Merciah
Merciah Forigaln
Self Proclaimed Protector of MHS |
Karrody de`Champion
AKA Scarey Guy |
Posts: 4070
(10/4/06 12:51 am)
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Character Creation Handbook™ By: Hellsinger Angel
First and foremost. I must give credit where it is due. This was authored by Hellsinger Angel. This is a project undertaken by him, and we are thankful for it.
Character Creation Handbook™: Getting Started
I'm sure you're all wondering what the hell I'm doing. Well, I was looking through some of the new blood and was disappointed in the fact that almost no one gives much thought to their characters. Yes, there is a premise but I don't see much detail. This led me to look at some of the excepted characters. I was then horrified to see not only were a lot of the characters here as bland as the new people coming in, but even Vash Hellsinger himself had a very short history!
So, in light of my recent discovery, I have decided to put my 14 years of experience in RPing to good use by making articles that will hopefully help make fleshed out characters. This applies to everyone on the board because I will have advanced pointers as well as a basic overview of what I believe makes a good character. Remember, this is opinionated by someone who isn't even a moderator, so beware of what I say and take it with stride. This is not how the board judges characters, but I can almsot guarentee this will help get your characters accepted without any problems.
To get a better understanding of what's going to be coming, I'm going to explain how I'm going to do this. The administrators and moderators have decided that a character needs to have some basics thrown in. These would be the categories you have to fill in that are on the basic character sheet. In these installments of my grand scheme to have a full guide to making characters, I'm going to go over each in detail. Each article will have an overview of what I believe the board is looking for, some pointers on achieving what they're looking for, some advise on looking into the future of your character, creative notes that will hopefully make a unique impression, and finally the advanced techniques some of the older RPers on this board might want to consider using (these will be highlighted as 'AT', or advanced tips). Advanced tips should most likely only be used on your second or third character, because they can be somewhat tricky to work with. Also, I'll be making my next character in conjunction with this article so you can see how exactly it works.
Hopefully with all of these tools to use at your disgretion, you can create some of the best characters Manga High has ever seen! Also, I would like to ask that you refrain from posting comments in these various articles directly. If the administrators or moderators agree that these are very well done and want to make them official, it would be nice to not have them cluttered up with cudos and complaints. If you have any questions, feel free to ask the staff or email me at thehellsingerangel@hotmail.com
Getting Started
Some people have trouble even getting started. That profile sheet asks for quite a bit as a minimum requirment and some people just don't have the attention span to deal with it. I would be one of those people. Not to worry though, as any half-baked roleplayer can become a superstar with the proper steps. Here I'm going to explain a good way to start your character concept.
Place of Origin: Where exactly does your character come from? This can affect many things. Your primary language, your judgement about cultural differences, even how you look as a human being. People from different places look, dress, act and speak differently. Choose a nationality that you think best suits a character you want to create. Stereotypes are a good place to start. A strong person might come from a nation with a rugged past like Germany or Russia. Someone with an intellectual prowess would most likely come from China or Japan. A very charsmatic person might come from France, Italy or England. The United States is generally a melting pot of various cultures and almost anyone could come from there. Even if you have no real idea of where your person is coming from, that's fine. Sometimes this step is created by other factors about your character. Just remember, everyone comes from somewhere!
AT: Some places may have various cultures inside them. A good example would be South Africa. A large amount of british colonialists still live there today and have a large impact on the country. Also, swahili culture that has been rooted there for centuries affects the natives that live in that new metropolis. Think about this before commiting to a particular nationality. A native white man coming from Africa can be an eye-opener and an attention grabber. Other examples include the former Chzechoslovacia who had two nationalities fighting over their differences. Another would be the U.S.S.R. who forced their beleifs upon other similar, but still different, cultures. Remember to cross-check your facts to find interesting quirks!
For my character, I decided I wanted a Russian or Ukranian. Both were acceptable because they both come from a typically similar region as far as stereotypes go. This made me start to think how my character was shaping out. He obviously had to be white because of the region. He also got blond or black hair because of the slovic influence. He would also wear a lot of red because of the lingering affects the recent fall of the Soviet Union still had. Already he was starting to gain some physical features because of where he came from.
Two Emotions: Every person has emotions. It's impossible for someone not to have any emotions because then they wouldn't do anything. A completely apethetic person would never be driven to do anything with their life and thus would never have come to this school. Why exactly is your character at the school? What drives your character to live everyday? Try to narrow it down into one basic emotion that rules over every other emotion. Now some people may say this is limiting their character's emotions. In no way should choosing a basic emotion do that. Everyone is a rainbow of emotions, but what if you aren't sure how your character would react to something? This basic emotion is the first and most prominent your character feels, so wouldn't it have something to do with achieving that emotion? The answer is simple: yes!
Now I believe I said you needed two emotions, right? Correct! So what exactly is the second emotion for? Well, everyone creates a mood when they enter a room. The second emotion is to give a basic imprint of how your character makes others feel. Does your character strike terror into the hearts of everyone? Do they have a very positive attitude, or maybe a gloomy one? Does their insecurity makes other fumble around and doubt themselves when you work together? A person's mood can greatly affect those around them. The second emotion should somehow corrolate with your primary "drive" emotion. It doesn't make much sense for someone who wants to make others happy to strike terror into their hearts.
AT: Sometimes a character can have a conflicting drive emotions and impression emotion. Someone like Frankenstein's monster only wanted happiness for others, but still caused fear in everyone around him because of how he looked. This should be used with caution, though, as with any advanced technique.
Since my character wanted to make everyone happy, I decided to make him a very peacful character. This gave me more ideas for his history. The former U.S.S.R. is a war torn country. This gave my character the perfect to want to be peaceful and bring happiness through a pacifist manner. Making people feel more at ease with themselves was a perfect combination of the two emotions that I chose and reflected character goals that I personally enjoyed. Tranquility was a definate winner for the impression my character gave to people.
Well, these three basic steps should help give you an outline of who your character is. If not, you may want to go over the steps once more or do a little research. Maybe you're trying to make your character too complicated right now. That's alright, though, everyone makes that mistake sooner or later. Just try to find the small problem and fix it so that you're still happy with the results. No one ever said it was going to be easy to make the greatest MHS character ever!
Character Creation Handbook™: Character Goals
In the last article, I gave a few basics needs for a good character. This should have, at least very least, given you a hazey picture of what exactly your character looks like. Before you go any further, take a minute to get the ideas back that you have of the outline you have created. This will help continue your train of thought if you paused between articles. Now, in this article we'll go over how to create how your character will be played out. The easiest way to do this is to establish goals for your character.
Character Goals
Like the hero in any game or manga, students have a specific objective they must complete to be considered content with their lives. Achieving these goals usually leads to sub-plots that broden the character's scope on life and help them grow into better or worse people. Even the secondary characters have some reason for helping the hero. They have their own goals to acomplish and those goals are most likely connected with the hero's goals. Now it's time to take that idea and break it down step-by-step.
Character Scale: How much influence do you want your character to have? Not everyone is a hero and a lot of secondary characters are important to advancing plots. Do you want to be the knight in shining armour for the school, or is your role more comparable to a side-kick? Is your character craving the spotlight or do they shy away from being noticed and act subtely? Any role is acceptable as long as you like it that way! You should also remember that secondary characters always get their moments. Just because you're in the shadow of someone greater than you doesn't mean you don't get your chance to be the hero once and awhile. After all, if a hero could do everything, he wouldn't need help from secondary characters!
AT: Using the line between primary and secondary character can sometimes help characters. Though someone might seem like a secondary character, they can brust forth with some extraordinary power and suddenly become the main focus while overshadowing the 'so-called' hero. Also, for those walking the path of evil, a puppet master or advisor role can cover up the true motives of your character. Someone who controls a very flashy and powerful villain that's stronger than him walks the line of main to secondary villain. This can be a great fesade to surprise the board about your true colours with your role.
Because of his two emotions that I chose earlier, I decided my character would be more of a secondary character. His helpful nature to make himself and others happy was mostly the deciding factor. Also, giving him a mood of tranquility didn't warrent him to gather up friends and go on some epic journey.
The Goal: What exactly is the goal of your character? This should tie into your main emotion. Obviously, these two things will be the driving force of your character and make sense to coincide one another. Is your character jealous of a sibling with greater powers? Do they need to perfect their powers to save their family? Country? The world? All of these are viable options. Just remember that there is a reason the they're at Manga High. This should be reflected in their goal as their powers are most likely going to be the main option for achieving their goal. Alternatively, some characters may just need to grow as people to solve their problems. They might noly be at Manga high because it's good to be around those with similar conditions, because they enjoy using their powers frequently or just because no other school will accept them. They could also come to the realisation that their powers are the problem! Simply learning to live with their powers can be the greatest challenge of all.
I decided that my character would want to come to Manga High to better understand his powers so that he could use them to help his family at home. His whole reason to come is to help others by controlling his powers.
Obstacles: Every character has obstacles blocking his way from achieving their goal. The obstacles are dependent on the goal the character has. Destroying a whole race of people may entail the character needing to find some new powers, or even finding some sort of item. The character's obstacles may be on a smaller scale. Simply learning to control their powers may be the only obstacle your character has. The grander the goal, the more difficult it should be to overcome their obstacles.
My character simply wants to control his powers. The problem is that he needs to constantly strengthen his control because he has a lot of hidden potential. He also is plagued with the realisation that he develops new uses for his powers, having to retrain himself to accomidate for these mutations. With these two obstacles, my character has almost an infinite progression with such a simple sounding task.
These are just some simple ways to obtain a goal. If you want a challenge, you may want to decided things he won't do to achieve his goal, people that threaten his goal unintentionally, the influences he has and other such things. Just because I give you some steps, doesn't mean they're aren't more to follow. Remember, this is just a basic ladder to get a good character. Find more ways to improve your character to become the best and you may just overshadow me!
Character Creation Handbook™: Names
Yes, I've finally finished my next article! Last time I talked about your character having a goal, which is one of the most important things about making your character come alive. Everyone is driven by something and having those drives is a good structure for your new born. In this article I will be talking about how a name can shape a character.
Character Names
Despite what most people think, a name says a lot about a person. Some names cry out a muscle bound hero while other make us picture a coward in the shadows. From a very simplistic name to a well researched one, every name has an impact on how your character is first judged. Here are some simple ways to make a name really stand out, or make it blend in so well no one notices, depending on the situation.
Nationality: This is very basic. What the character's parents may name them depends on where they come from. Someone from Germany will have a german name. Someone from Japan will have a japanese name. I think you get the idea. Basically what this comes down to is: where was your character originally from and what nationality were the character's parents? Just because they live in America doesn't mean your character's Scottish parents won't give your character a Scottish name! Conversely, some places in the world are a melting pot of people and don't warrent having a specific nationality for names because of the mixture of imigrants and settlers that founded the country. The United States and Canada are two good examples of this.
Definition: I'm sure everyone here, at some point or another, has seen something denoting a small definition of someone's name. This can be an important part in developing someone's name. Depending on your character's goals, emotions and overall look, a particular name might fit very well. You can also create your character around a specific name to incorporate the definition into how your character acts! With every name having a specific meaning, the options are endless into how you could shape your character around a name.
Made-Up: Made-up names are also a viable option for any character. Having a somewhat fictional name can be a bonus into some insight into your character. Having names last names such as "Striker" could denote how your character's actions or attitude will be. No matter what, a made-up name is definately one of the choices you can explore, especially within other languages and nationalities. Just remember, making up last names is a lot easier than making up a first name.
Average: Average, everyday names are also something a person should look into. Just because a person is extraordinary doesn't mean they didn't have humble beginnings. "Joseph Green" can sometimes be the name you've been looking for all along. Plain names are a good option for secondary characters or for someone from a melting pot country.
AT: Having a plain name can sometimes be a good contradiction. You could make the most magnificent, flamboyant, charismatic person ever and give them a very flat name. This sometimes makes for a funny outcome. Remember, this is only good for comical purposes and not for a very serious character.
Nicknames: Nicknames are an important part of someone's past. People only get nicknames for specific reasons that indicate some sort of personality trait, event in their past or maybe even depicting what type of friends they had. Some characters might use their nicknames rather than their real names. Middle names are also common among large or close families and certain countries. This can give more depth to using multiple name techniques or even the same one twice. Remember, a nickname can be given to a character while at MHS, so keep your character updated! If anything, nicknames can be an insight into your character.
From what I decided earlier about my character, I needed a slavic name that had a very peaceful meaning. After doing a bit of research I decided upon Dmitri: Lover of the Earth. This gave a very relaxed tone and made him sound simplistic. Now I needed a last name for my Dmitri. Once again, after a bit of research I came up with Kuznetsov: Blacksmith. This worked two-fold for his last name. One was that I had previously planned to give him the power of having metal skin, which was somewhat a play on the last name. It also gave him the conotation of having humble beginnings, which fit very well with his Russian background and earth loving first name. For a nickname, I made up my mind on wanting it to have a historical background. This gave me the idea of using a famous tank model from Russia because of my plans to make him be a human tank. The KV instantly came to mind, the most famous of the WWII armoured tank frames being based off the KV-1. This gave me the brainstorm of giving him the nickname Kevich. Using the traditional sufix of 'vich' and making up the name Kev was the perfect combination for a large, strong man.
Remember, a name means a lot! It can be a writting device that can be used to your advantage to make your character shine. The only problem is that you may need to do some research. Just remember, a good name makes a good character!
Character Creation Handbook™: Age and Grade
In my last article, we went over how important a name can be to a character. This article will feature something very under-rated as being important to the structure of a character, but is probably one of the crucial pivot points to making up your character’s personality: age and grade.
Age and Grade
Now, I'm sure most of you think this is just something to help fill in where your character goes. Wrong! The age and grade of a person can dynamically change how you play them. Here are some tips to consider when coming up with an age and grade for your character.
Maturity: How mature do you want your character to be? Do you see your character acting like a trouble maker just trying to find their way in society or as a well established citizen that knows what’s going on? Maturity can have a big effect on how your character perceives the world. A younger character would see adults as working against them, trying to hold them back from making mature, adult decisions. Older characters might sympathise with adults, seeing their point of view clearly on some issues, but still having a rebellious side to them. Some of the oldest student at Manga High might even help out the teacher’s with their more mature manner of thinking. Whatever the case may be, maturity is a leading factor in role-playing and is directly affected by your age.
Intellect: A character’s mental capacity might affect their age or grade. A particularly smart person might have skipped a grade, while a particularly dim one might have failed. This would mean an older character might still be in a lower grade. This could affect their social standing, who their friends are and even how they interact with people of different ages. The amount of education and life skills a person has is usually affected by age as well. Someone who’s lived longer has generally experienced more things than someone younger than them. All these factors can combine to define how old your character is and what grade they should be in.
Playability: How old your character is, or what grade they’re in, affects how long you will be able to use that character before they move on to greater things. No one can stay in high school forever. So, how long do you want your character to last? Someone in grade nine would obviously outlast someone in grade eleven, so think carefully and weight your options. This also leaves potential for particularly stupid students to fail a grade while at Manga High. Remember, no one stays at high school forever, so always make sure you know how long you want you character to last before moving onto a new prospect.
I wanted Dmitri to be a lasting character. He seemed to have a good basis to help others for an extended period of time and be able to create a lot of relationships. He also wasn't going to have failed a grade. This gave me the idea of him not even having gone to school. I decided that an overall younger character would be good to represent the fact that he still had time to get some education in. With these details sorted out, it was simple to assume I wanted Dmirtri to be thirteen years old and in grade nine.
As mentioned above, age and grade make a big difference. Those two little two-digit numbers can give your character so much depth it’s scary. This is why it’s so important not to overlook even the smallest of details when making a character, while still holding onto the big picture. As you delve deeper into the character sheet, detail is very important to give your character those little extra quirks that make them unique. This is why I can't stress enough that "small" things like your character's age and grade are just as important as "larger" issues like personality and history, if not more so! If you really think about it, everything in the profile sheet is tied to everything, so age and grade help define your personaltiy and history anyways!
Edited by: DevJackson at: 1/30/07 12:02 pm
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