Viewpoint What do you do with old characters?

[baggysack]

(Should this be 'Character Theory'? Does anyone make 'Character Theory' threads?)

Anyway, I like these poll-type threads. Here's anotha one.

We know by now that roleplays die, and that players get busy/demotivated and drop before then. What do you do with those characters you never got to use, or who didn't finish their arc? I tend to get attached to all the characters I end up apping but I also like the feeling of making new ones. I save all my guys but I don't end up re-using them, though I think I'd like to.

Do you re-use characters? How, and for what; in the case that you did, was it worth not making a new one? Would you rather just archive everything? How much thought do you give it?

Alternatively, how do you make characters with the perspective that the roleplay in-question won't last forever? Do you just make characters on the fly, or have some kind of process, or what?

 

[rae2nerdy]

For the most part I’m not a super character driven role player. I usually just make a character for the roleplay and don’t worry about them after the roleplay is over.

I have a few families or archetypes that I reuse but rarely the exact same specific character.

 

[NeonFlow]

Take them outside to distract them with the pretty flowers and then reboot them

 

[cadence]

abandon them.

 

[HavocandBobo]

Some I will re use, and if I create a new one and like them chances are I will use them again, but others I will probably never use again.

 

[Tink]

Depends on the characters. Those I've really grown attached to I'm more likely to revamp. Though I will say I often forget about them for months or years before suddenly remembering them and doing something.

 

[spookie]

...let's just say if everyone recycled the way i recycle characters, global warming wouldn't be a thing.​

 

[NeonFlow]

I’ve sold two characters to some smut addicts before

 

[alabast]

If it's a character made for a rp, I'll likely drop them unless the rp was long enough for me to do art of them, develop quite a bit etc.
If it's characters made out of random inspiration, then used for a dead to, I store them on a Chara storing website. Might reuse, might not. Who knows?

 

[Crayons]

If I really liked them, and they are extractable from the roleplay, I would adapt and re-use.

Some characters are too specific to a particular setting/scenario so those just get mourned and I move on.

 

[Onmyoji]

I usually don't re-use characters from dropped roleplays, unless I like them very much for some reason and I feel they can fit into a new roleplay (could be the one with a similar theme, for example).
But even in that case I never 100% copypaste a character, I always adapt them, or rather create from scratch but might re-use some traits or names of old characters if they make sense.

 

[bad wolf]

There's a few characters that I've locked into certain roleplays. Like, I won't write for them outside of that one roleplay.

And then I have other characters that are apart of a rp that doesn't last too long. I don't see the point in devoting time to a character's build and then abandoning it completely if the rp doesn't survive. I'll totally reuse ideas from characters like these, build on them and incorporate them into plots I think might work for them. Basically... It's like adopting a puppy. xD If I find a forever home for one of my characters, I'll stop rehashing or reusing them for other things and commit them to that one rp.

 

[LawfulAwful]

I like to dissect them, if that makes sense? Taking some time to sort out what parts of them just worked in a tension/drive/motivation sense and which parts fell flat is wildly helpful to me. I can often re-purpose the details I particularly enjoyed and toss the rest, which is nice. Not to mention that it sounds a bit mad-scientist-esque, that's a bonus, lol

 

[still watching fma]

I try not to dwell on them because I like to go into a rp with no baggage and expectations attached to my characters. Although there is one waifu personality I've been working on rather absent mindedly since 2016. Not constantly, but I revive her concept every now and then: light hearted, funny, and determined when it comes to her goals.

As for the rest? It's about fitting it to the rp based on ooc planning. I'm not gonna make a hardass in a pokemon rp and I'm not going to make an air head in a survival story. I always at best try for snarky like legolas lol.

 

[AncientBird]

I reuse them if they fit right in the new RP.

But that rarely happened, so I end up making new characters all the time.

 

[Virus]

I use them again, if it will work in the new one. But, I've never abandoned an oc nor a canon

 

[ashwynne]

I take pains to create characters that are specific to the setting and world that they were made for. I'm simply not comfortable with transporting them into another story, it makes me feel like I'm being disingenuous to who they are. If I'm "revamping" them then they're no longer the same character anyways, so I see no point in that.

What I do, instead, is either use them in my own personal stories (if their roleplays die) or simply leave them to exist in the world they were created for without touching them again. I like to imagine little personal headcanons for them that mark the end of their story, even if it was never reached officially, and then I can leave them there and be content.

Only exception would be for characters where I've invested money into buying artwork of them. At that point I'm not just going to leave them to sit... but usually those are the ones that then make it into my personal projects. To date I have never used the same character in a second roleplay, but with some of my current characters I would possibly consider it. Maybe. But their stories don't seem to be dying out anytime soon so I'd rather think it won't be necessary xD

 

[electric]

for me it depends on the setting! i think it's easier to do in character driven stories than in ones that are very plot specific, but i also do get attached to every character i make and hate to see them die with the roleplay they were intended for (even though that's usually what happens =()

 

[pbtenchi]

Learn from them. Nothing ever goes to waste, I find myself re-using them in new and interesting ways.

 

[Fletchawk]

When I create a character, at least for roleplay, their CS gets copied into my workshop. I rarely even think of re-using them unless a RP happens to remind me of them. Even then, I might draw inspiration from their CS, but I haven't re-used any of them except for once. Felt odd, like the character wasn't quite meshing, even after refurbishment. That, alongside the fact that I rather enjoy the process of creating new characters for stories, is why I haven't done it since.

 

[Cassie Lang]

I usually just make a character for the RP and forget about them if said RP dies after stashing them in a character thread unless they're a character I really wanted to RP.

 

[SGTSlayer]

I usually re-use them if I really like them. But sometimes I realize they are a bit boring while playing so I make notes to change some stuff.

 

[Kazami42]

*Insert ancient aliens "aliens" meme here*
"Familial magic"

I usually make a new character while being like a engineer, IE make something new but adapt and use what you can learn from what came before. However for characters and other elements I quite like, I preserve them in a limbo of what I call "The moderator's hall" or essentially mod purgatory for IC action. Rather than purging of sins or standing about in some historic scene doing nothing all day, they follow a more Valhallan model. I like imaging until needed, they all mingle with each other and just sort of exist.

When someone however messes up really badly, but not enough to actually warrant standard moderation ooc, I use the moderator's hall. A collection of the greatest, most fucked up, or suitable characters and other elements I singlehandedly choose from to exact punishment. Though only using one's that can fit the setting or can be heavily changed like other players might do. They could also at times end up stuck in the RP, so they could be some usually faceless NPC that adds to world building. Like a gardener, but was a 3 tour war veteran. They exist merely to exact punishment in any IC way I can write up to fix someone's mess. If there is magic in the setting, there might be the "Night guard". Essentially a random summoner mercenary with a sophisticated form of familiar ability. They all have their own limits that vary greatly, especially if actual IC summoners with lesser forms exist. What I do is take the offender's character or all of them, and subject them to waves depending on how many I have. I only got 1 on RPN, a dozen elsewhere. Some coming with their own NPC clique. This enabling me to just throw waves at an offender. To the end, they either learn their lesson, and submit, which then they have a easier time fighting off the summons, or they die. If they end up beating the summons by their own merit legitimately, it is assumed they learned their lesson and forgiven. Unless they commit some RP sin like refusing to not invent something IC after joining, previously rejected. Then they must "repent" or die.

Other than that I don't reuse them and they appear rarely if at all. Even with the mod version. Though if it fits and can contribute to world building and lore, rather than reused as characters or anything by a player especially actively, they may just be one or periodically referenced. Like a clique of friendly undead soldiers wandering a part of a city beyond their time, or a shopkeeper in a black trenchcoat, that generously donates to a charity, but also so happens to have the hobby of creating improvised weapons in the basement. The latter is a case of potentially a one off that other characters could buy a weapon off of, or get one as a reward for helping the shopkeep. Most don't even get a name, some don't get their own appearance description due to appearing in news headlines for example. IE: "Mine collapse, 3 dead 1,000 injured, saved by the red baron." Who is this red baron? Unless the setting involves war, you'll never know.

But even when I do "reuse" one, I usually try heavily integrating them IC. They don't just appear out of thin air, usually in some way made up IC periodically to show a reuse character or a new one I just made up exists, acting as a warning even. If they still choose to be stupid, they face a national revolution, assassination attempts, their character meeting unfortunate or mysterious circumstances, or other such events. This all in correlation with the setting, where they are, what is available already, etc. IE: Some guy makes a camp and stables their horses. The same guy then prepares a godmod move to another with the horses. Then Private Willie Willie deserts and frees or kills the horses to get rid of them. Or a nation keeps throwing away lives to be indestructible and refuses to acknowledge how a human being works, so they suffer food shortages, crime, or a revolt/civil war starts growing then happens. This all keeps story flow, and the moron behind it still suffers punishment. But sometimes, it is just better modding them normally. Though some people ask for it to give them something to do, either literally or figuratively. This method works too. But usually those are characters made up than a reuse. Though they themselves may be reused if detailed and the character is described enough, usually given to other players.

 

[Malphaestus]

I seldom re-use anything I make unless I am adamant that I particularly want to experience it. The amount of times I have done so are countable on one hand. Everything I make is tailor-made to what I want to experience in a setting, what I believe would suit a setting, and what I think would fit it.

If I do not think I can properly complement a story with my skills, then I do not join.

 

[astrophage]

My characters usually stem from a single concept or phrase, so I find it fairly easy to edit them if it fits in with the lore. I only keep a few around that I put a lot of effort into. They are very versatile so I can adapt or improve them as time goes on. Incorporating other concepts from past OCs into newer ones is good information to have on hand!

I try not to dwell on ones that will most likely never get used, since that tends to happen fairly often when huge threads get finished.