How to Write an Introvert

Image Credit: Atlus, A-1 Pictures

When it comes to character tropes, one of the most interesting to me is the introvert. What makes them stand out to me is how uniquely they can all be written. There’s no one way for them to be written, which can lead to some fun interactions with the rest of the cast. And, it also helps that I’m able to relate to them. 

Today we’re going to be looking at a few introverted characters in media. This article is also special in the fact that we aren’t just looking at video game characters. I’m going to be trying something different and looking at some characters outside of video games. I hope that you all enjoy it.

Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy 8)

Image Credit: Square Enix

As far as introverts go, Squall is the quintessential example in my mind. In the early days of the internet, people were greatly misrepresenting his character. “He’s an edgelord! He’s Cloud 2.0! He’s an asshole!” And you know, if you stopped playing after Disc 1, you’d be correct. But that’s only telling part of the story. In his own words right at the start of the game, he’s a lot more complex than he lets on.

Squall is going to be the introduction to a lot of introvert tropes that we’ll discuss in this article. The most apparent to me is when the game gives us a glimpse into his thoughts. As someone who’s very reserved, Squall only really speaks when spoken to, and even then he doesn’t always respond. And it’s important for the audience to be in his head because otherwise we’d never know what he’s thinking.

Squall himself is a very quiet person. He’ll very rarely let those around him know what’s going on inside that head of his. Whenever he’s questioned by his teammates, he’ll either tell them that it’s nothing, or hit them with the classic “Whatever…”

Speaking of which, let’s talk about those teammates he’s forced to be around. If you’re going to write a character that doesn’t like to do a lot of talking, then you’d better balance that out with characters that do too much talking. And boy does FF8 have you covered! After passing the S.E.E.D. exam, Squall is sent on his first mission where he gets paired up with Zell and Selphie, two very loud and hyperactive characters that Squall really wants nothing to do with. This is the start of a running gag with Squall being paired with the loudest people imaginable. Branching into spin-offs, he’s had to work with Yuffie in Kingdom Hearts, as well as Bartz and Zidane in Dissidia. He did catch a break in Dissidia NT when the writers were kind enough to pair him off with Lightning for that side story.

Then there’s Rinoa, the game’s love interest. She and Squall have a very interesting dynamic. They first meet at the S.E.E.D. Ball where she basically holds him hostage and forces him to dance with her, taking him way out of his comfort zone. I’ve always viewed Squall and Rinoa as mirrors of each other. They both had fairly lonely childhoods, but grew up to be very different. Where Squall is quiet and closed off, Rinoa is a lot more excitable and outgoing. She radiates a positive, bubbly energy that invites people in, whereas Squall’s cold, matter-of-fact personality pushes people away. The exact response that he wants from them.

There’s one scene near the start of the third disc where Squall has a quiet moment to reflect on everything that’s happened so far. And while he’s talking to himself, we get to see him at his most vulnerable and gives us a line that encapsulates his character perfectly. “I worry too much about what others think of me… Squall is an unfriendly, introverted guy. It made it easy for me when people perceived me that way.”

And that to me sums up his entire character. He doesn’t want to act this way. But after the life that he’s had up to this point, it’s just easier for him to take on this persona and hide his true self from the rest of the world. After all, his military school doesn’t care about how he acts. As long as he can swing his gunblade, he’s still useful to them. I’ve actually done a full breakdown of the above scene in a previous article if you want to know more about it.

Overall, Squall’s introvertedness was more of a learned behavior for him. Growing up in an orphanage and thinking he lost the person he was closest to at a young age caused him to build this wall around himself to keep people from getting to know who he really is. People like Zell and Quistis tried to get through, but it wasn’t until Rinoa started to challenge him and show that she genuinely wanted to be around him that he finally started to lower his guard. He’s still a man of few words, but he at least learned to show that he cares about his new friends.

Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)

Image Credit: Nintendo, Monolith Soft

If Squall is the more stoic, strong silent type of introvert, Shulk easily falls into the more nerdy, shut-in introvert character archetype. After the prologue at Sword Valley where we got to play as Dunban and his war buddies fighting off the Mechon forces, we’re introduced to Shulk, who almost gets rolled by a crab.

At face value, Shulk is not someone cut out for the protagonist role. I mean, you just got done playing as one of the coolest characters in the entire Xeno series. Now you have to play as this dork? Well, let’s break down what he has on offer.

In context, you’re introduced to Shulk a year after the events of Sword Valley. After Dunban lost the use of his right arm because of his prolonged use of the Monado, Shulk is tasked with studying the properties of the sword. Because of this, Shulk becomes borderline obsessive, not really interacting with the people around him, including his friends in the Colony (Reyn and Fiora). It gets to the point where his mentor, Dickson, needs to remind him to get out of the lab every now and again.

Shulk is not a warrior. He’s a lab rat who has been spending the year after the battle at Sword Valley studying the Monado, trying to figure out what makes the blade function, and why Dunban is seemingly the only person who can control the blade. It isn’t until Shulk finally picks up the blade himself and is granted a hidden power of the Monado. The ability to see into the future.

This future sight ability is what makes Shulk an interesting character to examine. Initially, Shulk keeps this ability a secret, only revealing it to Reyn after he’s almost killed by a giant spider. I think that this makes Shulk an interesting character. If you saw a possible future of one of your friends dying, how would you respond to it? In Shulk’s case, he tries to solve the problem on his own.

Shulk is someone who has always worked alone. He’s the only one who’s been assigned to study the Monado. Dickson will check in on him, but this is ultimately his job. So when he takes up the Monado and sets out on his adventure, having to work with others is a steep learning curve for him. In the early parts of the story, whenever Shulk gets a vision, he’ll keep it to himself and try to figure out a solution on his own. It takes a bit of a harsh scolding from Reyn to get him to stop withholding vital information from the rest of the party.

Shulk’s personality in the first Xenoblade game is that of an awkward, reclusive nerdy character. He doesn’t like confrontation, and he’s very awkward in social situations, not picking up well on cues from the other characters. But how is he when he grows up?

I absolutely adore Xenoblade 3’s Future Redeemed DLC. It’s very easily one of the top 3 DLCs of all time, and it’s a fantastic game for when you just need a bite-sized Xenoblade experience. One thing in particular that I love about it is the party composition. Your team of six through the main story consists of heroes of the present with Matthew and A, heroes of the future in Glimmer and Nikol, and heroes of the past, Rex and Shulk. Being able to see an aged up version of previous protagonists is a personal favorite trope of mine in writing, and this game shows exactly what I think they’d be like as adults, and as parents.

Future Redeemed Shulk has grown out of his shy, introverted nature. This is a natural progression for his character since he’s one of the leaders of the Liberation Force fighting against Alpha. He’s actually adopted a lot of characteristics from Dunban. He’s still methodical when it comes to thinking through plans, but he’s also a lot more calm and calculating in battles, rather than the bursts of anger he’d have as a teenager. He’s also shown to still enjoy working with machines, and even helps his son, Nikol, get more comfortable with the group by bonding over their shared love of tinkering.

Rin Shima (Laid-Back Camp)

Image Credit: Afro, C-Station

Laid-Back Camp hit me in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I went in expecting to watch a silly show about camping shenanigans. And while I did get that, I also had my heart get ripped out and stomped on every other episode. Season 2 was especially rough. It made me cry so much. Needless to say, this was the best show I’ve ever watched. And I can tell that the show left a lasting impact on me because I can’t stop thinking about it.

This is a show that’s carried by its cast. I think that all five of them are interesting in their own right, and can do a good job carrying an episode depending on who they’re paired up with. And the subject under the microscope for this segment is the show’s lead: Rin Shima. This is my first time branching off outside of video games in my articles. Let’s not screw it up!

Rin is a very interesting introvert. She shares a lot of commonalities with the others we’ve discussed so far. She prefers doing things alone rather than in a group. She’s independent, and will try to problem solve on her own. Much like with Squall, we’re often let into her mind to hear her internal thoughts. And instead of spending her free time with a group, she’d rather ride her scooter to a quiet campsite to be alone with her books. It’s also shown that she likes to talk to herself and acts kind of goofy when no one else is around to judge her. I don’t know if this is internal, or if she’s talking out loud. But it’s an aspect of her that I relate to. I also talk out loud to myself and make jokes when I’m alone or things are too quiet.

Where Rin differs from the other two is in the smaller details. She’s not anti-social like Squall, and she’s not a recluse like Shulk is. Yes, Rin prefers to be alone, but she has no problems when it comes to socializing with her peers, even if she’d rather not. In Season 3 when she goes on a bike ride with Ayano (Nadeshiko’s friend from Middle School) she has no problem being around her. And unlike Shulk, she isn’t a home-body. Early on in season 1, Rin gets her scooter license, and the first thing that we see her do is drive 150 km (97 miles) to a campsite in Nagano by herself!

Rin is someone who simply finds comfort in being alone. This is why she does her solo camping trips mostly in the Fall and Winter months. She does this because there’s less people at the sites. And I respect the hell out of this show for never making Rin being alone seem like a bad thing. In fact, when a couple members of the outdoor club go on their own solo camping adventures, they both learn why Rin likes it so much.

One of those members is Nadeshiko. In the first episode, Rin finds her sleeping on a bench at the campsite she’s visiting. At night when Rin goes to the bathroom, she’s quite literally jumpscared by a sobbing Nadeshiko. After some antics, Rin brings her back to her campsite and gives her some ramen and keeps her company until Nadeshiko’s older sister (Sakura) comes to pick her up.

During the second episode, Rin learns that she and Nadeshiko go to the same high school. Nadeshiko wastes no time joining the school’s camping club, while Rin chooses to ignore them. She even states in the S1E9 that she doesn’t like the club’s leader: Chiaki Ogaki. She does a good job avoiding them until her friend Saito gets her involved, and eventually roping her into the club’s Christmas camping trip at the end of the first season. But sometimes you need a friend like Saito to give you that extra push.

Like Rin, I also didn’t get involved in my high school’s clubs. It’s not that I hated school, I just didn’t think that there was anything there for me after the final bell rang. But then in my third year, my friend Abby brought me down to the school’s theatre, and I ended up joining the Theatre Department’s tech crew for the upcoming Winter Musical. It was some of the most fun that I’d ever had, and I got to meet a lot of great people there. It gave me a sense of belonging that I didn’t know I was even missing.

As the show goes on, Rin gradually opens up more and more with the camping club, joining them on their big trips, but notably never officially joining the club. She’s also shown to be concerned for all of them. In S2E6, she lets the club teacher know that three of them are in a potentially freezing campsite where they are greatly unprepared. Then in S2E8, Rin drives to the campsite where Nadeshiko is solo camping after she didn’t respond to any of her texts. And when she gets there, she finds that Sakura also came to check on her younger sister.

On the whole, Rin is a different take on the introvert. She’s not anti-social. She’s just someone who would rather be alone, but grows to appreciate the company of her friends. I seriously can’t recommend this show enough. Please go give it a watch if you love slice of life shows.

Closing

And there you have it. I only took a look at three characters this time around because it’s surprisingly hard to find examples of introverted characters in media. There were some characters like Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop, but I would say that he falls more into the category of a lone wolf, and not an introvert. It’s hard to explain the difference, but someone like Spike just gives off a different vibe from the other three characters I talked about.

This is also the first time that I’ve branched out into a topic not exclusively about video games. If the situation calls for it, we may get more non-video game material in the future. It really all depends on the topic.