In epic fantasy, do you prefer character or worldbuilding? Which is “better” for a story?
I know, you’re onto me now. It’s a trick question. I don’t believe there should be a separation.
I love characters in books just like many people do, but I think great character work goes beyond just giving them well-rounded personalities and a tragic backstory and a purpose. The way I think about it is this: our background and the world around us shapes and forms who we are. Worldbuilding IS part of character. To deny otherwise would be to deny how so many different viewpoints come to exist, to deny the influence of culture and upbringing, to say there is only one canvas and it’s the trappings that make us who we are. Which is…not how it works.
I find myself always looking for worldbuilding behind characters unconsciously. Did this character grow up poor or well-off? If there was war in the past, has the war affected them? Their family? If they are different, gifted, skilled, is there a reason? Where were they born, where did they grow up, was their life situation outside the norm?
I’m going to use one of the most popular characters from my Agartes trilogy, Enosh, as an example of how I approach this. Enosh is an arrogant man who somehow suffers from textbook narcissism, and had gone on to do thoughtless things like ignore his family for years on end or think very little of his brother. He is described as highly intelligent, a perfectionist who detests incompetence in his underlings, and is driven by ambition and the need for control.
Enosh is the eldest son of a village chief who prized education above all else. They come from a people displaced from their homeland, and to Enosh’s father, education is a way to prove to the world they aren’t “inferior,” that their people can still do great things in the world despite what was done to them. Enosh idolized his father who died when he was young, unable to fulfill the grand dreams he has for their people. So in Enosh’s mind, it was up to him to try to accomplish these dreams. His impatience with his brother, who suffers from reading disabilities (and to him, not at all interested in the bigger picture), is a reflection of how the world around him has influenced his character.
You can see why I find the lines between the two elements blurred. Everything else is a craft argument (don’t sacrifice character for worldbuilding, balance, etc.) And yes, you can have very developed characters and developed worldbuilding separately in a novel, but I think that is in the melding of the two where the most exploration and profound introspection can occur.
