The best characters are contradictions. They sit in these intersections between one extreme and another.
- The tough dude with a big heart
- The sadistic killer who tells jokes
- The nerdy professor who turns into a suave crooner
It’s such a formula that these characters now have stereotypes of own. In other words, the formula works.
So if you’re creating a character (or trying to highlight one who already exists), think of how you can combine two opposites. How can you play up that tension?
