Someone on TBBS asked what "good characterisation" was. Posted an off-the-cuff reply but thought it summed my views up quite nicely:
Good characterisation is when a character is good.
Okay, now that I've got the George Bush answer out of the way...
Some attributes of good characterisation:
- complexity: let the character have different sides, eg not just be defined by their function ("the doctor", "the soldier", "the captain")
- nuance and depth: let there be some subtleties to their emotions, thoughts, opinions and actions
- empathy: let us feel like we can live in their shoes, even if they're the "bad guys"
- motivation: let us know what is driving the character forward...
- backstory: ...and how they came to be the person they are today
- reasonable consistency: not so consistent that they never surprise us, not so inconsistent that they go all Janeway
- change: let them grow ... or sometimes slide backwards