Creating manga comic characters: Twitch Fyx

So, let’s talk about creating manga comic characters.

When I was creating the main ‘hero’ of Downhome Little Planet, I wanted a lovable scumbag for the comic. A snot-nosed punk who’d only do the right thing when his iron-clad hand was forced. Trouble makers make for the most interesting kinds of stories. Classic manga characters can be a wretched hive of scum and anti-heroism.

Twitch was heavily inspired by likes of Ataru Moroboshi from Yuresei Yatsura (minus the sexual harassment). In fact, Downhome Little Planet as a whole took a lot of it’s early inspiration from that series. When a character has extremely strong vices, you can take that in a lot of different directions. Twitch’s boundless ambition to become the greatest street peddler on the planet gives us a ocean of ideas to play with. Although, you do run the risk of your character going flat if you’re not careful.

Generally, a manga comic character often has some serious stereotypes with it. The biggest trope in the pot is the idea of ‘the chosen one’. Usually, this involves some young adult with humble origins and ridiculous, pointy hair. You insert some twist of fate or a gut-wrenching tragedy and BOOM, their untapped, super powered potential sets the plot in motion.

Yes, Twitch is a ‘chosen one’. Though I’ve never personally been a huge fan of the shonen manga character archetype myself. I mean, don’t get me wrong. There’s a reason Naruto and Bleach received several dozen seasons. It sells, and capitalism has taught me there’s nothing wrong with that.

However, much like our manga, my male protagonists have always been rather down-home. They still tend to possess super powers of some variant. But those powers never really take center stage. For me, it’s all about the personality. Creating manga comic characters demands it.