When making OCs and their backstory just....

[kisa]

Do you ever make a character and then think about their backstory and expand upon it and then you dig up something that just makes you go.... 8A8
"What kind of sick person am I?"
"This guy's an ass. But, he doesn't deserve this."
"But, I can't change this because it's too awesome."

Just something that happens on a regular basis to me... I'm a rather sadistic creator...
Was wondering if anyone else did this?

[Lesleigh63]

You need to give your characters something to grapple with to make the drama. Otherwise why would anyone want to read it if all the characters do is contend with normal every day stuff [kinda boring].

[Hijiri]

I enjoy making my characters miserable...and that's what makes the hard-earned happy endings much more valueable. And I make the misery escalate like so:
"I can break his legs here if I wanted to....should I?"
"Hmmm...Yeah, let's break his legs. And light him on fire, too."

[ArachneJericho]

1. Get your character up a tree.
2. Throw rocks at the tree.
3. Fire flaming arrows at the tree.
4. Aim meteorites at the tree.
5. Get your character out of the tree.
6. Sequel.

[Taleweaver]

Topics revolving around writing are best suited to the Asset Creation: Writing forum.

Moving.

[kisa]

Topics revolving around writing are best suited to the Asset Creation: Writing forum.

Moving.

Yes, well... I wasn't solely referring to game characters though... Which is why I put it in general.
(I do read the descriptions of what goes where, honestly I do.)

[Shinoki]

:v I get ya.
Me when making chara: ah, depressing junk, horrible junk, more depressing junk....but it's interesting.
Me when actually looking at the characters: ....wow, they're all useless depressing or dark. That doesn't work to make a story....

[kisa]

:v I get ya.
Me when making chara: ah, depressing junk, horrible junk, more depressing junk....but it's interesting.
Me when actually looking at the characters: ....wow, they're all useless depressing or dark. That doesn't work to make a story....

XD
But, weirdly... I have a bunch of annoyingly happy characters...
They've managed to make themselves at the very least LOOK happy... But, if you dig into their pasts they're all just.... wow.
Don't get me wrong... I have a crapton of emo kids... But, there's also the creepers, the 'rapey' ones and the ones who just don't give a shiz.

[NekoNutchi]

Yes, so much yes. This feels like one of my biggest hurdles at the moment that is keeping me from writing anything decent, not to mention original and interesting when it comes to characters. It's just so hard to "step out of ones own mind" and into the thoughts of that character, even if i have a clear idea of who they are (their motivations, interests, personality and role in the story). I guess it comes with practice though, and being able to recognize the influences you unintentionally put on your character when editing...

[Le Hewitt]

I am quite convinced that I am a more cruel writing-god than even the likes of George RR Martin. My poor characters get sent through hell and back, and quite a few of them don't even make it... I must even admit the fact that I can manage to take a slice-of-life story that I was writing and end up killing off five characters sounds pretty ridiculous (it makes sense in context because it was a plot-outline of a larger piece). *shrugs* Anyways, I'm a fairly dark person, I believe that we all dwell in dark places sometimes and the best way to show someone how things can become better is if you show them through that darkness. There are lessons to be learned in persevering through hardship, and I think that every person has their share of bad past and present that should be explored when crafting them into the story. However, it should never be placed just to make the story darker because you want to hurt them or the audience more. If it serves the message and the story you're trying to tell? Great. If not? You probably don't need it, sometimes a normal chap is a pretty interesting person anyway, as they have not been through the gutter that maybe one of the characters has. That said, I usually write about characters with darker pasts than most because most of my stories deal with the evolution of a person coming to terms with who they are, as so many real-life people struggle with each and every day. If just one person plays my game and gets a message of finding their place in this world, then I have succeeded.

[Greeny]

You need to be careful not to go too far with this. Yes, your story needs drama but it does not all need to be in the grimdark past, nor does everyone need a tragic past to brood about. Also keep in mind that when you put something like that in the past, that character likely has had many years to work through it, and shouldn't spend much of the present angsting about it anymore.

[curry nochi rice]

Looking back... in detail:

>OC1 is scarred by war and doesn't have his shit together, but all together he's a good guy.
>OC2 is the sister of OC1 but doesn't share her brother's angst.
>OC3 is an adopted daughter of a human family, doesn't remember a thing about her parents.
>OC4 is smart, but rather sickly (oh a lot of these characters are present in my oc wonderland lol.)
>OC5 is a happy go lucky girl who's about to get NTR'ed by her best friend.

..
otherwise my OC's just lead normal lives, with normal backstories, with normal futures... that being said makes them kinda boring. I get decent ideas once in a while but they're particularly hard to write down.

[Chocopyro]

You need to give your characters something to grapple with to make the drama. Otherwise why would anyone want to read it if all the characters do is contend with normal every day stuff [kinda boring].

Unless of course your character is homeless and still trying to balance a school/social life, homework, and romantic relationships with basic urban survival. Then the mundane parts of their day are kinda fun.

But yeah, back on topic. Yes, I look over old material all the time, only to realize that its a lot darker than what I was aiming for. I hate writing things just for the sake of writing something dark, but at the same time, dark themes kinda give depth to both the world and the characters, especially when properly contrasted by lighter themes. And as Lesleigh was saying, characters need to be challenged in order to grow as characters or even reveal their strength. And if characters are stagnant, then it doesn't really feel like the story is going anywhere. Its just kinda like things are happening around them, but the characters are glued to the ground.

Just... Similar to what Greeny saids, it should exist to create an enjoyable dualistic experience for both the story and the feelings of player.

However, I digress, since I doubt you made this post wanting advice. Let me just say had a villain in one of my gaia RPs that gave people nightmares, and it really wasn't meant to be a dark role-play. This demon possessed a father only to nailed the father's child to a tree (Alive). Another incident had a poor doggy get dragged under a bush, -gory details omitted - and then the players find the remains minutes later after listening to the dogs death throughs to find its remains assorted in a message to them. I was all like "Okay, time for a loooong palette cleanser" after that. Like it was a really cool metaphysical villain, but just like most of my characters, it took a life of its own and that kinda got out of hand. I'll have to recycle it for a story where it actually fits the mood though. XD

[kisa]

But yeah, back on topic. Yes, I look over old material all the time, only to realize that its a lot darker than what I was aiming for. I hate writing things just for the sake of writing something dark, but at the same time, dark themes kinda give depth to both the world and the characters, especially when properly contrasted by lighter themes.

This.
Yeah, that happens to me a lot. XD

However, I digress, since I doubt you made this post wanting advice. Let me just say had a villain in one of my gaia RPs that gave people nightmares, and it really wasn't meant to be a dark role-play. This demon possessed a father only to nailed the father's child to a tree (Alive). Another incident had a poor doggy get dragged under a bush, -gory details omitted - and then the players find the remains minutes later after listening to the dogs death throughs to find its remains assorted in a message to them. I was all like "Okay, time for a loooong palette cleanser" after that. Like it was a really cool metaphysical villain, but just like most of my characters, it took a life of its own and that kinda got out of hand. I'll have to recycle it for a story where it actually fits the mood though. XD

firstly: Yeah, people tend to think random thoughts from me are requests for advice a lot. XD
secondly: Doggy, nuuuuuu! *crais*
thirdly: I like to think the characters in my head do whatever the frick they want... because half the things that come out of them... I look over later and just kind of go "Whut".

[Chocopyro]

@Kisa: Such is the curse of any development forums I've found. The RPGMaker VX forums are really no different. Answering so many advice threads on creation just kinda naturally conditions us to feel the need to want to make most of our posts about giving advice. Sometimes I just have to go "Stop it!" then slap my wrist when I find myself subconsciously falling into that trap.

And me too. Like there are times where I have to limit their erm... freewill, I guess you could call it. But thats just in order to make pivotal points in the story flow. Otherwise, I've learned from a long history of roleplaying that trying to detail every aspect of a character before writing them/acting them out is not always the best way to breath life into them. I know working with archetypes is something most writers tend to shun upon, but starting with an archetype, then layering them as I go along is usually the best way for me to get a feel for them. Like I have this one protagonist who's your stereotypical "Delinquent with a heart of gold" who I found out after writing him for about five minutes was also a know it all, kinda more intelligent than he is perceived as, and has a habit of being condescending. Things I probably wouldn't have figured out if I didn't give him breathing room to develop a personality beyond what I originally pictured him as.

Is that kinda along the lines of how you develop characters too?