Quirks

I was having a conversation about characters and quirks. One person said that characters need to have a quirk, like wearing a hat or carrying a knife. She said that these make characters more 3-dimensional. I disagreed.

If you want to fill out a character, make them more human, more interesting, accessories are not the way to do it. What makes a person interesting is not the things they do or wear, but the reasons behind it.

Quirks without explanations are gimmicks. Look at super heroes and super villains. Without their motivations, the only difference between them is their outfit and maybe their super powers. The super hero is never as interesting as the person behind the mask.

The same thing is true for real people. For example, I wear boots all the time. That doesn't make me interesting. It just makes me "that guy with the boots". The interest comes from why I wear the boots. I feel secure in them. Since boots surround my ankles (unlike sneakers), I never fear that I will twist my ankle. They are also so tough and rugged that I feel like I can go anywhere and do anything while wearing them. I feel invincible in my boots.

Quirks are not necessarily a bad thing, but you have to use them properly. An object or a tick that a person has is a manifestation of their beliefs. You can't give them a hat and say that they're quirky or realistic. They have to already be real to you. Once you understand who they are, what they believe, and how they think, it will make perfect sense which quirks they might have.