Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hey thar, I'm Tspuun. I see a lot of characters around the interwebs lately that range from "annoying" to "make me want to throw my monitor at the opposite wall." For that reason, and large amounts of boredom, I have decided to write a guide on how to improve your characters.



~ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF CLICHES~

Cliches in and of themselves are not a bad thing. However, cliches combined with bad writing get really old really fast. I believe that you can get away with writing as many cliches as you want, as long as you can write it well enough. However, most of you aren't the second coming of Tolkien. However, when people begin to avoid every single cliche like the plague, the character starts to become more and more unbelievable.

Cliches are not good, but cliches are not bad, either. They're just tools.

A short list of cliches that seem altogether too common in bad writing:

Dead/abusive/estranged parents -- The more common this becomes, the more annoying it is. I understand not wanting to throw in two extra characters for every character you have, but really, does no one have a normal relationship with their parents? Hell, Sonic even has parents in the Archie comics. However, not writing in parents is more excusable if said character is old enough to leave home and go out on their own, although a casual mention of them every now and then doesn't hurt.

Being the Chosen One -- Another one that gets annoying. There can't be fifty chosen ones. Take off extra points if the character is a poor farm boy and becomes royalty by the just because he's the chosen one.

SUPAR AWESOME BADASS CHARACTER -- You know this character. The kind that acts ALOOF and COOL all the time, maybe even like a TOTAL JERKASS. But he really has a HEART OF GOLD and is a FRIEND TO ALL LIVING THINGS. Oh, and he can punch a building in half with his SUPAR AWESOME BADASS POWERS. Which, of course, don't have any weaknesses except maybe for this one obscure thing that no one in their right mind would think to apply and isn't in their profile.

HEDGEHOGS! -- There's too many hedgehogs in Sonic cannon. Don't add to this problem. Please don't try to go around this by making your SUPAR AWESOME BADASS hedgehog a wolf by splicing on Tails' tail. There's too many of those types around, too.

The Use of Torture and/or Experimentation in a Character's Backstory - Torture has some serious psychological effect, yo. I have yet to see a character deal with those except by becoming a SUPER AWESOME BADASS.

The Superpowered Evil Side -- The character may wangst about using it, but in the end, it hardly ever has negative repercussions past "Oh God What Have I Done?!"

The BFS -- A ten-foot sword is not an ideal choice of weapon. While it does have range going for it, it'd just be too hard to swing. You'd probably spend the entire battle flailing it around.

Amnesia -- Generally fills me with rage because more often than not, it's used as an excuse not to write a background and then later pull out something like "OH YEA HAY SO LIEK MAI DUDE IS LIEK A KING FRUM SOME OTHER COUNTY AND LIEK TEH CHOSEN ON AND STUF." In addition, most people seem to have no idea how amnesia works. You may want to do a bit of research on it if your character is an amnesiac.


~SUPERPOWERS~

Superpowers aren't just common in the Sonic fandom, they're expected. However, there are a couple of important things to keep in mind.

Make sure your powers make sense -- Make sure your powers follow a theme of some sort. If you have a collection of random powers that don't go together at all, it's annoying unless you've got a good justification for it.

This is Sonic, not DBZ --Save the flashy, world-destroying powers for for Saiyans, folks.

No more pyromancers, for the love of God -- Elemental control in and of itself is very cliched. Fire is the most abused of the bunch.

Your powers do not have to match your appearance/personality -- All pyromancers are not born with spiky read hair with blonde highlights. They do not all have "spitfire" personalities. Your character's fur should not match the color of their element 100% of the time, and their personality should not match that of their element. An exception to this is if the character consciously chose their powers, i.e., the the girl with the spitfire personality chose fire powers because she like them.

Weaknesses -- Make sure your weakness makes sense. Also, weaknesses don't just come in the form of someone pouring water on your fire guy. Your character's inexperience with their powers can prove just as much of an obstacle, maybe the telekinetic has ADD and can't focus on anything for very long, or their pacifistic nature prevents them from using that laser beam of death. There are internal conflicts that can prevent your character's powers from being used just as much as outside forces, and generally make for a more interesting character.


~Personality~

Arguably the most important part of a character, the first rule is to make sure that you character has a personality. SUPAR AWESOME BADASS is not a personality.

Second, if your character's personality is a short list of adjectives, you're doing it wrong. If you're having trouble with this, describe how your character acts in a few different situations. Are there any situations that cause him to act out of the ordinary? Does he have a soft spot for something? Does she have a berserk button that instantly makes her fly into an unstoppable rage? Do they have a favorite food or drink? These little things add a lot more to a character than a couple of random adjectives.

Third, make sure that the personality fits the background, and the appearance to a degree. The SUPAR HAPPEE HYPERACTIVE GIRL isn't going to go around dressing like a depressed emo kid. DARK MYSTERIOUS EMO CHICK isn't going to dress is bright, happy colors. Basically, make sure the personality fits the character, because the personality IS the character.

Don't be afraid to start with an archetype and work from there. Yes, it's an OMG CLICHE, but remember that cliches are not bad, they're just tools. Start with the familiar archetype and start to develop them and make them different.


~HISTORY, BIO, BACKSTORY, WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT~

If your backstory is a couple sentences describing how your character can't remember anything about their past, you're doing it wrong. Even if your character doesn't know their history, you, as the writer, do, and it's probably pretty important.

MY PARENTS ARE DEEEEEAAAAAAAD. Argh. No. Stop it. Please. Take off extra points if they were killed by the canon big bad. Take off even more points if avenging them is the character's sole purpose in life. Take off yet more points if the character doesn't care because they're so SUPAR AWESOME AND BADASS.

Make sure you include everything relevant. "Oh yeah gaise, i forgut too incudd all off hes epik adventurs and he's liek a hero and stuffs"

Avoid a list of stuff that's happened to the character. Add a bit about how all the big events of their life have affected them. Your backstory is there to help give your character more character development, not just give your fellow RPers some background on the character. How your character responded to and was affected by these huge events is a very important part of shaping your character. A character who is still haunted by guilt and grief over an accident is going to be a lot different that a character who has accepted that it was an accident and moved on.

Don't make your character go out of character in their backstory. Yes, people change over time, but not in huge, drastic ways out of nowhere. "so liek my gai wus liek cool and chill and happe but then liek he turned rly badass and went to defeet the enemys and do whut has to be dun."

If your backstory sounds exactly like the backstory of a cannon character, you're doing it wrong. If you want to play a cannon, play the cannon instead of making a clone of them.

Don't rape existing continuity so that your character fits into it. Shadow and the Biolizard were the only two lifeforms on the Ark. None of Knuckles' clan survives to this day, barring Knuckles himself. Referencing existing plot points is cool (character's home was destroyed when Perfect Chaos wrecked the city, for example), but don't change cannon so that your character can be LIEK TOTTLY KEWL.

TL;DR. If your character's backstory is exceedingly long and detailed, I highly recommend creating a second, abridged version of your character's history. I don't want to read a novel about your character, I don't want to read every RP you've ever been in. I just want all the relevant information about your character's history, that's all. Keep a long version for reference, and a short version for RP profiles and people who don't have the attention span to read five pages about your character.


~Miscellaneous~

Naming your characters after their powers. No. Don't do it. There's a billion pyromancers named blaze running around, we don't need more. Furthermore, why would your character be named after their powers if they didn't show them at birth? Even if the parents knew they would have fire powers before they were born, the likelihood of them naming their kid after fire is till pretty slim. If "Flare" is a nickname/codename and not a given name, then I suppose that's understandable, although I still advise against it.

Now, if you can do something clever and subtle with the name, that's good. For example, I have a character named Diantha. She's basically the embodiment of spring. She's also named after a kind of flower. CLEVER, RITE? But instead of naming her something stupid like "flower" or "spring," I picked a type of flower that is also used as a name.

You don't have to pick the most utterly normal and boring name you can find. I once belonged to a site that had a Jake and a Jack living in the same house. Things got confusing pretty quickly. Just pick a name that makes sense.

Stat Sheets. Don't really add anything to a character unless they're in an actual RPG. Hate hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE HATE HATE HATE HAAAAAAATE

The shift key is your friend. Capitalize the first letter of a sentence and and proper nouns, or people probably won't take you seriously.



More to come later.



NOTE: This is part-guide, part-rant. If you have something you'd like me to rant on or advise you on, feel free to ask. When I finish with everything I was planning to, I will probably open up profile critiques/rants or something along those lines.

Now open for profile critiques. Just paste a profile here if you would like a critique.

I believe that BFS stands for Big ******** Sword =D

I actually had one of those once. Then I saw Rave Master. That's when the BFS went away.

Hah. I had to stop myself from justifying myself doing some of this in there. My philosophy is that you can get away with anything as long as it's written well enough, though, so you're probably safe.



Actually, I really don't have much of a problem with hybrids, as long as they're reasonable. With all the inter-species romance, you'd think that there would be more hybrids. Also, they're anthropomorphic characters, not regular animals, and that makes the...er...mechanics of making a hybrid a lot less squick-y. Although, when characters' lineage doesn't make any sense, (no, you can't be 1/3 something) that's another problem entirely.



I myself am guilty of naming a non-Japanese character a Japanese name (hell, Tsurugi's not even a name, it's a noun...). But a lot of the sonic fandom that I've seen lives in America, where there's sort of an osmosis of other cultures. Japanese names just tend to piss people off more because there's a lot of them and they're generally obnoxious OMG KAWAII DESU types.



There's a difference between the SUPAR AWESOME BADASS and a regular badass. The SUPAR AWESOME BADASS is designed with the sole purpose of being as awesome as possible, basically by throwing everything that makes other characters badass at it until you have that horrible abomination. The heart of gold is always there so that the bad writer can get away with them still being a good guy despite blowing up planets. The regular badass is badass because of character development and a healthy dose of Rule of Cool.



BFS = Big ******** Sword.



I was using fire as an example. I've found a lot more poorly-written fire guys than poorly-written ice guys, at least in the Sonic fandom.



WHERE AM I? WHO ARE YOU? WHO AM I?
I think I've seen the type of amnesia that prevents you from making new memories exactly once, and that was in the movie Fifty First Dates. Basically, the female lead couldn't retain her memories from after a traumatic accident when she went to sleep, so she'd wake up the next day thinking it was the day of the accident.




Thankees~

WOOW i am glad this is here XD. Im enjoying and luaghing becasue i see this at sonic rps..(thats why i quit sonic for good but I came back XD)

I've seen that profile skeleton around. I personally think it has too much fluff and unnecessary things in it. Loads and loads of statistics in place of characterization bothers me. Some of it's interesting trivia, but top speed, IQ (especially since no one seems to have a grasp of what IQ means or reasonable IQ scores), and that horrible, annoying "RPG stat sheet" really only seem to be there to pad it out.

Stat Sheets. Don't really add anything to a character unless they're in an actual RPG. Hate hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE HATE HATE HATE HAAAAAAATE

Name: Namesiw
Species: Ambystoma tigrinum, the Tiger Salamander
Occupation: Leader of the TEAM PSYCHOTIX, a team of, for lack of a better word, misfits under the operation of G.U.N. Goofy as they may seem, they are actually very good at their job.
Personality: Despite his depressed appearance, he's actually a fun-loving guy who likes to make jokes. He's also a very big eater.
Family: His family isn't referenced to much, but whenever they are, his dad can be seen as being just like him.
Friends: The other members of the TEAM PSYCHOTIX, Zachary Loomis, Andy Aarden, and Roy Blackwolf. He's also somehow made friends with Shadow The Hedgehog, who seems to warm up around him.
Enemies: Namesiw has a lifelong, random hatred of feminists, making him hate Eggman even more.
Powers: Being a salamander, he has the natural ability to regenerate limbs, and is also fire resistant and can cling to walls. He is the only member of the TEAM PSYCHOTIX that can go Super, but I'm not sure how he does it, because I don't think he'll use Chaos Emeralds, nor do I know what he'll look like. (I'm open to suggestions)
Specialty: Mathematics. He loves math and is often seen trying to solve complex problems for no reason. He also recites the Quadratic Formula (seen below) in his sleep, sometimes.

He also occasionally invents stuff, like his "Sala-Pack" (stupid name, I know), which...it's a jet-pack thing that acts similarly to Metal Sonic's torso, if that makes sense.
Possessions: He carries with him a "mysterious stone" which grants him all kind of unique Chaos abilities. (again, suggestions are appreciated)

If you need more information, please ask.

Woo! First taker~

Species is original, to say the least. I don't think I've seen a salamander character before. His actual looks are pretty cool, although you're a bit limited by the character generator you used.

I have no idea how to pronounce his name. Generally, that's a bad sign.

I don't have much to say about his personality, mostly because you don't have a whole lot down. I like that he isn't a angstbucket like his monochrome appearance would suggest, but you really need to add some more depth.

I like the mention of him actually having a family. Perhaps you could expand on his relationship with his father a bit.

Working for G.U.N. is a pretty good idea, I think. It integrates your character into existing canon without breaking it. I think you should expand his backstory some more, though. Explain how he came to work for G.U.N., his life before that, how he met his teammates, etc.

On to powers. Wall-clinging is geckoes, not salamanders, although you could still keep it if you really wanted to. I like the fire-resistance bit, a nice nod to mythology. How far does his regenetration ability go, though? How long does it take him to regenerate a lost limb? Does he regenerate an arm right away, or does it take weeks? I can't really comment on the "competitive balance" of the ability because its so vague...

Not everyone needs a super form, but I can put in a few suggestions if you want. Perhaps you could play off of his existing abilities, which are mostly defensive in nature. Perhaps his super form could give him some kind of big defensive boost, or a defense that can also be used offensively, i.e., a shield of fire that he can use to cause damage.

The math bit is an interesting quirk. I think little quirks like that are what add the most to a character. Also, ew, quadratic formula. I'm in AP Calculus, and even I like to stay the hell away from that.

Jetpack is interesting. Is he an engineer, or does he just like to tinker with things? Details, details....

Is the mysterious stone a replica of a Chaos Emerald like the one from SA1? Where did he get it? If it's not a Chaos Emerald replica, then what is it and why can he use Chaos powers with it?


It's a good start, no huge problems. The main thing is, it needs more detail. You need to add more on the how and why. He needs backstory, too. I want to know how he got where he is, and why he is who he is today. I want to know more about his relationships with his friends and family.

In short, MOAR!

NEXT!

Harmony, a good, name. I like that she has a full name, as well. Not many people seem to give their characters last names. (Myself included...*cough*...)

Wolf-bird? A bit of an odd combination. The only bird traits she really seems to display are the wings, though. She has hollow, fragile bones, but that doesn't really show in her appearance. A bird and a wolf are a bit difficult to integrate more than that, but a few more bird-like features might make the character more of a wolf-bird than a wolf with wings.

For her future sight, is the future she sees definite, or can it be changed? This is more of a "is the future written in stone?" question, but I was just sort of curious. It's certainly an interesting power, although the fact that she has no control over it makes her seem even more frail.

The evil mother and absent father are a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Although, the the fact that Harmony is the result of a teen pregnancy makes up for it. I rather like characters with normal problems, not just "evil person trying to destroy the world" problems. I also like the fact that her father came back to make things right, even if it did result in his death. The problem with your bio is that it doesn't seem to have much about Harmony herself. What has she been doing since her father died protecting her? Her history seems to cut off when Harmony's about four years old, by my calculations.

I hate doormat characters. D< But that's mostly a preference of mine. I do like that she's not just the generic "kind to everyone" character, she's so kind that she doesn't really take care of herself. It seems to add more to the image of frailty she projects.

Stupidweaklingdoomat,I'lllsnapyouinha --

*cough*

Sorry, where was I?

Her likes give her a bit of depth. Rollerblading, especially gives her a bit of a hobby outside of "OMG MAJOR PROBLEM OF SOME SORT DRIVING THE STORY." As for her dislikes, most people dislike pain and hurting their friends. Unless you're a masochist or a complete jerk.

Golden heart locket is a bit cliche. But...eh...

I don't really have a lot of problems with her, aside from her doormat-like tendancies. I'd like to know a little more about what she's done since her father died. There seems to be about ten years missing there, unless I misread something...

Doing profiles one at a time. I'll get to the rest of yours next, unless someone else wants critique.