Everyone Has a Weakness

Characters. I've mentioned before that I love them, that they are the key to my fiction. You all also know that blew off everything else to drool over and enjoy Wolverine on Friday. I'm not braggin', just sayin'.

But it got me to thinking. One thing that makes Wolverine so popular is, I think, not his own powers or invulnerabilities, but those things he is vulnerable to.

I remember once telling my husband that a character he was playing with was "too perfect". He was the best at this and that and the other, couldn't be killed, yadda yadda yadda. I explained that people didn't find characters like that appealing. People like to see characters that can fight the odds to success, that have weaknesses, failings, things they don't do well. Who can identify with perfection?

And its those bits of identification either with features of our own or features we wish we have that enable us to really like a character on screen or on paper, allowing ourselves to imagine ourselves in a similar situation. Too perfect, too flawless, too invulnerable - what do we have in common?

So, what about Wolverine can we identify? I mean, he has long claws of a mythical metal that he can slide in and out of his fists at will. Most of us don't have that. And he can heal from almost all physical damage, even brain damage. We can't do that. And his skeleton is infused with that same mythical metal (due to a very painful process) - and that's not really something that's common.

But he does have characteristics we can understand. For instance, he cares about people and people who care about people can have their fears for those they love used - and can be healed by that love. He's short tempered and his strong emotions can blind him to the big picture and lead him to do things he might not be proud of if he were calm. He can make poor decisions like anyone else. He can (and is) manipulated and outsmarted by others. He can feel pain, both physical and emotional.

And even his superpowers can be identified with to an extent. He is resilient and many of us are as well. We can survive things that might kill another.

Understanding and acknowledging those vulnerabilities makes him more lifelike, more believable, more appealing than if he were perfect. I have two characters that are too close to perfect in my newest novel. That's leavened, to an extent, because they are each others' weakness, but I would do myself a favor by adding to their disadvantages during my next rewrite.

So, when you're writing a character or dreaming of your perfect novel, remember that someone who's good at everything, who always makes the right decision, who never misunderstands someone or makes a mistake may seem like the "perfect" protagonist, but really, he or she is really missing a few "perfect" features. You know, like kryptonite. Tomorrow, I might talk about Edward from Twilight.