Antisocial and Emotionless characters.... why so many?

[DergTheDergon]

I've been roleplaying in forums for about a year now, and I've started to realize that there is a group of personality traits that both seem to come up A LOT, and personally act like a repellant to most of the characters I make. You can probably guess what I'm talking about: those guys and girls that rarely show thier emotions except anger, usually towards people who have no ill intentions towards them I might add. They often respond to friendly attempts at conversation either very rudely or with a simple "I don't want to talk." They usually either have trouble understanding other people's emotions at all times or literally could not care less. They usually have an extremely self entitled attitude and/or believe they can only ever trust themselves to the point that they don't like people in general.


You see where I'm coming from here? I can't think of one group rp I have ever done where there wasn't at least one character who exhibited all or most of the aforementioned traits. I'm sorry, but I do not get why so many people feel like they have to play characters that would much rather not associate with other people, when most plots have some element that gives really good incentive to do just that. Rant over, but I would like to hear from some of you that may play these kinds of characters why you find them enjoyable to play, let alone be in the same rp with.

 

[DemonKitten]

There will always be one in a roleplay, that is just how it will probably be because naturally there are those people everywhere. You will never be able to avoid it.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

I'm playing such a character right now and I can't say I like it very much. It's really hard to interact with other players the way I want to because the character can't do so without being too out of character. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm rping him to see if I can...and I like challenges. Though, if I were to guess, I'd say its because they find such character a character interesting? Usually a character with an antisocial personality is that way because of some traumatic past, or something like that. It might also be because those kind of characters add drama and conflict to group dynamic...

 

[BLUR]

I was once in a role-play where almost every character other than mine was antisocial. It never got passed the introductory posts

 

[kibou]

Oh man, I used to have some characters like that. It was when I was beginning to rp, so I can't really remember why very well, but the first thought that came to mind was that people like to be edgy. Which isn't a bad thing, edgy characters can be good as any other if done right.


Maybe these people are just starting out, and are thinking of characters they've found cool in the past. A lot of cool or edgy characters have similar characteristics, and some people might only see the stereotypes at a first glance- that this cool character doesn't talk much, is a "I work alone" kind of person, is stoic (which can easily be interpreted as emotionless)...


Those types of characters are popular, and the "reducing a character to one or a few traits" thing happens very often, which makes it easy to misinterpret the popular edgy characters, or easy to miss out on their other traits.


Or maybe they really like drama, so they made a hurt character that ends up lashing out a lot, or they can't trust people, or etc... But those are hard to rp exactly because of who they are. When done well, I think it can be amazing.


Or maybe the player can relate to people who don't have many friends, are bad at talking to people, etc...


I currently have one asocial character that I am (was? the rp is so slow, we joke that it's dead) playing. Tho he doesn't fit the "emotionless other than angry" bill. He's too emotional too, but he's got a wide variety like any other. For me, it's kind of a fun challenge thinking up reasons and situations for him to be forced into socialization, and then making those work.


Edit: Also, tragic backstories are popular (which is a whole other topic), which could tie in with the personality.


There's a lot of reasons why, I think. Probably more than I can think of off the top of my head, and I'm really interested in everyone else's ideas too.

 

[tomio]

Those characters are the most fun to screw with. Depending on what the setting is, there'll be differences, and they're outlined below.


In a FANTASY roleplay, just make a gnome/halfling bard. Act like the hyperactive eight year old kid of whom you stole the length, tone of voice and looks. Whenever they try to brush you off, try even harder. If they threaten you, that's where it's going to get fun. Who's going to believe the anti-social loner who's always living on the edge over the rather innocent gnome/halfling whose arguments are surprisingly convincing? If he outright attacks you, even better! You're literally harmless, outside of hitting people in the face with a lute/other instrument of choice. Makes them look even worse.


In a FUTURISTIC roleplay, just shoot them in the back with a plasma rifle and claim it was an accident. Have a mechanical failure in his room, which causes it to be flung into the void. Set the doomrobots on him. All sorts of fun stuff you can do to get them killed;


In a REALISTIC/MODERN roleplay, band together with a few other characters and literally drag them to a psychologist/counsellor. They've obviously got social problems, and they'll need to talk it out with someone.


In a NATION BUILDING roleplay, wonder how the hell a nation of edgemasters survive, then band together with an alliance to annex their lands and possibly enslave their people. Shouldn't be any trouble.


Or, if you really want to solve the problem, talk about it with the GM and the player themself. If this still doesn't help, feel free to just use any of the tactics above. Unless a moderator tells you otherwise, of course.

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Those characters are the most fun to screw with. Depending on what the setting is, there'll be differences, and they're outlined below.
In a FANTASY roleplay, just make a gnome/halfling bard. Act like the hyperactive eight year old kid of whom you stole the length, tone of voice and looks. Whenever they try to brush you off, try even harder. If they threaten you, that's where it's going to get fun. Who's going to believe the anti-social loner who's always living on the edge over the rather innocent gnome/halfling whose arguments are surprisingly convincing? If he outright attacks you, even better! You're literally harmless, outside of hitting people in the face with a lute/other instrument of choice. Makes them look even worse.


In a FUTURISTIC roleplay, just shoot them in the back with a plasma rifle and claim it was an accident. Have a mechanical failure in his room, which causes it to be flung into the void. Set the doomrobots on him. All sorts of fun stuff you can do to get them killed;


In a REALISTIC/MODERN roleplay, band together with a few other characters and literally drag them to a psychologist/counsellor. They've obviously got social problems, and they'll need to talk it out with someone.


In a NATION BUILDING roleplay, wonder how the hell a nation of edgemasters survive, then band together with an alliance to annex their lands and possibly enslave their people. Shouldn't be any trouble.


Or, if you really want to solve the problem, talk about it with the GM and the player themself. If this still doesn't help, feel free to just use any of the tactics above. Unless a moderator tells you otherwise, of course.

Agreed. The best way to deal with an antisocial character is to force interaction. I can tell you'll be fun to rp with

I was once in a role-play where almost every character other than mine was antisocial. It never got passed the introductory posts

That...must've been boring =/

 

[Circus]

I think it is because people associate dramatic with interesting. They make for good book characters, but RPing with them is difficult.

 

[Bone2pick]

I don't see the obvious answer listed in this thread — it's easy. Inexperienced writers (or lesser skilled experienced writers) lack the confidence to showcase well-rounded/emotionally available protagonists. A brooding anti-social PC gives them a shield to not have to reveal or provide much character identify. Plus it makes their PC rejection proof; you can't reject them socially because they've preemptively rejected you.


Anti-social loner PC is a crutch. I don't hate it when I see it; I tend to ignore it and hope the writer can grow in the space I provide. I certainly understand the frustration of bumping into that stereotype too often though.

 

[Teh Frixz]

I'd say the loner is yes, a crutch, but I think it's the player that can make a character come to life. I hate in RP when a character is presented as 'finished'. It's the same kind of irking feeling I get when people mention their sexuality as a defining characteristic or as a 'Tsundere' character or some other bs cookie cutter excuse for wish fulfillment.


A character can be almost anything from the start but that doesn't make it interesting. It's the fact that interaction with others always changes us. For the better or worse. But nobody in reality remains stagnant. That's how you get interesting characters, by letting life take hold in them and letting other players help shape them.

 

[allure]

From my experience, in many cases the player is asking for attention by making a character that is emotionally distant/angry and hard to interact with. They want your character to talk to them, but they don't want to make it easy for you. They want you to make an effort to unlock their character's tragic backstory, etc., but these players often get carried away with making their character as rude and smart-alecky as can be. It's tiring for the other players, not to mention the fact that these characters are such a common RP archetype that the players who recognize these characters for who they are tend to stay away altogether. Even when the player offers a reason for their character's detachment, such as a traumatic event in their past, they almost always never get to reveal the details of aforementioned traumatic event IC because their character drove all the others away.


I guess what I'm trying to say is that I think that these types of characters backfire on themselves when the player is using them for the reasons above. Giving your character antisocial traits and then expecting them to be viewed as cool or mysterious is unrealistic. If they're acting rude for no reason and being overly hostile, then they're just plain socially awkward and probably have some anger issues.

 

[Thorn of Discord]

I know for myself, I make oc's that reflect certain aspects of myself, so maybe some people out there are just like their oc's

 

[Shining Lotus Sage]

I assume depression and social anxiety in the player, which are also probably more common here than in the general population.

 

[Faenwen]

I had a lot of characters like this when I started out. I was in that annoying preteen phase...I think it really has to do with the media showcasing this personality as desirable. Pardon me here, but think about Twilight. The neo-vampirism era as a whole. Broody characters always turn out to have these hecka deep stories. And so we begin to think that, "If I want this character to be deep, they have to be like this. Because that's what I see in television, movies, books, etc". Now when I say deep story, it may not be 'deep' to us. But to a twelve year old? Hecks yeah. Or maybe they were like me and had such a big crush on all those characters (yeah it's honesty hour now), that I figured that must mean they were good characters. I'm not saying twelve year olds are the only ones making these characters. All I know is that when I was about that age, I was pumping out broody wallflowers like the world needed saved by an army of pale-skinned teenage orphans.


I really think that it's a phase you go through as a writer, no matter how old you are. You can't be bothered to think beyond typical TV tropes. You want a character who's interesting and you want them now. And if YA lit has shown us anything, it's that it's way easier to take a vanilla background (see "tragic past") and hide it behind a curtain of mystery than come up with a snazzy, well-written character.


((Of course, like a lot of people have been saying in this thread, I do believe it has to do with the player's own personality a lot of the time. I know I was a broody little kid when I started out.))

 

[SkyGinge]

Adding onto what others have already wisely said, I think it can also be down to personal preference. I, personally, have always really loved enigmatic characters, and the 'broodster' is one such shade of this trait. There can be great differences even between broodsters too. Fairs fair, you get flat, generic, cliche ones, but you can also get ones that have interesting quirks like especially snarky humour, etc.


Personally, I think how successful they are depends on the RPer and what they're trying to do. If you're in an RP where everything is very very interaction centred, perhaps something freeform like a school RP, then players of these characters often end up just skulking around hopelessly waiting for someone to 'crack' them, as someone else already stated. If you're doing something more detailed then they can work as long as you're happy being on your own a lot. I've done this before and been completely fine. So I guess it also depends on what kind of an RP you're making and how much effort you're willing to put in.


 
After reading through all the responses again, I have a little more to add.


Most of the time, I think these characters will fail because users are unprepared for how to play them, as opposed to the archetype being completely unsuitable for RP. People think 'ah yeah, that kind of character is uber cool like, Imma play them!', but then expect people to interact with them as opposed to putting the extra effort in. To ensure they work, you should probably either...

1. Make sure the RP you're signing up for is suitable for the archetype. Some RPs rely very heavily on teamwork, and if you character wouldn't even go near a group, perhaps it's not best to use them for that RP; there's a good reason why some RP creators ban such characters for such RPs! Whereas, situations where you character will be forced into interactions through necessity are good for this archetype too, as then you can interact naturally without feeling like any conversation would be out of character.
   
2. Make sure your character isn't just a cookie cutter character, and make sure they have enough other traits for them to work properly.
   

I think Ghosty-chan is bang on about people only interpreting stereotypes at a glance. There's nothing wrong with that, per say, as it's part of the writing learning experience for inexperienced RPers, but similarly it does add up to why these characters often don't work. And @growl too; lots of good reasons here!

 

[Doomshroud]

There will always be one in a roleplay, that is just how it will probably be because naturally there are those people everywhere. You will never be able to avoid it.

/Thread

 

[Pine]

Hm...


*nods and clicks thread title*


*reads first post*


...


*reads following posts*


...


*keeps reading*


...


*sweats profusely*


*punts multitude of brooding characters under a bed*


W-wait guys, before we all start bashing these characters and say that they're only for new role players and try-hard preteens, th-think about what you're saying here...


*clears throat*


Okay, seriously now.


I came here to complain too, up until I read the first post and realized that one of my favorite characters exhibits ALL of these traits, so this thread has got me thinking.


(I think at this point I'm just going to be reiterating what Sky and a few others have said, but to be fair, I started writing this post yesterday and I don't feel like throwing that away.)


I'll start off by saying that there's definitely a right and a wrong way to go about this, and I feel like the majority of you have... constantly witnessed the incorrect way, as I have.


What really bothers ME is when people post in ooc or something like that begging for people to interact with their character.


I don't know about you guys, but in real life, I'm NOT the type to just approach people and start talking to them, and I have difficulty comprehending how some people have the guts to do that, but without them I probably wouldn't have any friends.


So unless your role play is graced with a plague of social butterflies, more than likely, someone has to devise a situation for their characters to encourage activity, and frankly, it's a dick move to force that burden on someone else.


(A common example of this is literally running into someone, which sounds ridiculous, but the more sidewalks I walk on, the more I realize that some people just do NOT move out of the way.)


If you make an anti-social character, it's your OWN burden to come up with ways to role play them, and I can picture new role players missing the memo.


I was helping co-GM a role play in recent history where I was more or less in charge of accepting/rejecting characters, and I can't tell you how many people had "doesn't like talking to people much" or something to that affect in their application, and that was part of my grounds for rejecting so many characters, and at the very least, I cautioned people against having that trait, knowing that it would be really difficult to use in application.


About the seventh time I saw this in an application, I can strongly sympathize with most of the people in this thread.


Another thing that bugs me is people fishing out for others to uncover their sob story (so much drama with their dead/drunk/physically abusive parents).


If your character is so private about their personal affairs that they adopt an attitude to cover it up or something, then they probably shouldn't start shouting and crying about their woes the first opportunity they get (unless, of course, they're just flat out obnoxious, in which case no one wants to talk to them anyways).


People who are CONSTANTLY moping about their personal life are probably suffering from a mental disorder, and even, that's often hidden behind a cheery attitude.


I think every once in a while, all sorts of people DO want to be happy.


So I guess that leads me to some of the RIGHT things to do.


In particular, there has to be more to them than that.


While everyone in life has their problems, I think similarly people will have outlets for joy dogs.


To some people, this MIGHT be acting angry.


I know that sometimes I enjoy being mad about something.


You don't necessarily have to show this outlet in your writing (at least not immediately), but knowing that it EXISTS is pivotal for ultimately determining mood (snapping versus quietly sulking, for instance), and who knows?


Maybe the opportunity WILL arise where you can show off that outlet, which makes the display all the more powerful.


There's also traits to consider... stream of consciousness.


Maybe they have a moral code?


What exactly DOES annoy them?


Are they bossy, but have weak leadership traits?


In the end, are they just another attention whore?


How's their motivation?


Are they adaptable?


Are they hypocritical?


Gluttinous?


Are they, under all of those layers of hoodies hood-up scene haircuts and My Chemical Romance soundtracks in the background, a complete sucker for puns?


They just... need more OOMPH to them to make it work.


I like to think that balance is a very good way to make a rounded character.


I'm a little hesitant to believe that someone can be COMPLETELY emotionless.


An outward appearance of apathy is usually to hide a boiling pot of angst emotions on the inside, whereas someone who has difficulty feeling emotions may try to reciprocate those which they deserve to better fit in.


As for brooding characters... hm...


Whatever they're angry about should probably be something that affects them every day, or at least did for a prolonged time so that they're conditioned to respond to many situations that way.


Bullying, for example... but also keep in mind that people aren't bullied without reason.


Outward appearance (i.e., not your sons and daughters of Aphrodite celebrity face claims) or they really WERE just socially awkward to begin with (little face-to-face interaction with other children, unusual living conditions, and no I don't mean "my parents are dead but seven-year-old me magically didn't starve/get called on by CPS when living on the streets"), could be plausible reasons.


I hope I'm making sense here, but if not, here's the next big thing that should be simple to comprehend, and I'm just reiterating what Sky has already said.


The absolute best place to use these characters is in a setting or plot where they are being FORCED to interact with others.


Roommates maybe, school projects depending, small squads DEFINITELY, being thrown into an unfamiliar parallel universe with some slightly more familiar strangers in order to survive, you got it.


And why are these characters so popular?


They're fun, but to use and to interact with (again, FORCED).


There is so much delicious nutritious drama to be found from having to work with someone that would much rather go their own way but you, the rational person burdened with the knowledge that it takes two people to play on a seesaw, have to bring this family together.


I think people see this being used by a few good people and don't really put the thought into WHY it works, like a few of you have already said, leading to an excess number of people-phobes in settings that simply won't be productive for these two.


Does that make sense?


No?


Just ignore me, then.

 

[Protagonist]

In general, loners don't make for good party members, because group RP is about group interaction. You want characters with enough personality that they bounce off of each other in an Avengers like manner. For example, in an RP I'm running, my character is basically a cross between Joshua Graham and Neo (a highly stoic church militant). Another party member is an irreligious Han Solo-like rogue. Hilarity ensues.

 

[BuddhistDracula]

Let's take a look at my main character, Count Dracula: He's depressed. He's traumatized. He's psychologically disabled. He's a sadist. He hates most people. He can't always control himself. But he's more than that. In fact, he's got many faces, depending on whom he's interacting with, in what mood he is,... I've realized what was said in the first post: That it's hard to interact with characters that are hostile and/or loners all the way down, and since I'm a strataegist, I make sure that the other characters get close to him in a way before he reveals his depressed and sadistic site. So, be careful with bashing down negative characters...


 
In addition to that, it is unrealistic when someone is always unhappy. Most people with depressions in fact aren't depressed all the time. Depression is more like rheumatism: It comes in spurts. That means that most depressed people do have good days. Some people with depression even say that they feel empty, or that they feel nothing at all.

 

[Purple Kitti]

I don't recall actually being in an RP with such characters (actually one table-top, but I'll get to that in a bit), but I have read a few, and I agree they can get exasperating. I see them a lot in anime as well (not as much from other genres), and I hate them so much. (One exception comes to mind... again, I'll get to it later.) When you meet a character, you expect that person to have... character. Of some kind. They're irritating because they make you feel like you're doing all the work. After a while you have wonder, why bother with this person? I can't do anything with him in the first place, so I might as well just be without him completely!


Mind you, not all loner/ empty characters are badly done. If you're familiar with the Rurouni Kenshin anime, there's Seta Soujiro. (Spoilers ahead.) Yes, he wore a smile to conceal his true intentions. Yes, he was an intimidating beast in battle. Yes, it is all caused by tragic, dramatic backstory. And yes, eventually he could no longer hold onto that carefree illusion, and he became incredibly hostile. But that was a central theme to his character, that his "carefree" attitude could only serve him so far, that it was a flaw rather than a strength, and that he would eventually have to come face-to-face with the consequences of that violent turning-point in his life. In the end, he overcame that obstacle and was able to truly relax in his life, and his smile was no longer concealment of his emotions. And even though he was the loner type, it didn't penetrate every pore of his character. He happily got along with his caretaker Yumi; he was eager to please his master Shishio. Not everything about him was tied up in avoidance of interaction. It was determined early in his character creation that the empty/ loner side of him had limits, and that he would eventually develop more by the end of his storyline.


In my table-top example I mentioned above-- a superhero campaign-- there was a character who was the brother to my own. His character and backstory were creatively done, and he and I both elected a skill that provided us an in-game bonus through the use of teamwork, but his player had trouble coming up with dialogue, and we could rarely think up methods of using that teamwork skill effectively. One particular problem (my fault, I started it) was that none of the superheros would give away their secret identities to any of the others because they were following my lead. (My character didn't fully trust them all yet). Unfortunately, that got carried too far and caused further problems in my partner's ability to interact with the others, especially during out-of-costume events. In the case of my partner, his difficulty with handling his character partly had to do with his own awkwardness in social situations, and partly his low level of experience in a role playing game that actually demanded character depth-- as opposed to the majority of our D&D-style RPGs, where character depth was not inherently encouraged. But I also admit to being partly responsible because of my mishandling my own character.

Make sure the RP you're signing up for is suitable for the archetype. Some RPs rely very heavily on teamwork, and if you character wouldn't even go near a group, perhaps it's not best to use them for that RP

For the most part, that's very true, but it causes me to think of a reverse example-- video game fandom RPs. We build fandoms because we love and enjoy the story, character, or world setting of whichever media we're involved with, and we design RPs around those worlds because we want to experience that world "first hand", but just because they make good stories doesn't mean they are necessarily conducive to making RPs out of them.


In particular, I've witnessed (even joined once, but quickly dropped out of) RPs based on The Legend of Zelda series, and I have NEVER seen one that worked very well at all. In particular, I watched one (the one I joined temporarily, although I only quit due to real life reasons) that started off... less than promising due to the fact that the title character is inherently a loner. His player just couldn't/ didn't interact well with other characters. (He was also a smart@$$ and refused to ever use dialogue, supposedly "in keeping with" his character, which didn't help anyone.) The reason is because the Legend of Zelda series is primarily single-player. You only play as Link, and you just DON'T interact with anyone for a significant length of time. (And in an online RP the type of fool who would willingly play as the most famous partner character from the series will be met with a giant flyswatter and violent screams of "STFU!") I suppose an RP based on the Four Sword games might have better hope, but the main players would all be playing effectively the exact same character, and still not offer up much in the way of variety.


Interestingly, as I continued to observe that particular RP, it improved quite a lot-- when some of the other characters developed their own story and later abandoned Link to make a new RP elsewhere.


I'm not saying it's impossible to make an RP based on a single-player video game fandom, but I've never seen one that was successful or interesting. If there is a really good Zelda RP out there with solid character interaction and development, it probably took a lot more work than in a standard group RP. And I'll bet it involved people playing multiple canon characters (if not OCs), ready for each one to disappear for long stretches of time.

 

[Truant]

I don't see the obvious answer listed in this thread — it's easy. Inexperienced writers (or lesser skilled experienced writers) lack the confidence to showcase well-rounded/emotionally available protagonists. A brooding anti-social PC gives them a shield to not have to reveal or provide much character identify. Plus it makes their PC rejection proof; you can't reject them socially because they've preemptively rejected you.
Anti-social loner PC is a crutch. I don't hate it when I see it; I tend to ignore it and hope the writer can grow in the space I provide. I certainly understand the frustration of bumping into that stereotype too often though.

Definitely agree with you there. Back when I was just starting out, I had a habit of making these kinds of guys because I was just really inexperienced and unconfident in my skill. It got pretty boring after awhile since I couldn't really have any sort of interactions with the other players, which is why I tend to play more social characters these days.

 

[RosesAreBlue1234]

Some of my characters are very antisocial, however I like to have a mix of extroverts and introverts in order to balance everything out. I guess as a lot of people are introverted- myself included- we tend to let this reflect in the form of characters. I have no idea if that actually made sense, but oh well.

 

[AlexSilverX]

@Bone2pick @growl


The posts of these two people (which can be found on the bottom of the first page and the top of the second page) are my personal opinions on the matter.


Characters like this are usually born from 6 possible things;

1. The writer's own insecurities showing through, worried they couldn't make a character with an interesting personality. It's "easy" as Bone2Pick put it.
   
2. The writer's attention-seeking fantasy where they hope an interesting character will pop out and make their character's life wonderful and all magical. It's attention-seeking as growl stated.
   
3. The writer actually just wants to write development for his own character and wants to force it on other people, not actually interested in interaction.
   
4. The character was too close to a Mary-Sue otherwise and this is the character flaw the author decided to go with.
   
5. The writer is trying to write a depressed, anxious or introverted character but actually has no idea how either of depression, introversion or anxiety actually work.
   
6. This is the "worse case scenario" as far as I'm concerned; the writer blanked, made a self insert character, and it turns out said writer is just that kind of person in real life. The sad truth of RPing is that a majority of us - not all, far from all, please don't feel like I'm targeting any of you - are socially awkward and introverted with no idea how to actually function in society, or are legitimately clinically depressed. This tends to be the reason people decide to escape into the fantasy of RPing. RPing is - for most of us, regardless of whether we fit into this category of people or not - RPing is an escape and the individual we instinctively value the most is ourselves. So when we want to write some fantasy alternate reality and make a hero for it, our first instinct is to make a character who is identifiable either by having them be the same age or gender as us in minor cases or by making them similar to us in appearance and/or personality in extreme cases.
   

 

[Kokio]

In reality, I am one of those characters. In total honesty there are some days where I don't have a full conversation with others. May it be unknown anxiety, an unrealized distaste when it comes to talking with others, or selective mutism, it's very boring. Much doesn't get done in regards to "advancing the plot" a.k.a. talking to others and building a relationship.


Also, if the writer isn't experienced, they will often use a lot of qualities they possess and incorporate them into their characters. If you are not experienced, it can be so impossibly hard to move out of your "personality comfort zone" and try out, for example, an outgoing personality. It's hard in itself to successfully act out a personality that is nearly the exact opposite of what you are in real life. It's easier to act out traits that you possess in real life because you're used to the way they are and how they make you act/feel.


I'm not saying there is a direct correlation with quiet people and role playing, but there is definitely a large amount who, like myself, can express their thoughts and feelings easier via written word instead of spoken.


And then there are THOSE people who just want to be edgy.


Don't be edgy, kids.

 

[AlexSilverX]

And then there are THOSE people who just want to be edgy.
Don't be edgy, kids.

While I totally agree with the intent of the above, I feel like its possible to write a good "edgy" character without being impossible to socialize with.


Here's a quick - incomplete - list of ways to make your character look edgy without making them overly stoic and antisocial;

1. Smoking - no matter how much people complain about it - is still cool.ESPECIALLY in writing where you can detail some crazy smoke trails and what not. Abuse that.
   
2. Make your character say things like "I'm not drunk/high enough for this shit" because social crutches - particularly in the form of drugs and alcohol, are edgy, so are one liners. Don't believe me? Lethal Weapon and House are fine examples of this.
   
3. Injuries. Especially combat injuries. A couple of sightly scars always makes a character edgier than pristine skin.
   
4. Owning a motorcycle, dressing in black, etc. "Edgy" is half about what you wear and own and half about how you behave.
   
5. Walking or just hanging out with hands in your pockets. Bonus points if your thumbs are sticking out.
   
6. Acting either "groggy" or "grumpy" all the time. Not trying to please people. Being "real" for better or worse is "edgy".
   
7. For guys, 5'o clock shadow. For girls, red lipstick and smoky eye shadow or no make-up at all. It sends the instant "I'm a mean mother-" message to those who need it.
   
8. An antisocial hobby. Just a hobby, not a whole lifestyle. Something your characters likes doing and is better off alone to do it. It can be something "macho" like working on his project car, something "geeky" like writing a book or ... even RPing! It can be something that doesn't consume much time like having a cigar and a glass of scotch on his patio while staring at the moonlight before heading to bed. Having a part of your character's life which they don't share with others and don't feel the need to creates an aura of mystery and, guess what? When it comes to creating a "mysterious" aura, that's usually enough.
   
9. The last rule of Edgy is the same rule as the first rule of cool: If you're trying too hard to be it, you're not it. Follow these 9 steps, but do so in moderation. Character occasionally has a smoke between his lips? Cool. Character chain-smokes 9 packs a day, has a voice so raspy you can barely make out what he says, coughs all the time, and can be seen having a cig smoking out of both edges of his lips? Weird. Find a balance. Likewise, no need to have ALL 9. Moderation in all things, even using this as a "checklist".
   

 
Likewise, you can be anti-social and still talk to people in an RP.


For example, there is a huge difference between; "Don't talk to me." and "make it quick".


Both say: "I don't want to talk right now"


But one of them also says: "But I'll do it because I'm willing to make an effort."