This is a sequel to the post where I listed bad personality traits and flaws for your characters in any genre. The idea is to make our protagonists and supporting characters more human, especially if we are writing romances or romantic comedies.
That said, any traits can be combined, taken to the extreme and can be used for any genre and character, including your villains and antagonists. And remember, one person’s bad trait is a good one for another. That’s how we get conflicts, baby!
Let’s roll:
- trigger-happy cop/agent
- trigger-happy civilian
- too flirty: the compulsive flirt who can’t stop even if they are in a committed relationship. It’s a reflex that annoys the hell out of their partner. Some of them will even act on it.
- creepy/stalkerish
- with inferiority complex
- with superiority complex: These characters have inferiority complex, but mask it with narcisism.
- indecisive about everything
- petty
- no common sense
- entitled
- constant victim mentality: loves (wrongly) blaming everybody and everything else
- doesn’t know own limits
- doesn’t respect others’ limits
- kissass/ teacher’s pet/boss’ pet
- stuck-up
- square
- not open to new experiences
- too outdoorsy to the point you can’t plan an indoors event
- dances all night vs. never, ever dances even on your birthday
- criticizes anything and everything
- criticizes you constantly
- too pessimistic
- too optimistic
- too realistic
- lives in fantasy world , never leaves vs. doesn’t have a fantasy world: no imagination
- parental issues that prove Freud right
- possessive/controlling
- lazy
- unstable/inconsistent/too unpredictable
- too predictable
- cranky
- too snarky
- too proud vs. no pride
- bad drunk/always high/compulsive gambler/chain smoker
- inarticulate
- unhelpful
- emotionally stunted/immature
- relentless gossip – never says these to the person’s face
- back-stabber/disloyal
- only loyalty themselves
- annoyingly blunt
- no volume control/rowdy
- impersonal
- distant
- cliché-ridden/tacky
- paranoid/conspiracy-theorist
- always anxious without an anxiety disorder
- sponge/mirror: always resembles whoever they are with: mimics their personality
- commitmentphobe vs. addicted to relationships/can’t be alone
- doesn’t respect/give personal space
- too flaky
- horrible at grammar/always uses textese
- glued to TV/smartphone/ipad/computer
- obnoxious
- hates traveling
- ghoster: Instead of breaking up/rejecting properly leaves
- can’t hold a job because of severe unprofessionalism
- gaslighter
Is it weird that I went down this list looking for characteristics I could identify with…? (And I found more than one… LOL)
Brent
It’s cool! 🙂 Both posts 1 and 2 have some of my traits too. What I find completely normal and adorable (being a talker, a messy creative, a rational dreamer (making me the queen of some paradoxes), a romantic, etc., etc., can be deemed as bad by some people (e.g. parents/ casual date seekers/office-job-lovers/etc.:D). You just have to mix and match for fiction. 🙂
PS How do you feel about writing fiction? Ever tried it?