JokerValentine
We Out
So there's obviously a sense of context that might come into play. I think in some extreme circumstances, it can be applicable. But here's why I don't feel the same way as you might:I mean... I recycle characters all the time... for specific purposes.
I have this one character who I've used in... shit I'm not sure how many roleplays... but long story short, he started out in one roleplay that crashed and burned right after we reached page two so a few months later I started a different roleplay and then transferred him over there cause I liked him and didn't get to develop him enough. And ever since I've only ever used him when rebooting the roleplay I transferred him to. It fit because both roleplays were magical girl roleplays so it wasn't that hard to make a few small adjustments and then plop him in there. He's developed a lot since, though, so the current iteration of him is much different than how I originally made him.
Then basically every other character I've reused is in reboots and sequels so... yeah I guess that's the outlier. Maybe I don't do it all the time and it just feels that way because all I really do is reboots nowadays.
When I do a character, I always try to have a backstory that is directly relevant to the world. While worlds have different levels of fluidity and openness, I consider it relatively important to try to tailor a character to a specific world from their creation. I think that once that happens, they are a character. Otherwise, if they are sort of like a tool, are they a character, or is it just a proxy for roleplaying? I'm not here to say which is better, of course, I just prefer the former for creative purposes.
Now, the question of "recycling characters" and "making a few small adjustments," the question becomes: at what point in adjusting a character to a different world does it become an entirely new one? I don't know the answer, but I think that it requires something from scratch, more or less. Regardless, the question becomes is if you consider there to be a true form of our characters? Like, could we point to one roleplay or example and be like "yeah, that's him or her." To me, if I could point to two places of a character in two different contexts that have nothing to do one another, I think that it sort of detracts from what it means to be a character.
There's surely exceptions to the rule and it's about personal preference surely. I'm not arguing against using similar traits from prior characters for roleplays, I just really think that walking into a roleplay with a character already created and there's essentially no adjustments made to fit into the world is not interesting.