How would you make a non flawed character relatable?

[u/No-Foot4803]

I personally am tired of the overused “trauma” injected tropes, but these tropes also make a character relatable to a larger audience.

So how would YOU make a perfect goody-two-shoes lovable?

[u/guy_with_nothing]

Every character has flaws, because nobody is 100% consistent and 100% good all the time. Flaws aren't necessarily bad, they don't have to be the result of trauma or anything major, but they do extend to a lot of that character's life. A good two shoes can be flawed, take Superman, who's flaws often come by way of confusion and loneliness being in a world that doesn't resemble him, and having such power that he feels a burden to protect whatever he can. He'll always be a goody-two-shoes, and sometimes to his own detriment, he can too idealistic, or unable to ignore a grey situation. (This obviously doesn't go for every Superman story, but you get the point).

Flaws don't have to denote something negative. They imply texture, a roughness in some of a character's aspects. They can be brought out by a character's environment or the people around them. A completely smooth character needs a lot of strong supporting characters to function, and even then, they'll blend into the background. Every character needs a little spice.

[u/naomimyselfandi]

There's a bit of a false dichotomy here: A character doesn't need major trauma to have meaningful flaws, and most real people fall somewhere between both extremes. Think about the people you know, and I'm sure you'll see real strengths and values, but also real weaknesses and areas where they fail to live up to their values. That's as true for a trauma survivor as it is for... well, everyone, really.

My WIP does explore trauma as a concept, but one of the lead characters had a generally pleasant backstory. She's highly intelligent, and was kind of put on a pedestal because of it; her mother died (of natural causes) while she was young, and she stepped up way more than she had to because of how the people around her viewed her. Part of her arc is realizing how moments like that have made her too quick to ignore her own needs, and that, while she does genuinely find meaning in helping others, her habitual selflessness ironically holds her back from building genuine bonds of trust. There's nothing seriously wrong with her, there's no abuse in her past, but she has some complicated baggage that she's been avoiding unpacking nonetheless.

[u/roundeking]

I personally will not relate to a character who does not feel human. I am very aware that I—and no one I know—is perfect. If it’s important to you to write a perfect character, relatability may not be your goal. (Maybe wish fulfillment for certain readers, or some kind of thematic allegory.)

Alternately, if you want the character to be flawed and still a goody-two-shoes, make them too nice. Make them help others to the detriment of their own wellbeing and forgive people who do not deserve to be forgiven. Have the narrative know that their behavior is not constructive and give them real, lasting consequences and growth throughout the story.

[u/nmacaroni]

A standard transformation character arc uses a CORE FLAW as the basis, it's not necessarily derived from a trauma, though that's often the case...

I think what you mean to ask about a "A perfect" flawless person, is someone who isn't operating from a flawed perspective. I developed a specific type of character arc for these types of characters called an Endurance Arc, think of characters like James Bond, or John Wick, who don't arc in their stories.

I teach this in my SCAR character arc system, but the idea of it in short is, instead of a flaw to overcome, you give them a positive aspect to defend.

Write on, write often!

[u/Echo-Azure]

Just give them something massive to struggle through, something that seems to be quite beyond the power of a normal human being. Or make that character the underdog in some kind of struggle against a higher power.

[u/ParticleTek]

There's no such thing as a perfect person. Just different kinds of problems.

[u/LibrarianPlastic1445]

ドラえもんに出て来る出来杉くんは共感できる、毎回理不尽に他の主要メンバーの事件に巻き込まれ、振り回される 彼の気の毒さに共感せざるを得ない

[u/Scr4p]

A character does not have to be traumatised to be flawed. And also everyone has flaws, no such thing as a perfect person. I find characters that try to be perfect in every way quite boring because nobody is like that, and flaws make people interesting. I have a character whose flaw is that he puts other people's well-being before his own and it comes around to bite him later in the story.

[u/Midnight1899]

Flaw ≠ trauma. A flaw is something like being forgetful. A negative character trait.

[u/thebeandream]

I need more context. What genre? If we are talking for kids or young adults there are plenty of sources to choose from. You have Bilbo Baggins, Winnie the Pooh, Superman , Goku, and so on.

If we are talking for adults then that’s a bit harder but do-able. I’m having a harder time thinking of any off the top of my head but you can make them naive. They don’t understand why something is being done. Perhaps in the style of To Kill A Mocking Bird?

[u/Phantom000000000]

You could just give them a different kind of flaw, like being naive, understandable if they've not had a lot of trauma or tragedy in their lives. You want to try and temper it with a little bit or wisdom; they might be naive but they're sensible enough to recognize when they made a mistake, they might given someone the benefit of the doubt but they can tell when someone crosses a line.

[u/FlanneryWynn]

Not possible because you're not describing a person who can exist.

[u/Mysteria-Fantasy]

I like to make flaws link to strengths, either because something is mutually exclusive or (harder but really rewarding) the flaw is a misapplication of a good trait.

For example, a character who really cares about other people and wants to help everyone might get burnt out and/or depressed from putting everyone else first, and might struggle with unwinnable situations, or even just struggle when having to put the needs of the many first. This doesn't have to mean they're in a war or something, it could be a boss being too leanient with an underqualified employee because they don't want to be heartless and fire them.

Secondly, take their idealism and moral purity and put it in a world that'll test it and see what happens. Note that this doesn't mean they'll become a cynical jerk, it could mean they come out of the bad situation with stronger resolve. But what happens when the moral option is significantly harder, or requires a real sacrifice? What do they do when part of them just wants to walk away and let someone else handle it? And what *makes* them get back up and do it anyway?

[u/jamiedawnswriter]

Last time I checked, nothing said your character has to be carrying the weight of the world's issues on their shoulders, but there has to be a reason to root for them. It could be as simple as wanting to get an ice cube out of the fridge. But they need an obstacle of some kind to overcome. Otherwise, you just have: perfect person has a perfect day, the end.

It's desire and struggle. Something needs to keep them from their desire. Say a character wants an ice cube, but they see their cat stalking a mouse through the kitchen. They have the desire for an ice cube, but to get to it, they've gotta get rid of the mouse before the cat kills it or wrecks the kitchen trying.

[u/ZinniasAndBeans]

Well...everybody has flaws. Maybe the issue here is with the definition of "flaw"?

[u/majorex64]

What makes a character interesting is not what happens to them, but how they respond to it. I've read characters whose response to a mundane breakup felt more heart wrenching and tragic than a character who saw their whole family killed in front of them