There is something really annoying with the way female protagonists are written, and it's really prevalent in Warriors fanfics. This rant is going to be very angry because I just googled my favourite Grey's Anatomy character's personality type and I found the worst spoiler ever. I'm actually crying wtf.
In warriors fanfics, we all want strong female protagonists, right? Well, the majority of them can be summed up in two characters.
Spottedleaf.
Squirrelflight.
Now don't get me wrong. I actually kind of like one of these characters. But their personalities are very overused.
Spottedleaf type characters are the shy, compassionate, kind, everyone-loves-me, flops. There's nothing wrong with having a shy and kind character - hell, I'm shy (socially anxious) and kind (or just a massive infp) but don't make them so much of a flop. Give them some negative traits! Give them something that sets them apart. Perhaps she's submissive? Passive? Dogmatic? Materialistic? Venal?
Squirrelflight characters are the oppoiste. The spunky characters who only listen to themselves, are very outspoken and annoying as fuck. They have negative traits, but for some reason these traits are treated like they're positive and everyone loves this character anyway. Can we just make these characters less generic? Their negative traits need to be recognised. Maybe they're aggressive rather than assertive. Perhaps they're insensitive as hell. Maybe they consider their intellect their best asset? Maybe they're diplomatic?
Okay, seriously. The floppy personailties are straight up boring. They're a Mary-Sue, and yes, Spottedleaf fans, despite being a stalker-pedophile, she was a massive Mary-Sue. If you created an oc with her personality, you would be slaughtered. Especially if you're thirteen or younger. I mean, really. These characters are limper than lettuce. They're shallow and have no depth whatsoever. Please don't go with this archetype.
As for our spunky Squirrelflight characters, she's not exactly a Mary-Sue, but she's borderlining. She has negative traits such as shallowness. Impulsivity and spontaneity are neutral, and by the way Squirrelflight acts, they're negative. And of course, the fanfiction characters with this archetype follow suit.
There are three main problems about it.
One, they're already characters. You copied their personalities. If you copied their name, then everyone would throw you into a sun. How dare you copy "poor, gorgeous, Squirrelfight!"
The second thing is that they're overused. In just about every book series.
And the third thing is that they're boring as fuck and no one likes them.
It's okay to have that as a base for your character - just make them more unique and different.
Blackbird out.
I'm just going to have a picture of my cat in every chapter because she needs to be shared with the world.