fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2462 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2462 ⌋

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I am finally here early enough to ask people something fandom related! YESSSS.

Okay, we all know that it's very common in media - mostly games, but somestimes books/anime/etc - for the central POV character to be a Generic Protagonist. They exist to be an audience surrogate, holding no distinctive features of their own so the reader can see them as an inoffensive 'everydude' that they can easily relate with and apply themselves to. I utterly loathe the practice, but they're goddamn everywhere, to varying degrees - Link, Master Chief, Mario, Chrono, fucking nearly every male anime protagonist ever ...

Thing is, what the fuck do you DO with these characters when you're writing fanfiction? They're the central character, so you can't just ignore them, but it's nearly impossible to write a character when they have no actual 'character' to speak of. And if you want to explore things like character relationships and backstories, just writing them as the same bland person isn't going to work.

My first instinct is to use the small hints of personality given in the story and official bio as a starting point and then build an actual character with depth. And I'm happy to do that, because I love that sort of thing. Thing is, once I do that they essentially stop being that Generic Protagonist and become a character of my own making. And would people want to read fanfiction about what is essentially an original character wearing a canon character's skin? (Gross metaphor, I know.)

So yeah, I'd like some advice, even if it's just what you'd rather see as a reader.

Also, if anyone knows a good community/forum/whatever where people still discuss fanfic writing, please let me know.

You use the small hints given in the source material, build a character with depth, and claim it's your headcanon for the character.

This. Depending on the character there might actually be more there than you realize.

For example, Link [from Skyward Sword anyways] you actually get dialogue options for him so you can actually figure out a sort of personality for him beyond "Silent and Brave". Granted, there are three-ish starting points for it, but it's still something.

So it's a lot like what you do with characters who don't actually say much, really.

Oh god I love Skyward!Link's dialogue choices. "Oh, hello again, kweek! I've been hiding out so long my shoulders are stiff." "What shoulders?"

Ahh, headcanons, is there nothing you can't fix? I guess that'd be the best 'disclaimer' for any works I make to let readers know. Thanks!

DA

Idk, as long as you're mostly basing it off of reasonable assumptions of what's in the game and not going waaay off the usual fandom interpretation of the character, I don't see why you'd need to.

My headcanon for Link is that he's is a kind of quiet guy and a loner, though it depends on the game.

It depends on what you're going for with the story, I guess.

There's no real story idea in mind, it was just a general question. Because if I want to do anything with heavy character interaction, like a romance or big dramatic plot or exploring the fallout of in-game events, then I need a groundwork for in-character reactions. Kinda hard to do when a person has no character.

It depends, when it's not the central character's back-story, relationships etc. you actually want to explore -- because, you can't ignore him then, no -- but a side character, there is nothing wrong with putting the central character in the background. These people, usually, don't spend all their time in the company of the central character, so there's nothing wrong with leaving him out.

Besides, the time they don't spend in the central character's presence is what's often unexplored in canon and, to me, seems most interesting to explore.

as for communities: http://wriye.proboards.com/
They're a generic writing community, but have a lot of people who write fanfiction. Most people I've come across are real nice and supportive.

Hah, just had to deal with this with a Baldur's Gate work in progress (Imoen/Dynaheir if anyone's interested). My solution was to name the protagonist "Hero" as a joke and shuffle him off stage into a room with Minsc in the opening paragraphs.

IMNSHO opinion, RPGs come with free license to develop original protagonists using setting lore. For that matter, RPGs often come with free license to go elsewhere in the universe to write original stories.

Edited 2013-09-29 23:45 (UTC)

Late reply, and my only experience there is with Zelda fic, but I used the manga a fair bit for Ocarina Link (where he definitely has a distinct personality!), and went with a personality extrapolated from text choices for Skyward Sword (generally sweet and genuine, but has a snarky side that comes out under stress - like the, "Nice hair", "Am I late?", and, er, "What shoulders?" options). So yeah, things like supporting manga are really useful.

You do end up extrapolating a fair bit, though, yes, and sometimes it can be an OC in a canon character's skin, but so long as it's consistent with canon I actually don't mind too much. Several of my favourite fics have different interpretations of the characters, playing up on different traits, adding newer things in to fill in the gaps, but they're still recognisably those characters. I might read a fic and say, "I love your interpretation of Link!" or something, and even if it's not mine, it's still... Link? The only time I'm not a fan is if the new material blatantly contradicts canon, like interpreting Twilight Princess Link's 'eyes like a beast' comment to go, "He's a violent and bloodthirsty killer!", which SO doesn't fit in with how gentle he is with... everyone but monsters and people who hurt his friends. He's protective, not brutal.

Anyway. From a writing side, it can actually be REALLY fun working out different interpretations yourself! Again, so long as you pay attention to what canon does provide - and with Zelda, at least, the various Links are becoming more and more distinct - then I enjoy playing around with it.

[ SECRET POST #2462 ]

FANFICTION WRITING QUESTION!

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