This thread has been created for new and old members of this here forum and is an extension of this thread here:
rpgmulitverse.proboards.com/thread/566/suggestions-on-good-bad-character. I'll try and be brief but there's a few things people seem to lack in understanding when it comes to making characters.
There is a TLDR version for all you lazy readers down below. Let me know when you have read this please.
1 - Give them flaws and goods - Flaws come in many aspects, phobias, arrogance, under powered, dumb, oblivious to the obvious, naive, too emotional, not emotional enough, etc etc. Anything that makes a character appear or seem to be a little bit 'weaker'. But give them good points as well. Just don't get silly about it.
2 - Make each one different - If you take part in seventeen different RP's where each character you create is the same, then there's no fun in it. Make somebody a quivering wreck. Make somebody moody. Make somebody overly cheery. Let someone power in guns, let somebody else power in stealing and be shit at all else. Small, tall, human or not, make them different and not just their looks but their personalities too.
2.1 - Different 2.0 - Each character you create is likely to have different responses to certain situations. They'll all have a different opinion on what their favourite colour is or what they deem to be a good film. They're also going to have an opinion on other characters voices, opinions, thoughts and actions. Let us see those creative characters with different opinions.
2.2 - Different 3.0 - If you take part in the same RP as somebody else and they already have a character you would've liked to play, then it's a shame. But if you are going to take part and still try to stick to a similar character, make it different. Now, I don't just mean in terms of appearance or nationality. But in terms of what they're doing, how they act and their thoughts. Yes, sometimes they will be similar, but add something that makes them unique to the other character.
3 - Problem = motivation = action - This rule is one to stick by. Every character is going to have a problem, big or small. They ran out of tea bags, they're being followed by angry man eating cave dwellers, they've lost their drivers license, they've lied too much and can't dig their way out of the situation they're in. These are all problems and your character's problem can be tiny or huge but if they have a problem, then they will have a motivation to take action. This builds character.
4 - Write the character not the gender - Sometimes this can be ignored. Let's say you want a character that smokes pot and drinks whiskey. They're covered in tattoos and are pretty intelligent with a touch of arrogance. Sounds like a guy right? But why can't this character be a girl? Not all girls are weak stomached or need protecting. This applies to guys too. Not all guys are big and macho, some of them will faint at the sight of blood so write the character, if they smoke they smoke, if they gamble they gamble, if they chase other people looking for sex, they chase other people looking for sex. Do not write your character based upon their gender.
5 - Make them fall - And I don't just mean they trip over the root of a tree, stand up, brush it off and call out "I'm fine." What I mean is give your character a good deal of hurt. Make them cry, bleed profusely, suffer and wish they were somewhere else. Not all of the time of course, but every now and again they'll have a point where they snap and something will affect their actions and thoughts. No character can survive anything intact, they suffer damage in one shape or form.
5.1 - Make the fall physically - Stabbed. Shot. Punched. Kicked. Bruised. Bleeding. Brink of death. Burnt. Almost drowned. Water boarded. All of these are physical pains that your character could experience. Not all of them of course but perhaps a couple of them. It gives them something to overcome and something to get around in order to move themselves and the plot forward.
5.2 - Make them fall emotionally - Hurt. Betrayed. Deceived. Upset. An emotional wreck. Let's pretend you have two best friends for characters. One of them dies. Here is the emotional pain that they have to experience and work through. It is something that they have to come to terms with, something they have to figure out is acceptable or not, until then they are emotionally invested in the wrong thing.
5.3 - Make them fall mentally - Psychotic break. Depression. Anxiety. Social recluse. Psychotic. In short, mentally troubled. This could happen through torture, the incorrect balance of drugs. A traumatic event that's been suppressed. Something that cannot be physically felt or seen. Neither can it be helped through comfort or be felt as being 'normal'.
6 - Strong characters - This will be touching up on something I said earlier, but strong does not necessarily mean physically able. Somebody who you might view as weak - vomits at the sight of something disgusting, has a fear of the dark, faints at the sight of blood - will be strong in the aspect that they overcome some obstacle that pulls them back or they try and come over a fear. This determination to do what they can, to overcome themselves, is what makes them strong, not necessarily their strength.
7 - Back plot - Not always necessary but when we want to give our characters a background there is usually a case of one extreme - abusive childhood - or the other - loving family and friends throughout their lives. This doesn't always have to be the case. Some people will genuinely have had a happy childhood, others not so much, but mix it up between your characters. And don't make it so obvious either. Make it slightly different to what would be expected.
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THE TLDR VERSION
1 - Give your character flaws and good points
2 - Make them different in terms of - emotions, actions, thoughts, responses, opinions etc etc
3 - Problem = motivation = action = character building
4 - Write the character not the gender
5 - Make your character hurt in some way - physically, emotionally, mentally
6 - Strong characters doesn't mean strength
7 - Back plot - mix it up, make it different.
Happy Writing.