The "Who Dunnit" Characterization Test

This is an experimental characterization test that I created for myself in order to see whether or not some of my characters were flat or merely a shallow plot device.

The rules are simple: assume that your story has a massive mystery (it doesn't have to actually be a mystery) and that there is a mysterious figure with a Secret Identity. Like, in a murder mystery, the goal is to uncover the identity of the killer based on the clues given by the author. Again, there doesn't have to be any actual crime committed, or any mystery at all within the story. The object of this test is to think of as many subtle ways you could flesh your character out to be more three-dimensional.

For example, assume that X character (whether it be The Hero, The Villain, The Love Interest, The Mentor, or a One-Scene Wonder) is the mystery person. How would you fairly set up the audience to piece together who it was before the final reveal? How would you slowly make it clear to the audience that "this character is the mysterious party" without actually telling them and based solely on clues which stem from their characterization?

You could indicate early on that your protagonist likes a certain genre of music and then, in a future scene, another character notices a smashed musical instrument (which, you leave unrevealed to your audience until the end, is an instrument most commonly found in the type of music your protagonist likes).

You could state that your opponent once had a bad experience being locked in a barrel as a child, and another character notices that the mystery person hated the idea of hiding in a box to ambush the an enemy.

Really, the idea is to think of as many ways as possible that you could allude to your character without flat out giving it away. The theory is that the more subtle you can make it, while still giving lots of information about the character's identity, the personality your character can exhibit. About ten or more would be sufficient, but as many as you can give would be going above and beyond.

I came up with this idea when I realized that my protagonist largely failed this test. He was basically bland—his purpose was to be The Hero, and nothing else. I'm working on giving him some better traits that would help him have more of a rounded personality.

edited 12th Sep '11 1:28:30 PM by KingZeal

Interesting, but this only seems to work for a character's surface traits—their likes and dislikes and such—rather than the real meat of their personality. For instance, while it would be easy to work in that Bolko rolls his own cigarettes, it would be harder to incorporate the fact that Bolko is easygoing and tends to mediate disagreements.

True enough, but if that's plot relevant, then that would come out within the story already.

My main issue is that I'm having a hard time making my protagonist have personality outside of what he does in the plot. I mean, don't get me wrong, his personality comes through in the plot just fine...but even as the writer, I find him a bit stale.