Character Profile #3: The Protector
Meet my protector character!
Hello, friends, and welcome to my third Character Profile, a new monthly feature in which you get to learn more about one of my characters. Spoiler alert: I have a LOT of characters. If you’d like to learn more about them, you can click here to read a short story snippet I wrote a few months ago.
See all of my Character Profiles here.
Each character profile will consist of three parts:
the mood board — where you get a peek into their character as photos!
the interview — where the character is interviewed and you get to learn more about them.
the writing snippet featuring that character — where you get to see how I incorporate the character into a short scene!
#1: The Mood Board
#2: The Interview
Introduce yourself!
Hello, I’m the Protector. I live in the neighboring country of Clyrinia and keep the royal family there safe – I’m also the third person to join the quest after the Prince and his cousin!
Can you also describe yourself?
I’m a Faun, which means I’m half human, half goat. I have two furry red legs as well as curly red hair and a beard. I also have olive skin and green eyes.
What’s your favorite food?
I love sunflower seeds. The Fauns are known for their large vegetable gardens, and one year my brother, my future wife, and I planted sunflowers, mostly as a joke. But they grew super fast and well, and now we plant sunflowers every year!
What’s your favorite color?
I’d have to say my favorite color would be a bright, rich yellow. Not to get super specific, but I think saffron is the closest to what color I’m thinking of. As I said earlier, we grow sunflowers in the Faun village, so I’ve grown up around that yellow color my whole life!
Where’s your favorite place to be?
Probably the hill overlooking the river. I have a lot of good memories of that hill, and it’s always pretty, no matter what season.
What was your favorite school subject?
I really excel in anything to do with physical education, especially combat and knot-tying. Although I left school years ago, it comes in handy with my Protector job, where my skills have to be sharp all the time in case there’s danger.
What was your childhood like and who did you live with?
I lived in the Faun village on the other side of the big river that splits my country into two. I grew up with my mom and brother, and eventually my mom remarried and my sister was born. I also have a wife, Charlotte, but all of my family and friends disappeared in the midst of a huge fight between the Elves and Fauns. I still don’t know where they are now.
Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry to hear that. You said you’re a Protector – how did you get your job?
After my family disappeared, I was offered a job to train in the Faun army. I was on track to become a leading Faun officer in the next batch of recruits fighting against the Elves. Then I heard that the latest Clyrin Protector was hurriedly being replaced, and the Faun King and Queen asked me to step up and take the position instead. I’ve been doing this job for over ten years now.
What is your weakness?
I get caught up in the “what if” game. What if my family is hurt or in danger? I tend to get in my head if I think about their disappearance too long, and then I start blaming myself for not being there. It’s a cycle.
What’s your strength?
I try, every single day, to exude leadership. To be brave and fearless, and it seems to work.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Thank you for interviewing me!
#3: The Snippet:
Charlotte huddled over her knitting, her eyes focused on her yarn as she stitched methodically. She looked up again to see Gustav*, slumped in the chair opposite her, his eyes sad as he stared out of the window. This was the third time this week Charlotte had found her husband lost in his thoughts.
“Are you alright, love?” she asked, reaching a hand out to comfort him.
He blinked as he turned to face her, his curly hair disheveled and untamed. “I’m fine, Charlotte.” But he wasn’t fine; he was worried about the future. Gustav knew he had to tell Charlotte about the meeting he’d just had with the Faun captain; he wasn’t ready to upend her life…again.
“Are you thinking about your parents?” she asked, counting stitches as she tried to talk. “You can’t keep blaming yourself.”
“But if I had been there, maybe…” Gustav trailed off as he twisted his hands in his lap, still staring out the window. The rain matched his somber mood.
“Gustav!” Charlotte said firmly, to get his attention back. She rose from her seat, the yarn tumbling from her lap, the needles crashing to the floor. “The search party will keep looking, but I need you to be strong…please.”
As she crossed the room to reach her husband, a loud cry came from the other room. Charlotte glanced at the door to the back bedroom. “At least for your sister. Promise me that.”
Gustav nodded silently. The little Faun had brought so much joy to her older brother and his wife over the past week. She was still too young to understand her parents’ sudden disappearance, but she seemed to be enjoying her extended stay in the small house.
Charlotte went through the door, coming back a minute later with a sleepy toddler whose tiny strands of red hair stuck up wildly on her head. “She takes after you, you know.”
Gustav took the girl, bouncing her on his lap. “She looks so much like Mother, it’s uncanny.” He drifted away again, thinking about his mother and stepfather. He wondered if they were already to the Caves.
The toddler babbled happily as Gustav resumed staring out the window.
Charlotte retrieved the yarn, putting it on a shelf high above the girl’s reach.“I need to go check on the potatoes.” She smiled at the girl. “She’s trying them for the first time tonight.”
*all names have been changed for character privacy*
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If you enjoyed this profile and would like to know more about these characters and my journey, click here! Thanks for reading, and keep on being kind! 💖
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