Kail's Classroom Tutorials 2

[Kailolu]

Welcome back to class, my pupils. Last time we discussed how to create posts that allow your partner to create something of their own. Remember the Skeleton post? I do hope you all are straying away from that nasty habit. Today in class we will go over the topic; How To Make Better Characters. Please do not be discouraged by this lesson should it conflict with your personal characters. This is not intended to offend anyone, more so it is to help them define their characters. Now, students! Shall we begin?

What I, your beloved Teacher, have come across in my vast studies and research is that many Role-Players tend to take on the “Mary-Sue” characters. A Mary Sue by definition is a female character that is absolutely perfect. She’s the most beautiful, has the best singing voice, can play the piano better then Mozart, and even gets the sexy hero as her boyfriend. She has absolutely no flaws, not even a zit; therefore she can tackle any obstacle head on without fear of being defeated. There is also the Marty Stu, or Gary Stu; he’s very similar to his female counterpart. Gary/Marty Stu is just drop dead gorgeous, has a ripped body that makes the ladies drool, has gleaming beautiful hair, makes girls swoon with just a glance, and hey he knows how to kick butt. He always knows what to do in a bad situation; he can hack computers with ease and find ways to sneak into the CIA. Are you catchin’ my drift here, darlings? These guys are all about action and beauty; they can’t be beat, which here in the role playing world, can be considered as a god modding character. We (I) frown upon these types of characters. So, how can we make them more interesting?

Flaws, flaws, and more flaws!

For the rest of this lesson, we will start with a Gary Stu and turn him into a far more interesting character throughout. Let’s call him Boca.

Boca is a large black wolf with gorgeous red eyes. He’s immortal, and can only be killed by his counterpart, which happens to be his brother, a white wolf with blue eyes. Boca has skeleton wings that appear to all as bone, but when he uses them a thin layer of flesh goes between each finger to allow flight. Like a bat, but a million times cooler. He can control fire and when he’s really mad his eyes turn black, his paws catch on fire, and he turns into a really cool demon. He’s a jerk to everyone he meets, but when he finds his true love, he’ll protect her with his life and treat her like a queen. He’s so strong that he can beat any opponent, and even take down large game by himself. He doesn’t need anyone; he follows his own set of rules, and is just perfect. Boca has a coat that is pure and not tainted with scars from his previous battles, only because he always wins without a scratch. He can dance around his opponents and taunt them while they foolishly try to attack. Everyone is just weak compared to him!

This is a disgusting character! Sure he may look cool, but who wants to role play with someone that is perfect in every way? I certainly don’t, because it doesn’t make an interesting experience for the other role player. Their character would constantly be put down unless they pour their heart and soul into each post to be that one she-wolf that Boca loves. But of course we all know that he’ll just turn her away because he has trust issues from a deep dark past that he’ll never share. Let’s throw in some flaws. Let’s throw out is perfect traits. Let’s make him interesting. Let’s make him a better character. Below is a list of personality flaws from This site that can be used for your character if you wish, but these are only a few examples of the faults out there in the world;

Sarcastic or cynical. Maybe it's just me, but I'm a sucker for guys who are constantly insulting everyone in a very funny way. Try to decide why the character is sarcastic, though... What makes him moody or bitter in his humor? What happened in his past to make him insult everyone now? Is he afraid of relationships or wary of trust?

Egocentric. Let the character think she's better than everyone. If other people can do something, she can do it better. She's also much more intelligent than everyone, and, of course, the most beautiful. She's fun to write and fun to read, because you love to hate her. (Be careful not to play on this too much! She/He may turn into a Mary Sue!)

Easily fascinated. I just love a character that will stare at balloons forever and delights at a passing butterfly. They're flaky, they're shallow, they're generally useless, but they're so funny to watch. They spout off the randomest pieces of knowledge and don't know when to shut up.

Fierce or hot-tempered. This one is becoming a bit overdone, but I still enjoy a girl who's more likely to knock you out than allow you to rescue her. If you go for the gender-role-reversal thing, a fierce girl is a lot more fun to write than the usual damsel-in-distress. Hot-tempered guys can be great, too - he may be easily provoked or loses his temper at the mention of his father. But don't overdo it. How many people got really annoyed by Harry's constant angst in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix?

Mysterious. You have to be careful with this one, but sometimes it's interesting to have a character who you can't predict and who's thoughts and actions you don't understand. It can get annoying, though, if the character knows more than the reader. So be careful.

Hyperactive or flamboyant. A character that never seems to run out of energy or questions can be amusing. Maybe he has an obsession with trying to get the other characters to dance with him. This is a fun one if you like gender-role-reversals. Guys who are easily excitable and like to give big sloppy kisses don't come along too often, and we love to laugh at their antics.

Melodramatic. The drama queen (or king). This is a character who exaggerates everything and makes tiny events seem like huge catastrophes. She's fun to write and even more fun to read. This is the character who jumps to conclusions and thinks everything is way funnier than it is.

The bully. Personally, I like the guy that pushes everyone around. He thinks he's cool, but maybe he's secretly really insecure. A good example would be Sirius Black and James Potter from the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.

The nerd. Okay, so it's fun to have a girl who rattles off physics equations in the middle of battle and tries to predict events based on scientific calculations... especially if she's wrong or no-one ever listens to her. Another variation of the nerd is the kid who's rather the swat and always likes to be right.

Accident prone. She screws things up because she trips over her own feet. She's clumsy. She gets in the way, and she can't be stealthy no matter how hard she tries. She drops things.

Forgetful or absent-minded. He's sort of dim, gets teased a lot, puts his shoes on the wrong feet. Perhaps he's brilliant but can't remember more than two things at once. He can't remember why he's in the kitchen or where he put his glasses.

Compulsively lies. She rarely tells the truth. Lies are so much more interesting - and it's not really lying, it's just a form of acting. She may give her companions wrong directions and after awhile they may not trust her very much. Useful if you like the boy-who-cried-wolf type of story, where she doesn't tell the truth until it really matters, and then no-one believes her.

Awkward. He's nervous and a little paranoid and doesn't know what to do with himself when a girl is in the vicinity. He may trip over his own tongue or be fearful of revealing anything about himself.

A hypochondriac. She's convinced she's dying. A splinter becomes life-threatening, and she cannot travel if she has bruised her knee. Occasionally she crashes into hard surfaces 'on accident' and sustains grievous injuries. She always thinks she's ill or coming down with something contagious.

A kleptomaniac. He compulsively steals things. His companions don't understand why their shoestrings and coins seem to disappear. Most of the time, he doesn't, either.

A pyromaniac. It doesn't get much better than a fire-obsessed girl who likes to experiment. Whoever knew that the hero's boots burn such a strange shade of blue? Or that unicorn hair won't burn unless you douse it in beer?

So which ones shall we pic for our Gary Stu, Boca? I’ve chosen three flaws for him, mainly because I like the number three, but also because it’s a fair amount for a RPG character. We don’t want to overdo it with flaws. I wonder if there’s something out there called a Flaw Mary Sue? Hm… Back on track, students! The three flaws I’ve chosen are; Hypochondriac, Melodramatic, and Accident Prone. Do you see how I chose things that can be played off each other for humorous affect? Flesh out the flaws like this:

Boca is very accident prone. He’s the one you’ll find running into trees, tripping in rabbit burrows, and being chased by moose. Usually when he injures himself, even if it’s just a tiny nick, he’ll throw his pride away and sob and whine, convincing himself and trying to convince others that he’s dying. He’ll roll around in pain that he’s fantasized, blowing it up out of proportion, often going into dramatic spiels about his life and what he wants done with his body when he goes to the light. Sometimes he’ll go as far as to pretend he has died, which has come in handy in the past when he had to get out of a tough situation.

See? That’s sometimes I would love to see in a character! It would be undeniably entertaining to see a big scary looking wolf lay in a field of flowers like it was his death bed all because he stepped on a thorn. Baha! Wouldn’t he be fun to thread with? If you add a few flaws, it can completely turn the whole thing around. We haven’t changed his appearance, but his personality definitely has some humorous quirks now.

The good thing about personality flaws is that you can keep your characters appearance. I personally would love to see a wolf, or any creature for that matter, that looks like he/she crawled out of hell and act like a drama queen. It would make everything far more entertaining, and you can go as far as you’d like with something like this because over-exaggerating a life or death situation because of a stubbed toe can be incredibly amusing.

Along with Personality Flaws, there are Appearance Flaws that can make your character just as interesting. Take my characters Tikanni and Rama, for example. Their flaw is that they have pure white eyes, without pupils. It’s due to their curse, which suppresses their desire for normal food, and instead causes them to crave emotions. That, however, isn’t a large flaw. It’s simply an eye color. Ciel, another dear character of mine, has an appearance flaw that’s more extreme than Tikanni’s. He has very little fur along his belly and throat. Warped scars that stretch and distort his skin lay there instead. I did not do this without reason though, something one should consider. Ciel got those scars because he was killing his siblings and was maliciously attacked by his mother and father. They pretty much tore him apart, and because of the wound on his throat, he can no longer speak. You see there? I justified why he cannot speak, and where his scars came from. I have a fox character that is blind, but it’s a hereditary disease passed down by his father. In a few years, he’ll be completely blind. Something that can also make your character more interesting. An example would be you have a blind character with only three legs. Why do they only have three legs? How did they go blind? Was it a disease? Were they born with these deformities? If you validate these, it can make your character more attention-grabbing.

For Boca, we can make his skeleton wings incredible fragile. They break constantly, and when they do, it’s just a mass of crumpled disfigured bones that jut from his back. Boca: Ohh! The horror! We can also take away half his tail due to an adult wolf attacking him as a pup. Boca: GAH! My lovely tail! Ohh, I’m dying, DYING I TELL YOU! Should we add one more appearance flaw to him? Think, think, think… Boca: Oh please, nothing more! Ah! Alright students, he has mutilated boned wings that frequently break, half a tail, why not take away some skin, flesh, and muscle? Show what’s inside, his bones, guts, maybe even his brain? Boca: ACK! You foul, disgusting, loathing woman! *sob* I’m a walking zombie wolf because of you! Let’s remove the skin and fur on the right side of his rib cage, showing his ribs and insidey parts. But, great googly moogly! He has no heart, no bowels, no lungs, nothing inside! How is he alive?! Boca: O__O Why, because it’s a curse! When it doubt, or when you no other liability, blame curses! Let’s say my coyote character knew Boca when he was a young teenage wolf and put a curse on him to make him repulsive to everyone around him because he was a selfish youngster that preyed on the weak. Boca: Ooone is the loneliest number... Don’t we have an interesting character now? Let’s compare the original Boca to the new and flawed Boca.

Before: Boca is a large black wolf with gorgeous red eyes. He’s immortal, and can only be killed by his counterpart, which happens to be his brother, a white wolf with blue eyes. Boca has skeleton wings that appear to all as bone, but when he uses them a thin layer of flesh goes between each finger to allow flight. Like a bad, but a million times cooler. He can control fire and when he’s really mad his eyes turn black, his paws catch on fire, and he turns into a really cool demon. He’s a jerk to everyone he meets, but when he finds his true love, he’ll protect her with his life and treat her like a queen. He’s so strong that he can beat any opponent, and even take down large game by himself. He doesn’t need anyone; he follows his own set of rules, and is just perfect. Boca has a coat that is pure and not tainted with scars from his previous battles, only because he always wins without a scratch. He can dance around his opponents and taunt them while they foolishly try to attack. Everyone is just weak compared to him!

After: Boca isn’t your everyday wolf. Sure he’s large in stature with bright red eyes, but it’s because of a curse that was put on him for being selfish. His eyes are not the only constant reminder of his jinx though. His skin began to fall off on his right side, revealing the hatred within. Over the years, his liver, guts, lungs, and heart fell out of the hole, and now he’s just a shell. Boca has skeleton wings that jut from his back, and though they are bones, they are incredibly fragile. He often catches them on trees which shatter them. They then just lay along his sides in a mass of broken bones. They heal on their own after a few days, but during those days, Boca will roll around complaining about the horrible pain. And when his throat goes coarse from his wining, he thinks it’s the curse at work, ultimately thinking he’s dying. It’s not only when his wings break, does he act like this. Whenever he trips over a stick, or stubs his toe on a rock, he acts as though his world is ending, claiming that a bright light is coming for him. Under this performance, he’s really trying to find sympathy from others. Boca is truly desperate for companionship. The spell that was placed on him made him hideous and revolting, which deterred others from getting to know him. He now walks alone, longing for companionship, and longing for someone to see him as more than just a crybaby monster.

WOW! Would you look at that? See the difference? I would much rather thread with the second Boca then the first. He seems way more amusing, and he has reasons for the way he acts. Boca: *sob sob* I’m lonely and deformed. Take me home? It doesn’t take much thought to make a character, but it does take some brain skills to make a good character. On our beloved Spectrum site, we have many beautiful well thought out characters, and there’s some that could use a little help. Mine included.

Alright, my lovely students! We have come to the end of this lesson. But before you all depart, this lovely website Here can help develop your characters by interviewing them, if you really want to go that in depth with them. Your characters do have a mind of their own, as well as a voice. Perhaps you can sit down with them and have some coffee or a rabbit leg and talk to them? You’d be surprised what you’ll learn. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to reply to this thread or Private Message your exquisite teacher. Please, if you happen to come across any spelling errors or grammatical errors, I would greatly appreciate if you pointed them out so they can be corrected. It was a pleasure teaching to you today, and if you need any help whatsoever when creating a new character, do not hesitate to ask me. I’d be delighted to assist you! Until next time my dears, this lesson is over. Class dismissed!




Disclaimer: I don’t claim to know everything about writing, nor do I claim to know everything about characters and how to make the best. This is simply to help out others that may need assistance in making their characters a bit more interesting, or help complete starters create characters. This is indeed riddled with a few of my opinions, so please treat them as opinions and not facts.

What I Do claim is this tutorial, other then of course the links, since I didn't make those sites. I made this tutorial on my own without help, and I would appreciate it if you didn't repost it anywhere and claim it as your own. I worked hard on this, not to get anything out of it, but to aid those who need a little help. Thank you for your support.