Author Topic: Character Creation and Development (Read 489 times)

Jakers · « **on:** March 13, 2015, 06:43:47 am »

What would a story be without a main character? Or side characters to accompany them throughout the journey? In most cases, to keep your reader interested, characters need to continuously develop throughout your novel, and they need to be original. Nobody is looking for somebody who says one-liners before pulling three heavy machineguns out of his ass and winning the fight in the blink of an eye. People like to see characters get stronger (or maybe even weaker), and develop new emotions as the novel progresses!

But we all have to start with a base idea.

In this thread, share with us some of your favorite characters that you've created! Be it from an RP, a book you've been writing, or even a character from an RPG that you became really attached to!

I'd recommend character sheets, but lay them out however you think is best. I don't want to give you some template them limits you: go wild in describing your characters to us! Also, don't be shy to ask for help on how to develop/improve character. I'm sure this wonderful community and I could help you out.

As an example, here's one of my most used OC's:

Spoiler: Jakers (hover to show)

Nickname: Jakers
Real Name: - ? ? ?
Origin: Cataclysm DDA
Age: ? ? ? - Looks to be in his mid-twenties.

Description: A tall man, always wearing a peculiar pink suit accompanied with rich, purple trousers. His chestnut-brown hair hangs under the black and purple top hat he always seems to wear wherever he goes, and his eyes are a strange shade of gold. He wears a monocle over his left eye; although his eyesight is perfectly fine. His face suggests an ordinary young man, and his build is semi-muscular.

Signature Items: Jakers' top hat is one of the only items of clothing he will never take off for an unknown reason, and he always keeps it in top condition. He carries a Colt Navy that has ended the life of many, most of which's lives were ended for the second time, and it's said that the majority of his kills are made with a long metal spike turned into a stabbing weapon.

Personality: Jakers' personality is spontaneous at times, and he currently is going through a phase of mental instability. Usually, his approach is 'gentlemanly', smiley, and kind. He shows kindness by feeding squirrels, and by helping others as he travels. However, personality issues cause him to sometimes make irrational choices, and do things without thinking. He burns down buildings, blows up cars, and guts squirrels 'just for fun' when he's going through a phase of mental instability, doing all of which with a careless, gentle smile on his face. Nobody knows who the true Jakers is. It's almost like he's constantly changing, and constantly acting.

Bio: Starting as an ordinary man, Jakers used to be a musician of a sort before the apocalypse, and was an easy-going kind of guy with a small soul patch. When the apocalypse occurred, Jakers found himself not too phased by the whole thing, although he was pretty terrified of the zombies. Living mostly from the bounties of nature, Jakers began a simple life in the woods by living in a tent, living from wild veggies, fresh rabbits, and purified river water.
As Jakers was travelling on day, he encountered a woman with dark blonde hair, claws at the end of her fingers, and floppy dogs ears. She was absolutely filthy, and in a sorry state. Feeling sorry for the woman, Jakers offered help - which is when he realized she wasn't at all intelligent, only communicating with simple doglike terms. Knowing that she must have been an unwilling mutant to the cruel science factories, Jakers took her in as a companion, nursing her back to full health and even teaching her a little English. The canine mutant, Jodi, showed her appreciation for this one day by running into a collapsed building and getting Jakers a black and purple top hat. Grateful for the gift, Jakers wore the top hat, taking a liking to it even if it didn't go with his generally casual clothing. The two became close companions in the apocalypse, surviving together with general ease.
This all changed one day, however. Jakers had awoken one day, not finding Jodi anywhere around the house they'd been staying in. Instead, he found a crudely written note telling him to go to a certain field to recover his 'mutant filth'. Following the instructions of the note, Jakers nervously followed the trail, bringing his knife along with him just in case.
Distraught, Jakers could do little but watch as a man in a pink suit held his companion, Jodi, captive in a cagelike structure. The pink-suited man read from a bible, and was yelling horrible terms towards the terrified canine mutant, saying that she was 'impure' and 'scum of the Earth', even though the canine mutant nor Jakers had done anything wrong.
It is unknown what happened after that. But nowadays, Jakers stalks the land alone, mentally unstable and wearing a pink suit, setting fires in his path and killing any zombie that dare lunge out at him with incredible skill. Nobody truly knows what happened back with Jodi, but the event must have been horrifying for Jakers to become mentally unstable as a result of it. Nowadays, Jakers walks aimlessly. Nobody knows what his purpose really is.

RedVulnus · « **Reply #1 on:** March 15, 2015, 01:33:53 am »

Spoiler: 'Third Son' (hover to show)

Name: William Masterson, AKA 'Third Son'
Age: 31
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 175 lbs
Appearance: Short cut brown hair, blue eyes, the beginnings of a beard. On his right forearm there's a tattoo reading 'Bandit Brotherhood'. Just below his right shoulder there appear to be self imposed burn scars, and scars on his right hand from an incident when he was 29.
Clothes: Cowboy hat, duster, plain white shirt, bandoleer(with pouches for rifle and shotgun shells, as well as spaces for sticks of dynamite.), Pair of old blue jeans, cowboy boots with spurs.
Background: The third brother born to a family of farmers, William grew up in his brothers shadows. His brothers always won the attention of the parents, while William worked hard on the farm. He was relieved when his two brothers joined the US Marshals and left the farm.
However he was still in the shadow of his brothers, with his parents always saying he should be more like them. At the age of sixteen William was in a saloon when someone popped off at him, calling him a coward.
William had had enough and pulled his pistol, killing the man with a single shot. Of course that started a shoot out, though the only one who had drawn a gun and made it out alive was William. He took off, taking one of the family horses and rushing off as fast as he could.
After only a handful of months William had joined a group of Bandits. They had taken him and made him family, though giving him the nick name 'Third Son'. He took the name as a badge of honor and fairly well demanded everyone who call him that or 'Third'.
It wasn't until he was 25 that he would run into his brothers. Nobody knows what went down, but a few days later a group of US Marshals found a pile of six revolvers, and a few days after that the two older brothers showed up to turn in their badges.
'Third' would then go on to start his own gang, and his two brothers settled back down on the farm. Third's gang would go on to rob trains and banks for the next four years until they settled to lie low for a while, with Third going back to the farm for a while.

Utterly Mad

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Author Topic: Character Creation and Development (Read 489 times)

Jakers

Character Creation and Development

RedVulnus

Re: Character Creation and Development