How to Create Characters for Your Fantasy Novel

Freya and Daemon from Moonlit Awakening

When I started writing Moonlit Awakening, I had no idea where this journey would take me.

I’m a debut author, yes, but over the last three years I’ve gone through the messy, exciting, and sometimes overwhelming process of bringing characters to life.

Now that I’ve published my first book, I feel like I can share what worked for me, and maybe it will help you if you’re staring at a blank page, wondering where to begin.

Because let’s be honest: starting from nothing can be terrifying.

Let's say you have a story idea, maybe just a mood or an image, and suddenly you need an entire world and people who feel real enough to live in it. So where do you start?

Step One: Genre and Mood

For me, the very first thing was deciding what kind of story I wanted to write. Genre shapes everything. It’s like choosing the heartbeat of your novel.

A dark fantasy romance has a completely different pulse than a lighthearted adventure or a slice-of-life drama. I wanted something gothic, mysterious, and romantic at the same time. I wanted a story where shadows are just as important as light, where danger walks hand in hand with desire.

That choice set the stage for everything else.

If you’re starting your own project, think of genre not just as a label, but as a promise to your readers and to yourself. What emotions do you want them to feel? What atmosphere do you want to sink into every time you sit down to write?

Step Two: Names Matter

Names carry weight.

They can tell you more about a character than a paragraph of description sometimes can.

I live in Denmark now, though I’m Lithuanian by nationality, and I’ve always felt very connected to Scandinavian culture. That’s why my characters had to carry a name rooted in that space.

Freya Sandberg came almost instantly.

To me, it was a name that felt timeless, mythic, strong, but also tender in its own way. It held the kind of history that fit the story I was about to tell.

Then, of course, I needed a male lead. And I’ll admit it openly: I was obsessed with The Vampire Diaries.

Damon Salvatore from Vampire Diaries

Damon Salvatore was one of my all-time favorite morally gray characters.

There was something magnetic about him. He was dangerous and irresistible. I wanted my own character to have that same kind of pull.

So I borrowed the name, twisted it, and Daemon Ravenhand entered the page. His name immediately gave me a sense of danger, sharpness, and mystery.

If you’re stuck on names, try pulling from your own cultural background, obsessions, or even favorite stories. Names are your first chance to show who your characters might be.

Freya’s name ties her to myth and strength, but Sandberg grounds her in a family, in a place. Daemon’s name, with its echo of “demon” and “raven,” suggests shadow and omens before you’ve even met him on the page.

Step Three: Build Them from the Outside In

Once I had names, I started imagining their faces.

Freya: pale skin, brown eyes, and half silver hair that almost glowed under moonlight.

Daemon: dark, piercing eyes that I immediately knew had to hide something, a secret, a power, maybe even a curse.

And then it clicked.

His eyes would become a window to evolve a story. I wanted him to be as bad as anyone would imagine an enemy to be. Possessive leader with abilities to mind control, shadows, and darkness.

It’s funny how often one detail leads to another.

Freya, on the other hand, was fully human. Which immediately posed the most important question in fantasy romance: how do two completely different beings meet?

Step Four: Give Them a World to Live In

Characters don’t exist in an empty world, they need a stage. Once I had Freya and Daemon, I started asking myself: Where would their paths cross? Who else shares this world with them? 

Quinto the dog that inspired Moonlit Awakening

I remember just sitting there, stuck, trying to imagine what kind of dangerous situation could bring them together.

And then I glanced over at my dog. He was just sitting, scratching his ear, licking his paws, and completely unbothered by my creative crisis.

And suddenly it hit me.

Werewolves.

Not the soft, cuddly kind like my dog, but the raw, primal kind. The kind that could rip you apart under a full moon, yet still hold that dangerous allure you can’t look away from.

That’s when the world started to take shape.

Their presence added a new layer, a new threat, mystery, and a history that stretched far beyond Freya's and Daemon’s first meeting. They couldn’t exist without the world around them, and the world wouldn’t exist without them.

And in that moment, I realized I wasn’t just writing about two characters anymore. I was building a society, a history, a new world of Lycomoria.

A map of Lycomoria in "Moonlit Awakening". Illustrated by Emile Sodyte

Step Five: Layer the Characters with Flaws and Desires

The truth is, what makes characters unforgettable isn’t just their appearance or their powers.

It’s what they want, what they fear, and what they’ll sacrifice to get it.

For Freya, that meant courage mixed with doubt. She might face dangers far greater than herself, but she still questions if she’s strong enough to meet them. That vulnerability made her human.

For Daemon, it was the weight of his own shadows. Yes, he was powerful, but his darkness was what created him. It shaped him, limited him, and tempted him.

Flaws make characters relatable. Desires make them compelling. It’s the tension between who they are and who they want to be that breathes life into them.

Final Thoughts

If you’re sitting with a blank page right now, don’t panic.

Start small. Pick a genre. Choose a name that excites you.

Imagine a face, a scar, an eye color. Then ask: what world do they belong to? What do they want most, and what stands in their way?

That’s how Freya Sandberg and Daemon Ravenhand came alive for me.

And trust me, once your characters take their first breath, they’ll start surprising you in ways you never expected.

If you enjoyed this sneak peek into how I created the main characters for "Moonlit Awakening" , you might also like reading about my writing journey and becoming a dark fantasy romance author. Read about the ups, the doubts, and the small victories along the way. You can check out that article here and maybe find a bit of your own story in mine.