Inspirations: How do you create your characters?

[Panzram]

We all have our inspirations for creating our characters, yes?





From what I have seen in the past, there are many characters who are inspired by a contemporary figure such as someone from a favored TV show, movie, or novel. It might even be from a particular scene, something that shapes a character's actions instead, or perhaps the inspiration derived from a memorable quote spoken by your favorite actor or character.


Maybe you decided to build your character off of some experience you encountered recently or well in the past. Perhaps they were given a few of your traits and were built to take actions you yourself might take outside this virtual world. I am aware that not all characters might have been inspired by anything in particular. There is always that freedom of building as you go along, applying tropes and any other elements acquired through research to make them into who you want them to be.


But that said, how do you create your characters? Were they based off of someone from a film of sorts? Novels? Were they established from real events or were they created without any sort of inspiration? I thought this would be an interesting thing to discuss.
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[Lego]

Generally I just think of a name


Then what role I want them to take


And then i just fill in the blanks with what I think would fit the character

 

[Dusky]

Usually for me it starts with an extraneous detail - she's mute! - and then I ask myself why. Usually when making a character my first thoughts relate in some way to how he or she interacts with others. My ideas build around how I feel like influencing the plot and the characters around mine.

 

[call me rae]

I do predominately fandom roleplays so I have it easy. I base them off characters from various forms of media. Not always the same fandom either unless I'm playing a canon. For instance I'm in an X men roleplay now and my characters are based off a book character and Chanel from Scream Queens respectively.


OccasionLy I'll base someone off myself as well.

 

[Seiden]

Actually, I have no inspiration. I just think of what or who he is supposed to be depending of the roleplay universe (like, am I playing a policeman, a student, a warrior, a random citizen?) and the rest comes automatically. I get a first vibe of the character, his personality, his specificities, his goals and main tastes.... (yeah, I say "his" because I actually never played women '_').


If I need to go deeper, I then look to a list of "personality vocabulary" and pick all of them words that fits the character I have in mind, and I start developing details, more specific parts of his personality, around these words.


They quickly develop an unique personality and starts to live by their own.

 

[Harmiko]

For me it's music, i turn to music and listen to all the songs i have in my playlist until i feel that click inside me and then i know what i want from my character. That click usually has to do with their own minds, how does this person think? What do they want? What are they afraid of and then the song just gives me that insight i needed. Then i fill in the blanks of name, age and so on making sure it's all consistent with how i imagine them.

 

[ScarySketch]

I try to think of character's from movies, tv shows, anime, etc. with interesting personalities and try to build a character off of that. There's a large amount of personality types that I usually use for my rp characters and I've noticed that the majority of my character's usually have those types of personalities or traits. Either that or I may base a character off of my own personality.


As for the rest, I just fill in the blanks for all the miscellaneous things, though I still try to make my character stand out or have interesting features, clothing style. and powers and abilities. I never want a character that I create to be too plain or simple, or maybe I will make them seem like someone that is normal, but give little hints in their personality and backstory that lead to this character going through something that will change them or affect the other characters.

 

[Capella]

My process is the same every time. It looks/sounds like a lot, but most of it happens in my head and stays in my head, lol. Also, how much work I put into my characters depends on the role play's genre, it's writing level, and the people in it. I cut corners for simpler or lighter topics.






I begin with a conflict, a motive.. compose a raison d'être. Sometimes outside influences help me lean in certain directions, but it always boils down to the conflict in the song, character, novel, or experience. That fundamental piece is what I want to replicate.





Why does my character exist in this present moment and why is it necessary for them to be a part of this particular story line? I start with this to prevent a few mistakes I sometimes make. One, it helps me avoid tying my character's existence too closely to another character. Nothing feels worse than plotting up a storm with y and having y leave the role play, or worse, trapping yourself into a box that makes it hard to plot with other characters without y's input. And two, it helps me with writer's block. When my character has a clear cut drive and direction, I never have to ask myself "what do I do?" The answer is always "do what a person with this motive in this situation would do."






Next, I create a lens/angle/perspective through which I want to explore the conflict.







This is where personality and some portions of history writing comes in. Do I want to be loud or subtle? Is my character passively ignoring the issue, are they facing it head-on, or are they even aware of it? Is there something in their personal life that significantly adds to their perspective: a strong moral code, an allegiance to an organization, a promise to someone, etc.? In the case of fantasy, science fiction, or war plots, nationality or ethnicity might become a factor. Does my character side with the norm, are they going against the grain, or do they sit in that undecided gray area? Once the picture pulls itself together, I add contradictions to their personality. If they're mostly "good", I give them vices. If they're mostly "evil", I give them virtues.






From there, I consider a history specific to my character.







More or less, answering the question "what's happened in this person's life such that x internal conflict has come about, or what's happened such that they view x external conflict the way they do. I hate writing biography sections. No, I

loathe

doing it (/facedesk). Focusing my thoughts on two or three events helps me keep things short and to the point while leaving room for additions.






Lastly, the finishing touches.







The character's name, gender, age, appearance, mannerisms, etc. Some of this stuff gets sorted out above, but whatever isn't finished gets tossed together when I start the profile/character sheet.



& that's it.

 

[Ritzy]

I base my characters as exaggerated characteristics of my friends. Sometimes I base my characters off of a TV or Movie character, but there is always an exaggerated trait from someone I know or have known in there somewhere. I don't try to act like them though, I act like the character. For example, twins may be the same, but not exactly.


There is no wrong way to make a character, unless you're trying to be a jerk to make someone you don't like. Even that's not too bad as long as you keep it to yourself. Bit of a catharsis perhaps.


I usually focus on Hero, reluctant hero, anti-hero, callous, and villain. Then build from there. It's not perfect, but it's served me well.

 

[Spacekitty]

Everyone's getting deep and I'm just here like "with my brain"

 

[Melisena]

I always start with the name and move on from there, nothing too special or anything. Sometimes, it takes me awhile to write a CS because I want that character to be different than my last character and that can be tricky sometimes..

 

[J0ker]

For me, I pick a trope and run with it. I think of a character archetype and break it down into a bunch of itty bitty pieces. Take for example my character Hades. I took the classical freelance supervillain and though, okay, why would this character exist in this setting? What would others think of him, and in turn how would he react? What motivations would he have in a setting different than the one this type of character usually occupies? Why would he not operate in a different fashion, even if it was more effective? And so on. History then immediately follows personality, as I reason out how a character would reach this point in their life. Name, gender, age, appearance, all of that is fluff that comes at the end.

 

[venonats]

I don't think I have a particular method to creating character personalities but I know for my designs my characters are almost always either based off of bird species or bugs! I just love their colors and it helps me decide on a style of dress a little easier!

 

[Ganryu]

I generally think of a concept first.


"Wouldn't a guy who could make metal explode be fun?"


Then try to add some depth to it, and some irony.


"Well, that's probably be considered an idiotic character, let's add some depth to that, and make him smarter than he thinks he is"


Then try to add some story to explain why he is the way he is. Works for me most of the time.

 

[hyakinthos]

A lot of my characters are based on little concepts that come into my head, often little paradoxes. (an asexual incubus, an atheist circuit priest) I ask myself, what kind of person lives with that? And they evolve from there.

 

[Grin]

I tend to create for the setting. I like my characters to have a dynamic role in the world, preferably one that isn't "Chosen One".


Most of my characters can be described as "enhanced NPCs". I'm the kind of guy that plays Skyrim without talking to the Jarl of Whiterun and triggering the Dragonborn storyline, but still complaining because the game won't let me open and run a tavern in Rorikstead.


Occasionally, I will also hear someone talking about things that people can't/shouldn't do in RPs and take that as a personal challenge. I'll attempt to create a character that does that thing, only in an interesting, legitimate, and/or non-irritating way.