February 2015

In Screenwriting 101 by FilmCritHulk, Hulk explains the process of creating characters by matching up specific kinds of information to the human body. You start at the feet and work your way up to the head: “You start factual, then get emotional, then ideological, and then amalgamate those details into an actual character psychology.”

He details the process and then suggests an exercise: look at an existing character and fill in the information for them.

I want to work through that for Odd, the main character in Odd Thomas (movie version, not book version). I like that this is a superhero story where the character doesn’t think of himself as a superhero, and I like the idea of pulling it apart to see how that character works.

So here I go with Hulk’s process.

• Appearance: Male, Caucasian, mid-twenties, average height, lean build, dark hair, blue eyes
• Family: Father is police chief. Mother has been in a psych ward since Odd was 12 years old because she claimed to have psychic abilities and had violent episodes. No siblings. Middle class. We don’t know about any other family members.
• Friends: Viola (waitress at the diner); Stormy (girlfriend)
• Location: Pico Mundo (desert town in California)
• Occupation: works as a short order cook at a diner. Also unofficially helps out with police investigations because he inherited his mother’s psychic abilities.

• Needs to have a purpose for his abilities (he believes they are a gift he is meant to use)
• Needs to have someone in his life who accepts him as he is, despite all the weirdness in his life. (That person is Stormy.)

• Speaks quietly but confidently
• Sarcastic, especially with Stormy
• Gives off a casual, easy-going vibe, despite all the danger that surrounds him
• Is confident about his abilities and insistent when he needs his father’s help
• Accepts his abilities as a matter-of-fact—he doesn’t brag about them and he doesn’t shy away from them.
• Is honest when he can be (with his father and with Stormy) about what he sees and what he knows. When he can’t be completely honest, he tells people what they need to know so that they stay safe.
• Knows how to fight and take care of himself, but he isn’t aggressive or violent unless he really needs to be (like when the bad guy is after him or people’s lives are in danger)

• Intelligent, sometimes more than he lets on
• Investigates on his own and sometimes will talk through things with Stormy
• Good observer
• Works a lot like a detective would: figure out a suspect, piece together a timeline, go through a process of elimination until he has a clear picture of a situation

• Thinks outside the box (because of his psychic abilities)
• Strong belief in justice and righting wrongs
• BUT will break the law for a greater good
• Acts on gut feelings as much as logical decisions
• Doesn’t see himself a superhero
• Believes in a higher power and an afterlife (but isn’t more specific than that)

Odd Thomas is a man with psychic abilities that he uses to solve crimes and help people. Because of the weirdness in his life, he tries to keep other aspects of his life simple and grounded. He is confident about his psychic abilities and helping people but also humble, never bragging about what he can do and never considering himself a superhero. He is intelligent and methodical in solving crimes, but he can also be impulsive. He has a matter-of-fact mindset about his circumstances, accepting his abilities and using them to help people.