I really like this site because it always gives ideas for my characters and differing opinions. Currently i'm writing a historical comedic script based on the nativity- In short we have 2 Israelite brothers- Sal (a pretty boy, yuppie) and Judas (a socially inept scientist)who go on a quest for much needed money. On the way they get tricked into picking up Noora a Nomadic village girl. Noora needs to get to Bethlehem which incidentally is where they are going, so she blackmails them into taking her with them (i.e- she knows how to get there, they dont, but she needs them as a woman travelling alone is a target and she needed a way to get out of her village) She wants to escape from her village because there is not much in terms of a varied future for her as a woman in that time period(bear children, work) and a visitor to the village promised to make her a star singer if she can get to bethlehem I want to make her a bad girl protagonist, not so much villainous, Basically, she'll be manipulative and totally willing to walk over others to get what she wants. But since its a PG rated audience i'd have to cut down any thoughts of being too bad or seductive. So any ideas???
Google the term girl bullies , teenage girl meaness that type of thing, it is a growing concern in the educational community tons of info online about the trend, in fact in the last 6 weeks a chick killed herself over the forwarding of her text messaged photos not sure if this is the direction you want to go but the 15 minutes research can not hurt.
Maybe she can be a "bad girl" in the sense of being manipulative, catty, gossipy, a backstabber, etc. Not at all a reliable friend or trustworthy person.
You could always make her a straight up bitch but she could secretly feel bad about some of the things she says maybe she feels like she has to be that way in order to fit into a male society?
from the books i have read, the character you are creating can fall on 2 sides. the sweet talking, happy attractive girl who is full of energy and delighted to be blackmailing these men. maybe with a mean streak on one particular topic ie boyfriends/some trauma. the other side is the mean dominating, 'evil' woman who knows she is manipulating the stupid pigs of men, and tells them at every opportunity . for this to work she needs to know more than the men at all times. of cause, being you character you can interchange traits or find a happy medium. Shadow Reeves
Aside from being manipulative and blackmailing she should have character traits that can easily stand on their own. Maybe she is arrogant. Although this might make your character shallow and ultimatly hated. So this is when (in my own writing) I throw in the curveball. Try making her "trapped". She is arrogant because that is all she knows how to be, she feels that this is the only way that these men will listen to her is if she acts like she is better then them. Or maybe she is just learning from example of those around her (father, brother, potential husband ect.). Hopefully this will un-bitch the character and make her someone that people will be ultimatly impressed by (??) If you want to give her the badass personality I would try giving her little quirks that people read as her being a badass. For example just saying things that she thinks (or things that other people are thinking but would never say). I put this on someone else's thread too but it seems to work pretty well. Someone is being annoying; she says it. Someone is being too loud; she tells them to shut up. Someone is making her angry; she says that they better stop or she will beat them up. Ultimately: no inner filter. One more thing (I know this is long and annoying so far) maybe just her ignorance (no wait, listen, not like stupid ignorance). And because I don't know how to explain it, I'll give you an example. It won't work with your story line but you could apply it: #1: "I don't know how we are going to get inside, they aren't just going to let us walk through the door." Badass: "Why don't we just blow it up. I could make a pipe bomb and we're in." #2: "Are you crazy?!" Badass: "It would work..." #1: "Sure it would work, but we would probably die in the process!" Badass: "But it would work..." I guess ignorance is the wrong word, but maybe just not noticing how wreckless she is being...? Hopefully this helps out?
heres my potential stance Shes sorta bitter against men since she lives in a male dominated society. So she sees no issue with manipulating them since women get used by men all the time. Shes also from a desert tribe and is contemptuous of the others who ar e to her soft .Shes also sarcastic in a way constantly .Shes also sweet to one of the male protagonists calling him hayatim - turkish for darling yin a way to gain his trust i;e to trick him later
I'd approach the character like she was a guy - how would a guy talk the others ion taking him along? That should avoid a bit of tension... She could act like a guy but have some endearing feminine traits, like never quitting to chatter. Maybe she'd even try to appear as a guy in order to travel on her own... I don't see her having an issue with a male dominated society - she grew up in it, it's just the way it is. Male dominated does not necessarily mean oppressed. She may resent the expectations, but not the men themselves, unless she has reasons of a more personal nature... Just my two cents...
if you want a manipulative character then it doesn't mean she has to rebel against the stereotypes set upon her by society. She might be a perfectly nice person underneath but perhaps finds that in order to achieve her goals she has to rely on men, which is something which would probably make this kind of character even more bitter. The best way to manipulate someone is to seem innocent and friendly because then the person is more likely to do as you want them. If she tells someone "do this or I'll kill you" then they'll probably do it but she won't have much luck getting other people to cooperate as they'll avoid her. If she's beautiful and seems kind, caring, innocent, shy, cute, and incapable of doing anything without assistance then she could wrap certain naieve doting men around her little finger with ease. But then you can give this character some depth, like she has to be nice to people she hates to get her way but she's never met anyone she really likes enough to be geniune with. And another angle on this is that no one gets to see the real her, what if you have a character who does get to see what she's like under this sugary sweet mask and isn't so easy for her to manipulate?
