Writing.Com General Discussion

I've honestly never thought about this. I suppose to be 3D you have to have three dimensions. However with characters those dimensions obviously aren't going to be "width, length, and height." So, what are those dimensions?

If I think about it, the first thing for a character is, existence. This would be your line. A character has to exist above all thing. So, if they exist, they are the equivalent to a line.

So, the second dimension would probably have to be purpose. They have to both exist and have a purpose. That's a pretty basic character. Bad guy exists and he wants to rule the world. 2D character. He is the equivalent to a square.

So third dimension? Individualism, I suppose. Your character has moved past just having a purpose and is now different from everyone else with that same basic purpose. They are their own individual. Bad guy exists and wants to rule the world, he wants to do this due to a world that told him he was part of a prophesy that he has to do this, however on the side he dreams of, once he takes over it, leading it to an Era of peace and unity if only our darned main character would stop trying to be a hero and crushing his efforts. That prophesy will be the death of him, literally, and even though he denies it, he cannot fight against it. He will be the bad guy of his story and he will be defeated. He is now the equivalent to a cube.

However, cubes are still pretty basic and some people may see my three dimensional character as two dimensional, but any more for me would be adding to the cube. Like, bad guy who exists and want to rule the world and blah blah blah also never goes to see his mother and burns all her letters because prophesy says he will be the cause of her death and he doesn't want to be. He is now a blue square. Oh, also he doesn't know how to fight because he fears he will hurt people if he ever did learn. He is now a blue square with little red spots. Also, his brother is the main hero and he is torn between giving up so his brother may live his story and be a hero or trying to fight against the story. He is now a blue and red cube with a little bump on the side. And lastly, he really, really, really freaking likes milk. Now his square has an arm.

Some people might still call him 2D and still demand more to be 3D but this is just my interpretation of this question. You'll probably get wildly different answers from other people.

(And now I will have a little blue square with little red dots and a small bump on one side and an arm on the other hopping around my brain all day)