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[WIP] Characters: An Art (The Many Types of Characters and How to Roleplay Them)

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Twee:
? Contents ?


? An Introduction ?
? Types of Characters ?
? What's In A Name? The Basics ?
? So How Do I Look? Designing A Character ?
? Looks Can Be Deceiving - Personalities ?
? So What's Your Story? Backstories ?
? What Now? Roleplaying Your Character ?
? The Do's and Don't's  ?

Twee:
? An Introduction ?


Characters are obviously an essential area of roleplaying, and we as a community really love to create our characters. But personally, I believe it's an art.

Creating memorable and unforgettable characters can be a challenge, especially when you're just starting out. It isn't something that can be done within minutes - character creation should be something you put your heart and soul into. This entire topic will be centred around the more intricate side to character creation, and will include various tips that hopefully everyone will be able to learn something new from. I am by absolutely no means an expert on the topic, however, and if you see something you don't necessarily agree with (or better yet, something I didn't touch upon that you'd like to see put in), by all means, comment and let me know! Feedback is something I would very much love in order to better this topic. I will also provide links to other topics and various websites that I believe might be of use to anybody.

Throughout this guide, I will use a variety of my own characters to demonstrate the topics at hand. While it is by no means a complete walkthrough, I hope anybody reading will find it useful!


Attsos

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? What's In A Name? The Basics ?
Having all the basic information of a character thought out is essential for roleplaying as them. You can't not know the fundamental information of your characters, because it can define their characteristics in ways you might not realise.

The power of a name and its value has long been immortalized in prose, poetry, and religious ceremony. Everyone recognizes themselves by name. Your characters are no different.

Names are what define people. When I give my characters names, I generally don't do so until I am almost done with their actual creation - that's how important they are to me.

A lot of authors often keep small notebooks with them at all times, so whenever they hear a name they think is interesting, or see a name they'd love to put in a book they write, they'll write it down. This is a really great way to have a bank of names, rather than creating sub-par characters with a name you like quickly in order to remember it. Don't be rash in these situations - you can save your names and use them later.

If you prefer to have a name before creating a character, that's perfectly fine too! Everyone has different steps to creating characters. Just because I name my characters last, doesn't mean everyone will, or should.

Next, look at the defining attributes of your character - and I don't mean background or personality just yet. Age, gender, species (down to their breed - don't just use 'wolf', define if they are a maned wolf, grey wolf etc.), occupation, health, sexuality, family (whether other real characters or your own/made up), mentality, even scent... These are all points of interest for other characters. It's how we as a people communicate who we are - there are rarely people that we meet who have these details mirrored with your own. It's important to know everything about your character. Why?

Well, how will you describe your character in roleplay without knowing these? Consider which of these short descriptions, used in roleplay, sounds better.

1. Kerani stopped, feeling the cold wind battering her backwards from the destination in her mind.5

2. Stopping, the female Faerie blinked, cold wind battering against her frosty fur and the frozen icicles on her tail tinkling as the blizzard pushed her back from her destination.

Which sounded better to use? Both are clearly alright, but the descriptions of my character in the second is more favourable because it includes some of those basic details about Kerani. Rather than just using a name, you can give much more depth to your characters in roleplay by including more information.

They're important for other reasons too, however. Conversation between strangers always includes exchanging this information, and it's likely that your character's going to meet a lot other characters in your time of using them. Get to know their information off by heart if you can. It makes dropping the information a lot easier during roleplay, both in conversations and descriptions.

I've seen various other guides touch on this before, and I've decided to input my own version of them too. I see people everywhere using M and F in their names, and personally I don't actually think this is a bad thing to do at all - but either way, I've included some information that you can use in biographies as well as roleplay. Using the correct terms for your characters is imperative, or the very least, you should know them. I've included all relevant species of animals, but if you have a particular desire to see one that I haven't listed, feel free to request it.

Cat
Male: Tom / Gib (neutered)
Female: Queen / Molly / -Removed by moderator-
Baby: Kitten / Kit
Group: Clowder / Cluster / Clutter / Glaring / Kindle (kittens) / Litter (kittens)

Cheetah
Male: Coalition
Female: N/A
Baby: Cub
Group: N/A

Coyote
Male: Dog
Female: -Removed by moderator-
Baby: Cub / Pup / Whelp
Group: Pack / Train / Band

Deer
Male: Buck / Stag / Bull / Hart (red deer)
Female: Doe / Hind / Cow
Baby: Calf / Fawn
Group: Bunch / Herd / Brace (bucks only) / Bevy (roe deer only)

Dog
Male: Dog / Stud (breeding) / Sire (father)
Female: -Removed by moderator- / Dam (mother)
Baby: Pup / Puppy / Whelp
Group: Pack (wild) / Kennel / Mute / Litter (young) / Cry (hounds)

Fox
Male: Tod / Dog / Reynard
Female: Vixen
Baby: Cub / Kit / Pup
Group: Skulk / Leash

Horse
Male: Stallion / Stud
Female: Mare / Dam
Baby: Foal / Colt (male) / Filly (female)
Group: Stable / Herd (wild) / Band (wild) / Rag (colts) / String (ponies)

Hyena
Male: Dog
Female: -Removed by moderator-
Baby: Cub / Pup / Whelp
Group: Clan / Cackle

Jaguar
Male: N/A
Female: N/A
Baby: Cub
Group: Prowl / Leap

Leopard
Male: Leopard
Female: Leopardess
Baby: Cub
Group: Leap

Lion
Male: Lion
Female: Lioness
Baby: Cub
Group: Pride / Sawt

Tiger
Male: Tiger
Female: Tigress
Baby: Cub / Whelp
Group: Ambush / Streak

Wolf
Male: Dog
Female: -Removed by moderator- / She-Wolf (NOT 'Wolfess')
Baby: Cub / Pup / Whelp
Group: Pack

These may or may not be useful to you, but either way, they're there. If you don't see one here that you'd like to see, just ask and I'll get it up there. I chose the most common ones that people may be using, but I may have missed a few. If it says 'N/A', it means there is no designated word used.

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