Characters are one the most important elements of any story. In transmedia storytelling, they can be critical to overcoming your audience’s resistance to moving from one medium to another. These questions can be used as a guide when creating characters for a transmedia project.
- What classes of characters exist within the storyworld? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- What archetypal characters exist in the storyworld? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Are characters (particularly the protagonist and antagonist) archetypes that are immediately recognizable? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Are the characters used across various stories and media? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Do the characters translate across media or are they best used in one medium? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- How do we find out more about individual characters? (For example, web pages, blogs, Facebook, online dossiers, etc.) (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Are the characters immediately recognizable to both new and committed fans? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Are characters introduced or “reintroduced” to fans? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Is the number of major characters appropriate to the story structure? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Are the characters’ characteristics (physical, social, behavioral, etc.) consistent with the mythos, topos, and ethos of the storyworld? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Is there room for the characters to develop into well-rounded, three-dimensional, unique, flawed personalities? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Do the major characters have clear character arcs (changes – for better or worse – in the characters’ inner nature)? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)
- Are the characters credible? Does each character have a combination of qualities that allows the audience to believe the character would and could do what is done in the story? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)