Post by oddricagain on Jul 28, 2011 13:56:07 GMT -5
How To:
Make Character Development!
Before I get right to the point, let me just explain a little bit about what this is. "Oddities" will be a sort of series of guides that I'll be creating over time. I am by no means an expert of RPing, but I've been around, and I have plenty of experience. You don't need to follow these guides like a bible, feel free to take from them what you will to improve on your skills as an RPer! Also, don't be afraid to critique my guide. It'll help me to grow as well!
There will be a general focus on this site for these guides, but they can really be applied to any RP site.
First Step, The Application!
When you first create a character, you need to fill out Valleri's lovely application before you can start to play with your hunter, angel, demon, or whoever. But, like with most RP sites, the application can be tedious and can take a good hour to fill out. You have likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, history, personality and a million other things to fill out! It's enough to make you scream, especially when you want to get right to RPing!
However, just rushing through it is a terrible mistake. More importantly, never looking back at it is an even worse mistake!
The application challenges you to think about your character. So at least you have some idea what your character is all about. When you finish with your application, it's always a good idea to go back and check on it. Review what you makes your character your character. If something has changed with them, feel free to just edit the application. As long as your changing just your character's mental traits, there should be no problem with this!
So, while writing up your application, take your time. Really think about it, don't just rush through just putting whatever you feel like! When you give your character a poor background, you're going to have a poor RPing experience.
Second Step, Character Purpose!
Your character's purpose is crucial. Filling out the application can really help you out with this. The two almost go hand-in-hand. But sometimes, even you can't figure out you're own character's purpose!
Don't be so confused, it's a very easy and common mistake. I used to do the same thing!
So, let's take this slowly.
You might decide that you'd like to make a character! Cool! What kind of character?
Hunter. Hunter Joe.
All right. Joe. What do you want to do with him?
Uh. I dunno. I just wanted to make a hunter.
That's a very frequent thing, and it's not a bad thing! Everything starts with wanting to make a character. But you need to give your character some purpose.
Oddric, just let me have Joe and I'll give him purpose once I start RPing with him!
That can also work! But, you might find yourself quickly bored with the character. This method doesn't always work. So, it's better to give your character some background before sending him off into the world. Give him something that really defines him! Maybe he has emotional distress from something, perhaps he used to be a big-time criminal, his girlfriend was killed by a vampire, something that makes him stick out from the rest!
Okay. Joe used a dark spell to bring his girlfriend back to life, but he had to kill her once she started to try to kill him! That's how he started as a hunter.
Sure, that works! Don't be afraid to give him more background! Give him a goal, give him some purpose! This is a great starting point for Joe as a character, you'll be able to develop him a lot more using this important piece of background!
Yeah! Um...maybe Joe has a fear of anything dead, now? Like, a phobia of sorts. Having to kill his undead girlfriend was pretty traumatic.
Yes! Exactly! Joe's reason for becoming a hunter can spread to become so many other things that define him! Don't just plop down a crucial event in a character's life and leave it at that! Build on it!
Goals and dreams are also important. It can be something small, something big, anything! But having a goal for your character can be a wonderful starting point for a bunch of threads. For your character to have a plot, a story, he needs to have a goal in their life, a purpose! Even if its just as small as finding the demon that killed their family, something that can get other people involved in threads with your character!
I think I can definitely do something awesome with Joe now. I'd like to create another character, a demon. But...I'm having some trouble. What sort of a purpose do I make for a demon?
Ah. Right.
In Supernatural, you have plenty of creatures. And on an RP site, we like to play with them! On the tv show, most of the main characters are human. Dean has his own emotions, problems and issues. So does Sam. So does Bobby, to an extent. And it's very interesting to see this!
There also a few main characters that aren't human, but it's still awesome to watch them! Castiel and Ruby, for example. Castiel has issues, doubting God, rebelling, slowly becoming human and gaining emotion, and eventually becoming power hungry. He's a changing and developing character! And that's interesting to us as the audience. Ruby sort of grew too, not quite like the other characters. Her role in the show became different over time. First she was a suspicious ally, then she became a more trusted ally, then she became Sam's drug and temptation, then she became a villain. Beyond that, Ruby was different from other demons. Even she had been pulling Sam and Dean along the whole time, she was seen most of the time as a good demon, and she remembered her humanity. This was different, and it was interesting, and it was interesting seeing her change through season 3 and 4.
Now, let's take a look at some other creatures. Raphael, for example! Okay. Power hungry archangel. Uh...wants the apocalypse back on the rails. ...Dislikes the Winchesters and Castiel? There isn't really much too him. Just a big brute who never really changes in his personality. A classic and easy villain. Not a very interesting to play as. Imagine watching a show about Raphael, just Raphael as the main character. He'd be sulking, mean, and just doing whatever he wanted. He never changes, he's not dynamic, just a horizontal line. Maybe the writers would change and cause Raphael to grow if he had his own show, but not on Supernatural. Having each character grow and evolve is too time consuming, and we wouldn't get very far. And frankly, no one cares to spent three episodes on a one episode villain. Because, in the end, Supernatural is about the growth of the main characters.
Supernatural creatures are not portrayed very often as a main character like Castiel or Ruby. So we have difficulty doing something unique with them to make them interesting to play, and give them a proper story. What sort of background do you make for a demon that isn't just the same old "went to hell for something bad, and now wants to just be evil and do bad things". That's going to be boring to play after a while. This is where you, as a story-teller and a creative person, need to shine! Do something different with the demon! Don't just trek on the same beaten path! Just give them something new, something unique. Most importantly, they need to be able to change and develop in their own way.
This isn't just with demons, other creatures are hard to come up with a plot, goal, and purpose for. One good tip for a starting point for a character's purpose is to look up some mythology. Both my Samyaza and Ambriel are based off of mythology. Ambriel is the angel of protection and communication with humans. So, he interacts with them often and feels a strong connection with them. He's not just an angel for or against the new God, he has some further purpose. Even if it's just something minor, make sure your character goes off into the RPing world with something.
Step Three, Emotion!
Don't cry Dean, this isn't a hard step!
For a character to have a plot with other people, to have a story, they need to have emotions. They need to have some sort of personality. Even angels have something, maybe not a full personality, but they have quirks and things that make each one of them unique. Castiel is socially awkward. Uriel is aggressive. Gabriel is a prankster.
So, see that application you filled out? Your character has a list of likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, a bunch of things that helps define who they are! Keep all their traits in mind when you RP! Don't ignore it or decide that "you don't like to RP them with their traits", or it's "too hard"! RPing is just like story telling, and it takes work. But it can be plenty of fun!
Step Four, TV Show!
Now, take your character. Whatever character you want. And picture them being the star of their own TV Show. Or maybe with another cast member or two. Do you find yourself liking your character? Would you want to watch your character?
Next, imagine some of the threads you've been doing. Are they episode-worthy threads? Do you want to watch it on the television screen? Or do you find the stories you're telling are pretty dull and uninteresting?
This is a great way to think about your character and everything they're involved with. Make it all part of a television show! If you can't, try reading over a thread or your character's application again. That should spark something. Or imagine them part of a book! An actual novel! If you don't like what you've seen/read/whatever, you know there's something to be changed. How to fix it may not come easily, but that's why we have the lovely OOC Chatbox! I and other members will be happy to help you with your character if you can't manage it on your own! After all, we are a community! The IC Chatbox is a great way to learn how your character behaves, how they interact. Just be sure you're keeping the mentality of your character and not just being silly, or else you'll have a different character then you expected when you go to RP for real.
Finally, on the subject of a tv show, each season of Supernatural has a central plot. Or maybe it's a half a season plot, or maybe there are multiple plots, but there is at least one major plot. For season 3, it was finding a way to get Dean out of Hell. But there were a bunch of bumps and stops along the way! It wasn't until halfway through the season when Dean actually started to fear going to Hell. Sam killed the Crossroads Demon. Ruby made her appearance and helped Sam and Dean along the way. Lillith was found to be the holder of Dean's contract. It wasn't a straight line plot, there was plenty of story and content to it!
This is how an RP Character's plot should be, like a season of Supernatural! There is a big plot, (killing the villain, getting revenge, finding something, getting somewhere) and it takes a while to get there. There are "filler episodes", "plot-driven episodes", "mid-season and season finales", just like in Supernatural! This is just one way to think about a plot for your character. Once you start getting your story arc going, picture it on the television set. Can you see it filling a season or more on a tv show? If you can, or if you sort of can, you're on the right track!
I hope you were able to find something of use in my guide! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! Or, if you have any suggestions for another guide, you can leave them here and I'll try my best to make another guide.
Like I said before, this is not a perfect guide. There will be mistakes and faults. Don't take everything I said to heart. These are just tips, not hard and fast rules.
Thanks, guys!