Fanfiction writers, is there ever that one character that won't let you in their head?

You guys must know what I'm talking about right?? That one stubborn character (or maybe there's a few of them) that won't let you get into their head. That one character whose personality didn't quite jump out at you when you read/played/watched their story unfold in front of you. Maybe I'm just not very good at keeping characters In Character but I find most characters' personalities are pretty easy to figure out.

Then there's those that aren't. I find Cloud from Final Fantasy 7 to be a tricky character to figure out. Since his personality was pretty much not his own in FF7. And I haven't actually played Crisis Core to see his real personality shine. But still, Zack's character stands out and I feel like I have a grasp on his personality, even without playing Crisis Core. Roxas from Kingdom Hearts is tricky as well.

So guys, who are those tricky characters for you? Those characters that you just can't seem to totally figure out. And what are you doing about it if you are using them in your story?

I don't think I've seen this thread before but sorry if something similiar is already made. And if you want to be writing buddies I'd be more than happy to agree :) I need some buddies.

Yeah in a Supernatural fic I was working on before Nano started it was Castiel. Thing is sometimes I totally get how and what Cass would do, then three scenes later, he refuses to talk to me and is standing in a corner having a temper tantrum.

I'm doing a Pirates of the Caribbean fic for nano and Jack is the hardest character. For all his assumed stupidity he's really very deep and very complex under that mask. He's proving to be interesting to write because I have to really think about WHY he's doing what he's doing far, far in advance.

Yeah, his character seems like a very hard one to write. With the way that some of his behavior is all an act, you know? He is a pirate after all, a master of disguise and cunning. Your story sounds interesting :) I just read the synopsis on it.

Back when I was writing a Hoshi no Kaabi (the Kirby anime) fic, it is so frustrating to try and write Meta Knight's character. It's just... I can't get into his character like everyone else I've written.

For my fanfic series, I think the character I struggle most with is Tobias. (An animorphs fanfic, that might be before some of your guys' time, haha.) The rest of the characters have really distinct personalities an morality systems, yet it seems like he constantly waffles back and forth in the moralities on all the stories.

I think also what's hard is throughout the entire novel the way he acts and the way he feels seems to be at odds a lot. The way he acts seems to be straightforward and simple, but how he actually feels when he has internal dialogue during his books he is probably the most complex character of the series. No matter what I write about him, unless it's just simple interaction between him and Ax, I'm constantly questioning myself "would he say that or do that?"

Supernatural!Gabriel, you are the swaggiest angel to ever swag. Why can't I write you? WHY?

I'm writing a Yu Yu Hakusho/X-Men Evolution fanfic on the side, and Genkai from YYH and Wolverine both hate me. Everyone else I'm good with, but those two just don't like talking to me. Instead, they like to stand around and glare. But so does Hiei, but that's practically his character description, so that's not too bad.

Yusuke, Kitty, Xavier, and Kurama are all surprisingly easy to write. Along with Pietro. I can actually hear them saying their lines, so that makes me feel I've done a good job. Now why can't everyone else do the same??

24 - Andre Drazen. I tried to write a story that was basically "the history of the Drazen family" because their storyline was so deep and yet relatively untouched, but I stopped when I realized that Andre - who was the principle character - was eluding me. Sometimes I could figure out what he would do, but other times I sat there wondering. Because sure, he's a bad guy but he just cares about his family underneath, so I don't know if there would be some situations he'd put his family first.

And I'm also running into walls regarding Finch, in Person of Interest (my WriMo story). Michael Emerson is just so...Michael Emerson, and Finch is so quiet and paranoid and a little bit sarcastic (but not too much) that I'm rewriting like half of his lines as I go along. It probably doesn't help that I've been watching the show week by week and 6 episodes hasn't been enough to ingrain his personality (I think I have his manner of speech now though, which is a relief)

I'm writing WWE fanfiction for NaNo this year, and John Morrison and CM Punk play a large part in the story, but they refuse to let me know what they're thinking, which leaves me stuck, and without anyone I want to add in as my 'best friend' type character. =(

I write a Naruto fanfic on ff.net that I'm continuing along side my nanowrimo. I think the hardest character has been Sasuke, because there is so little to his personality except revenge. And it's really hard to write him in a creative, different way than he's alwyas been shown in fanfic. You know, emo, angry, revengeful and the only dialogue is "Hn."

Sai, is also tremendously hard, but for a different reason. His personality in the manga is nothing like a RL personality would be. He's kind of like a robot who is relearning human emotions and interactions. Though it's kind of comedic for the manga, it's just not realistic to write about. So I've had to change him from being robotic, to using some deadpan humor to hide is discomfort with personal situations and interactions.

Good thread topic too, btw!

My other project (the one I'm doing Nano as a break from) is a Higurashi fic set 20 years after the series, and that comes with its own set of problems. At least I've been able to start with the younger generation, and re-introduce the original characters gradually, so I can spend some time thinking about each one when they first appear. For each one, I have to take their canon personality and think about how it will have changed, both because they're older and because I've outlined the intervening events.

The chapter I'm on at the moment reintroduces Satoko, and she is definitely the hardest of all. She's the youngest (except for Rika, but then, Rika is really an adult in a child's body) and it's massively hard to go from that to writing her as an adult and making sure it sounds like the same character. That's one reason for taking a good long break before having to go back and revise that chapter :)

I'll bring up Ouran High School Host Club, because that's what I'm writing now. There's probably others, but what have you. :D

I cannot write Tamaki Suoh to save my life.

I once, in a spectacular fail prior to my NaNo, decided I'd make a fic alternating between the Host Club members' POVs. I struggled through one scene in Tamaki's head ... and have stuck solely with the twins ever since.

I think he (and some of the other characters) are just so exaggeratedly out there by nature that I can't grasp their mindset when I'm trying to write something semi-serious. With Tamaki, his frivolity and tendency to ramble completely overturn the purpose of a scene unless I keep him in check. ...and then, he becomes too serious to sound like Tamaki in the first place. :D

My solution is to get my sister - who writes random humor all the time - to read over any scene with Tamaki and judge his characterization for me. If she thinks he's plausible, it's good enough for me!

Martha Jones. You're sassy, smart, strong and a total BAMF, and yet you're scared of spiders and won't run through the overgrown shrubbery with The Doctor. What are you doing. What.

Caboose.....for some reason I have trouble writing for you.

/hands over shiny things to keep him occupied.

I'm having a hard time getting into the Doctor's head for my Doctor Who fanfiction. Captain Jack is telling me so much more than I need to know right now, even if it is going to help later, but the Doctor is standing over there going "Nope, not giving you anything." I'm begging you, Doctor, just give me something to work with!

Artemis Entreri. Because, argh, from a psychological point of view I can understand why he does what he does, but I have a hard time figuring out what makes him tick (there's a difference, trust me!). Writing his dialogue is hard, too, because I recognise it instantly when I read it but I just can't copy it no matter what I do. It's very frustrating. >:(

Also, Mycroft. But nobody gets into Mycroft's head~ ;D

I'm writing a Buffy/Harry Potter crossover fanfic, and I'm having a hard time getting OUT of Buffy's head. She just does that thing with the words and they come out a certain way, and I can't stop. It's coloring my writing and making me sound like a teenage valley girl. I'm even starting to talk like her in real life. Needing some intellectual prose up in this bit.

Pretty much everyone. I'm horrible with characters that aren't my own. Which is why this year I'm only using one non-OC: Matsuda, who is easy to get in the head of as there's nothing already in his head to get in the way. But even so, he's still the hardest character to write convincingly in my story...

It's probably horrible to say, but I'm not feeling as alone now that I realize more people are having this problem, heh. :3

I don't know if everyone thinks this is the case, but I find that when characters are just beyond the typical, regular human, they get harder to understand - mostly because as a typical, regular human myself I don't have that experience. It's a fun exercise in getting past that mindset.

My WriMo fic this year is Sherlock-centric, and he's always too analytic, or too painfully-ooc playful, or too emotionally vulnerable. While I imagine he's most likely sometimes, at least in my universe/particular headcanon, all of those things, finding the balance between those separate facets of his personality is proving a real challenge. It's definitely a fun one attempting to conquer, though I admit there are days I just want to throttle him - Let me inside your brilliant mind, pretty please?!

Bridge, from Power Rangers SPD.

I just can't figure out the way his brain works.