What is easier for you to RP: Fandom or Original?

[Yuzuriha]

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There is a question I'm curious about - what do people find <em>easier</em> to rp: Original characters or Canon characters in a given fandom? I don't mean 'like more', I mean exactly that - easier to play. As you can like it but find it challenging, or you may feel very comfortable to rp something and yet find it boring. In my personal experience, I find it easier to play original characters in original setting. As when it comes to a fandom, I feel the need to stay as much in-character and true-to-lore as possible and sometimes it holds be back. When you have OC you have more freedom in their characterisation - and changes even. For example, if you RP a canon Voldemort, it would feel very strange to have him suddenly give up his dark magics and pursue a rock star career. However when you have an OC, you could make him a rock star from the beginning, if you really want to play a rock star character! (and if it is AU where Voldmort can become a rock star then he is already not a canon Voldmort and would be considered more of an OC than canon). But I also encountered the opposite point of view, when people RP a canon character much more freely than OC or OC in a fandom setting! Partially because they feel connection with a specific character, or because they love the setting that was already built up. How is it for you and why? I also included a poll with only two options: Canon and Original characters. <em>Canon characters that behave OOC can be treated as original characters. Non-canon characters that still appear in a fandom RP are also treated as original characters. Basically, anything, that is not canon can be treated as OC, at least in this particular poll.</em>


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[LegoLad659]

In my personal experience, I find it easier to play original characters in original setting. As when it comes to a fandom, I feel the need to stay as much in-character and true-to-lore as possible and sometimes it holds be back. When you have OC you have more freedom in their characterisation - and changes even.

Pretty much exactly this. It's much easier to create a character of your own, because it's yours and yours alone, and only you know how they behave. With Fandom characters you have to study them and the world they're in, and stay as true to it as you can. I personally believe this is an objective fact, rather than anything with any kind of subjective influence.

 

[Yuzuriha]

It may be a fact but it may not apply to everyone , and that was the point of my question.


Some people are just not good at or not interested in making up characters from scratch while they understand a Canon character well enough, so for them playing those is easier. I'm just curious how often it happens, or if people like that are more of an exception than a rule.

 

[call me rae]

I personally find no difference between playing a canon character, an original character in a fandom universe, or an original character in an original universe.


I think because if I'm going to play canons I'm going to pick the ones I know well enough to properly portray them. And I'll put them in stories that suit their canon personality.


Plus I am in enough fandom so that I know there is a difference between playing the exact persona on screen and merely playing the person.


Every canon character is interpreted differently yes - but as long as you keep the core aspects the same its fine.


I liken it to comics - every comic character has hundreds of different variations. In books written by different people, in shows, in cartoons, in movies, etc. each time a character is portrayed it's someone putting their own spin on that character for the story they want to tell.


Playing them in roleplays is no different. You are putting a spin on the character to fit the story you want to play.


So I wouldn't worry about knowing all about the character just know enough to tell your story well. To

 

[sakigamis]

I seem to be in the extreme minority here. ;u; I can't make my own characters very well at all, but I'd like to think I'm pretty good at character analysis and fleshing out underdeveloped minor characters of someone else's creation (still can't figure out why I can't do that with my own--). I pretty much exclusively RP canon characters because making OCs is so difficult for me and I'm never proud of them. But the flipside of that is I'm often complimented on how well I understand the characters I choose to write, and friends have told me they wished they had my knack for character study. Most of the time if I have trouble writing a canon character, it's the dialogue (strangely, I tend to have trouble writing believable swear-heavy dialogue, and hotheads and tsunderes are basically out of the question), not the personality, actions, thought processes, etc.

 

[TwystedPhoenix]

Being that I did WWE roleplay for a few years, both with real Superstars and Original Characters, I have to say playing as a canon character is relatively easier for me.


With OC, it kind of becomes hard to try and make a unique character because there is no such thing as a unique character. Everything has been done at some point, and because of that I've seen people go "wow, your character is such a ripoff of this guy and that person". Also, having to build a stable backstory and try and develop every little mannerism and action is tedious and slow to start.


With canon, you avoid all that. You don't have to hear "Way to copy this one guy" because people are already aware that the character exists outside of your creation and all of their mannerisms and speech and forms are already there. It makes it easier to work with and get knuckles deep in actually moving forward with the plot.


But, that's all in pro wrestling roleplay which I'm more familiar with than anything else. The big bonus to pro wrestling RP is the face/heel dynamic which allows the good guy to go bad just because "Screw the audience, they don't do anything for me anyways".

 

[Cyaness]

While I'm in the majority with it being easier for me to play original characters, I don't think some of my reasons for this are quite as common, though I could very well be wrong.


Either way, a small part of this is rooted in the fact I also tend to enjoy playing original characters, as having a neutral-or-better opinion of something will make it less stressful than it would be with a negative opinion. I also find it more enjoyable because it's easier. Anyway, back on topic.


I feel there's more freedom in playing an original character, as there's no expectations about what they should be like, aside from what you write for them. There are actually two parts to this, for me. First is that there's no established personality nor history to be limited by. In this alone, I have equal problems playing any type of "premade" character, whether they be a canon character from a fandom, or an original character made by a GM in a non-fandom roleplay, as I find it difficult to write for certain personality traits/combinations, sometimes to the point of them being unplayable to me, or at least nigh so. (I've run into something similar to this before when making original characters, as I felt pressured to make my character unique, so I used traits that I ended up finding difficult to write, though nowadays, I can acknowledge my limits more easily, and tend to think my characters through more prior to creating them.) The second part is that even if there isn't anything established for characters aside from artwork, people still have different interpretations, some being more widespread than others, such as those of the Vocaloid fandom, which is centered around a bunch of software mascots that, more often than not, don't really have any canon traits, with a few minor exceptions. Despite that, given that there's a fandom, there are common interpretations, and sometimes, deviating from those common interpretations in any way can earn you a bit of dislike, and that's really all I'm going to say. While roleplaying communities are obviously much more open to different interpretations, some interpretations, whether they be of an established or unestablished nature, can be so ingrained that it's difficult to see them any other way, regardless of quality, which can lessen the level of immersion and/or enjoyment for those involved or affected.


It's also much easier for me to write for a character if I can get even a glimpse into their direct thoughts. Emphasis on "direct", as a character's words or actions do not necessarily reflect their actual thoughts or intentions, which gives possible various interpretations, and my whole thing about that can be found in the previous paragraph/wall of text. I find that pretty much the only types of media that give a glimpse into characters' direct thoughts are books, comics, and anime, and that the ones that give what I consider the "best" or at least fairly detailed thoughts, are books and some manga (note: the only comics I read are manga and webcomics, but webcomics are most similar to western comics in story-telling methods, even the ones more of a manga-esque style in other respects). Anyway, if I have a good reference to what their thoughts are like, I can often do a sort of "reverse-engineering" as to how they'll generally behave. However, while I can figure out how they'll generally act, I can't actually get a grasp of their exact thoughts or feelings, so I don't have much faith in my ability to write from an established character's view, as my style of writing and roleplaying has a good amount of focus on the characters' thoughts, feelings, and other internal processes as well as their actions and such. Outside of roleplaying, I've written a bit of fanfiction, but the basic "viewpoint" (quotes because I pretty much only write in 3rd person, and outside of roleplaying, it's not really common/necessary) was always that of my own character. Getting the hang of an original character's thought process is much easier, as I'm the one in control of their personality and general, well, "character".


Frankly, my biggest issue with writing for established characters is that I'm pretty bad at empathizing with and understanding quite a few people and things, as I don't really have the skills to "read" them, so unless things are explained in way that I can understand, which can vary depending on subject, you'd probably have better luck educating a brick wall. This is part of the reason why I'm, more often than not, scared to write for existing characters, with the other reason being that I'm scared of backlash.


On another note, character creation is pretty easy for me, as my main method is starting with a sort of basis, usually a small number of various traits, and building around that. I haven't personally seen many comparisons being drawn around coincidences with original characters, but I might just be lucky, I don't know.


Either way, I don't tend to take things said about my characters to heart, and I'm pretty honest. My ease with original characters over canon ones is probably because I know the character, and I have the final say in their characterization as their creator, whereas with canon, people are more zealous with how characters are portrayed, so I'm just plagued by doubt, and for all I know, I'm nowhere close to accurate.


Also, it's easier to get away with half-assing an original character that no one else really cares about rather than an established and/or beloved character from a fandom.

 

[winter nights yuu]

Original. It's just that It makes it hard for me to get used to a given fandom I don't know. I have to research it, even if it does interest me. Or I have to research something if I forget about a Fandom I know very well. Or my partner thinks I don't know enough about that particular Fandom, and pulls the plug.

 

[rebandvodka]

Gotta say that playing canon characters is much easier for me. It is, out of the two, what I enjoy doing most but that definitely doesn't contribute to my answer.


I guess-- and of course, I'm solely just speaking for myself here. I know everyone's answers vary with their personal taste, fandoms, etc.-- it relies on the fact that a majority of the characters I play are well, easy to relate back to myself and my own personality, outlooks, decisions. I get that the same probably applies to those who prefer original characters but I don't know, I just feel more comfortable when it comes to already having a set character with a set appearance and personality. There's no having to worry about making up this entire backstory or having to wonder what their every little mannerism will be. Having nor playing an original character has never appealed to me much, though it does seem very fun.