Villains, "Killers", and Insane Characters

[Smilodoncat]

Today I am going to talk to you all about something I've noticed. Cliche villains and "insane" characters.

We've all seen the "*Insert Name* F/M Killers" running around Feral Heart. And I'm not just talking about Creepypasta characters like Jeff the Killer, this trend of "insane" characters is something you see everywhere in all kinds of roleplay.

Yet these characters are just as cliche and overused as your typical mary-sue.
Really, they are boring.
They absolutely have no motive, which makes them pretty boring bad guys. I mean, even evil characters in kid's shows have motives. Take Nightmare Moon from MLP, a pretty cliched villian (don't kill me bronies!). She had a reason behind her doing (she was overshadowed by her older sister, and jealous of her), she didn't just kidnap Celestia "for da evilz".
Yet these characters on Feral Heart are just evil for the sake of being evil. They don't have any goals, they are just evil. Now, a lot of people try to back this up with saying "they are insane!" Insanity is incredibly difficult to pull off in roleplay. And the majority of these insane killers just run around killing people, that's the only insanity we ever see. Insanity is more than just killing people for no reason. In most cases, an insane killer would kill because they have a twisted world view, which is what would be responsible for them to see killing as alright.

All of my villain characters have motives behind their doings.
Take my character Queen Animat for example. Animat kills people, and her motive behind doing it is incredibly simple. Yet it's not because she's insane, because she most defiantly is not. She is simply programmed to kill in order to survive. She has no other motive. She does not feel any remorse for her victims, yet she is not sadistic and does not enjoy it ether. She kills because it is as natural to her as breathing, and if she did not she would die. It's a base survival instinct.
Two of my other villain characters, Sachee Navera and Oxygen could be considered insane. Yet nether of them just run around killing people simply because they can.
My character Sachee Navera is the queen of an alien nation. She's not so much a character I use in roleplay a lot, as she is a character that some of my other characters will talk about. Her people have been persecuted, abused, and exploited for quite a while now, and it has started a huge war. Sachee is paranoid. She doesn't know who she's going to have to fight, who's going to back-stab her, who's on her side and who's not. This constant paranoia has driven her to the brink of sanity. So her solution  is to destroy the "competition" before it can even become competition. She's terrified and doesn't know what to do. So she kills anyone who shows the slightest hint of being a threat; even if it's just something incredibly trivial.
My character Oxygen could also be classed as insane, but for a different reason. When she was just a child (she's of a fantasy race of my invention, so I often use more "human" terms to describe them), she was blamed for the death of her older brother. She was so young that even though her brother's death was sad, she would get over it. And she did get over it very soon. However as soon as the blame for his death was placed on her, being young and impressionable, she learned that blaming others for your own problems is perfectly acceptable. So now every-time she has a problem, she'll take out her anger on someone else, often quite violently. She was taught (by accident) that using other people as scapegoats is okay, and that has become her world view.

All of my other villain characters have motives behind their evil-doings, as well. And I can guarantee Animat, Sachee, and Oxygen do not consider themselves to be "evil", "killers", or "insane". They see themselves as being the good guys, even though they are far from that.

So yeah, just something I've noticed around FH before.

[nubeees]

Couldn't have put it any better myself. :3

[Tigerheart08]

I like this thread because I've seen a lot of it in-game. Unfortunately (I guess), I have an evil character or two. Like you put I don't have them evil for the sake of having an evil character. My nice and normal characters  are constantly getting shoved around and insulted because they have a friendly disposition. One day I thought, "Screw this I'm going for evil and I'm going to pour all my anger and sick and twisted thoughts and feelings into that character." So I made him and he has a complete and original background about why and how evil he is.
     Fortunately I have a lot of people who are willing to join my group because they like the way my character is. Others stray away from him and don't join my group because they think the way I make him RP is just sick and disgusting. ~(FH-Appropriate though)~       Honestly it's one of the best decisions I've ever made and my group is growing and even other evil groups like Shatteredclan and stuff are leaving us alone. It's like my group is considered "Acceptable" or something to them lmao.
     So, I like the evil characters that had a lot of thoughts and feelings and background stories poured into them because the solution equals a great character that is fun to RP with ^^

[Tanglemask]

I think it's one of those cliches that everyone loves. Who doesn't want a bad character? But the way they approach it may not be the best and come off rather mary-sue like. There isn't a lot of deeper development, plus they could be just made. When you first make a character, just pulling out a name and making it scrap work, it's gonna come of as a bad character. Not to be offensive, but if you don't put much effort into your character it sometimes shows. But if someone takes those extra minutes, it may make a change.

The unexpected jump in 'evil' or 'insane' characters can also contribute to the media. We have a lot of darker shows or movies out now. Or hot villains -coughs-Loki-coughs- So this gives people ideas. We got Hannibal, American Horror Story, Into Darkness, and a lot more that bring out darker characters. It's just something that satisfies that need.

For me, I had a character called Koby that started out really cliched. He was a mary-sue plain and simple. But when I roleplayed, he developed. Eventually, I did take a darker route to him. He wanted to change the coven he was in, to make female foxes equal to males after getting his ass whooped by one. But his intentioned darkened when he was manipulated, in turn using others and just being a bad fox. I kinda lost him afterwords, just throwing out stuff to make him more interesting, like seeing his dead siblings, but I changed that.

He had his intentions and a strive, making him a better 'villain' than those who make the 'evil character just to be evil'.

So that's my little impute. I do think Lindsay also has another part. Pour your anger out into a character. Angst is at its finest in this age group, it's just a thing. What better way to make yourself feel better then torturing the one you can. Take it out on your characters. It's a better alternative than to other things.

[Lady_Alizarin]

I have been seeing alot of "Killer" characters lately. I always thought there were Jeff the Killer's "friends" or "partners in crime". Often times it's just kids roleplaying as wicked serial killers.... just for the fun of it, I suppose. It's just some harmless childs play.

See that? I made a pun.

Anyway. I have seen many of those "villians of insanity" running around in all the maps of FH. Of all the villian characters I've met, I've only met one decent villian with a good backstory. The rest are practically the same old, same old "I kill for the thrill" or kill without a real purpose type. It does get cliche and predictable in a roleplay. Where are the villians who need a motive for their evil actions? Do they even exist in this game? I'm sure they do....
I don't really have any evil characters. Marik and Bakura the fennecs are fan-based from the villians of Yu-Gi-Oh, but they don't act so evil that they want to kill people. The only evil things I have them do is harrass their friends with some harmless tricks.
There is one character I have that alot of people automatically assume he's evil all beacuse he's a rogue. He's not really much of a villian at all. The only "evil" crime he is guilty of is beating up his former leader. But he didn't beat her up because he hated her and wanted to take over her role as leader and lead the clan. He did it because he was furious about her letting his twin sister die in a rescue mission. Being a rogue cat and a "traitor" to his clan makes people think he is a low-life villian who will kill little kits and noble warriors. It doesn't matter to me if people think he is a villian. I let them be the judge of that.

[jay warfang]

I run a character who could be called insane. However I find insane to broad a term. He is specifically a mild scitzophrenic with a multiple personality disorder on top. As a result he sometimes lashes out violently but he does not display to many psychopathic tendencies. I suppose I should get to the point and say I'm fine with mentally unstable characters if it makes sense and the Owner put a little thought into it. I hate it when people just go " my charries insane. That's why he tried to kill her" maybe it's a personal issue but I would rather they specify and go with a certain disorder that matches the characters behavior. Incoherent rambling done

[hugrf2]

I do in fact have a killer type of character named Havor owo Though he does in fact have a reason for killing. I know it's probably very stupid, but here it goes.
Some might have read Havor's Dreadful Story which I guess remained unfinished, but.. usually he isn't exactly the horrible type of killer, however it's still bad. He doesn't put mercy on those he shames more than he should, instead he kills them.

It's usually due to past experiences he had and feelings one might fall into which comes to being a psychopath, I'm guessing... characters might become insane because they forgot what was right and wrong then became insane due to certain experiences involving death, as I assume would be a right way to put it.

But I do in fact don't really like when people don't even have a reason at all sometimes, it's just... o_e if there's a reason and if the players not being TOO twisted (in a way, however if they have a reason for their character being twisted which is a good reason then okay) or making people uncomfortable then let them be I guess, but no reason... no. >_<

Personally I don't really understand why there has to be so much killers in Bonfire Island sometimes, even if I might have a couple. Ugh, the stress of Bonfire... why does it have to be like that with almost no logic? Even if I don't have it sometimes, but... that's a different story.

I have no idea if I made any sense... but it does get irritating when characters are evil with no certain reason sometimes. Something that could be a simple reason is that someone's character who is evil just has never heard of right or wrong and wouldn't dare have any emotion toward them. Which gives me an idea...

ALSO, continue to read if you're eyes and brain don't hurt. owo
I have another insane character, an albino griffin who has his reason for being psychopathic/insane.
Rejection from his father, and he chose to become insane after all the drama he caused out of anger. He doesn't just kill anyone all the time, but he might kill someone if they even ever knew someone that his father viewed greatly, and maybe even kill the one he viewed like that.

Probably not the best reason, but Pierce, his name, used to be a drama queen so... yeah. His past story kind of formed into what he is now,

Yep. So.. guess that's it. I'm not the most creative person but sometimes may need to be more creative with their insane/villain character's back stories sometimes... at least that's my opinion.

[Tearless]

[Lady_Alizarin]

[Tearless]

Wikipedia isn't the most reliable source to find information. But I do agree it could help someone develop a character with mental issues better if they were to do some research on the disorders.

Ah, I didn't say what I meant to very well... I've found Wikipedia to be a good way to find them in the first place, but by all means look through multiple sources for details on whatever you're researching because at least one of them will likely have misinformation.