: Re: I'm having a bit of trouble fleshing out a character I am having a bit of trouble getting into the head of one of my characters. He isn't one of the main protagonists, but he is allied

@LarsenBagley300

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Also, when writing superheroes, some of my favorite support characters are the ones who are the non-powered spouse who are in on the hero's secrets. You don't have to have powers to be awesome in a superhero story. You don't even have to physically fight. I would suggest that you make this person a INTJ type on the Meyers-Brigg test (AKA The Masterminds) as they tend to be very good at seeing the "big picture system" of the task and will maximize organization to efficiancy (if the system is inefficient, the flaw is in the user, not the the system). They're rule oriented to the point of inefficient with others because the systems they design only work if you follow the rules. They aren't outgoing and having trouble finding love, but once found they are damned loyal. Similarly they won't seek leadership for ego, but only as necessary and will design the rules so that they can be removed from leadership if they ever go bad (or worse, design the system so they can have unlimited power. Yes, Emperor Palpatine is one of the most famous examples). They're rather quiet, and will only speak up when needed and if they are critical of others, it's target at the person's actions, not their own ego.

They are loved in fiction as villains (a good villain's plan needs to be near fool proof to get to a story climax and they consider all the points of failure when designing things) and as the insufferable genius that will punch above their weight class (and it's always a devastating intellectual punch, not a fist fight.). If you're fighting them, they will know your every weakness better than you and take full advantage. If they fight with you, they will anticipate every attack your foe will launch and have a devestating defense against it (Which is actually How Koreans tend to play in video games: typically small (in 4X games, Korea will play to only a small portion of the map) with very few resources and not much interest in conqust plays... but ready to fend off the enemies who on paper should easily overrun a territory that size without even breaking a sweat.

A major flaw in their design is that they tend to form relationships with benefits to their own goals first, so these guys will often act as a chess player with their friends lives and will sacrafice their queen for the checkmate. They don't like to share reasons as to why they make an unpopular call, but their reason always is with logic. Any dislike of you is not factored into the calculation. When they ask you to do an unpleasant task, it's because they know you are the best person for the job, not because of their respect or lack there of, of you as a person. They will tolorate just about any slight against them so long as you aren't inefficient (though this offers wonderful snarks that amount to "If you're gonna be wrong, at least do it right."

Some ideas are to look at Nick Fury and Phil Coulson from Marvel, Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars, Sherlock, Spock, Sheldon Cooper, and most incarnations of the Doctor. The common thread in all of them is they are very good at what they do because they can out plan the competition, very pragmatic, but very logical in their pragmatism. They can be good or evil, but rarely are they nice.

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