Viewpoint What Roleplaying Clichés Need to die out?

[Crayons]

"Doesn't let people get close to him, but will die for those who manage to get close."

I've done my share of this too, but one time I saw this exact line (maybe with variations of wording) for five different characters in one Character thread and I'm like....is anyone going to RP with each other? Like it's fine and all, but its sorta like the dead parents thing. Let's try to have some variety and originality once an awhile. xD

I've fallen into the habit of making gregarious and sociable characters so that this doesn't happen, because my god all these wallflowers and introverts are a problem. XD

 

[Fenris]

Whoa, it almost sounds like the worst thing someone can do is use a variety of words or descriptors in their post! Jokes aside, I get the gist. Repetition kills, whether its fancy descriptive words or simply Kevin eating apples

Personally I dislike power creep? (maybe one-upping is the more appropriate term) Basically someone making a second character or characters in general which have traits that simply nullify or overshadow others. It doesn't come up that often but it can be a bit disheartening when it does.

That and people who get too excited and ping pong a bunch of posts leaving everyone else in the dust. The enthusiasm is appreciated but you need to take it away to your own scene or something and leave some room for the other participants to get a word in or interact with the plot point.

Generally I really enjoy this community though and have found a lot more good reading material than things that happen to annoy me.

 

[Onmyoji]

I think that cliché like love at first sight, Edgelords with dead parents and Mary Sue Power Creep will exist in roleplays for as long as they will exist in media. They can even be traced back to children's books.
And they also flourish among younger players fueled by their desires to be special.

So I don't believe something so common would die out no matter how much we want it XD

In the end, it's not the cliché itself that is annoying, it's the way it is used.

 

[Melpomene]

For the love of God...

If I see "She is not like other girls, she *put bland thing that several other characters have in common here.*"

Ffs, it's alright to be like other characters. But don't pretend like having dead parents is in itself interesting for a character at all.

Also, pretty lampshades is a cliche I hate so much. Whether it be female or male, anyone who seems to basically be there to look pretty and really do nothing else. Why should the love interest fall in love with them? Because they are pretty, I guess. Pitiful is usually mixed into that. And I cannot stand it

 

[voracity]

I can't claim this one as my own, because I definitely lifted it off tumblr or twitter:

“My character is a kind, likable, smart, funny, talented jock that everyone loves. His weakness? He’s too perfect and popular.” “What’s his character arc?” “A girl who doesn’t like him learns to like him.” “But how does he grow and get better?” “Oh he doesn’t.” “What’s his flaw?” “He doesn’t have one.”

I guess a cliche that may not have been mentioned is 'the good guy' - I've seen people who personally choose to play a role or character that should not, or is encouraged, and even expected to perform gruesome, ethically challenging tasks, and probably oppose the protagonists' ideals ... except that they don't. Everyone seems to be so afraid to play a bad guy - or they'll make sure that there's a really sad backstory for them, so they're redeemable or that whomever they were opposing or rivals with, are made to be 'even worse' of an antagonist (ie. the king was a greedy, old guy - I'm just the friendly neighborhood assassin that ends up writing itself out like misunderstood Robin Hood, haha!). I just wish more people would embrace being evil - make people absolutely hate your character, detest whatever ideals they decided to have or live out - instead of making them a relatable figure you should try and forgive and understand because 'angst'.

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

I can't claim this one as my own, because I definitely lifted it off tumblr or twitter:

I guess a cliche that may not have been mentioned is 'the good guy' - I've seen people who personally choose to play a role or character that should not, or is encouraged, and even expected to perform gruesome, ethically challenging tasks, and probably oppose the protagonists' ideals ... except that they don't. Everyone seems to be so afraid to play a bad guy - or they'll make sure that there's a really sad backstory for them, so they're redeemable or that whomever they were opposing or rivals with, are made to be 'even worse' of an antagonist (ie. the king was a greedy, old guy - I'm just the friendly neighborhood assassin that ends up writing itself out like misunderstood Robin Hood, haha!). I just wish more people would embrace being evil - make people absolutely hate your character, detest whatever ideals they decided to have or live out - instead of making them a relatable figure you should try and forgive and understand because 'angst'.

Most fun I had playing a fictional character was a sadist, and descended from a Nazi. The worst characters, ethically, show the most growth.

 

[defenderofberk]

Most fun I had playing a fictional character was a sadist, and descended from a Nazi. The worst characters, ethically, show the most growth.

finally someone gets it

 

[Cyybil]

Tee hee~ It's really funny to watch when an entire BNHA RP is full of characters like that XD Luckily most of them listen to reason tho in a fight when you have to give the victory to the other guy XD Just a little bit of moping and it's fine. Except for this one girl who literally could not listen and thought she could beat the shit out of anybody and so we restrained her with shit that was inescapable and she escaped in like 5 seconds XD we kicked her out. XD

the thing about BNHA rps is that you just have the regular people who make sure to have some sort of drawback to their power, and then there's the ones that are like I can summon literally anything out of thin air and make it do whatever and it's just so annoying, which is why I usually try to go with a more lame power that the character makes cooler, like being able to look at a group of things and immediately tell how many there are or something. If I ever have a character that's particularly strong, I make sure to have a lot of things holding them back. For example, I have this one character who seems to be able to turn into a dragon (I made this OC but then Ryukyu showed up and I was like what the heck man), but really, she can combine with another person and what people think is her dragon form is actually her brother whom she accidentally combined herself with, and then they're always arguing with each other so they end up being not very good at things. Also, I made it so that they need to eat a lot in order to actually maintain energy in that form, but if they eat enough to maintain the dragon form for long enough then they'll be stuck like that for a while because if they go back to human form, their stomach will explode. Inconvenience is key :>

 

[Cyybil]

Or at least if you're going to have a whole bunch of unfortunate events happen to them, make it somewhat comedic or something, not just an excuse to make them an edgelord.

 

[SP3CT3R]

Instead of making a bulleted list, I'm just going to say every shounen anime trope is worn the hell out.

 

[Huntertabbysandshark3]

^ Well, sort of this!

Now, granted, I don't usually roleplay with people who I don't really know as friends, BUT I've been RPing long enough to see this trend prevalent more often than not.

I also agree being crafty or clever as opposed to just straight powerful is far more superior to straight bull-dozing through an enemy or obstacle anyway!

But well, there will always be RPers like this, especially the younger ones or newer ones to start, I'm afraid!

Another rather tired trope that has long since worn out its welcome (somewhat on this subject) is putting more effort into writing said characters POWERS or PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS than their actual personality.

What I mean is their 'power/abilities' section will be several paragraphs long, as well as their physical description, but then when you get to their personality its barely a paragraph long at best.

I personally think their personality should be more described and fleshed out than their power (not to say that their power shouldn't be, especially if its like, say, magic or something that NEEDS to be explained... BUT there shouldn't be SO MUCH POWERS and such that warrant several paragraphs of explanation to start) or physical description (especially when a picture is worth a thousand words and it's easy to find a picture OR, if they're an artist of course, draw it themselves), but again, thats just a preferance.

Not that I've seen this personally too often, but when I pop in on other RP's character sheets from time to time its been present more often than not.

Ima be honest I can agree with the personality problem I know im part of that problem... mostly because I spend a lot of time writing the limitation of there abilities/power and then once you get to personality well... I tend to find it hard to nail that down without actually playing them first you know?

 

[Minako]

Huntertabbysandshark3 I totally get it!

And don't worry, I'm not calling them or you out or anything!

Though, it's good that you realize you may have this tendency!

I will 100% pardon a super long "powers/abilities" section if it's a good balance of explaining what said power is AND describing its limits as well! In fact, I'd say it's QUITE crucial to that section of the CS!

Even if, as a personal standard, I'd like the personalty section to "have more meat" in it than the "powers/ability" section, I would totally give a pass if what makes the "powers/abilities" section "more meaty" is a proper explanation to its limits as well. Not only that, but I'm sure the GM of said potential RP the CS is for would be rather relieved to have a limit to reference just in case one gets over-zealous and tries to use their power BEYOND said limits and can quickly point to the CS as reference for "nerfing" the power in that post!

And, as for finding it difficult to fill that section without first playing them, I also completely understand where you come from!

Though I've never had this problem personally (aheh, because all the characters I RP are over ten years old and have plenty of time and instances to develop... because I am a MASSIVE NERD) , on the rare occasion I make a new character, I've also been quite stumped filling out that section of their CS! Sometimes you just don't KNOW how they'll be until you have your character IN said situation! Heckin' heck, even my oldest characters are occasionally thrown into situations I've never dreamed of them being in before, and I have to take a moment to sit back and think "What would this character do? Is it IN their personality to do so?"

But that's the beauty and hideousness of Roleplay, eh?

 

[AnyTimeAtAll]

Oh, man, I agree with basically everything y'all have mentioned. I think the worst roleplay cliche I've noticed is not so much a specific theme within the roleplay, but the fact that some roleplayers 'godmod'? Try to control your own character. Drives me completely insane. Hasn't happened to me much, but it's your character for a reason. You control your character, I'll control mine. Crazy stuff.

Theme-wise, I may be wrong but I feel like wolf roleplays and terribly written apocalypse stories have been done to death. But idk, neither of them have really been in my wheelhouse as a roleplayer.

 

[Huntertabbysandshark3]

Huntertabbysandshark3 I totally get it!

And don't worry, I'm not calling them or you out or anything!

Though, it's good that you realize you may have this tendency!

I will 100% pardon a super long "powers/abilities" section if it's a good balance of explaining what said power is AND describing its limits as well! In fact, I'd say it's QUITE crucial to that section of the CS!

Even if, as a personal standard, I'd like the personalty section to "have more meat" in it than the "powers/ability" section, I would totally give a pass if what makes the "powers/abilities" section "more meaty" is a proper explanation to its limits as well. Not only that, but I'm sure the GM of said potential RP the CS is for would be rather relieved to have a limit to reference just in case one gets over-zealous and tries to use their power BEYOND said limits and can quickly point to the CS as reference for "nerfing" the power in that post!

And, as for finding it difficult to fill that section without first playing them, I also completely understand where you come from!

Though I've never had this problem personally (aheh, because all the characters I RP are over ten years old and have plenty of time and instances to develop... because I am a MASSIVE NERD) , on the rare occasion I make a new character, I've also been quite stumped filling out that section of their CS! Sometimes you just don't KNOW how they'll be until you have your character IN said situation! Heckin' heck, even my oldest characters are occasionally thrown into situations I've never dreamed of them being in before, and I have to take a moment to sit back and think "What would this character do? Is it IN their personality to do so?"

But that's the beauty and hideousness of Roleplay, eh?

I agree with most of what ya said XD just though Id throw in a reason as to why that issue might exist oh well


aaanyway can say without a doubt one of the most..hmm... poorly done settings is the child super-weapon lab rp.. just your “oh we should try to escape” and a dosage of child abuse...

tried to pull something different with the trope but the rp sorta died. Made the scienestest actually nice to the subjects becuse I never understood how abuse keeps them in line when it will make them resent you... there CHILDREN not adults that need to have there will broken... what’s a stronger control and loyalty then legit “love” towards those that did end up turning you into a wepon?

 

[Natural Flavour]

Ima be honest I can agree with the personality problem I know im part of that problem... mostly because I spend a lot of time writing the limitation of there abilities/power and then once you get to personality well... I tend to find it hard to nail that down without actually playing them first you know?

Huntertabbysandshark3 I totally get it!

And don't worry, I'm not calling them or you out or anything!

Though, it's good that you realize you may have this tendency!

I will 100% pardon a super long "powers/abilities" section if it's a good balance of explaining what said power is AND describing its limits as well! In fact, I'd say it's QUITE crucial to that section of the CS!

Even if, as a personal standard, I'd like the personalty section to "have more meat" in it than the "powers/ability" section, I would totally give a pass if what makes the "powers/abilities" section "more meaty" is a proper explanation to its limits as well. Not only that, but I'm sure the GM of said potential RP the CS is for would be rather relieved to have a limit to reference just in case one gets over-zealous and tries to use their power BEYOND said limits and can quickly point to the CS as reference for "nerfing" the power in that post!

And, as for finding it difficult to fill that section without first playing them, I also completely understand where you come from!

Though I've never had this problem personally (aheh, because all the characters I RP are over ten years old and have plenty of time and instances to develop... because I am a MASSIVE NERD) , on the rare occasion I make a new character, I've also been quite stumped filling out that section of their CS! Sometimes you just don't KNOW how they'll be until you have your character IN said situation! Heckin' heck, even my oldest characters are occasionally thrown into situations I've never dreamed of them being in before, and I have to take a moment to sit back and think "What would this character do? Is it IN their personality to do so?"

But that's the beauty and hideousness of Roleplay, eh?

I mean I cant create RP characters worth a thicc hecc they all turn into shy girls with anxiety lol kms

 

[Minako]

Natural Flavour I'm sure you can!

Not everyone's first or second character is a hit! I'm sure after a little bit of guidance and experience you'll make great characters in no time flat!

 

[Jace Quin]

Character-sheet style introductions in a 1v1.

Character sheets are good for tabletop games or group roleplays and for keeping track of a particular character's attributes either for yourself or a partner but do not a good roleplay introduction make.

A lot of you talked about spending too much time describing a character's powers or too much on their appearance in an introduction. I don't care how much time is spent describing these things as long as it's interesting and not like reading a grocery list. Personally I would rather see descriptors for the character interjected into other parts of the introduction or even (gasp!) in subsequent posts. Your character works with industrial machines and is narrow-shouldered/slender throw those thoughts together and mention the slenderness as being useful for being able to get into tight spaces in their job. You are playing a non-human creature (or someone with powers whatever) the other character has no reason to know everything about? Don't ruin the mystery by revealing every single little thing about them in the first post. I know that 'holding back' skirts the edge of that god-modding abyss by giving the withholder the ability to reveal whatever incredibly convenient and previously unknown power they might feel like at any time but writers who manage it without falling come off a lot less formulaic and to me much more compelling.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I think a good way to determine if your character is a cliche or not is to ask yourself - why do they act X way or have X traits?

The thing that makes someone for instance NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS (tm) instead of just a unique character is why the traits are put together.

If the only reason your character is smart or shy or nerdy or whatever is because you have seen those traits written in a book or in a movie and they mean the love interest is special than your making a cliche. Because your making a character based entirely on arbitrary traits that act as short hand over actual character development.

It’s the same thing with people who use mental illness as a short hand for “quirky”. They don’t care about portraying the illness itself they just know “if my character acts like this canon than she’ll get the same story line as the canon too”

It’s a very shallow understanding of how stories work or are made interesting.

It’s not about “Oh any character with these set of traits is bad”. It’s “if the only reason the characters have these traits is because you saw it in a movie/tv show/book/roleplay and you want to copy that storyline with the bare minimum of effort” than that’s bad. Because your just making a surface level cliche at that point.

 

[Sludge]

Some ppl will proly disagree with me, but hey. No point in repeating something everyone thinks is true, no?

---

Evil characters who are evil towards other PCs.

People often interpret "evil character" as synonymous with "jerk". If a rp is about a group of characters closely sticking together, a single badly handled jerk character can ruin IC. A player should not expect other characters to warm up to them after multiple insults and attempts to harm them.

Just like in real life, if a character is being an ass towards everyone, other people will distance themselves from that person. When there is no interaction, there is no fun.

If you really want to go for it, be evil towards everyone but PCs.

Use your evil schemes for the benefit of the group and everyone will love you. Need to be evil towards a PC? Talk to the player OOC and promise to give them their own opportunity to shine later.
And sure, if you know your group really well then anything is fair game.

 

[Fenris]

Some ppl will proly disagree with me, but hey. No point in repeating something everyone thinks is true, no?

---

Evil characters who are evil towards other PCs.

People often interpret "evil character" as synonymous with "jerk". If a rp is about a group of characters closely sticking together, a single badly handled jerk character can ruin IC. A player should not expect other characters to warm up to them after multiple insults and attempts to harm them.

Just like in real life, if a character is being an ass towards everyone, other people will distance themselves from that person. When there is no interaction, there is no fun.

If you really want to go for it, be evil towards everyone but PCs.

Use your evil schemes for the benefit of the group and everyone will love you. Need to be evil towards a PC? Talk to the player OOC and promise to give them their own opportunity to shine later.
And sure, if you know your group really well then anything is fair game.

Good points! I think a lot of issues pop up when people don't consider this fully and sign on or have someone sign on as a villain for their story. You pretty much have to rely on the ooc to be active enough for people to get to know each other before they decide the user is just a jerk or interacting with the 'evil character' isn't fun.

Kind of like portraying a distant or standoffish character consistently doesn't happen a lot because its difficult. You're reliant on interaction with others posts to take part in an rp... if people don't feel like interactions with a character are enjoyable in some way they avoid them; leaving said character to monologue in a corner. On the upside, its pretty refreshing to see someone pull it off successfully!

 

[Sludge]

Good points! I think a lot of issues pop up when people don't consider this fully and sign on or have someone sign on as a villain for their story. You pretty much have to rely on the ooc to be active enough for people to get to know each other before they decide the user is just a jerk or interacting with the 'evil character' isn't fun.

Kind of like portraying a distant or standoffish character consistently doesn't happen a lot because its difficult. You're reliant on interaction with others posts to take part in an rp... if people don't feel like interactions with a character are enjoyable in some way they avoid them; leaving said character to monologue in a corner. On the upside, its pretty refreshing to see someone pull it off successfully!

I know right? It is the best thing when ppl can actually pull off an asocial character. But it takes so much experience and motivation it's not always worth it. And then there are so many new people going for these challenging character types. Characters they probably won't even enjoy playing.

Sure, we all want the experience to feel like a novel or a movie but some compromises need to be made. Authors write alone so they can pull off anything they want, while roleplayers have to rely on each other to keep things going.

 

[LazyDaze]

Some ppl will proly disagree with me, but hey. No point in repeating something everyone thinks is true, no?

---

Evil characters who are evil towards other PCs.

People often interpret "evil character" as synonymous with "jerk". If a rp is about a group of characters closely sticking together, a single badly handled jerk character can ruin IC. A player should not expect other characters to warm up to them after multiple insults and attempts to harm them.

Just like in real life, if a character is being an ass towards everyone, other people will distance themselves from that person. When there is no interaction, there is no fun.

If you really want to go for it, be evil towards everyone but PCs.

Use your evil schemes for the benefit of the group and everyone will love you. Need to be evil towards a PC? Talk to the player OOC and promise to give them their own opportunity to shine later.
And sure, if you know your group really well then anything is fair game.

And I believe this stems from an overarching issue in which ppl consider other PC’s as sidekicks to THEIR story. Whenever I consider making a “bad” or “annoying” character I always have the GM’s intentions for the RP in the back of my mind as well as the intentions of the other characters. Every action I take in the RP will have a consequence and too many times I believe that players just go wildly into whatever plot they had in mind for their character and expect it to play out accordingly. U have to realize this is collaborative and u have to work with others to make it an enjoyable experience for all no matter what kind of character u play. So TL|DR, any character requires some give and take with those around them.

 

[SP3CT3R]

I hate the idea that the personality and backstory on a CS have to be a certain length to be viable. A list of core positive and negative traits is so much easier on my attention deficit ass than a huge paragraph, and sometimes, backstories just aren't complicated enough to write 500 words minimum, double spaced, MLA formatting about.

 

[rae2nerdy]

I hate the idea that the personality and backstory on a CS have to be a certain length to be viable. A list of core positive and negative traits is so much easier on my attention deficit ass than a huge paragraph, and sometimes, backstories just aren't complicated enough to write 500 words minimum, double spaced, MLA formatting about.

I usually use the elevator approach. If you had five minutes to describe your character what would you write? I find it says a lot about a person what they choose to add too.

 

[BakaTheIdiot]

Some ppl will proly disagree with me, but hey. No point in repeating something everyone thinks is true, no?

---

Evil characters who are evil towards other PCs.

People often interpret "evil character" as synonymous with "jerk". If a rp is about a group of characters closely sticking together, a single badly handled jerk character can ruin IC. A player should not expect other characters to warm up to them after multiple insults and attempts to harm them.

Just like in real life, if a character is being an ass towards everyone, other people will distance themselves from that person. When there is no interaction, there is no fun.

If you really want to go for it, be evil towards everyone but PCs.

Use your evil schemes for the benefit of the group and everyone will love you. Need to be evil towards a PC? Talk to the player OOC and promise to give them their own opportunity to shine later.
And sure, if you know your group really well then anything is fair game.

Greatest villain I ever encountered? I thought he was on my side the whole time. Well played, mate.