So, who are you? : Characters
The way people develop their characters is all different, you can base them off of someone you know in real life, you can base them off a person in a book, movie, video game, or even after yourself. Whether they?re based off of something (or someone) or you made them up yourself they?re your character and there are plenty of things characters need: a background (what happened in their past? Why are they like how they are now?), a personality (how do they react to other people? What is their view on life?), a physical description (hair color? Eye color?), family (everyone has family whether you like to admit or not), and of course, a place in the role-play. Let?s get started on each of them.
Backgrounds. What does this word mean to you? The definition from dictionary.com says: one's origin, education, experience, etc., in relation to one's present character, status, etc.
With this in mine, please take a note of something very important: not all characters live the same life so your character should have the same history as every other character in the forums. Yes, I understand it?s hard to come by original ideas and it?s hard to think of something someone hasn?t already thought of, but that doesn?t mean it has to be the same ?my father beat me?, ?I cut my wrists?, ?I think I?m fat?, or even ?I was ***ually abused?. Though there is a lot of crime in the world, it?s not that popular. Not everyone has abusive parents, not everyone cuts himself or herself. Yes, there are ?emo? people but not everyone is emo. There are people who are optimistic. On the note of optimism, not everyone lived completely rainbows and butterflies, there are ups and downs to everyone?s life, try not to make them too? Clich?.
Personality. This is another field that is so typical. For girls, it?s usually mysterious and kind but if you anger her she?s unstoppable, right? Do you know how many girls in the world are actually like that? The answer is very few. Take into consideration that most girls do have explosive tempers that can rage on for days, they aren?t always kind girls when they?re not mad. There are different types of people other than just the girl that every guy wants to be with. There are people that hardly anyone likes that are hardly ever seen in a role-play. Think of your characters are real people because that is what they are. They live, they breathe, they eat, and they reproduce. Just because they only live in a virtual world doesn?t mean they?re any less real than anything else. They are real in that world, so think of them as real people. In reality, how many people are actually nice? Think of it in that perspective and you?ll have much more interesting characters. Consider that not everyone acts how they look and that people may have complex personalities.
Appearance. This is the big one that everyone worries about. Is my character attractive? Does the other person like my character?s appearance? Though appearances can be different from skin color, to eye color, to hair color, to facial structures, there are so many people still that make characters who are the same as every other character. A girl with long black hair, blue eyes, skinny frame, and a pretty face is so over-used that it should be erased from everyone?s memory as a description. Yes, people do have black hair but that?s not the only color. Blue is one of the most unpopular eye colors as well, what are the chances that so many people will have blue eyes? Very little. Brown eyes and brunette hair are the most popular eye and hair colors, though why do we have a thousand blue-eyed blonde-haired or black-haired people running around? A lack of creativity is the answer to this question. When you make your character try to avoid things that are normal. Make your character have green eyes instead of blue, maybe even brown. All of the colors are available to you for eye color and hair color; it doesn?t have to be natural.
Still on the subject of appearance, I?d like to go ahead and state that the ?emo? and ?scene? stuff is way too typical. Everyone in a role-play now a day is ?emo? or ?scene? or ?goth?, don?t make your character like everyone else. Make him or her stick out from the others, have a prep or a skater (still too overused, but not as bad). With the appearance also take into note that your character doesn?t have to be a male model or a gorgeous woman. If everyone in the world was beautiful there wouldn?t be many role-players, so don?t make everyone in a role-play beautiful. Be the brave one and make a character with acne issues as many people have, or maybe even mental issues. People have faults and everyone has a physical fault.
Family is probably the one thing that no one likes to talk about, though since it?s an essential part of your character, you need to hear a little about a family. Not everyone?s family is abusive and not everyone comes from a rich household. The world does have abuse and the world does have aristocrats but that doesn?t mean every single parent is either abusive or an aristocrat (or both), there are people in poverty who love their children to death and there are middle-class parents who would never lay a harmful finger on their child even if someone held a gun to their head. Be creative with your character?s family, incorporate their best friend into the family, they don?t necessarily have to have a real family. They could be an orphan whose only family is their friends, or they could only have a church family; either way they have a family of some sort. Family is one of the biggest parts of your character?s history; it affects how they were raised and what they were taught as a child and how they?ll react to things now that they?re older. Family is a huge piece of someone?s life; so don?t forget the family of your character.