How do you create a mentor character?

I wasn't going to put a mentor figure on my story but. I think I got inspired for Iroh from Avatar The last airbender.

And Wow he is really wise. He might be fictional but I think he is someone I would actually seek for advice in Real Life if he actually existed!.

I loved how he could understand people deeply and make others better not just his protege. I loved the fact that even his "enemies" seeked his advice.

I have zero experience on creating mentors, what would you advice me?

Uhm, what exactly are you going for? Iroh is different from Obi Wan Kenobi who is different from Dumbledore. I would create a mentor like I would any other character and use that to figure out their mentoring style.

I guess just... treat them like any other character. Don't have them exist solely for the benefit of your plot or your protagonist; give them their own lives, pasts, motives, etcetera.

edited 5th Nov '12 2:07:12 AM by LoniJay

Consider;

• What they're teaching the character.
• Why they're teaching the character.
• Who taught them.
• Where they came from (and what their goals are).

Plan all of these out, even if you don't intend to reveal them (this is a good rule for all writing). You can always retcon what you don't.

I'll add on to the above 4, which I think are excellent advice.

Now, you also need to figure out what kind of mentor they are. If you wish to use tropes or consultant examples, do that. It's not mandatory, but creative tools like that are ones I know. You should do whatever you feel comfortable.

You'll also want to consider is how do their teachings influence others. How are their teachings judged by outside eyes? Why are they judged as that? Do their beliefs have merit or not? And so on.

Also, research. You can't just write a wise character, they have to have actual wisdom which, well, has to come from you as writer. You have to have beliefs to which they adhere & reasons behind it. Also, avoid making a complete Expy. Use their elements as inspiration, but make the character your own.

I'll illustrate what you can create from using these principles. Like you, I am inspired by character Iroh and includes a mentor whose role is heavily influenced. In my case, he is made the protagonist's grandfather. I researched other mentors & characters in general (plus other stuff like psychology, but I digress), sometimes even imagining older versions of characters in mentor role & how they might appear. Working with Iroh alone, one thing I did was strip the tropes down. Character sheets really help that out, plus reflection.

Here are tropes I enjoyed and stripped: Bunny-Ears Lawyer, Chivalrous Pervert, Eccentric Mentor, Obfuscating Stupidity, Older Sidekick

Always remember the tropes are tools for your usage. Consider the motivations behind this and all the above. I'll quote

So from there I took those traits and figured out how I could use them while making own. Here are is example and results, remembering this character is inspired by Iroh.

Now, his more goofy elements are results of being an Eccentric Mentor who doesn't like to take life too seriously and just live a long, peaceful life. They also hold a nihilistic POV that all viewpoints are just pretext for what people consider acceptable & no true good or evil, making them dislike picking sides. This belief is what's influenced life, from being a Chessmaster Sidekick in past who claims they were Only in It for the Money (for their retirement fund) to being a Renowned Selective Mentor who generally doesn't like imparting teachings on how to be The Chessmaster & Social Expert because of fear damage Deceptive Disciples & A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil could do. He's only willing to take risk on a case to case basis, such as the protagonist - his granddaughter, and to pull Neutral No Longer if an opposing side offends him enough.

All that I got from using inspiration of Iroh. Again, strip away what you want and make it into your own!

Finally, I'll leave you with this. It's for characters in general. Consider this when inventing a character:

What does the character do? Why do they do it? What is their past? What is their reputation & why? What stereotypes & character tropes do they fit/how do they interact with this? Who are they around & their feelings to them? What are their habits & patterns? Talents & abilities? Tastes and preferences? Appearance?

I wish you the best of luck in your writing! I hope all of this was a help!

edited 27th Nov '12 4:22:22 AM by Prime_of_Perfection

To add to the great posts above me, I would say that an important aspect of a mentor, as far as their conception goes is for them to be a representation of what the main character wants to be or could be. Whether that be a physical trait with their power or a mental trait with their wisdom, I always felt that in some form the protagonist strived to become and eventually become more like their mentor.

Thinking back to Star Wars with Luke and Obi-Wan, Obi-wan was essentially shown to be what a jedi knight was like and the potential for what Luke could be like if he sharped himself with The Force. When you see Luke grow throughout the movies, you get the feeling that somewhere down the like, ol' Obi-Wan Kenobi was like this at some point. Heck, he even confirms this in The Empire Strikes Back when he talks to Yoda.

Think about what the main character is lacking both physically and mentally and embody this within their mentor.