"What the XXX!" is the key to success – Japanese Manga 101 – #006 Character development 2
20/02/2015
5 min read
We talked about exaggerating by using the phrase “The World’s Most…” to the character. We had many ideas sent to us via facebook, so lets take a look.
The world’s craziest person
The world’s most oblivious (but definitely not snobbish) heart throb
They are both good starting points!
What would the world’s most craziest person do? What would the world’s most oblivious person not care, that would cause troubles? Lots of interesting ideas!
Try to put them in an actual scene! “How would they wake up in the morning?”, “What and how would they like to eat?”, and so on. And think, how they would react! Lots of exciting episodes to be made from there.
The world’s most Stupid person
It’s a little vague, but a good start!
Many heroes in successful manga hits have a degree of “the worlds biggest idiots” elements to them. He may seem like an idiot most of the time, but has the guts to risk his life when his friends are in danger, while fighting an opponent which seems just absolutely unbeatble! Those things may be stupid to normal people, but a great charm point possessed by the heroes.
The world’s most handsome, but unluckiest with women
Wonderful idea!
See how putting two contradicting personalities in one sentence, really deepens the charmpoint of the character. ”The world’s most handsom man” is charming enough, but combining that with “the unluckiest with women” makes the reader want to find out more about him.
To create the element of surprise in a character, we combine two elements like this:
“Worlds most… ” BUT “…”
For example…
Baddest student, BUT a novice basketball player
Fastest driver, BUT a school boy with no license
Most adventurous, BUT an intelligent professor
Greatest detective, BUT never leaves home
Combining contradicting, or otherwise surprising elements together creates a character the readers is eager to find out about. This is the power of the element of Surprise, that create that character your reader just must meet every week!
When developing characters, combine two elements that would cause elements of surprise to the character.
You can create many episodes which you can use to create the story line!
Come up with ideas, send them to us via facebook, for further advice!
GOT IT!?
In the next episode, we will talk about Sympathy, the factor that makes your reader feel like you’re being part of the story line.
See you next time!




This, is the element of Surprise!






