OOCness: What inspires your characters?

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

I was just watching a little video of a song done in Hans Christian Anderson's Thumbelina(click here to see it) and thinking about how this movie probably has some part in the making of all my characters, and 75% of the time from this song.

So..I was wondering. Where did the inspiration for some of your characters come from?

 

[Kuzzle]

First off, if that's you're inspiration, I now find myself dreading what'll happen when you eventually overthrow the Triumvirate. *shudder*

Secondly, I'm going to say that my a good deal of my inspirations come from within. There are, of course, things that echo my own personality, or occasionally offer me insight into how one might respond to a situation in a manner rather different than what I would normally do, however. While many of my characters tend to focus on a particular facet of my personality, I occasionally find that I would not know how to respond without accessing other, rather different facets of said personality. As these are often incompatible with the character I'm playing, I find it easiest(and most believable) when I take some small bits of inspiration from the characters in movies, TV shows, or books. ("Well, I can't respond like I normally would, so... Well, this person is kind of similar, outlook-wise; What would they do? Well, that won't quite work, but if I mesh the two, it should be fine.")

That probably didn't make any sense. *shrug*

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

It made perfect sense!

And regarding my song clip, I definitely enjoy the Mrs. Fieldmouse character so mine tend to go in her direction. She's such a greedy little thing..She's good for saving Thumbelina, but then she turns around and sells Thumbelina out because she thinks it's for the best and is being bribed with gold..

I also do get a lot of inspiration from book and game characters, so I understand perfectly where you're coming from, Kuzzle.

 

[Azdel]

I've always striven to create characters that people can relate to.

For example: Keldor, the villain of my story Chronicles of the Defender, is definitely a guy to oppose, but he's not dark or brooding, he's not a mad genius, he's not a zealous philosopher, he's not a psychopath and really, he's not even evil. He's damn near omnipotent, but other than that, he's actually very much an average person. He acts very casual, and even likes to joke around. The way I usually like to describe him is, "He would just be one of the guys if he hadn't killed them all." The only thing that drives him to do all the horrible things he does is his feeling that he has something to prove.

I really believe that characters you can see yourself in are the best (especially when they're villains. )

 

[Ainilome]

My inspirations are usually from video games or anime, and since I play with Tyrswind usually come in pairs. I'm inspired by not only characters, but relationships between characters. It adds an interseting facet to, throwing in how our two characters will mesh (or not mesh) along with creation.

Our future HJ characters (Valenth and ... Whatshername. Damnit I need to come up with something for her) are both loosely based off of two characters from Tales of the Abyss. Tsuim is based both in looks and personality on Aisha Clan-Clan from Outlaw star.

Once I have a loose idea to start with the characters almost always change as I actually play them. My current character, Athare was suppose to be rather snooty. As I played her she retained certain aspect but lost the snootiness gaining instead a strong sense of fun, mischef and a knack for pushing peoples buttons. The most fun I think, is seeing them grow from your ideal into what they wish to be

 

[WatchMaker]

I only make a character I myself would want to live as. While they generally have a rough background, they have a cool skill or future to make up for it. IE..

El Manana - Fire/Kinetics Controller - City of Heroes

When your parents die, you lose your past. A part many would call your security in life.

When your spouse dies, you lose your present. A part many would call your existance in life.

When your kids die, you lose your future. A part many would call your hope in life.

It is this reality Ted Wans has come to grips with. His parents both died in the Rikti War when he was young, and his wife, a fellow hero, was murdered by Arachnos. All that remains for him is his children and their future. That is why El Manana fights. That is why Ted Wans hopes for The Tomorrow.


While yea, his parents and wife died, he has two kids, super powers, and lots of money. :^O

 

[Chrisidon]

What I do is I clear my mind, going into a relaxing trance-like state. Then I find one of those random thoughts you can only hear when all the others are silenced and chase it down until I find a character buried somewhere in my head. I jot down everything I can about that character, and then question it (rack and thumbscrews optional) until I'm satisfied with the answers I've received. After that, I adapt to the game or world the character is being put into, and I'm all done.

Total process takes 1-(infinity) hours.

 

[Evenvarg]

Vikings, Music, Movies and my brother who strools around playing his guitarr (did I spell it right??)..

 

[Cronith]

RPGs and sci-fi/fantasy books. I own a huge rpg collection that span nearly every console from the nes all the way to the newest systems (minus ps3, xbox 360, and wii).