Date Published: April 27th, 2025

How To Create A Shounen Protagonist

In today's video, we're discussing how to create a shounen protagonist for your manga, comic, or light novel. The protagonist will be the most important character to focus on, as their dreams are what guides the story. We're looking at how to create this important character type, as well as how to make their story entertaining from beginning to end.

What Is A Protagonist?

In a shounen manga or light novel, the protagonist is the character who helps to drive the story. The protagonist in this genre is especially important, as their dreams and goals are usually connected with the main goals of the story.

Give Them A Strong Dream

The protagonist’s dream is one of the most important elements to focus on. However, they cannot achieve this dream alone... 

Know Their Skills

Ensure that the protagonist meets characters along the way who can help them to achieve this goal. Understand your protagonist’s skills, and where other characters may be able to support those skills.

Give Them A Journey

World-building is one of the most important elements in a good shounen. But the purpose of the world is to ensure that your protagonist can go on a journey, and learn more about it.

For this, it may be helpful to develop a world map, with marked locations that are important for your character to visit. With each new location, your character should develop new skills and abilities, that can help them in their adventure.

Understand Their Fears

While your protagonist may seem courageous on the surface, they should also have their own fears or weaknesses. But their friends should be able to help them find the strength to get through this!

Include A Foil

A foil is a character type that helps to highlight the elements that your protagonist lacks. Typically in a shounen, the foil will either be the antagonist or a rival character (sometimes they can be both.)

How To Create A Foil

There are a few main traits of a foil character.

Remember that the foil character highlights the elements the protagonist lacks! This contrast is to make both characters stand out. Some main qualities of a foil character include...

• Opposite Personality: The foil will usually have the opposite personality of the protagonist. If the protagonist is loud and friendly, the foil will be quiet and cruel.
• Unique Skills: The foil will usually have skills that oppose the protagonist’s skills. If the protagonist has light abilities, then the foil will have shadow abilities.
• Colour Scheme: Colour schemes are important in shounen, and a foil will usually have a complimentary colour scheme.

Create A Meaningful Design

The design of the shounen protagonist is one of the most important parts! To create a good design, here are some elements to consider…. 

1: Functionality

A shounen design should both look good, and have a purpose. Ensure that all parts of the design make sense and have meaning.

2: Personality

The character’s personality reflects their design. Consider what they would wear based on their personality. This also relates to functionality (if they like to move around a lot, they would need an outfit that supports this.)

3: Colour Scheme

Colours not only have certain psychological meanings, but they can also create a bold effect when paired together. Let’s take a look at how to use colours in design...

Using The Colour Wheel

Understanding the colour wheel can help you to find colours that work well together.

As well as this, understand psychological colour meanings.

Red = Confidence, energy, anger.
Orange = Creativity, happiness, excitement.
Yellow = Happiness, friendship.
Green = Nature, peace.
Blue = Stability, calmness.
Pink = Romance, kindness.
Purple = Wealth, mystery.
Black = Authority, elegance, power.
White = Peace, innocence.

Also think about how you feel when looking at certain colours!

Let Them Grow

A shounen protagonist typically changes in various ways throughout the story. The character they are at the end is likely very different than who they were at the beginning.

These are some common character development stages. However, you may add or change it, depending on what is necessary for your character.

• Origins
• The Threat
• Training
• Failure
• The Dark Night
• Hero Time

Please watch the full video for a more detailed description on each of these character development phases!