Personality Flaws

Types of personality flaws

These are just a few of my favourites to give you an idea of what you can add to a character. There are loads more out there, and everyone has their favourites. Use more than one. A character can't just be a kleptomaniac... let her be clumsy and sarcastic, too.

Sarcastic or cynical. Maybe it's just me, but I'm a sucker for guys who are constantly insulting everyone in a very funny way. Try to decide why the character is sarcastic, though... What makes him moody or bitter in his humour? What happened in his past to make him insult everyone now? Is he afraid of relationships or wary of trust?

Egocentric. Let the character think she's better than everyone. If other people can do something, she can do it better. She's also much more intelligent than everyone, and, of course, the most beautiful. She's fun to write and fun to read, because you love to hate her.
Easily fascinated. I just love a character who will stare at balloons forever and delights at a passing butterfly. They're flaky, they're shallow, they're generally useless, but they're so funny to watch. They spout off the randomest pieces of knowledge and don't know when to shut up.

Fierce or hot-tempered. This one is becoming a bit overdone, but I still enjoy a girl who's more likely to knock you out than allow you to rescue her. If you go for the gender-role-reversal thing, a fierce girl is a lot more fun to write than the usual damsel-in-distress. Hot-tempered guys can be great, too - he may be easily provoked or loses his temper at the mention of his father. But don't overdo it. How many people got really annoyed by Harry's constant angst in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?

Mysterious. You have to be careful with this one, but sometimes it's interesting to have a character who you can't predict and who's thoughts and actions you don't understand. It can get annoying, though, if the character knows more than the reader. So be careful.

Hyperactive or flamboyant. A character that never seems to run out of energy or questions can be amusing. Maybe he has an obsession with trying to get the other characters to dance with him. This is a fun one if you like gender-role-reversals. Guys who are easily excitable and like to give big sloppy kisses don't come along too often, and we love to laugh at their antics.

Melodramatic. The drama queen (or king). This is a character who exaggerates everything and
makes tiny events seem like huge catastrophes. She's fun to write and even more fun to read. This is the character who jumps to conclusions and thinks everything is way funnier than it is.
The bully. Personally, I like the guy that pushes everyone around. He thinks he's cool, but maybe he's secretly really insecure. A good example would be Sirius Black and James Potter from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
The nerd. Okay, so it's fun to have a girl who rattles off physics equations in the middle of battle and tries to predict events based on scientific calculations... espcecially if she's wrong or no-one ever listens to her. Another variation of the nerd is the kid who's rather the swot and always likes to be right.

Accident prone. She screws things up because she trips over her own feet. She's clumsy. She gets in the way, and she can't be stealthy no matter how hard she tries. She drops things.

Forgetful or absent-minded. He's sort of dim, gets teased a lot, puts his shoes on the wrong feet. Perhaps he's brilliant but can't remember more than two things at once. He can't remember why he's in the kitchen or where he put his glasses.

Compulsively lies. She rarely tells the truth. Lies are so much more interesting - and it's not really lying, it's just a form of acting. She may give her companions wrong directions and after awhile they may not trust her very much. Useful if you like the boy-who-cried-wolf type of story, where she doesn't tell the truth until it really matters, and then no-one believes her.

Awkward. He's nervous and a little paranoid and doesn't know what to do with himself when a girl is in the vicinity. He may trip over his own tongue or be fearful of revealing anything about himself.

A hypochondriac. She's convinced she's dying. A splinter becomes life-threatening, and she cannot travel if she has bruised her knee. Occasionally she crashes into hard surfaces 'on accident' and sustains grievous injuries. She always thinks she's ill or coming down with something contagious.

A kleptomaniac. He compulsively steals things. His companions don't understand why their shoestrings and coins seem to disappear. Most of the time, he doesn't, either.

A pyromaniac. It doesn't get much better than a fire-obsessed girl who likes to experiment. Whoever knew that the hero's boots burn such a strange shade of blue? Or that unicorn hair won't burn unless you douse it in beer?

Anything that ends in -iac. Noticing a theme, aren't we?

Hmm shouldn't there a more diverse selection of flaws... I dont know I ust think the list is kinda small.....but I think I'm just being nitpicky so I dont mind if I'm ignored.

Lol! I didn't write this. Someone else did for me. It helps with my stories. But I'll look for some more. These are only Personality flaws anyway.