Thoughts From a RP-er on Character Creation
By: Elektra, Owner of Welcome to Nemesis
Have you ever been frustrated with your otaku characters? Want some tips to make a better one in the future? The following is a little essay I wrote in response to the numerous otaku characters that were being created, my own included. Thought I am not the be-all and end-all of RP-ing (far from it), I do have a lot of experience, and have seen (and made!) a lot of otaku characters in my RP-ing life. I want to share some tips with everyone that could be extremely helpful in creating a made-up character.
Lack of Background:
Characters that don't have a history, or background, but just appear in a cloud of smoke with 'wicked cool powers' and a bunch of stats irritate me. It's only natural that people would want to go easy on the background in order to develop their character better, but what is there to develop if there is no background to develop from? Statistics are not background. They are basic facts, and ironically, the more stats you have, the harder it will be to keep your creation in character!
Another thing to remember is the timeline that the RPG is in. An evil senshi under Galaxia's rule wouldn't fit in at all with an RPG involving the First Season of Sailormoon. Connect your characters to the existing timeline and give them a goal/purpose/reason as to why they are there, or reveal it later as the story moves.
Carbon Copying, Gods, and Mary Sues:
This one has annoyed me to no end. When reading profiles, the first thing I look for is comparisons between the created character and any other character. If there are numerous comments about their character looking like, or acting like one of the already established senshi or other characters, I immediately delete it. There are too many wannabes and Sailor Suns as it is. Bleah. Show some originality. The same goes for the infamous 'long-lost sister of Selenity' and all those 'Mary Sue' characters. Self-insertion is lame, especially when you expect to be the most sought-after goddess/god in the RPG. Give your characters a few faults as well as gifts. Nobody likes perfect characters, they're boring, and aren't fun to play at all.
Lack of Research:
Another common fault. About a year ago, I watched about two episodes of DiC Sailor Moon and immediately fell in love with the show. Being the RP otaku that I am, I decided I wanted to join a Sailormoon RPG. Seeing that all of the characters I knew were taken, I sent in an application for an otaku senshi from Russia named Simone! Pretty neat sounding, ne? Well, I thought so too, but guess what? I never even got a rejection notice! It wasn't until awhile later that I figured out why I was ignored. I ran across my created profile for Simone, and I realized that I was totally ignorant in her description. I had described her as 'The leader of the Moscow Senshi, Satellites of the Tokyo Senshi.' Not to mention, she sounded an awful lot like Sailoruranus. (She was Sailortitania) Moral of the story, research and soak up all you can about the anime, as well as the manga of Sailormoon. The more you know, the better you can understand what's going on.
Lack of Development:
My biggest peeve. Otaku characters that remain the same throughout the course of the RPG are the worst. Come on! This is supposed to be the biggest (and sometimes the only) advantage otaku characters have over created characters, yet it is rarely used! It makes me want to cry when I see such a promising character stay the same throughout the story line! The ability to develop your character as the story goes is a talent, and is very rare. I myself have trouble doing this, and I long for the day when someone has such a dynamic character.
All in all, I hope that you won't take offense at my advice, because I have committed these mistakes too. (shudders at the thought of Simone and her Moscow Senshi) I just hope I can continue to learn from them, and that people won't start off on a bad foot like I did.
Love you all, and happy RP-ing!
Elektra
Pocket_Demon's Comments: No comment. I just thought it was a good article to request to post.