Are you ready to breathe life into your next animation project? Whether you're working on a short film, a TV show, or a feature-length animation, one of the most important aspects is creating animation character ideas that your audience will fall in love with. And let's face it, who doesn't love a good character?
But coming up with the perfect animation character ideas that will connect with your audience can be a tricky task. That's why we're here to give you the inside scoop on how to create characters that are relatable, lovable, and unforgettable. From quirky to mysterious, we've got animation character ideas that will make your audience want more. So, sit back, relax and let's get creative!
Animation Character Ideas: Target Your Audience
It's important to identify your target audience and know their age, gender, and interests. You should also understand what they like and don't like, what they are afraid of etc. This knowledge isn't just useful for animation character ideas; it will help you create a story that resonates with your target audience. It's easy to forget about this step because it seems obvious: why wouldn’t I know who my audience is?
But many creators fall into the trap of assuming that everyone likes everything they make simply because they made it themselves. And while there are some people who will enjoy anything you produce—and those are probably not the kind of people who would be interested in your work in the first place—the reality is that different kinds of projects attract different kinds of audiences (and even if someone loves all the stuff you do, that doesn’t mean they'll like every single thing).
Animation Character Ideas: Showcase Human Emotion
Human emotion is one of the most powerful tools in your animation toolbox. When used correctly, it can help you tell a story in ways that draw viewers in and make them feel connected to your characters. While there are many ways to showcase human emotion through animation character ideas, one of the simplest is by using body language, facial expressions, and movements to convey emotions such as anger or love.
Character design alone can also help you tell a story by creating visual metaphors that reinforce your narrative. For example, if you're trying to portray happiness in a character but they don't have any arms or legs, then consider using their hair or clothing as stand-ins for these appendages—especially if those appendages are important for getting around on Earth!
Animation Character Ideas: Trending Topics
You've seen them: the trending topic sections on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites. These are always popular with audiences, so now's the time to consider using them in your animation character ideas. You can use a trending topic to start a vision for your animation by thinking about what's happening right now that people might be interested in learning more about.
If you don't know where to start, try searching "trending topics" on Google or another search engine. This will bring up pages of results that include videos related to what people are watching right now. If you're not sure how much information is enough, look at how many views each video has—the higher the number of views (and likes), the more relevant it likely is for your audience!
Animation Character Ideas: Traditional Values
GIF by Debbie Ridpath Ohi via GIPHY
Traditional values are important as they provide a starting point for your animation character ideas. They offer a framework to build on and can help you generate ideas that connect with the audience. Some examples of traditional values are
- Courage
- Honesty
- Kindness
Animation Character Ideas: Shared Passion
A shared passion is something that your audience loves, that you love, and that connects the two of you. You need to find something that both sides can relate to and enjoy.
This isn't as easy as it sounds. It's not enough to pick a topic from your list of hobbies: if you're talking about someone else's hobby, there's no connection between them and their shared passion—it doesn't work for them!
Animation Character Ideas: Personal Story
GIF by ElizabethHolloway via Tenor
The personal story of a character is what motivates them. It's their problem or challenge, and it's usually something they want to overcome. It could be a goal or dream that they want to achieve, or it could be something that happened in the past that makes them act the way they do now.
Many times, a personal story connects with an audience because it feels familiar; they can see themselves in this character's shoes because of their own experiences. If your characters have relatable problems and goals (not just "I'm an evil villain who wants to destroy everything"), then people will connect better with them on an emotional level—and ultimately remember more about what your animation does when compared to competitors' animations!
Animation Character Ideas: Cartoon Animals
Another popular choice for animation character ideas is animals. They can be used to represent a variety of things and emotions, as well as situations and relationships. Think about how often you see animals in cartoons. Whether it’s Bugs Bunny or Scooby Doo—animals have been used to tell stories since the beginning of animation!
The reason why animals are so popular? Because we all know what an animal does, so it’s easy for us to relate them to real-life experiences. Animals also help us connect with our audience because we can easily attribute human qualities to them and make the story relatable to a wider range of people.
Animation Character Ideas: Mythical Creatures
GIF by Spin Master via GIPHY
Mythical creatures are some of the most fascinating characters in animation. They can be used to create a story that is both familiar and magical, connecting with your audience in more ways than one. Let's look at how you can use mythical creatures to create an engaging story!
First things first: What exactly is a mythical creature? It's basically any creature from folklore or mythology. If you want to go even further, it's any animation character idea that doesn't exist in reality - but could exist if magic were real (like dragons or mermaids). Here are some examples of popular mythical creatures:
- Dragons
- Unicorns
- Vampires
- Fairies
- Werewolves
Animation Character Ideas: Real-Life
Real-life characters are a great way to connect with your audience.
A lot of animated films use real-life people as their subjects, and it works because the audience can relate to them. For example, if you're making a documentary about your favorite singer-songwriter from the 1970s and you want to show what was going on in the world at that time, using an actual photograph of the person is more effective than using a fictional character who looks like them but doesn't have any connection to that world.
Another thing that makes real-life characters so successful is when they're used in conjunction with fictional ones as part of an ensemble cast. This allows audience members who already know something about that particular subject matter (like teens might know all about Ariana Grande) while also allowing those who don't have much knowledge in this area (like adults) an opportunity to learn along with entertainment value!
Relatable Characters Can Make Your Story Stand Out
GIF by AndreBantag via Tenor
Relatable characters are always popular. They can make your story stand out amongst others, connect with your audience and bring in a large number of viewers. This is true for any genre or type of animation character idea you're making, from kid-friendly cartoons to adult animation series.
Here are some examples of relatable characters:
- A character that's inspired by yourself/your friends/family members
- A character who has similar qualities as you (or not)
These Animation Character Ideas Are A Good Place To Start
If you're looking for a comprehensive list of character ideas, you aren't going to find it here. This is just a starting point; it's meant to get your creative juices flowing and give you some ideas that will help you create animation character ideas with which your audience can connect.
There are many other places where you can look for character ideas. You might want to do some research into popular animated films or TV shows, which often have characters similar in design or personality to those we've listed here.
Another way would be through people: study their habits, mannerisms, speech patterns, and so forth until something clicks about what makes them unique (and this could also lead towards interesting plot points). Another option is reading stories from different cultures—folk tales from around the world have been passed down through generations because they contain valuable lessons about humanity as well as entertaining plots!
Animation Character ideas Have No Limits
The point here is that there's really no limit—you can take any idea from anywhere in order to create something original yet relatable when making an animated film!
So there you have it! I hope this blog has given you some animation character ideas for how to make your next animation character more relatable and memorable so that people can connect with them on an emotional level.
For more information about graphic design in animation, as well as answers to any other questions you might have, be sure to follow our blogs, check out our free masterclass, and our Animation Business Accelerator Program, download a copy of our free marketing handbook, and check out our blog on “How to Start an Animation Studio”!
