Feral Heart
Game & Forum Discussion => Game Discussion => Topic started by: IceDarki on June 18, 2011, 02:44:08 pm
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(If there is a thread similar to this or if this thread is in the wrong spot, please move it or lock it. Thank You.)
Well, it's about time someone made a guide on how to NOT make your Rp Character a Cliche.
Feel free to contribute by replying a cliche that I haven't seen down below~
Most of the info I got for this was from the Twisted Fury Pack's Rp Cliche Test. The rest is from personal experience.
For starters....
What is a Cliche?
A cliche is an overused idea; something too common, and it certainly won't make your character stand out.
If someone had a cliche character, that would mean that the creator of that character would meet others who probably look or have the same background of their character, thus making it very unoriginal. Besides, who wants to listen to twenty other characters talk about how they their whole pack was killed off, or how their parents died, etc....?
The List of Known Cliches
Names
-Your name is Flame, Ember, Fire...something along those lines.
-Your name is Moon, Moonlight, anything along those lines.
-Your name is stolen from another character you like. (Examples: Kiba, Toboe, Cloud Strife, Larka, etc....)
-Your name is made of two words. (You can use Warrior Cat names as an example. There are also others who put a space between the words.)
-Your name is in Japanese. (Examples: Yuki, Reina, Takeshi, etc....)
-Your name is another common noun. (Examples: Lily, Emerald, Rose, etc....)
-Your name is Reaper, Shadow, etc.....
-Your name is named after times of the day (Examples: Sunrise, Sunset, Twilight, etc....)
-Your name is Angel, Demon, etc......
-You're named after types of weather, such as Hail, Snow, Storm, Blizzard, etc.....
-You're named after a God/Goddess in mythology. (Examples: Isis, Artemis,Zeus, Apollo, Hades, etc....)
Personality
-The character is quiet and barely talks.
-The character is rebellious and never listens to the words of their elders.
-The character has simply no humor and is serious all the time.
-The character is tough on the outside, but sweet on the inside.
-The character sings songs that affect others physically.
-Your character is a big mouth.
-The character is wise beyond his/her years.
-The character is evil.
-The character gives off an evil laugh at times, or snorts and grunts a lot.
-The character is whiner.
-The character cries over its depressing past (if it has one.), and/or tells it to the first person they meet or a person that is harming them.
-The character can speak a human foreign language, most commonly Japanese and if they do speak in Japanese, they occaisionally throw in the words "baka" or "kawaii."
-The character always has mood swings.
-The character is depressed because he/she doesn't have a mate.
-Your character is pure, and the nicest person on Earth.
-You describe your character as a loner.
Appearance
-Your character's pelt/scale/skin color is all one solid color.
-If it is one solid color, it is black, and they have red eyes to go along with that.
-They have scar marks all over their body.
-If your character is colored white, they have blue eyes, and sometimes feathered/angel wings.
-If the character has a dark-colored pelt, they have bat/dragon wings.
-Your character's eyes change color according to their mood.
-Your character has black fur with white paws.
-Your character wears a necklace or pendant of some kind, and for most cliches it is a priceless family heirloom.
-The character has wings made out of ice or fire.
-Your character has fangs that protrude out of their mouth....and they are blood-stained.
-If your character has wings, you describe them as large wings.
-If the character is a female, you describe her eyes as very beautiful, sometimes so beautiful that everyone freezes when she walks by people. (Seriously guys, you aren't THAT great. >.>)
-If the character is a male, you describe him a VERY masculine and strong.
-Your character is under 4 months of age.
-Your character is at the exact age for breeding.
-If the character is to be used in a street-dog RP, your character is part-wolf or is a Collie, Lab, Retreiver or German Sheperd.
-Your character is blind.
History
-Somewhere in your history, there's a huge fight to the death. In some cases, your character is the fighter.
-Both of your character's parents are dead.
-Your character's whole pack was killed and you were the only survivor. (Usually, the whole pack was exterminated by hunters or a huge wildfire.)
-If your character's whole pack was killed, their pack had a special power that no other pack in their world had.
-Your character was called an outcast, demon, monster, etc........
-Your character was exiled because they looked different and/or had a special magical power.
-Your character was abandoned as a pup in their youth.
-Your character is a reincarnation of some God/Goddess, and they have super-special-awesome powers.
-If the character was born in the wild, they were the next-in-line to be the leader of their pride/pack/herd/clan.
-If the character was abused in the past, they somehow escaped from their owner. (In other cases, the character has somehow killed their abusive owner.)
Species
-Demon
-Angel
-Half-Angel/Demon/Elf, etc......
-Half-Pack/Clan
-Reincarnation
-Winged Wolf
-Vampire Wolf
So, your character is a cliche. What do you do now?
If your character has some or little cliche qualities, it should be an easy fix. If your character is VERY cliche, KILL IT DEAD, and then start over. Here are some solutions to being original and awesome:
-Try out a different color! Blue and Red are too common. Why not Yellow, Purple, Green, Brown, Orange or even Beige?
-Make your own species! Don't stick to some "evil" breed like a Demon or Vampire! Why not a neutral Chimera, or a Griffin, or even a Moon Bunny?
-It's okay to be normal. Just because a character had a normal life, doesn't mean they're not awesome and powerful. Besides, the more believeable a story is, the better!
-Make up a name! A name doesn't have to be in a certain language. Try making random sounds and see if you can come up with a name using those tones. If you must have a name from a language, try using a not-so-well-known language, such as Yiddish, Latin, Estonian or Welsh.
NOTE: This is still a HUGE W.I.P. I gotta go to sleep now, and I'll hopefully update this later.
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Woah... HHmmm.... Atleast non of mine are like that even tho i have seen others that look like that, im not that botherd how other peoples art looks like nor their story lines.
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Here, have some cliches I've seen around.
Personality: Sociopath, insane, crazed murderer, split personalities, sighs a lot, others just "can't understand" them, anti-social
History: Entire pack killed, murdered everyone they know, lover died, heart broken, possessed by a demon, parents died when they were young, betrayed by lover/best friend
Species: Winged wolf, demon, angel, immortal species that is immune to everything, hellhound (?), resurrected something-or-another, reincarnation of someone/thing, god/goddess
Those are just off the top of my head...Can't believe I didn't think to make this list xD
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I see WAY too many people named Angel. Bugs me sometimes :/ And don't forget people, the only color isn't all black with red eyes, or all white with blue eyes!
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Wait... So practically everyone in FH is a cliche! It should now be called Cliche Heart XD I'm joking, but you do see it way too often. Am I the only person who likes my characters to lead a normal life? Normal parents, normal siblings, no bullying and torture. It's almost like there is an evil god in FH that tortures all characters!
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Think of it this way, Kyu. Majority of FH's population = tweens going through their "emo" phase. Thus, they create "tortured souls" (usually based on themselves) and rp with them instead of getting a diary and writing crappy poetry.
I'm pretty sure I've ranted about all the cliches on FH before o_O
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Atleast Zodi here will never go through an emo stage ^^ And yes you have ranted about them. I think you called them "Speshul Snowflakes or something XD
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Omg lol. Idk if this was added but, here's a "sob-story..."
"My family abandoned me when I was a pup/cub."
"My family was murdered when I was 2 weeks old and I had to live on my own."
Or anything along those lines. xD
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A all black character with nothing but scars colored red and there eyes are red. idk why ppl think this makes your character badass because to me if your character has scars it doesnt know how to dodge lol
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Wait... So practically everyone in FH is a cliche! It should now be called Cliche Heart XD I'm joking, but you do see it way too often. Am I the only person who likes my characters to lead a normal life? Normal parents, normal siblings, no bullying and torture. It's almost like there is an evil god in FH that tortures all characters!
I guess if people give there characters dark backgrounds there Seeking pity..or they have no imagination.
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Here, have some cliches I've seen around.
Personality: Sociopath, insane, crazed murderer, split personalities, sighs a lot, others just "can't understand" them, anti-social
I don't think sociopath is used enough to be cliche. XD
Everything else listed is, though. Insane/Split Personas aren't cliche IF THEY'RE DONE CORRECTLY - ie for split personas not just "*switch to mean personality* YOU MADE OTHER ME CRY. D:<"
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Eh, I use the term "sociopath" loosely. What I mean is someone that has no qualms about killing anything and everything.
Yeah, I love insanity and split personalities myself, but in FH it's exactly the way you said xD Usually it involves switching to some kind of "dark side" of themselves, at which point I roll my eyes.
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A all black character with nothing but scars colored red and there eyes are red. idk why ppl think this makes your character badass because to me if your character has scars it doesnt know how to dodge lol
Watch your language.
And to me if your character has scars it means they've been in fight's. That's it. You expect scars if someones been in a fight, saying scars means they don't know how to dodge is just a little... Okay, WAY not right.
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Alright guys, It's sort of complete now. I just need to add in more facts for certain areas.
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I will admit that this thread made me lulz really hard.
Why?
Because it's silly in a way. Tehe <3
But yeah I agree. I've also hated seeing the charries named "Unborn cub" running around. Well if you're unborn, why are you running around FH in charrie mode? Aren't you just going to change your name anyways to xyz cub and continue on anyways?
And the bios that go...
My father was killed when I was two days old, and my mother was killed before I was born! <--Lulz yes I've seen this before.
Or...
I have broken my right leg, I'm a mute, I have had my right eye stabbed out, my tail ripped out, I have whatever mental disorder, and I love me mate.... <-- if you have all this wrong with you. Why are you still alive? And how did you get a mate?
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Oh man, one of my char's pack is presumed dead. I'm not sure iff they are or not. There was a plague, and she fled.
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Oh man, one of my char's pack is presumed dead. I'm not sure iff they are or not. There was a plague, and she fled.
See, I don't think that's too bad. Usually what's seen and regarded as cliche is when the character's entire pack was killed by some ambiguous figure, and they're the only one who escaped. A plague is a bit more believable and less used.
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Oh man, one of my char's pack is presumed dead. I'm not sure iff they are or not. There was a plague, and she fled.
See, I don't think that's too bad. Usually what's seen and regarded as cliche is when the character's entire pack was killed by some ambiguous figure, and they're the only one who escaped. A plague is a bit more believable and less used.
I'd have to agree, no one else would really think of a plague. X3
I'll have to add in a section for curing cliches later.
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Mines not a cliche, Hah, its name is Monoxide, and he is a cheetah, but the den wasn't safe so his mother had to move the whole family yet forgot him in the den. Also, he was 6 months old that time. lol. And now hes I dont know personality. He has no wings, no powers but just plain ol' cheetah markings and a bronze pelt with teal eyes. Though i think its kinda a cliche. hes a natural character... and many people are natural characters like lions. Not so many cheetahs.
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Off topic: Nyan Cat I see your charcater right now XD
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wow pretty loong list of clishes...
now i would like to ask questions, which popped in my head:
what character is not clishe then? what past is not clishe? what personality is not clishe? what appearance is not clishe? what species is not clishe?(lol actually the most clishe is wolf and lion)
these are serious questions actually.
i do see a few things listed that arent really that much clishe.
For example the personalities. there is no clishe personality. You and your char behave how you do, how you want to, according to your mood or the rp youre in.
just a few thoughts...
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You know, I'd love to make a sort of sister topic to this about how to beat cliches/make your character original. Mind if I do that, Kori?
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You know, I'd love to make a sort of sister topic to this about how to beat cliches/make your character original. Mind if I do that, Kori?
That would be awesome, Paradox.
You can use some of the stuff I already listed in the "So, your character's a Cliche" section. ;3
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I'm kinda confused about this list o.0 According to this list is seems like your character would have to have some completely random series of letters for a name and be something like a weasel with a crazy color combination to not be cliche XD I don't mean to sound rude if I did. Heh, it just seems like every character I've ever seen in my entire life falls under this list in at least one or two ways.
~And yes, I'm aware that my sona Moonshade is pretty cliche with the name and all :P
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Ugh... I agree with Moonshade. There seems to be only a few ways out of being labled an automatic 'Cliche'. And that seems to be A)Be Neon, yo' B)Be totally normal-ish perfect with no qualms or C)Yea, make up some letters and mush em' together.
Nonono, not trying to bash you, but, I have to stand up for a couple of the more sensible cliche babies... Why? Because it can start some really cool RP for a good amount of time. Some people just get bored with the usual Lion or Wolf RP. People all have different minds, and want to try and spice RP up as best they can. Whether or not people agree with them is up to who is there. Ciaossu~
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Ugh... I agree with Moonshade. There seems to be only a few ways out of being labled an automatic 'Cliche'. And that seems to be A)Be Neon, yo' B)Be totally normal-ish perfect with no qualms or C)Yea, make up some letters and mush em' together.
Nonono, not trying to bash you, but, I have to stand up for a couple of the more sensible cliche babies... Why? Because it can start some really cool RP for a good amount of time. Some people just get bored with the usual Lion or Wolf RP. People all have different minds, and want to try and spice RP up as best they can. Whether or not people agree with them is up to who is there. Ciaossu~
NARGH. I've noticing that too.
That's why I let Paradox make a guide to originality.....I'll link it up on the first post. :D
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I'm kinda confused about this list o.0 According to this list is seems like your character would have to have some completely random series of letters for a name and be something like a weasel with a crazy color combination to not be cliche XD I don't mean to sound rude if I did. Heh, it just seems like every character I've ever seen in my entire life falls under this list in at least one or two ways.
~And yes, I'm aware that my sona Moonshade is pretty cliche with the name and all :P
Yeah agreed, please tell me according to your list, what isn't a cliche character? Can you do a quick character bio of what you wouldn't believe to be cliche?
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Herpaderp, originality guide got bumped to the second page with all the thread necro-ing. Click here (http://feral-heart.com/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=2&jfile=index.php&topic=8338.0) to see it, though.
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Urg, the thread necroing IS getting annoying. And thank you for the originality guide and cliche guide, they are helpful for those who want to do something good in their RP inmstead of boring people with things they have seen a million times.
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Tch, the most cliche character I have is Nyverin, but her personality is strongly based off the religious personification of Demons, Motoko is from an Anime and she's still not cliche, I have a breed called Reapers, and I roleplay things from Monster Hunter.
^ still not even caring if she's cliche, none of the above are godmodders ftw.
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I have an albino of a wolf species that is normally very hot-headed and territorial,the albino has red eyes like albinos usually do,he has scars from a hawk mangling him while he was outside his den((while he was an adult,he currently is)) is this too cliche?
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Haha after reading this topic it sounds like everything is cliche.
i think the only non-cliche is something like: "Your character is an average wolf/lion that likes to bathe in the sun." =))
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I think I have the only morbidly obese wolf on the game. XD Patent pending? LOL
I have some purposely cliche characters I use for comedic effect, or for irony in general.
For example: my character Foxtrot has a speech impediment (don't see those too often, or at least I haven't yet) but his whole family history is stupidly cliche. Water washes out their den, he gets separated and can't find his family. Similar things have been done...a lot. I just use it for funny devices, since he's really not a serious character, or one of my best "original characters."
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I usually want to leave a rp when there is a 'depressed' wolf in it. They just go on and on and ON about their horrible past and I never encourage it, I just want to get on with the rp