Character Archetypes!

[Spekkun]

After taking a look-see through my ridiculous archive of characters on Google Docs, I realized that the majority of my characters (roughly 45-50%) have something in common: they're lighthearted goofballs at heart.

I usually find myself making characters that are rather silly and upbeat, the kind that you can love and poke fun at the same time! I strive to make my characters interesting and fun, but I usually don't go for the dark or edgy archetypes, nor the sad ones!

My question to the public is: Do you have an archetype or theme you tend to lean towards when making characters? Do you find yourself playing the silly kind more often? Or darker ones? Do you tend to take happier characters and break them down until they're completely different from what they once were? Or do you take the more depressing ones and give them a reason to smile? :D

 

[Joan]

Hmm...My characters are typically fairly smart and not the most social creatures at heart. They tend to be one of two archetypes--quiet and hanging near the walls and not really getting invested socially, or highly involved but socially manipulative. They also tend to be either fairly invested in helping others and doing the right thing or out for their own interests and their own interests alone.

 

[Obsidian Miscreant]

My "go to" character archetypes tend to be psychopaths, borderline ( or certifiable ) murderous beasts, hyper-aggressive, or overall sick/twisted in some way or another. Something not quite right upstairs. Be they openly so, or feigning normalcy depending on the situations they are engaged in. Because of that I tend to stay away from modern, and realistic settings because it would be impossible for such characters to be as true to their initial design as I envision them within my mind's eye upon conception

I want to say the reason why archetypes like that resonate with me more than others is because when I play them I dont have to worry about holding back nearly as much ( in terms of language, mannerisms, quirks, morals, etc ).

There is a freedom I gravitate towards by extension,
and that I find extremely fun when writing.

Although since joining I've stepped out of my comfort zone, and dabbled in more...docile creations.

 

[Vars]

Been slowly working on archiving all my RPs (SO MUCH COPY/PASTING) and during that time I've realized that every single character I've ever made:

- Has some sort of tragic past (although level of "tragic" varies)
- Deals with this through some form of denial
- Operates outside the law (though how far outside definitely varies)
- 99% of the time can be summed up as "antihero"
- Is male
- 99% of the RPs involve one character (usually the other person's OC) taking care of the other character. Usually a "I got hurt and am now stuck with you" situation, but sometimes stuff like partners or apprenticeship


¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Yuuki_Tatsunohi]

Havent found any pattern for my guy characters yet, but I have noticed a lot of my ladies tend to gravitate towards the Kickass Blonde. Even further, majority have the Strong Silent Thing going on. None of them fit in the Dumb Blonde type (well, one can be a bit ditzy, but she's a prodigy in one area so that is up for debate.) and all can deliver a strong kick/punch

So yeah, my ladies lately have been

• Blonde
• And can take down someone without remorse

 

[CrystalTears]

I talked to you earlier that my old characters used to have heterochromia, but I don't do that anymore xD

I guess all of my characters are Asian though xD I really like my Asian FCs =3= <3

 

[RAIN.cloud]

I guess I have two main archetypes.
There's the flirty party animal that tends to be average height or below with a pretty face.
or
The tall scary giant man who everyone thinks is a bad boy but really is just a cinnamon roll in a tall boy's body.

tbh I really love scary looking men who are really just soft boys and soft looking boys who are just manipulative little dbags.....

 

[Spekkun]

My "go to" character archetypes tend to be psychopaths, borderline ( or certifiable ) murderous beasts, hyper-aggressive, or overall sick/twisted in some way or another. Something not quite right upstairs. Be they openly so, or feigning normalcy depending on the situations they are engaged in. Because of that I tend to stay away from modern, and realistic settings because it would be impossible for such characters to be as true to their initial design as I envision them within my mind's eye upon conception

I want to say the reason why archetypes like that resonate with me more than others is because when I play them I dont have to worry about holding back nearly as much ( in terms of language, mannerisms, quirks, morals, etc ).

There is a freedom I gravitate towards by extension,
and that I find extremely fun when writing.

Although since joining I've stepped out of my comfort zone, and dabbled in more...docile creations.

I get whatya mean. There is something liberating about playing those characters, I have a few characters like that. I mean I love them and using them is great but if I bust em' out, it's usually just for that very reason. It can be fun to play a crass, crude, violent, sociopathic or just plain mean character. Kind of like a breath of fresh air!

 

[Shiri]

Anytime I have to think about character occupations I like to lean on merchants. I like having access to money and escape - er, I mean trade routes.

Also love to make me some curious characters. Need someone to stupidly push a button? Need someone to open the door to the monster? I got you covered. It's amazing some of these character live as long as they do.

 

[Kitti]

I try to play a wide variety of character types but one that tends to be a natural choice for me and crops up a bit more than the others is the No-Frills Warrior, usually a stern and sensible figure with some kind of combat training to lean on when things get weird.

 

[Pahn]

most of my characters are shameless hoes. I rarely play the cinnamon roll, bashful type of character, I only have one like this and she won't be making it through the major plot points of the RP. Most if not all my ladies are headstrong and go for what they want. My guys are typically dorks and goofballs, or stern with a soft spot for kindness.

 

[Sinnafain]

I do enjoy playing multiple characters. With that said, I lean towards making each one different than the rest from all walks of life but more sort of with starting out experiencing hardships to grow as a person or having experienced nothing and must overcome obstacles to see where they'll end up or if they will break. I don't like to make everything easy for a character as life is not that way(even in a roleplay) I guess it really depends on what I'm in the mood to put out there.

 

[Dipper]

1. Good fellows with hearts of pure gold. What's the term-- cinnamon roll?
2. Playful loner-types. Friendly, but not particularly moral.
3. Cynical 'don't touch or talk or even look at me' types. Those are always fun.

 

[Cyan]

Most of my characters could be considered "good people", to some degree. If I only counted characters I'd set up for roleplays, even the one "villainous" character I had a sense of morals. Hell, I have a "Chaotic Neutral" D&D character that feels more like a mix of "True Neutral" and "Chaotic Good", to my chagrin.

Including non-roleplaying characters, I seem to have a major thing for pale-skinned characters with dark hair, with 4+ examples outside of roleplays, and 7 out of 17 examples in roleplays (add one more if you want to include an "NPC" that was made solely to try to engage RPers). Also, good-looking and violent ladies, and somewhat effeminate dudes.

 

[Lightning]

If there's a common thread, I'd say that most of them are morally grey, and have varying levels of Machiavellian.

 

[Astoria]

I tend to gravitate towards playing prideful, morally gray, manipulative, and usually upper-class or noble characters, often girls. On the flip side, down-to-earth, chill characters, sometimes mixed in with all those other traits.

Characters that could have been villains had they taken a slightly different path, but are heroes of circumstance or necessity.

I used to be more diverse but I've found my comfort zone in these types of characters, and I need to break back out of it!

 

[Aero Blue]

I'll play just about anything. But for the past few months or so, the common link has been melancholy to outright depressives; even the more loudspoken, pixie dust, quirk-happy type have some degree of melancholia.

 

[Diana]

MARY SUE CONCEPTS DONE RIGHT. 8D Basically all those basic bitch things that people love to throw in to characters to the point of being pure nonsense, but done in ways that actually make sense and are appropriate.

My other go-to character is "The girl next door", which is basically a very normal, very average person thrown in to extraordinary circumstances and then has to rise to the occasion.