Before we delve into today’s topic, go read the impetus for this post over here at my friend Looking For Socks’ blog.

Back? Ok, good. Let’s move forward.

Every good character needs a flaw. By that rather broad and sweeping generalization, it can be assumed that every good character ever created has actually had a flaw. I would argue that this is true, with the possible exception of Superman who is good and pure by his very nature. (Yes, I’m an even bigger Superman fanboy than I am a WoW fanboy. Don’t hate me.) Let’s look at a few well-known protagonists and determine where their faults lie.

Luke Skywalker – Everyone knows Luke Skywalker of Star Wars fame. A simple farmer raised by his aunt & uncle on a desolate planet, his father became the Empire’s juggernaut Darth Vader. That, in and of itself, could be considered a flaw. If the father could become so corrupted by the power of the Dark Side, why couldn’t the son? He was also less than eager to fully learn the powers of the Force without the help of his mentor Obi Wan Kenobi. Once he becomes a Jedi, he goes on to kick ass, take names and ultimately free the rebel Alliance from the clutches of the Empire.

Harry Potter – One of the world’s newest yet most well-known child magicians, his flaws were being cursed as an infant by Voldermort and not having a proper upbringing from his mage parents. Instead, he, like Luke, was raised by his aunt & uncle, though they were far less loving than Luke’s. Harry, however, had multiple mentors on his path to vanquishing the evil Voldermort while attending Hogwarts. Though it can be argued that Dumbledore was the primary mentor to Harry in a more official capacity, the presence of characters such as Ron, Hermione & Hagrid shouldn’t be overlooked as they all also helped Harry along his path by helping him to overcome obstacles, both internal & external.

Frodo Baggins – There’s little doubt that Tolkien is the godfather of the fantasy genre and that Frodo was the archetype for many great heroes of literature. His quest to dispose of the ring was thrust upon him and he often thought himself incapable of completing the objective. This is one flaw. But, in my mind, I always thought of the ring’s influence over Frodo as his biggest flaw, even if it was by an outside source and not compeltely internal. These flaws were also overcome with the help of mentors, namely in the forms of Gandalf and Samwise Gamgee. Sure, the other characters in the LotR trilogy certainly helped Frodo, but none moreso than those two.

The point of this is to show that every great character has flaws. If we design our characters in such a way as to be utterly unstoppable and carrying an “I Win” button, things become boring far too quickly, both for the player and for others interacting with them. Flaws are what give us that human element in our roleplaying that oftentimes gets overlooked. Sometimes these flaws are apparent in our character’s backstories. Sometimes they’re brought upon these characters by someone else. Either way, they need to be recognized as we flesh out our characters. While they may never be totally overcome (or new ones are introduced), they keep things fresh and provide a dramatic element to the roleplaying as a whole, while avoiding the dreaded vampire catgirl RP often seen in the bordello known as Goldshire.

For further reference, check out The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. Or, for a quick down & dirty synopsis, read this relevant posting here about character creation and apply it to your character’s RP.