Tips for Designing a Mentor OC!

There’s lots of different types of characters you can design as you create characters for your next story or project. One popular type of character you’ve likely seen is the mentor figure! But before we get started, if you need some tips on creating other types of characters, check out one of these articles!

• Tips for Designing an Appealing Villain OC! 
• Tips for Designing a Hero OC!
• Designing Citizens in Your OC Worlds!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get back to talking about mentor characters! You might know them for being a parental figure to a story’s protagonist, or you might know them as the wise teacher to the hero who always ends up dying to the villain. (It’s for the protagonist’s character development, trust.) So how do you go about designing a mentor character for your own story? Let’s talk about it!

What kind of mentor is your OC?

First of all, you want to think about what kind of mentor character you want to create! There’s lots of different types of mentor characters in stories. Some are friendly, others are grumpy. 

Mentors could also be anyone! They might be the character’s professor, or they might be a parent. You’ll want to think about the kind of person your character is as you start designing them! If you need some ideas to consider, here’s some questions to get you started!

• What’s the mentor’s personality?
• Are they introverted, or extroverted?
• Are they good, evil, or morally grey? (Just because they’re a mentor, doesn’t have to mean they’re a good one!)
• How do they know the protagonist?
• Does the character want to be a mentor figure?
• Why are they the mentor character?
• Do they have any other role in the story apart from the mentor figure?

Once you have an idea of what kind of character you’ll be creating, you can design them! Having an idea of what kind of person a character is can help you decide how you want to go about designing them. 

Design their appearance!

Now it’s time to design the appearance of your mentor! Oftentimes mentor figures are older and wiser than the protagonist. (Though, not always! It will depend on the character you’re creating.) The appearance of your mentor OC can reflect their age and wisdom!

Pick a build for your OC!

One thing you can think about while designing your mentor OC is their build. Are they old and frail? Maybe they’re strong and intimidating! It will depend on the personality of the mentor and their role in the story.

You can consider incorporating shape language into their design to help your audience get an idea as to what kind of character they are! Shape language is often used in character design to represent different aspects of a character. If you need some ideas for how you could use shape language in your OC’s design, you could try… 

• You might use large square shapes to signify a mentor that’s strong and steadfast!
• Triangles and sharp shapes might suggest the mentor is on the more prickly side! 
• Round shapes could be used for a mentor who’s kind and gentle! 
• A mix of square and triangle shapes could mean the mentor is imposing and intimidating
• A mix of round and sharp shapes might mean the mentor is friendly, but dangerous

There’s plenty of different ways you could use shape language in your OC’s design! You could incorporate it into their body, hair, face, and more!

If you need a more detailed explanation of shape language and how you can use it in your OC designs, there’s an article all about choosing the shapes and silhouette of your OCs!

Design the face of your OC!

The next thing you can think about is designing your mentor OC’s face! The face of a character is especially important, since it’s the part of the design that will be seen most often. You can think about how you want to design their eyes, nose, face shape, and other details!

You could incorporate shape language here as well! You might give a mentor character sharp eyes if they’re a grumpy character. You might give them rounder eyes if they’re more kindhearted! If you need some ideas for what you could add to your OC’s face, here’s a few ideas you could think about!

• Tired, sharp eyes for a grumpy mentor
• Large, round eyes for an eccentric mentor
• Wrinkles for an older mentor
• Eyebags or dark circles for an exhausted mentor
• Scars for a battle-hardened mentor
• Glowing markings for a magical mentor

There’s lots of different things you could think about as you design your mentor’s face! How you design them will depend on what kind of character you’re creating. That being said, you could also give them a face that’s the opposite of the OC’s personality! A mentor with a mean-looking face might be much kinder than they look, or a mentor with a friendly face might be more strict than they appear.

Earlier I mentioned designing the eyes of your mentor OC! If you need more ideas for designing the eyes of your characters, and not just a mentor OC, check out this article here!

Design the outfit of your OC!

Next, you can design the outfit of your mentor OC! You might give them a work outfit, or maybe a cool uniform. You can design their outfit in a lot of different ways!

Give them a motif!

Something you can think about as you design your mentor character’s outfit is a motif! A motif can show up in many parts of design. It can hold symbolism for the character, or it could just make them look cool!

Since it’s a mentor character, you might consider using a motif that symbolizes wisdom or strength. That being said, there are plenty of other options for symbolism you could use! If you need some ideas, you could try…

• An owl motif
• A hawk motif
• A wolf motif
• A fox motif
• A gemstone motif
• A water motif
• A lightning motif
• A star motif
• A sun motif
• A moon motif
• A leaf motif
• A flower motif
• A skull motif

The motif you choose can be used throughout a design, or in just a few places! It depends on how subtle or how obvious you want the symbolism to be. You might incorporate the symbolism into the clothes and accessories, but you could also incorporate it into the shape language and other parts of the character!

Another thing you could consider is giving your mentor an aesthetic! If you’d like some ideas on how to choose one for your character, check out this article here!

Give them some cool clothes!

Now that you have a motif picked out, it’s time to work on designing the clothes of your mentor character! You could consider giving them a work outfit, something that shows off their role, or something that shows off their rank!

You could also consider how long the mentor has done their job for. If they’ve been a royal guard for a long time, their armor might be covered in scratches and dents. A monster hunter might have clothes that are super tattered or covered in stains. If you want a few ideas, here’s a few to help you think!

• A neat suit
• A long trench coat
• A tattered fur coat
• A long, tattered skirt
• An elegant robe
• A nice vest
• A fancy button-up shirt
• A long gown
• A suit of armor

It’s up to you what kind of clothes you give your OC! There’s lots of options you can choose from, so you’ll want to consider aspects like their personality and other things as you design them!

Once you design your OC’s outfit, you could also consider giving them secondary outfits! If you’d like some tips for how to go about that, check out this article here!

Give them some fitting accessories or tools!

One last thing you can add to your mentor’s design is some accessories or tools! They could hold important significance to the character, but they could also just look cool.

Depending on what kind of mentor you’re creating, it could be a magical object, or an awesome weapon! If you need some inspiration, here’s some ideas to get your creativity flowing!

• A tall staff
• A magical book
• An enchanted necklace
• A protective charm
• A mobility aid
• A rusted sword
• A worn down bow
• A pair of glasses
• A set of tools
• A work apron
• A mysterious mask

Accessories can help bring a design together, while also showing off what’s important to your character! They may keep something that has sentimental value to them, or they might keep an item that helps them control their powers. You can add as many accessories as you want, or as few as you want!

However, if you do add a lot of accessories to your OC’s design, you might want to make your character a reference sheet! A reference sheet helps you keep track of your OC’s design so you can draw them consistently. If you need some help with creating one, there’s an article with tips on it that you can find here!

Mentor characters can be an awesome addition to your cast of characters! When you finish creating your mentor OC, be sure to share them with us here on Unvale! If you want, you’re welcome to post about them in the Unvale-Blog community! We’d love to see your creations!