Thread: Making a Mysterious, Dark, Brooding Man (ideas)?

Hello! I'm an amateur writer and I have *most* of the idea for my next short story/'novela' down, but am all out of ideas for a significant portion.

One key character is a mysterious, dark, brooding man and I don't typically write about his type of character. I guess I need some brainstorming help/inspirations

So I thought it would be a good idea to ask you writers, new and veteran alike, what you would find to be mysterious, dark, seductive, captivating, curious, etc. in a man, but not creepy, cliche or ridiculous. I'm aware that this type of character is very overdone lately, which is why I'm trying to really think him through.

Please emphasize the word *man* because this character is a man, not a boy in high school/college and he's in his late 20's. I'm not looking to remake the Edward Cullen (Twilight) or angsty teenager type.

Here's what I've generally got down so far:
piercing gaze (maybe?), quiet, appears to be deeply reflecting on something often.
That's really it...like I said... I usually don't write these characters.

I thought about making him handsome, which would help isolate him (since most people are average) and attract the heroine of the story to him, but that just seemed too...overdone once I thought about it. So should I go to the other extreme and make him ugly/diseased or disfigured-looking instead? Or would average rather do?

I also need some ideas for what he should do that makes him all mysterious and stuff (for lack of a better word). I was thinking he could be in organized crime (Mafia type thing), an assassin, a serial killer, a hired spy/agent, a gypsy, a member of a secret society, a gang member (e.g. Hell's Angels), a member of a terrorist organization, or something like that, but I'd like ideas involving him being a member of a community because of the structure rest of the story already in place. Anymore ideas?

And the final part...any ideas that could be his 'flaw' that will lead to his death? I was thinking perhaps he has a terminal illness, a death wish (maybe), a suicide bomb, gets the death penalty, or is being hunted by an old, scorned foe. Anymore ideas?

Thanks to everyone for all your help and time!

(NOTE: & also, I'm wondering if the character described would classify as a 'tragic hero' since he is tragic and although his means are dark, his ends are - at least in his mind - heroic. Must he fit rigidly with the classic characteristics of the 'tragic hero' to count?).

hellooo?

You have a lot of good ideas, there!

I think characters who are overly handsome, as you said, are a little played out. Don't get me wrong-the men of JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood are a wonderful harem of hunky men-flesh (you can't get more handsome and brooding than that bunch). But what makes them appealing, at least to me, are their personalities and flaws, histories, and realism. Their flaws go beyond anything physical for the most part.

What makes your character the brooding type? Why is he that way?

I was immediately drawn to the fact that you said he could be in some sort of organized crime, yet also might give back to the community. Would he do this to compensate for his evil deeds? Would this lead him to change? If you're planning on making him a tragic hero, what if his past transgressions caught up with him? What if he was gunned down in the very community center he was giving back to? What if the killer was a lowly junkie, acting on the words of your character's biggest threat and competitor in the drug circuit?

Also, I stuggle with characterization. A lot. So when I write I remind myself that my characters need to have a "desire" and a "want." This isn't to say that your Mr. Broody should have the same, but it might help you focus on his characterization. For example a character in the side story I'm writing now hates that his ex-wife is still dependent on him for money, offering sex in exchange even though the ex has her hands full with the current half-her-age boyfriend. Why does my character do it? Because he doesn't want to see her without, and he might even love her in some small way. My story is and will be a horror piece, but this will be just one of the things he's going to have to come to terms with. Continue the game or tell her to get on with herself and life and to leave him the F- alone.

I hope I helped. I think I got a little carried away there... Whoops.

Hello

You mention the character you have part drawn always seems to be reflecting on something, so develop this. Characters need their little quirks, idiosyncracies; so incorporate his reflectiveness into his dialogue, make him think carefully before he speaks, so his words are always carefully chosen. Further this by have it annoy those to whom he speaks. Another thing, make his intelligence the thing which attracts a woman / women to him.

Scott

Perhaps a good way to add intrigue to this character, make him seem more than average, is to show him react to a situation differently than those around him. Maybe he's in a corner store when a thief pulls out a gun and everyone starts freaking out, but your character is just level, his expression doesn't change in the least. This is nothing new to him. He then tackles the robber. Or what would be more epic, gets in a staring competition with the robber who slowly starts to tremble before straight up fleeing the store screaming. Maybe the first idea is better though.

Hi imsoemo,can I suggest that you write this man's life history.When you recreate his past you will get a very good idea of who this man is.
Start with:
1:Year and place of birth.
2:His ethnicity and race i.e. (western Europe, Italian, Spanish, English, Irish ect.) (Asian,Chinese,Japanese, Malaysian ect.)(African,Middle Eastern ect.ect.ect.).
3.His Social class.
4.His education and standard of intelligence.
5.His parents. Are they alive ? What was their profession ? Was he raised in a children's home ?
6.His own profession. Tinker, tailor,soldier,spy ?
7.Is he an only child ?
8.Keep building his profile until you know him ect,ect.......
Once you have constructed this man's character profile you will see him in a new light and understand who he is.
I hope this is of use to you .
Regards Richard.

I agree with Bilston about the quirks. My detective is in his late forties, and whenever he feels overwhelmed, he runs one of his "meaty" hands down his face. which when he's around his ex-wife, happens a lot. She exasperates him to no end.

Also, with Caelum's scenario, this could be a good way to incorporate both Bilston and Cal's suggestions. I could just see the guy weighing out the situation before attacking the robber, or as I at first thought, pulling a gun out and capping the thief. But... I'm not sure the victims would appreciate that...

Well, imsoemo, I don't know about you, but I don't come up with characters or develop them in a vacuum -- I have something in mind as to where they fit into the plot and how they are going to relate to the other characters -- and you haven't provided any of that.

Plus, so much about a character is revealed by how he reacts to what's going on -- and of course, by what he says. Just a few lines of dialog could show that someone as "dark and brooding." The background and/or surface characteristics are often only part of what makes characters well rounded -- if they are a factor at all.

I'm assuming you have an idea of where this character fits into the story -- and since you have some vague notion of what this guy is like, then you should be at a point where you can develop the character as you write. It could be you'll find that why he's dark and brooding isn't even important.