What makes a character lovable?

[Raggit]

This may have been discussed earlier, but here it is:

What makes a character people can fall in love with?  Think about what it would be like to become "attatched" to the characters in a game and then finish it with a lump in the throat.  Similar to the way you feel at the end of a fantastic movie.  

So what do you think should go into the making of a game to make its characters deep and heartfelt?  

[Gregjazz]

I think it has to do with character depth. You want a character rich with personality -- a believable character.

What do you mean, 'fall in love with'. Literally?

[WanderLady]

What makes a character people can fall in love with?

A character who has goals similar to the player's own is one that is lovable.
Contrariwise, it may be the attributes the character has that the player lacks.

So what do you think should go into the making of a game to make its characters deep and heartfelt?

Well....exactly that. Heart should go into the character's making. Emotion should be poured into it's creation. The thought of the character is not enough. His/Her makeup should originate from the heart - the soul of his/her author.

[shbaz]

1. Needs to be female (most gamers are male)
2. Needs to be extremely attractive
3. A girl who guys will think would totally have the hots for them personally if she were real and a guy that she falls in love with that they can relate to (normally this is gonna be hard to do, it's a complicated thing, that)

[Meowster]

I'm just gonna list of a couple things that made some certain characters lovable to me:

Guybrush
Cuz he was hopelessly helpless but he meant well... that and he was funny.

Max (Sam and Max Max)
Cuz he was positively bubbling with evil, evil personality.

Rinoa
She was loving and caring but also pretty mischevious as those japanese chicks go. She had a naughty streak that came through strongly.

Razputin
Poor little bastard.

Manny
He was such a character, and had a good sense of humour. He was determined and strong willed too.

In conclusion I think that it's up to a formula. I mean, there's nothing anywhere that says dumb characters are lovable, and suchlike. If your formula works, it works. If not, then... it doesn't work.

[MillsJROSS]

I don't think Raggit means true love, as in they'd want to marry the character and frolic on a beach together in happiness for the rest of eternity, Jackhammer.

Hmm...that's a good one. What does make a character lovable. I don't necessarily think it's his/her looks, so much. Look at some of the old games, where one could only see fifty or so pixels that defined a character, big blocky things, where one could just really only determine different characters from different games, by the colors chosen for them. Yet, some of those old games I have loved. I'm a huge fan of SQ, and I find Roger Wilco to be a great, and lovable character.

Perhaps it's because I frew up with these games. But I think it has to do with the fact that Roger himself, while seemingly inept (I mean you start out as a Janitor and end up as one), suprisingly is thrown in situations where "he" uses his own ingenuity to save the universe, and he's just the average joe. It could be that, alone that makes him such a great character.

Look at Manny, in Grim Fandango, he was just an average guy down on his luck. You could relate to him. But we should keep things in perspective. We could only love the characters, because while yes they are most of the time average, they are seemingly one of the most normal characters in the game (Note this does not apply to all games, take The Longest Journey, several characters in that are "normal"). It's because they are the most normal, that they can provide a genuine reaction to zanyness (even if they join along).

So you must show that they are really human, a love interest it a good plot device to show this. It's an emotion most people have felt. The desire for a partner in life, a shared interest.

Also, I think that expression of the characters face can make the character more lovable. One of the things I enjoyed in MI3 that I think MI4 didn't do so well (well, just one of the things, as I could probably make a whole list a couple pages long), was that in the third one Guybrush had some facial expressions that were downright funny, and also allowed the player to kind of see what his reaction's were to everything.

While we can't relate to a zombie pirate out for our soul, I think it's safe to say that we can, most of us, relate to wanting to achieve something, and yes there are a lot of us who want to become pirates. So the character must have some motive in life, Leisure Suit Larry's motive was to get laid, something most guys can relate to.

So yes, it all boils down to what the character can show you, that people have a common bond with. Of course, great writing can't hurt, but that's part of it.

-MillsJROSS

[Minimi]

I think a lovable character would be definatley have to be a penguin. And the name should begin with a cute name like Puddy... that would definatley rock!

Luckily, I found somewhere a game with a penguin called Puddy!

[Femme Stab Mode >:D]

Ooh yeah, good subject!

Here I go:

Imperfection
Personality
Character reactions and interactions( they should be believable), make your characters react instead of describe, for example not "it's a big elephant" but "wow! an elephant? here?"

Just the short, hurried basics.

[DGMacphee]

Naranjas wrote this one:

http://www.sylpher.com/novomestro/blargh.htm

It's one of the best papers to read on the topic of emotive responses in interactive fiction.

[Yufster - Enemy Computers]

Oh man, I had something so interesting and profound to say, but this Monitor  blurs every time I scroll down the thread and it's given me a headache and I can't remember and my eyes are going to explode and I can't stop thinking of the sound of shrieking metal and in the back of my head all the time is this constant screaming voice, and it screams, DELL MONITOR! DELL! DELL! TECHNOLOGY BY PHILIPS DELL MONITOR!!!! OPTIPLEX!!!

...Hello? Where am I?

(I think what I was trying to say had something to do with imperfection being the coolest thing ever, and how much I get a kick out of seeing characters sulking like five year olds because they don't get their way)

[Barcik]

For me, the most important thing is to avoid cliches. I don't want no stupid blone cheerleaders, or small geeks with huge glasses. That's why I fond DOTT's characters quite annoying. I want a someone who has a complex personality, like Manny.

And I'm all with you about imperfection.

[Raggit]

I think it has to do with character depth. You want a character rich with personality -- a believable character.

What do you mean, 'fall in love with'. Literally?

No, not literally, but rather a character people can like and relate to.

[Privateer Puddin']

soo deliciously evil, you couldnt help but love him

[Eggie]

For a character to be lovable they must be real.

People love Kevin the teenager and Edd, Ed and Eddy; not because they're wonderful examples of humanity but because they do things that the audience did (or do) as teenagers.
People love the guys from he office because most of them have known these people and perhaps ARE these people.

Well...That's my opinion...

[Bluke4x4]

Here's what I think. I think that most people (i.e. people nothing like me) find a funny personality, complex pasts, and non-stereotypical personalities very charming to the plot of the game. I, of course, don't think that much so. I'd give a stereotypically nerdy evil zombie as a main character in a game much more than a wide-eyed lovable. Zombies are what the people want, my peers, zombies!!  

[Kairus]

I really hadn't thought much about this before, but now I believe you're true about imperfection.

For example, Duke Nukem and Lara Kroft are nice characters, but they're not the kind of characters you can relate to and personally I didn't enjoy playing as any of them like I enjoyed playing the role of Guybrush. They are just perfect, one is a perfect macho with big guns picking all girls up and kicking all aliens butts, the other was a rich girl that kicked all bad guys asses as if it was stealing a candy from a baby. See? Those are not characters you can feel a bond with. In real life we generally are not able to kick all bad guys' asses. In fact, we generally feel impotent in front of many situations, a character that doesn't have this flaws is a character which you cannot link to.

Instead, Guybrush was a lame guy which just wanted to be a pirate, without having any of the skills a pirate should have. Larry Laffer is awful at picking up girls. The three characters of DOTT were different kinds of freekies. All those share the property of not being perfect, and helping them undertake difficult tasks makes you believe you can do it, too, and so you feel you evolve as the same time as they do.

Perfect characters, take James Bond for example, are the ones you can wish to be, but you are not, you can dream of saving the world like him, but it would be impossible. Lovable characters generally are in the same (or lower) condition than yours, and make you believe you can save the world just like they do.

On the other hand, there are some other lovable characters that don't share this property, for example Indy, which is much more perfect than the others. It's up to you to consider if you love him or not, but I think he's quite a cool character.

[timh_009]

Indy is loveable because he isn't always the macho man that duke nukem is. Indy is cool but he is just out of his league. So instead of killing a few baddies leaping off a cliff and swimming to a waiting seaplane with perfect poise like lara croft he is struggling and barely makes it. like Jackie chan he makes it almost comedic. Jet Li just fights and he kills everyone, they never stood a chance. Jackie Chan is always ducking and diving so he is just out of harms way. like he says "I don't want no trouble". loveable characters don't want to fight or get into any trouble whereas duke and lara love to kick ass. Don't get me wrong Lara kicking ass is cool aswell.  

[SSH]

People love Kevin the teenager and Edd, Ed and Eddy; not because they're wonderful examples of humanity but because they do things that the audience did (or do) as teenagers.

Do people love Kevin the teenager and Ed edd and Eddy? I hate them!

[Gemmalah]

when i first read this thread i thought you meant along the lines of bunnies small children and other big eyed cuteness :o

but it did remind me of George in Broken Sword, i thought he was great, he told us all about his life though what he discribed things. For example a cookie is not just chocolate chip, but the way his grandma used to make. We all renember things like that.

Also i found simon the sourcer quite lovable, the vioce is a big part of the personality in game with sound he reminded me of someone. Also he says exactly what you are thinking, weather it be witty or just plain rude! be prepared to take the micky out of your own game. we also see him slapped about alot, the expessions and comments about this are priceless. A good schocked face is essential.

Just like we love the small child who slaps a fat womans belly to see it wobble or the charming little one who points out every little fault.

hope this helps, gemmalah!

[rodekill]

Well, if I go by response to my games, then people love characters that are either really, really stupid, or really, really evil.