BUILD A CHARACTER
THE HEXAGONAL MAPPING METHOOD
I have read about various methods of how to create character profiles and personality schematics. This is a helpful method for me doing my character studies as I create new characters, so I’ll try to summarize it here.
The Hexagon
So for starters, I am separating up a character on two categorical sides in the hexagon, containing the character's psychological profile and the personality profile on each side. Like I’ve illustrated here.
Within the hexagon lie the pieces that build up a characters basic building blocks.
Trauma
So, this is all very simplified. I can see a character be more complex that this but what characters driving force is stems from their trauma.
The trauma is the characters determining wound or event that shakes this person to the core. It’s nothing you could shake off and move on from. As an example, look at Batman. He witnessed his parents getting murdered right in front of him. This shapes him into what he later becomes.
URGE & NEED
The urge is driven by the character's trauma. It’s also what the character tells themselves, usually as a lie. This is something that he/she wants to pursue or achieve, but isn’t necessarily what they need. The Need on the other hand solves their trauma, aka foundational problem. So the character strives for their need throughout the second act of the story and realizes their need in the third.
WORLD VIEW
The world view draws from the trauma. World view is the way the character sees the place they inhabit and how the trauma distorts their view of their reality. Lets say our character was bullied in highschool, the hate of how the strong prey upon the weak might color their view on how they see themselves being treated. Think of it as a filter for the characters view of other people, and how it shapes, and distorts their opinions.
MASK
The mask is how a character shows themselves when interacting with the world and its characters. You could call this persona in a way where the character creates an alternate personality as a coping strategy driven by their trauma.
This doesn't need to be as dramatic as Batman, where he builds up an alternate vigilante crime fighting personality. It could instead be a small quirk or a way to behave around a certain type of people.
VOICE
The character's voice is the way a character expresses themselves and shows off a personality through the vocabulary and grammar. For example, a character might have a lisp; "Brenda, you alwayth look afther yourthelf." (though these extremes should be used sparingly) or a character might be sassy; "Hey Brenda, helping anybody but yourself?"
Sometimes I struggle with how to give characters personality beyond their archetypes. My inspiration tends to come from TTRPGs where sometimes the deeper development isn't as important. This a great reference point for the future.