This little bit of information may seem trivial, but it is very important.
Character Dialogue!
Again?? Yes again! But this helps with already existing characters as well as original ones.
Imagine a character you'd want to write lines for. How would they talk? Would they have an accent? Would they trip over their words? Would they speak too fast or too slow? How would they speak a simple sentence in comparison to someone else?
I think a great example of something like this that I've seen a nice chunk of is in the Playstation game Chrono Cross *dodges projectiles* (Hey! I liked that game, all right?!)
In this game, there are a LOT of playable characters and I mean a LOT. About 45.
But the kind of unique thing about this game were many of the characters had different "voices" and speech patterns.
There was a secret ending in the game where you could go through all these character "voices" with them all saying the same few lines in their own way.
I don't remember the exact dialogue, just bits and pieces, but let's say the line is: "Hello there! Yes, it is very good to see you! I'm glad we met!"
Kid, Australian accent: "Oi! It's nice ta gander at ya. Struth! I reckon I'm glad we met!"
Fargo, the pirate: " ARRRGHH! Nice t' see ya, matey! Our meeting will do ya good!"
Leah, the prehistoric girl: "Ug-um! Good to see-um you! Me glad we meet-um!"
Poshul, the dog has an odd way of speech: "Herro there! It ith very good to see you! Me am glad that we met! PO-SHU-SHU!"
Starky, the star child, "Hellooooo thereeeee. Yes, it very good of Starky to see youuuuu. Starky glad Starky met youuuuu."
Okay! Those are only some examples of what I meant. But those are more "accent" oriented.
Let's use another example with a simple greeting. What would these characters choose to say in contrast to the others and how does it fit their personalities?
"Hey! What's up?"
"Yo! How's it goin'?"
"Hi *insert name* ! How ya been?"
"Hey!"
"Hello."
"Yes, what do you want?"
"Need something?"
"..."
*nod*
"Oh! Hello!"
"Hi!"
*nod*
"Hey. How's it going?"
"Hello there!!!"
"Hi, I'm Amy Rose! It's nice to meet you!"
"Helllooooooo!"
"Hiya!"
"Hello!"
"Hiiii!"
"Hi! What's your name?"
"Hey, sugar"
"Hi, sugar"
"Well, hello."
"Hi."
"Long time no see" (I hate that line!)
"Well now, aren't we quite the intriguing one."
"Hi. What's your name?"
"Yo."
"Hey, how ya doin?"
"Who're you?!"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm Knuckles, the guardian of the Master Emerald. What business do you have here?"
lol I'm stopping there.
Why do they speak the way they do? Is it comfortable? Were they around that way of speaking while growing up?
Think of how Sonic talks. It's upbeat, hip and friendly. One may wonder if he even had a serious bone in his body from how casual and carefree his words are.
Then take Shadow's way of talking; it's serious and usually straight to the point ( when he isn't confused anyway, which tends to be rather often). Can you imagine Shadow talking like Sonic would???
That'd be painful to imagine!
Let's switch over to your original character. How would they greet someone?
Would they say hello, hi or introduce themselves right off? Or would they be rude?
It's kind of funny one character could be more acceptable to an audience saying "hi" as opposed to a more formal "hello" and vice versa.
If your character just accomplished something extravagant, would they cheer openly, silently, quietly to themselves, pat themselves on the back without any words or throw a party to celebrate?
What would you do? What would a friend do? What would someone with an opposite personality from you do in response to the same situation?
Variety is a must!
Imagine different ways your characters will speak the same line of dialogue when they interact.
Here are some more examples:
The line- "I couldn't drive to class today because my neighbor's dog bit a hole in the tire."
- "I like, totally, couldn't make into class today, cuz like see, this dog, right, my neighbor's stupid dog? They took like this huge bite outta my tires and put a hole in it and like, so I'm friggin' stuck."
- "Yo, look, this dog, right...my neighbor's. Man, that dog took busted my tires, man. That mutant dog bit a hole in it! I can't make it to class with a giant hole in my tire!"
- "My neighbor's dog actually bit a hole in my car tires! Can you believe it? How am I supposed to get to class now?"
- "Guess what. Some dog from net door put a hole in my tire, so I can't drive to class now. Whatever."
-"Free day off! A dog killed my tire so I can't drive to class! Sweet!"
Whew!
Mel Meiko Mei Ling
Character Dialogue!
Again?? Yes again! But this helps with already existing characters as well as original ones.
Imagine a character you'd want to write lines for. How would they talk? Would they have an accent? Would they trip over their words? Would they speak too fast or too slow? How would they speak a simple sentence in comparison to someone else?
I think a great example of something like this that I've seen a nice chunk of is in the Playstation game Chrono Cross *dodges projectiles* (Hey! I liked that game, all right?!)
In this game, there are a LOT of playable characters and I mean a LOT. About 45.
But the kind of unique thing about this game were many of the characters had different "voices" and speech patterns.
There was a secret ending in the game where you could go through all these character "voices" with them all saying the same few lines in their own way.
I don't remember the exact dialogue, just bits and pieces, but let's say the line is: "Hello there! Yes, it is very good to see you! I'm glad we met!"
Kid, Australian accent: "Oi! It's nice ta gander at ya. Struth! I reckon I'm glad we met!"
Fargo, the pirate: " ARRRGHH! Nice t' see ya, matey! Our meeting will do ya good!"
Leah, the prehistoric girl: "Ug-um! Good to see-um you! Me glad we meet-um!"
Poshul, the dog has an odd way of speech: "Herro there! It ith very good to see you! Me am glad that we met! PO-SHU-SHU!"
Starky, the star child, "Hellooooo thereeeee. Yes, it very good of Starky to see youuuuu. Starky glad Starky met youuuuu."
Okay! Those are only some examples of what I meant. But those are more "accent" oriented.
Let's use another example with a simple greeting. What would these characters choose to say in contrast to the others and how does it fit their personalities?
"Hey! What's up?"
"Yo! How's it goin'?"
"Hi *insert name* ! How ya been?"
"Hey!"
"Hello."
"Yes, what do you want?"
"Need something?"
"..."
*nod*
"Oh! Hello!"
"Hi!"
*nod*
"Hey. How's it going?"
"Hello there!!!"
"Hi, I'm Amy Rose! It's nice to meet you!"
"Helllooooooo!"
"Hiya!"
"Hello!"
"Hiiii!"
"Hi! What's your name?"
"Hey, sugar"
"Hi, sugar"
"Well, hello."
"Hi."
"Long time no see" (I hate that line!)
"Well now, aren't we quite the intriguing one."
"Hi. What's your name?"
"Yo."
"Hey, how ya doin?"
"Who're you?!"
"What are you doing?"
"I'm Knuckles, the guardian of the Master Emerald. What business do you have here?"
lol I'm stopping there.
Why do they speak the way they do? Is it comfortable? Were they around that way of speaking while growing up?
Think of how Sonic talks. It's upbeat, hip and friendly. One may wonder if he even had a serious bone in his body from how casual and carefree his words are.
Then take Shadow's way of talking; it's serious and usually straight to the point ( when he isn't confused anyway, which tends to be rather often). Can you imagine Shadow talking like Sonic would???
That'd be painful to imagine!
Let's switch over to your original character. How would they greet someone?
Would they say hello, hi or introduce themselves right off? Or would they be rude?
It's kind of funny one character could be more acceptable to an audience saying "hi" as opposed to a more formal "hello" and vice versa.
If your character just accomplished something extravagant, would they cheer openly, silently, quietly to themselves, pat themselves on the back without any words or throw a party to celebrate?
What would you do? What would a friend do? What would someone with an opposite personality from you do in response to the same situation?
Variety is a must!
Imagine different ways your characters will speak the same line of dialogue when they interact.
Here are some more examples:
The line- "I couldn't drive to class today because my neighbor's dog bit a hole in the tire."
- "I like, totally, couldn't make into class today, cuz like see, this dog, right, my neighbor's stupid dog? They took like this huge bite outta my tires and put a hole in it and like, so I'm friggin' stuck."
- "Yo, look, this dog, right...my neighbor's. Man, that dog took busted my tires, man. That mutant dog bit a hole in it! I can't make it to class with a giant hole in my tire!"
- "My neighbor's dog actually bit a hole in my car tires! Can you believe it? How am I supposed to get to class now?"
- "Guess what. Some dog from net door put a hole in my tire, so I can't drive to class now. Whatever."
-"Free day off! A dog killed my tire so I can't drive to class! Sweet!"
Whew!
Mel Meiko Mei Ling
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