How to Create A Good Character

[Desolane900]

This post would focus more on the "Building your character so that it requires little effort to play or even roleplay them." which helps especially on CM where roleplay can often be interrupted by battle or an ambush.

Incoming tldr section so skip it if you're not interested in my personal experiences.

I'm writing this because. Well. For one, I write. Or at least used to. When I wrote short stories or little novels back in my youth(as if I'm still not young) I often tried to build a character so that they had a life, were living that life, and also had a future. You don't necessarily need to do this with your character but it helps. When I first made Saul, and I mean MADE Saul, I was trying to just create the perfect antihero. The guy anybody could look at and say "That's the bad guy". So I did what I always do and built my character like I built the rest. Flushed with a life that lead him to where he is now and why he does what he does and says what he says. I've more often than not had people say they imagine my real life look to match his, red hair and all. The easiest way to get people to believe your character is to grab the most dominant part of you. Or the least favorable part of you. Then just work from there.

The Attitude: You start with an attitude because it makes it easier to move on to a name. Someone who's bold and confident wouldn't be named Darwin, same as someone who's scared and cowardly wouldn't be named John or Pete. You pull this attitude from yourself. What emotion do you normally feel playing the game? Grab that emotion and isolate it. Build off of it. Are you normally trigger happy? Or maybe you're out of your wits and don't pay attention. Instead of trying to change your flaws that you feel are difficult to get rid of, build off of them to create a life for your character that reflects how you are in an isolated way.

The Name: As above, so below. Think of a name to match the personification of emotion (fancy speak for "Name that feeling"). Think of a name that matches the personality and attitude you set in stone for your character, but don't set it in stone just yet! Their name could match their personality or be the exact opposite. Their name could match their looks or personality, or it could just be a name you've always enjoyed. Something that rolls off the tongue. Why not both?

The Looks: Now that you have your timid Christopher or macho man Randy, they need a matching look. Build your character as you see fit, but keep in mind that the way you look is the first thing people notice about you. Lighter colors are associated as frightful or feminine whereas darker colors are seen as mysterious or manly. Even finding the sweet spot between these could be your look if that's what you choose. To digress, you can also make your big guy named Tiny the exact opposite of what people would expect. It is your character after all.

The Depth: Look at everything your character is and then think up a backstory as to what made them the way they were now. Were they caught in a house fire? Did they grow up in a military family? Did they grow up without a family at all? The way people act is a reflection of the life they had before and can be studied as such. Why is Matthew so quiet? Why is Frank so loud? What happened throughout their lives to make them like this? Was it one traumatic event or an entire life of uneventful action coming to fruition? This process may take some thought and you'll never truly be done making a life for your lovable(or hated) character, so never assume your work is entirely done until they are.

The Flaws: At this point in the process you should look at everything you have up until this spot on the list and see if things seem too perfect. Or too flawed for that matter. For some people, they have all they need with nothing. And for others, they thought they lost everything they had when they actually lost nothing. The flaw can be formed on a character in several places. They can have a mental scar of a loved one that refuses to let them go. Or an emotional blemish in the way that they can't open up because that one relationship went South with too much on the table. Maybe they were born with a hairlip or have a scar on their body from an accident. Flaws make it easier to believe that a character exists but too many flaws and people will refuse to believe you tried making a character instead of a punching bag. Overcoming a flaw or atleast trying to can also score brownie points for creative thought process.

This is a very dumbed down list to try and help certain people through their own creative process to making a character someone can look at and maybe even say "Hey I know someone in real life just like that". Don't take this as law, instead, look at it as a means of getting your own brain juices flowing in a way that suites you best. My only advice is to try not to be the John Doe or the Mary Sue. Everyone wants to be the space marine badass to save the day but we need to remember that each round is it's own story being written and we're all just words on the pages until the the book is closed and a new chapter starts. I hope this improves someone's writing process, even it only helps one or two people, I'll be satisfied helping at all.

If you feel you can add to it or take away from it, feel free to comment on this thread. That's what it's here for. inb4 "there's already a thread for this" because that one is old as fuck.

Thought for the day: "Hard work conquers everything."

[DoctorMad]

It'll be a while until I read the whole thing since I'm in-game, but anyways.

As above, so below.

What a odd quote.