What makes that character so intimidating to the other characters in your story? How would you personally define intimidation?
Lend me your thoughts!
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It depends on what you mean by intimidating. Yes, I write intimidating characters because I’m naturally intimidating…but that doesn’t mean that it intimidates everyone. Sometimes the differentiated characteristics between intimidating and hero are non-existent, for example.
Probably a good pair to pull up would be Sssyraine and Dreithan. How you meet her, how he kills to defend her shows something quite unnatural about both, and it very well would be intimidating to be on the wrong end of that.
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Correction: It depends on what YOU mean by intimidating. LOL!
I think of it in layers. Sometimes people are only situationally intimidating. That’s a person who is gentle until you cross their barriers.
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Character having a magical power that cannot be defeated by the MC’s current magical power, plus, character having a body that cannot be hurt by any sharp objects.
Basically, currently unbeatable.
That makes him intimidating.
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Sure, everyone has someone they’re kind of afraid of and intimidated by. Guess it also depends on the character.
I have one character who is a professor of knowledge at the University of Spades. In one of their visits to the professor to acquire some arcane knowledge only he is familiar with. The professor himself is a suspicious person, as he has been the victim of some kidnapping schemes, assassination attempts, and general people attempting to steal his knowledge on forbidden arcane studies.
So, when he presents himself to the characters as a very suspicious, cold, isolated fellow with few social graces–he’s pretty intimidating. His intelligence, I would say, is also a point for intimidation but this is more due to the character’s lack of confidence in their own intelligence.
Another character who is intimidating is a redcap barbarian warlord who pillages towns and does many disreputable things I shall not mention here. His reputation precedes him as, upon first meeting him, he’s chewing on some very human-looking tongues. He’s grouchy, unkind, and shouts a lot of his words. Many of the characters are intimidated by him due to the threat he possesses.
My MC is considered intimidating, mostly for her battle-honed abilities, but also the fact that she’s very stoic, silent, and not one to speak her mind often. She is unknown to many of the other characters, and her silence is often a point of intimidation.
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I don’t want to give away the horrible things my antagonist is going to do in the story, but I like to think even without those specific actions, he is intimidating just as a person. He seems very likable and a friendly person to most, but if you catch his interest… Well, that’s not a position you want to be in.
He’s very manipulative and enjoys playing mind games with people. It’s all about power to him and controlling others so he can get incredibly cruel, but in a way where you don’t blame him at first, and instead blame yourself. He can also get violent and will go from seeming like a chill, fun guy, to being angry and agressive in less than two seconds, for seemingly no reason at all. He keeps careful control of his temper in public, but the closer he gets to someone and the more private things are, the more likely he is to show his true, sadistic colors, but at seemingly spontanious moments. Essentially, he is very two faced, and the unpredictability of it, combined with the fact he’s smart enough to hide it well from others, is what makes him dangerous.
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Noooooooo [shoves most characters out of room and closes doors] I totally don’t write characters who can make people run screaming in the other direction or whose very presence can cause anyone to be on edge. Why would anyone assume that 
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Hey, bring that character back here this instant!
LOL!
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[cautiously lets characters back in]
You can babysit them if chaos starts 'cause I don’t control them 
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LOL!
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I wish I was joking. One minute we’re having a party, next minute there’s some massive plot to end the world. I blame my characters and their habits entirely 
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Blade is definitely my most intimidating character. He’s the typical bad boy with a tough armor, and a hell lot of sarcasm. Let’s say he’s as sharp as his name, and that’s why he’s so fun to write! 
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