"hidden' meanings.

[Zorilla]

So, I am sitting here getting ready to go lay flooring with my father when the thought hit me. "How many people use 'hidden meanings' to their characters? How many o them eel they do it well, how many o them feel this si for the birds!"


So Iwaku do you use any hidden meanings, if not why, if so how?

By hidden meanings I mean color selection to impart a feel to the character, location to impart forshaodwing of their attitude and or future events. So on so forth. Come at me yo! share yoru idea's and such.

 

[Diana]

*Waves arms around like a crazy person!* 8D

I love doing this. I don't always start out doing it from the very beginning, but a lot of the choices I make for a character's clothes, the colors they wear, the kind of house they live in, the stuff they own.... Even the meaning of their name, all have a little connection to who they are as a person, and sometimes even hints at their life/plot/destiny. >:3

Liiiike, I am currently involved in a roleplay with Vay, where my character dies and is reincarnated in to new lives. In each lifetime, her name has reflected the kind of person she is in that life and/or a part of her destiny.

In Shiny's super cool Interview with a character she asked about spirit animals, so I wound up doing research on spirit and totem animals so they one Leslie picked had actual meaning and connection to the kind of person she is and the life she is living. >:3

And theeeeen sometimes, when I don't already have specific things in mind for a character, I work backwards. I pick some random elements and things I want to hint at or foreshadow and then design my character around them.

 

[Zorilla]

I see, yeah that's what i mean, I'm glad someone besides me doesi t! xD xD I go crazy with it though!

 

[Lady Sabine]

Oh man, I don't think I'm capable of roleplaying without putting in all kinds of hidden meanings, metaphors, and symbolism into my characters, plots, settings- roleplaying in general has to have layers for me.
Sometimes it's fairly simple, sometimes less so. For example, I've made two characters for this lovely roleplay still in the works. My first character, Viortu, has pretty simple symbolism. She's a ginger, and her bright hair is meant to go with her bright spirit, and similar things. For Ser Ector, my second character, I went a bit further. His surname is Aquila, like the constellation, which is the eagle that carries Zeus's thunderbolts. Well, eagles fit him due to his somewhat aloof, holier-than-thou mannerisms as well as devotion to the state, which eagles are associated with. With eagles, like many birds of prey, sexual dimorphism means the females are actually bigger and stronger than the males- this plays into his sexism and grudge against his daughter, who against his wishes became a knight. It's also worth noting that he's a bit of a religious zealot and sees himself as performing god's will with this war, which is a reference back to Aquila being the arms-bearer for the king of the Greek gods.
Long story short I tend to weave in all kinds of extras into my character creation process. Can't imagine not doing it. ^^