I've been working on a story for some time and have created a range of various different characters. Recently, I've made a major change in the plot that has altered an important family. I have already carefully designed the characters but now I have to find a way to make it so that they can be related without breaking the laws of nature. I believe that a character's appearance is very important like whether or not they have brown or blonde hair. I'd like to be able to keep their appearances the way that they are but if I have to change something to make it work then I can't avoid that. My knowledge of genetics is limited to a high school Honors Biology class. Since some traits like eye color and hair color have multiple deciding factors and aren't as similar as the Punnett Squares made it out to be, I'm hoping to get some help with this. This is going to focus on hair, skin color/detail, and eye color since I feel they are the most obvious characteristics and other traits have too many other deciding factors and variations that it would be pointless to chart. -- This is an 8 person family so this might get lengthy. I'll try to keep this as simple as possible. I have a basic outline for the parents but I’ve purposefully left them with basic looks in case I do have to change them in order for the rest of the family to make sense. The mother, May, has a warm appearance so I would prefer to keep that somewhat the same. At the moment, this is her appearance; Hair: a light caramel/strawberry blonde color (I believe it is considered to be red hair since it comes from the same gene), thick and wavy Skin: a fair, neutral skin tone with freckles Eyes: medium warm hazel eyes The father, Clarence, has a darker appearance. Hair: deep chocolate brown hair, it lays straight and is thinning Skin: warm olive skin Eyes: classic dark brown Sebastian, the eldest son (almost a spitting image of his father) Hair: chocolate brown, straight Skin: warm olive skin Eyes: dark brown Derik, the second son Hair: warm midtown hair that could be considered either dark blonde, light brown or a slightly darker strawberry blond; wavy Skin: neutral/warm skin that is between his mother’s and father’s tones with freckles Eyes: golden amber Ambrose, the middle child Hair: mid (not platinum but not dark blonde) blonde hair, straight Skin: light neutral Eyes: neutral-cool hazel that is almost gray Lachlan, the second youngest Hair: warm, mid-dark brown, curly Skin: warm caramel skin (similar to Derik) with freckles Eyes: mid-tone, neutral brown Ellis, the youngest child Hair: darkest brown (almost black), straight Skin: neutral fair but darker than Ambrose Eyes: warm brown, lighter than Lachlan’s but darker than Derik’s Last is Dorothy (Thea) who is the daughter of May’s sister but was adopted into this family. Her genetics shouldn’t be a problem since she’s only a cousin to the boys. However, I will include her since she is still apart of the household. Hair: cool, ashy light brown, wavy Skin: neutral (similar to Derik but with cooler undertones) with freckles Eyes: warm brown, similar to Lachlan’s but warmer My main concern is Ambrose (since his traits are more recessive) as well as Lachlan’s curls and Derik’s hair color. I’m also concerned about the dynamics of recessive and dominant traits as well as different combinations or anomalies that I might be overlooking. If this ends up being fine, then I have some other traits that I would be glad to go over if anyone is a genetics enthusiast. If certain traits don’t line up then my first choice would be to alter the parents. Thank you in advance
I'm not a biology expert, but I know genetics get waaaay oversimplified by the general public. From years of observing children and their parents I've seen combinations a lot of people would assume can't exist. I would really not worry too much about breaking the laws of nature. For one thing I don't think you're going to have any readers who sit there taking notes on the precise shades of brown everyone's eyes are. If anything about this stands out to me as unlikely, it's that the siblings don't resemble each other more. Of course it's totally possible (my sister and I seem to have inherited all the opposite traits from our parents), but it seems a little... cheesy and convenient that they all look so different. But seriously, I wouldn't worry about it.
Thanks for your input. I suppose in text it may seem that they do all conveniently look different but they all take after either their father or mother. I tried to make it that way so they do all feel like they're related but, again, they weren't originally siblings so I had to change things. Really, the only person who stands out is the black sheep Ambrose but he still looks similar to his mother. 4/5 have brown hair, brown eyes but only slight variations so I don't see how they conveniently look "so different" but I am on the inside looking in so my opinion could be skewed. Still, I appreciate the feedback and would gladly enjoy more insight.
The question which needs answering is, what is the point of these characters' appearances? Does it move the story forward or is it window dressing?
Their appearances actually are essential which is why I want to make sure it all works. Long story, short; their appearances somewhat represent attributes of them that do play important roles in the plot. For example, Derik's and Sebastian's appearances are purposefully dissimilar yet still somewhat close since it is supposed to represent how they are both older and important male figures but their viewpoints and actions differ and later cause problems. Lachlan's appearance is initially supposed to be soft and warm but then later changes after a *cough* tragic *cough* accident and he greatly matures because of it. Ambrose is supposed to be the "black sheep" since he tries to avoid the inevitable yet he is still relatively similar in appearance to his mother representing how he can't escape what happens to him. Thea resembles her biological mother almost exactly, however, she tries her hardest to be nothing like her even though they think and act very similarly. Ellis is supposed to be a wildcard, moldable hence his plain features and why he is the youngest. However, I don't like parallels that are extremely obvious and forced so these connections are there but aren't glaringly obvious (hopefully, anyway). Ambrose's and Seb's appearances to actually affect the plot later as well. I guess it could also be sort of window dressing and just trying to create characters that actually have personality and express themselves through their style choices (clothes, haircut/dye, makeup/facial hair). But, still, I am the type of person that would read or watch some sort of media and analyze the appearances and genetics of characters to make sure that things match and there aren't plot holes or special connections. So, that is why this is very important to me but I guess not to everyone.
I'm really, really sorry, but I think you're overthinking this. Unless you state it in the book all those references will go over all your readers heads. I don't think your way of thinking/ trying to connect everything is the norm. A lot of readers wants the bare minimum of character descriptions so they can form their own images. Other wants the basic, but won't really think deeper unless it's painfully obvious. Yes, there will be readers who go way down to detail like you but the chance are they won't read it in the way you want it.
Oh, forgive me for not specifying it before but I'm fully aware that most people won't notice or even care about these things. I personally don't like references or parallels that are extremely obvious since it, for me, removes the depth but it could work in some cases. I tend to include small details for those readers that do pay attention but I expect none of them to since a lot of the references usually aren't "plot essential". That is what I enjoy the most when reading since it helps the world to feel alive and real. Really, it's mainly for me since, in the end, you should enjoy what you write. I was hoping to get some feedback about actual genetics but I suppose at this point it's not important anymore. They're all fine the way they are.
A lot of families have kids which look dissimilar. If you have a reason for all these characters to look physically different, no one's going to care. You can always make some references, "Mary looks like Grandma Jones but Sara doesn't look like anyone. We joke about her being adopted but there are pictures of Mom with her in the hospital." There's a name for it I recently learned: "lampshade hanging".
