Enjoy exclusive discounts on books!
Character Analysis: Char
Getting into the psychology of Char, our first protagonist of the Unbounded series.
8/17/20262 min read
What happens when you create a character who sees the world in black and white? What happens when you give that same character nearly unlimited power?
Those were the questions circling my mind when I created Char for the Unbounded series. Her psychology reflects a worldview that leaves little room for moral gray areas. There are victims, and there are monsters. There are people worth protecting, and there are people who need to be removed. Once Char decides which side you belong to, convincing her otherwise is nearly impossible.
However, Char’s morality is not as simple as “good people versus bad people.” She has an enormous capacity for empathy, particularly toward people she believes have been victimized. She can forgive thieves, rebels, and people who have made questionable choices to survive. She understands desperation because she has lived it. The nuance disappears when she identifies someone as the person causing that suffering.
Once Char labels you a monster, your reasons no longer matter.
The land of Fiore acts as a pressure cooker, surrounding Char with people, governments, and laws that cannot be categorized as entirely good or entirely evil. Nearly every institution claims its cruelty serves some greater purpose. Nearly every character has blood on their hands and a reason for why it is there. Char must decide how much those reasons matter. The person who eventually comes out of that pressure cooker will decide the fate of the series… for better or worse.
If I had to compare Char to other characters in fiction, I would choose Gon from Hunter x Hunter and Jean Grey from X-Men.
Like Gon, Char initially approaches the unfamiliar with curiosity. She does not automatically reject something simply because she does not understand it. She observes it, questions it, and decides whether it belongs in her world. The problem comes after she makes that decision. If something threatens the people she loves or violates her sense of right and wrong, her first instinct is often to remove that piece from the board entirely. Without her friends there to rein her in, that judgment can quickly become a death sentence.
Like Jean Grey, Char possesses godlike power capable of deciding the fate of almost anyone standing before her. However, Char’s greatest danger is not that she might lose control. Sometimes she knows exactly what she is doing. Sometimes she understands the destruction she is about to cause and genuinely believes the world will be better after she causes it.
That is what makes her frightening.
Life is pretty cut-and-dried with Char. If she likes you, you live. If she loves you, she might burn down the world to protect you. If she does not like you, keeping your distance would probably be wise.
But if she labels you a monster…
She no longer believes you deserve a place in the world... and will savor every second before the flames consume you.