Stories all have different types of main charter settings; sometimes it’s a creative setup say 2 main characters like Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann or Fullmetal Alchemist. You can have them associate or be each others rivals. This may be hard to keep up with but gives you an explosive outburst of two points of view and personalities. (This might be good for a Romance Manga).
You also have a character narrate, but not be the main focus like Fairy Tail, which I think is very colorful. To keep healthy main character you need many things.
1. Nice unique hair style.
2. Funny habit or catch phases. (Has to be consistent!!) Say like he’s in love with money or addicted to studying like in SWOT. If kept consistent, can be used to show seriousness when a situation that he feels is more important. It can also be an item like Luffy’s straw hat in target=”_blank”>One Piece that he never let go of. You should have two knacks: one silly and one serious. One, a creed and one annoying.
3. Pet or companion. Always hangs around the main character like Halloween in Witch Hunter. Occasionally you make should situation involving it.
4. Most of us know we need a good rival. [b]BUT[/b] you must always remember not to make the Dragon Ball mistake. :( Goku has a new rival -evreh- year. In the first Budokai his rival is Krillin, which latest about 5 minutes, because after that he’s like the weakest guy. Then we had Tein, which was super intense but then, forgotten. =:o? After that he dropped Piccolo as his rival. Now understand, taking evil rivals into friends is a great technique, BUT YOU CAN’T DO IT 5 TIMES. :( If you make your rival your ally don’t forget make sure he stays your rival. (Constant challenges!) Don’t make a Piccolo Situation; it really doesn’t have to be a battle manga.
5.There different ways you position your main characters at the beginning a Battle Manga. You can make him/her Ignorant To A Situation like Bleach. Ichigo starts off ignorant to the Soul Society and Soul Reapers. Thus he needs a supporter/partner/teacher who makes him get stronger or leads him. This would be Rukia. You can also dump supporter/partner/teacher right away like in Veritas.
He/she could start off Superior To The Situation like Dragon Eye. Almost like the opposite of being Ignorant To A Situation and you’d be the supporter. (The Ignorant one almost always dumped at the start. He/she is just used to get the story started.) Here’s the secret to this: GREAT PAST!!! Smuggle in secrets, lost ones, hometowns, origins, tons of stuff. >;-> The past is a great way to bring old enemies and hidden secrets that fuse with the main storyline and with surprises like a Jack-In-The-Box. And please if you’re not giving a great past to your main character, do for an ally, like Robin in One Piece.
And then there’s Contently Within Situation like Naruto. He lives in a ninja world so he content with the situation. Characters like this are usual underdogs to prove something to the world or an ultimate goal.
One thing you must never forget when making a main character is that he/she needs tons of friends relations. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever limit yourself on types of characters you draw and don’t draw. Manga [i]is[/i] writing; writing is to bring justice to an idea of creativity without prejudice. When someone reads manga they will unthinkingly place themselves in the story and relate to it. Say they are someone who is picked on and say one of your characters is clammy and disrespected. Connecting to someone else gives a great sense appreciation for your readers. So if you think a character would be better as a guy who likes guys, write it, or a pacifist, fit in.
whew, that took a lot. You might want to read one or two of manga I mention. (You might notice that there only battle manga, sorry, I’m hopeless for shounen.)
Well that’s all for now, and as like to say catch you on the flip side. :P
