. He was twice decorated with the Victoria Cross for valor, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Majuba Hill, and served again in the Second Boer War as a strategist and drillmaster. He was particularly highly regarded by the Zulus, with whom he formed a special trust and connection, and in his time was renowned as one of the most accurate sharpshooters on the African continent, inventor of a special rifle that is the most powerful and accurate ever made. However, he was ultimately doomed: his loyalty to Britain earned him the hatred of his fellow Afrikaners, and his Afrikaner blood left the British constantly suspicious of his loyalty. After the Second Boer War he found himself an outcast, and disappeared, resentfully, into the African bush.

Present/Conflict: Vaan Dootlaaand is, by the time of the story, a drunk, known to the people of Africa mainly as a washed-up old man who tells tall tales about things that probably never happened. He tries to comfort himself with his own memories of past glory, and the numbness of his uncontrolled alcoholism. Sometimes, however, his resentments boil to the surface and he flies out of control, but being a mere shadow of his former self, he is usually simply held up to ridicule and ignored. His only solace comes from his long wanderings through the African wilderness, where he lives in a near-fantasy of his former life. It is on one of these that he comes into contact with Mike Malloy, whose arrival gives him the chance to grasp one last time at his lost glory, though Malloy initially does not believe in him either.

Future/Resolution: While guiding Malloy safely out of the Sudanese wilderness, vaan Dootlaaand finds himself once more truly in his element, and proves that though he is old and sickly, he still has one last bit of adventure in him. Hs crowning glory is to fire the shot that saves Malloy's life at the end of the story arc in which he appears, though the enormous shock of the high-powered rifle he uses finally induces a fatal heart attack. He dies happily, however, knowing that he did his duty and was finally able to conclude his life with dignity, and with people believing in him and remembering his legacy.

Incidentally, vaan Dootlaaand may seem awfully well worked-out for a secondary character, but that's because he has impacts on the story that continue well after his death, which is in the first story arc. The whole story has a vast network of interconnected characters, and this isn't quite so clear here, but it all happens according to a carefully constructed synchronicity that my co-authors and I have been working out for close to five years. Anyway, there it is.

--M

Mr. Average, it's very interesting to read about your characters. It's difficult to write down the essence of your characters in just a few words.
You are very right about mine. I did not include all the details of their future, but I also need to mention that I still have a lot of work to do on all my characters. I think I'm now about 2 months into the creation of my story and characters, before that they did not yet exist in my mind. Every day I come up with new ideas, so the story and especialy the future of my characters is still changing slightly. I hope one day I will know enough to describe my characters as well as everyone else can describe theirs!

Henrike D, Tessa seems like an interesting character (I think I seem to find everyones characters interesting, haha, but I do ). Makes me curious about your GN!

Woops. I didn't realize the time went by so fast. I need to start a new challenge. I'm loving what you guys have all done with this one and I'm surprised so many jumped in. Great stuff everyone! Hopefully this helps you get to know your characters a bit more.

I might need some help coming up with another writing challenge after the next one. My thoughts are to switch back and forth between art and writing challenges to keep everyone on their toes. Message me some ideas for writing challenges if you have any.

And so, I am locking this challenge. Onto the next!