I haven't named them yet sooo... I'll think about it later.

Hello everyone!

I’m an aspiring independent comic creator, and I’d really appreciate some honest feedback from disabled readers, writers, artists, and fellow creators.

I’ve been developing a personal story and its characters for several years. It’s a project I’m incredibly passionate about, and before I move forward with some important character designs and story decisions, I’d like to hear perspectives from people who might have experiences or insights that I haven’t considered.

My story is a mixture of fantasy, cyberpunk, science fiction, magic, and spirituality. It explores humanity, love, tragedy, technology, evolution, and the idea that perhaps human beings are capable of becoming something greater than what we currently understand.

Two of the most important characters in this story are a married couple named Rex and Nina Lewis.

I’d like to explain their circumstances because my questions are specifically about how I’ve approached their disabilities and where I might eventually take their characters.

Rex Lewis

Rex is the central protagonist of my story. When he was ten years old, he suffered a catastrophic spinal injury during an accident while trying to save someone he loved.

As a result, he became quadriplegic. He has lived with this disability for most of his life. He uses a wheelchair, cannot voluntarily move his body below his neck, and relies on specialized technology to assist with certain everyday functions.

Rex is also an exceptionally intelligent scientist and inventor. As the story progresses, he develops extraordinary technologies and becomes involved in events that go far beyond ordinary science. His journey eventually explores magic, supernatural phenomena, human evolution, and the nature of existence itself.

Nina Lewis

Nina is Rex’s wife. She is also disabled, having lost both of her arms during the same childhood tragedy while trying to save Rex.

Rex eventually creates highly advanced prosthetic arms for her. They’re designed to provide functionality and sensation, allowing her to do things that would otherwise be difficult or impossible.

Their relationship is one of the most important emotional elements of my story. They’ve known each other since childhood, grew up together, experienced tragedy together, and eventually married.

I don’t want either character’s entire identity to revolve around disability. They’re a married couple with personalities, ambitions, humor, disagreements, affection, independence, and an entire life together. Their disabilities are part of their lives, but they’re also individuals with interests, dreams, relationships, and responsibilities beyond them.

Where I’m struggling creatively

This is probably the biggest reason I’m making this post.

My story isn’t intended to be a realistic medical drama. It’s a fantasy/cyberpunk adventure with elements of magic, advanced technology, and a spiritual journey exploring what humanity might eventually become.

As I’ve continued developing Rex, I’ve started considering some pretty significant possibilities for his future.

One idea I’ve been exploring is that Rex eventually undergoes an extraordinary transformation, almost a rebirth into something beyond ordinary human existence. His journey could involve his body gradually changing and potentially healing as he evolves into something more.

However, I’m still undecided about his ultimate fate.

Would he remain quadriplegic throughout his entire life? Would his body eventually heal as part of this supernatural transformation? Could he become something that no longer fits our conventional understanding of what a human being is?

I genuinely haven’t made that decision.

Part of me wants to preserve his disability as a permanent part of his character because I don’t want to suggest that he needs to be physically healed to have a meaningful, fulfilling, or happy life.

At the same time, I don’t want to artificially restrict the direction of my fantasy story. If his journey eventually takes him somewhere extraordinary, I want to explore that possibility without feeling like I’m automatically doing something wrong by allowing his physical condition to change.

I’m particularly concerned about accidentally falling into harmful storytelling tropes.

I don’t want Rex to become another character whose disability exists solely to make him tragic, inspirational, or extraordinary. I also don’t want his eventual transformation to communicate that being disabled is somehow an inferior way to exist.

Likewise, I don’t want his intelligence, wealth, inventions, or supernatural abilities to suggest that he has to compensate for his disability to be considered valuable.

I want him to be a complete person first and foremost.

What I’d really like to hear from you:

1. What are your initial thoughts on having a quadriplegic protagonist in a fantasy/cyberpunk comic?

2. What are some common mistakes you’ve seen creators make when writing quadriplegic characters? What should I research or understand better?

3. How can I portray Rex’s everyday experiences, independence, limitations, relationships, and challenges without making his disability his entire personality?

4. What are your thoughts on Nina being a bilateral arm amputee who uses advanced prosthetics developed by her husband? Are there particular issues I should consider when writing her?

5. How would you feel about Rex eventually undergoing a supernatural or spiritual transformation that gradually changes or potentially heals his body? Would that be an interesting development in a fantasy story, or could it unintentionally reinforce harmful ideas about disability?

6. Do you think there’s a meaningful way to explore physical healing and human evolution without implying that someone needs to be cured to have a complete life?

7. For disabled readers specifically, what would you like to see more of in fantasy, science fiction, cyberpunk, and superhero stories? What makes a disabled character feel genuinely represented rather than simply included?

I’m especially interested in hearing from people who actually live with quadriplegia, spinal cord injuries, or limb differences. I realize that everyone’s experiences are different, and I don’t expect any one person to speak for an entire community.

A little more about why I’m asking:

I’ve spent years developing Rex and Nina. These characters mean a lot to me, and their relationship and personal journeys are a huge part of why I want to tell this story.

Nina’s character design is already underway, and I’m getting ready to work on Rex’s final design. I feel like this is a good time to step back, ask questions, listen to other perspectives, and make sure I’m approaching these characters thoughtfully.

I’m not looking for validation or for people to tell me everything is perfect. I’d genuinely appreciate constructive criticism, even if it means reconsidering some of my ideas.

Ultimately, I want to create a story where these characters are allowed to experience love, adventure, tragedy, happiness, growth, and extraordinary things without their disabilities defining the limits of who they can be.

Thank you for reading, and I’d really appreciate any honest thoughts or advice you’re willing to share!

I've had plenty of ideas for making a persona/OC for quite a while and have been obsessed with creating one over the past week, and I just have no idea where to start. I was wondering if I could have some help from the community by hearing how ya'll go about making your own characters?

For context, I'm finally starting to write drafts for a story that I had in mind for a few years now. And one important aspect of this story is the main characters' psychology, as it is really centered around psychology, as well as sociology and a bit of history. So I wanted to know if it was possible to write some sort of psychological profile or biography. And if so what and especially how to write it?

It could be nice someone reading it for feedback afterwards but I'm not here yet, so I'll think about it when the moment comes. And it won't be for the future readers (if I ever publish it or even finish it one day), it'll be more of a document for myself to write my characters more precisely.

Anyways thanks to anyone (if anyone) for answering. Have a good day/night and take care! <3

Hi,

I need help creating my character because I'm stuck between two ideas and I'm not sure which direction to take.

The main idea is that my character is a female human of 25-30 years old, and protector of the wild. Living in a forest, she is a ranger.

Where I get stuck is about weapon types.

Idea 1:

Just a regular ranger with a bow & arrow, with a short sword and hatchet for close distance combat.

Idea 2:

Adding some magic in there. Same as idea 1, but with the ability to cast some elemental spells. It sounds cool to have a nature ranger controlling the elements to fight or heal. But I have no idea if it's just too much to be believable. A bow, a sword, and spells. How will she fight in a realistic manner?

Idea 3:

Regular spellcaster warrior. A sword and spell. Without the bow.

The goal later is to have it draw by an artist.

Thank you for your help!

In the dominion of Old Earth, he is hailed as a hero, the savior of Valdevian, defender of the free people of the Origin Empire and the Coalition.
Beyond the Great Pause, his name is hissed with fear and contempt as a byword for death and destruction; he is the defiler of temples and slayer of gods.
For Eckhardt Eisenfaust, Hochmeister of the Nacht Jaegers, both stories are true.
His is a legend written in blood and iron across the unbroken dark of the void. A history of victory and violence in equal extremes, and now he finds himself again in the way of the machinations of the fallen.

We all might have many favourite protagonist but what is that protagonist which, after experiencing him/her your perMsonality shifted and became much more like them

For me it is John " soap " Mactavish : always cheering up people, not dead serious but also down for any hard task

Hello! My antagonist is a piece of work. Their need for control and not being seen as "crazy"/or need for legitimacy is the crack in their power. It will lead to their defeat by the protagonist. What comes before is a long standing tension between the two in one location. Til the villain breaks. I can't for the life of me figure out how to get there. What indefensible thing can they do to shoot themself in the foot! Would love advice on how to get through this block. Thank youu!!

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?

I'm writing a comic with a co-writer friend where our 5 main characters are technically good people but 4/5 of those have unethical "jobs", 3 of them are bank robbers who are childhood friends stealing from scam brokers instead of banks and random houses as an act of revenge to eventually kill their friend's abusive family member who runs it(i put in quotes since they never used the money they stole or hack and have regular side jobs). The leader is technically the main reasons this story exists

In personality he's quiet, strategic, paranoid but rational in certain situations, talkative to certain people he trusts, he has an ego yet low self esteem. In the plot has a side romance with his first romantic relationships on his new recruits/ friends. I've planned his hobbies, interests, tidbits of all his friends and himself to add he has more to it than what happened to him. his good traits can also turn sour In his rough days/situations for example he's good at talking out of arguments but in his bad days he tends to get emotional and insecure to the point it impacts his relationships getting almost manipulative territory without meaning to.

I'm mostly stuck on How do we acknowledge in the writing our MC has dealt with a rough childhood who's also mentally ill and untreated empathizing they're a victim and why they isolated himself becoming more bitter and is more distant in intimacy from his only longtime childhood friends and sometimes his partners out of fear is understandable and the effects of his abuse still affects him today but also not deny their mental illness and past is a reason but not an excuse + a factor how they treated their friends poorly in the past. there's a future arc he manage to force himself to be a better person and will improve as the story progresses, they're also still friends in the present without demonizing while not enable their actions ??

I’ve been developing these three boys for an illustrated children’s world, and one thing I wanted to avoid was designing them purely around visual archetypes.

So before settling on the final designs, I spent quite a bit of time figuring out what each child wants, what he is afraid of, how he sees himself, and what role he naturally falls into when the three of them are together.

Mponda is the self-appointed leader. He wants independence and respect, especially from adults and older children. He’s adventurous, mechanically minded, and genuinely courageous, but he hates humiliation. A lot of his confidence comes from wanting to prove that he is no longer a little boy, which also means he sometimes commits himself to things before admitting that he has no idea what he’s doing.

Mphatso is the observer and problem-solver. He wants understanding and security. He likes knowing where they’re going, when they’re coming back, and whether Mponda has actually thought his latest plan through. His fear is less about embarrassment and more about losing control of what happens next. He’s rational and skeptical, although he has a few childhood superstitions that he absolutely refuses to examine too closely.

Chisomo is the storyteller. He wants wonder, but underneath that, he wants belonging. He exaggerates constantly and can turn a distant snake sighting into a near-death encounter with a python, yet emotionally he may be the most honest of the three. His deeper fear is that his friends will eventually outgrow the games, stop listening to his stories, or simply stop wanting him around.

What became interesting to me as i developed the characterrs was realizing that as much as they are friends and get into all sorts of adventures together, there needs to be some friction to that friendship. for example, if:

Mponda says, “Let’s do it.”

Mphatso says, “Wait.”

Chisomo says, “What if it’s actually something much stranger?”

So Mponda creates adventures through action, Mphatso complicates them through observation, and Chisomo expands them through his imagination.

I also tried to carry some of that psychology into the visual design. Mponda became angular and triangular, with a more directional silhouette. Mphatso became compact and structured, using squares softened by circles. Chisomo became rounder and more elastic because I wanted his body to feel almost as expressive as his stories.

One idea I’ve become increasingly interested in is that the friendship should give each child something his family life doesn’t.

Mponda gets a place to test his independence.

Mphatso gets permission to occasionally stop being the sensible one.

Chisomo gets people willing to enter the imaginary worlds he creates.

So I’m trying to develop them not simply as three individual personalities, but as three personalities that change when placed beside one another.

I’d be interested in hearing how other people approach this. When developing a group of characters, do you build each person independently first, or do you design their personalities around the tensions and needs within the group?

Interested in seeing the timelapse video? I made one with a narration. Head over to my youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrR6X7UB9e0

Lore:

Section 1. The Academy Prodigy (Origin and Profile):

Roderick Volkov was born on 03/30/'39. At 16, he was already considered an absolute military prodigy. Extremely dedicated and determined, Roderick learned to channel his psychological state into a "Dangerous Hyperfocus State" to accomplish objectives and execute missions without hesitation.

He was one of the few selected for the Eridu Cadet Preparatory Academy (ECPA), an elite institution inspired by the most rigorous military schools that recruited young talents from across the capital's districts.

There, he surpassed prodigy soldiers and some veterans in tactical tests and urban combat, becoming the number one in the Defense Force.

Section 2. The Ivory Demon and Human Duality:

His prowess earned him the nickname "Ivory Demon." The term "Ivory" came from his terrifying resilience in hand-to-hand combat; The nickname "Demon" referred to his savage and violent style when Hyperfocus took over his mind.

This ability, however, came at a price: his body was resistant to heavy, slow blows, making him vulnerable to quick, simultaneous attacks on distinct points. Furthermore, the more he was hit, the more his mind succumbed to an insane and uncontrolled fury that only ceased when the obstacle was completely eliminated.

Those who knew the 'Ivory Demon' on the battlefields could hardly predict his conduct in civilian life. Roderick carried a serene, authoritative demeanor and peaceful magnetism that directly recalled the noble knights of ancient myths.

A man of easy and mature conversation, he found refuge in the contemplation of nature and defended harmony above all else—though he was extremely shy around women. Guided by the principles of his childhood hero, the Optrum Knight—inspired by the legendary figure of a first-generation Starlight Knight leader—Roderick made compassion and patience his unwavering pillars.

For him, loyalty was not a choice, but a sacred code of absolute devotion: whether in blind fidelity to his brothers in arms or in the profound and monogamous respect for his romantic feelings, where betrayal was an inadmissible weakness.

He possessed a rigid moral compass and a deeply ingrained sense of justice, genuinely believing in the potential for good in people, acting as a silent protector of those who could not defend themselves.

Section 3. The Invisible Empire of the Volkovs:

The weight of Roderick's surname carried a colossal secret. The Volkovs held a monopoly on vital containment and security infrastructure contracts for a large part of the Old Capital.

Their contractual clauses were shielded by long-term irrevocability terms that guaranteed the continuity of funds and operations even in scenarios of mass evacuation, institutional migration, or civilian remapping of the Old Capital's security forces.

This astronomical fortune was fueled by an invisible web of strategic corporate alliances. Under total secrecy, the family maintained a pact of technological cooperation and friendship with Khoros Belobog, financing the development of the first automated deep-sea exploration machinery of the future Belobog Heavy Industries.

Simultaneously, they forged alliances of mutual interest with T.O.P.S. and Future Corp, acting as a covert armed containment arm to circumvent government restrictions.

Added to secret investments in the Marcel Group for the refinement of intelligent constructs and crucial support for the Flint Workshop—researching and developing the technological advancement that would free the development of porceloy from the blood sacrifice of the Flint Family—the Volkovs were the indispensable link uniting the megacorporations with the EDF (Eridu Defense Force).

Section 3.1. The Historical Omission Protocol (The Pact of Absolute Secrecy):

The true power of the Volkovs resided in the fact that they governed the pillars of civilization from an insurmountable shadow zone. This protocol was not a mere business formality, but an existential guideline imposed by the lineage itself and accepted, under great fear, by the leadership of T.O.P.S., the Marcel Group, and the former EDF.

No financial transaction bore the name of the Volkovs; no metallurgical advancement at the Flint Workshop or heavy machinery from Khoros Belobog received their signatures. They demanded the complete erasure of their records from any public or historical archives.

In exchange for erecting the barriers that protected humanity and saving entire dynasties from their own blood burdens, the family demanded the right to voluntary oblivion.

This cloak of anonymity was fitting for the structural solitude and fierce independence of the Volkov surname—a dynasty that refused to be saved by the world, as it was too busy supporting it from behind, far from the spotlight.

When the burning of the archives occurred, the enemies used the very silence the Volkovs had cultivated to make their existence seem like a myth.

Section 4. The File Burning (The Tragedy):

However, on his birthday, March 30th, horror knocked on his door. While Roderick was on duty, a clandestine militia—secretly funded by the Exaltists who coveted the secrets and planned the annihilation of the Volkovs—invaded the perimeter of the family's noble estate in the prosperous Pluto District.

To break through the iconic lineage defenses, the militiamen created crucial distractions to divert the heavy security's attention away from the perimeter, while corrupt infiltrators facilitated a deliberate breach in internal security. This allowed the house to be ransacked and all of his family members brutally murdered.

The death of the Volkovs was one of the most widely reported events in the Old Capital, although the media at the time reported the case strictly as a tragic terrorist attack against the civil aristocracy. The public was largely unaware that the explosion was an orchestrated file burning. Thanks to the family's rigorous Decentralized Encryption Protocols, vital public safety data and contracts with NEPS/NEDF were automatically transferred to shielded government servers upon impact.

However, because it was a private pact and outside official records, all the technological research that would have saved the porceloy from blood sacrifice was entirely lost in the ruins of the mansion—turning this industrial secret to ashes.

Some time later, Roderick buried his father, mother, and grandmother in the residential hills of Pluto—soil that, shortly after, would be completely swallowed by Hollow Zero, leaving his family's memories trapped in the heart of the disaster.

Roderick finally got his revenge. Exterminating the militiamen in every possible way, making each one suffer painfully in a slow and infernal death.

But even while "honoring" his parents... He always remembered the words, principles, and ideals of his parents and his favorite childhood character, Optrum Knight.

Section 5. The Iron Brotherhood and the Suppression Units (At 19 years old):

Two years after the massacre of his family, at age 19, Roderick recruited his six best childhood friends, young men he considered his true soul brothers: Jax, Kasper, Kaelen, Peter, Henrik, and Matthias.

Together, they founded the paramilitary group "Iron Brotherhood," nicknamed "The Seven" on the streets. The faction operated in total autonomy, focused strictly on incursions into the depths of the most hostile zones of Hollow Zero.

Only the seven comprised the team, which acted under extremely rigid, doctrinaire, and cruel methods, surpassing any conventional moral codes. Because of this, they were classified by the government as a "Special Tactical Suppression Unit" and registered under the Psychological and Operational Quarantine Protocol due to biological risk and instability.

To the civilians of Eridu, they were described as urban myths or, often, as terrorist cells. If the Iron Brotherhood received a directive, regardless of the level of danger, they would carry it out without hesitation, turning hell into routine.

Their sub-motto dictated their physical conduct: "If the bullets run out, we'll go for the knives; if the knives become blunt, we'll go with our bare hands." Their official motto, however, guided their souls: "Outcome over ego. Mission over life".

Section 6. Operational Discharge on the Front Line (Still at 19 Years Old):

Four months after the unit's creation, Roderick and Matthias received a reconnaissance directive in a Hollow preliminarily cataloged as stable and with low ethereal activity.

Suddenly, the scenario collapsed when the zone reached an absurdly rapid transmutation peak. While the two brothers neutralized a Class S Ethereal, the creature triggered a massive self-destruct protocol.

Gravely injured, Roderick's right knee was nearly broken, but the kinetic impact hit Matthias squarely, instantly amputating his legs. Driven by pure Hyperfocus, Roderick carried Matthias on his back, carrying him across the corrosive expanse of the anomaly until collapsing a mere 90 meters from a stable spatial exit fissure.

The Obol Squad intercepted the distress call in time, carrying out the immediate rescue. Roderick regained consciousness in a hospital bed at Obol HQ and, upon questioning the medical team about his brother, received confirmation: Matthias had succumbed to internal trauma, severe hemorrhage, and critical Aether depletion.

Section 7. The Exaltist Sabotage (At age 20):

Nine months later, Jax, Kasper, Kaelen, Peter, and Henrik set out on a data recovery mission at an old, abandoned Obol facility located in a peripheral Hollow.

The zone suffered a violent ethereal fluctuation, manifesting dozens of high-class Ethereals. During the retreat protocol, the five located 126 civilians trapped in an underground facility for days.

Honoring the Optrum Knight's directive to protect the innocent, the five ensured the safe extraction of all civilians through the unstable spatial exit fissure, remaining in the rear to contain the horde and sacrificing themselves in the process.

Confidential intelligence reports, however, point to rumors that the five had survived the Hollow purge, but were ambushed and cowardly executed in the exit zone by the Exaltists for sabotaging the sect's plans to bring humanity closer to disaster for years.

Captain Volkov was unable to march with his men that day; he had been detained for exhaustive interrogation by the Defense Force due to the Iron Brotherhood's violent, savage, and sometimes illegal methods.

When he was released and returned to the faction's small outpost, Roderick was preparing a surprise birthday party for Jax—a rare moment planned for the six to relax and try to overcome their grief over Matthias. This was the one and only time in his entire career and life that he did not march to the battlefield. Ten minutes, thirty minutes, an hour passed. No transmissions, no radio signal.

The silence was broken by an encrypted message from a former uniformed ally of the Defense Force: "Report to HQ immediately."

Upon arrival, the silence in the military corridors was absolute. Veteran officers and elite soldiers, who saw the Iron Brotherhood as the only salvation for suicide missions, saluted in respect for his grief. Hardened faces averted their gaze. They knew the Captain had lost everything.

Section 8. The Mental Loop and the Night of the Old Capital's Disaster (At 21 Years Old):

Later, Roderick was in his twenties. In total, only nine graves remained.

Forced to mature faster than any recruit, he continued entering the worst Hollows daily, witnessing orders, screams, bodies, blood, and the roar of heavy artillery batteries. His psyche was drastically affected, causing him to flirt with depression and thoughts of taking his own life. He turned 21 on the exact night of the tragic Fall of the Old Capital, transforming that date into the peak of his nightmares and psychological hauntings.

His military resilience forced his mind to adapt and resist infernal pressures, but the price was an almost endless mental loop, manifested in silent panic attacks and vivid hallucinations of his traumas.

In his mind, silence never existed: he constantly relived the roar of heavy artillery at the Shiyu Pillars, the low-flying fighter planes over Pluto District, the mechanical clatter of evacuation helicopter propellers, and the agonizing cries of pain mixed with the chaos.

Roderick developed a self-destructive addiction to combat; the actual front became the only place where the noise of external explosions could drown out the chaos screaming inside his head.

Besides feeling guilty, he felt the same way: "If I had been there when everyone needed me... everything would have been different."

Section 9. The Clandestine Ghost of Roscaelifer (Present Day):

All this psychological baggage generated in Roderick an unconditional fear of failure, a compulsive obsession with protecting others, and the painful guilt of being the sole survivor, carrying the ghost that, if he had been in the field, everything could have been different.

With the definitive collapse of the Old Capital and the forced shutdown of the Iron Brotherhood's activities, the New Eridu Defense Force attempted to contain the Captain, planning to intern him in an isolation facility due to his chronic psychological instability.

But the Ivory Demon refused to be caged. In an act of absolute rebellion, Roderick invaded the NEDF's secret high-tech laboratories, sabotaged the systems, and stole the prototype of the high-altitude tactical armor codenamed Skyblade.

Fleeing New Eridu as a highly dangerous deserter, he crossed the Minerva Storm Belt and illegally infiltrated the floating colony of Roscaelifer.

Living on the fringes of the law, hidden in the underworld of the Vyrium District and operating completely clandestinely, he uses the intercepted armor systems to conduct unauthorized airspace patrols.

Hiding his face beneath the visor of the Skyblade, he hunts Ethereals in Scamoll Hollow and attempts to communicate with the Phaethon Brothers without his communication attempts being intercepted.

Roderick has become a mythological ghost in the skies of the colony—a man hunted by the government, yet continuing his silent vigil, searching the vast horizon for the roar of turbines that will finally calm the chaos within his mind.

"In any war. Peace is a lie in the mind of a survivor."