This thread is to provide my opinion on what makes a good, real, character. (For both you and the Owner.) By explaining each step as I run it down, and remembering that the sum is greater than it's parts, I hope to both have an adequate example character and help you create your own.
To begin: A thorough (but hopefully not overboard.) Character skeleton has the following fields, in no particular order they are: Images, Biography, Height, Weight, Physical Description, Orientation, Political and/or religious leanings, Residence & related, Race & nationality, Theme song, Interests, Dislikes, Fears or strengths, Psychotic or social or emotional evaluation, Age, Status in the community, Gender, Species, Name, Family, Motivation, Magical or supernatural abilities, Occupation.
Please note, some of these categories are broad, they could easily be divided into sub-sets and provide a truly horrific list, as such I may sort out several of the more intensive fields as we go on.
If you did not manage to read through the entire list (though not necessarily in the same order.), have no fear, I will address each subject individually.
I: Age.
How old is your character? Though this should be an easy choice, it is far too often glossed over. Most roleplays involve younger characters, as with age comes a feebler body... And yet, with age comes wisdom, keep this in mind when determining the impulses and maturity of your character.
It helps best if the age of the character reflects the mental age of the player, so that you can understand what your character wants, and why, a good character is as alive to you, as you are to it. If you cannot empathize with your character, your dialogue and motivations become stale.
II: Gender.
It is best to get this field filled early on, but like any other field, you may feel free to come back and change it as your characters' background shapes itself into a new individual.
Gender is something that is also largely glossed over, in our fictional stories, we're both bond by the terms of service to be courteous, and by our own desire to not deal with the sexism of the real world. However, you should not bend credibility, if you fail to apply the strengths or limitations in the appropriate fields of your gender without providing a reason, your character loses a bit of flavor.
Moreover, not every character can be an Olympic track runner, not many track runners are Olympic swimmers, and not many swimmers are acrobats.
The reason for surpassing a gender limitation should jive with the more personal details of your character, or the laws of your characters' country, you won't see many people practicing shooting in Japan.
III: Nationality.
Where does your character hold citizenship? This is a question you may answer anyway you want, most people stick to the country that the roleplay takes place in. If you want your character to hail from another country, you should adapt that characters' appearance and biography to reflect the social, genetic, even emotional differences between you and the natives.
This is a good piece of advice for people whose character hails from their own country as well, especially if they're from a different State, District, or Territory, finding out how people live and the laws in the characters' land is important.
IV: Race.
I believe it is best to keep this simple, you may expound on the genetic background of your character in biography if you desire.
However: If your race differs from the majority of the country the character resides it, it would be important to add background and social differences to the characters' mindset and emotions.
V: Species.
In most roleplays, this field has a very obvious answer, but should you be playing in an alternate universe... I would like to point to the examples of gender and nationality, what relations does your character's physical appearance invoke in others, how does it differ from the basic humanoid?
And repeating the example of nationality, what are things like where your character comes from, and so on?
VI: Height.
This is generally pure preference, but when roleplaying, you should not dismiss the relative height of your character and how it impacts their tasks or hobbies.
And while it is preference, height is genetic, you should find the average height of the combination of your characters' biology, and decide where to take from it there. You do not have to justify your characters' height, and no pony character usually asks, but it would add flavor.
VII: Weight.
This is easily solved with a height-to-weight-to-girth body index or a normal averaging, you should not feel compelled to write a dialogue on this unless your character is anorexic or obese, or has poor self-image.
I believe it is extremely mundane roleplay (read: trainwreck.) to have an in-character discussion because your character is five pounds over or under.
VIII: Orientation.
What is the sexuality of your character? When choosing a sexuality, you should remember that sexuality is primarily a social exercise. Or to be plain: What are the local/official/legal views on sexuality where your character comes from, what are the characters' views, their parents? Does the character (or do you?) have a good reason to be
How did your character come by their sexuality? This doesn't have to be explained in the Bio, but you should ascertain it.
Some people come by their sexuality just to rebel against their parents. Like a girl running off with a gangster chick instead of a dude, this is unstable reckless behaviour (regardless of whether it's hetero or not, let's not flame war.), and your characters' emotional stability should reflect not only which they are, but why, and how they may be different than mainstream.
IX: Virginity/Sexuality
Has your character done the 'dirty' deed yet? What impact did this have on their mental, emotional, social, and familiar state? Is the character married, and does this have any impact on their beliefs? What kind of person did your character involve themselves with, and is that person still in their life? Is your character celibate, and what is or was their motivation for these actions?
All of these are good questions, and I believe the answers speak for the reasons you might ask them, they determine something about your character that is innate to the human condition, it is not just Fluff.
Like the earlier field on orientation, it does not necessarily have to be expounded on in your Character Bio, but they are questions that you should keep a record of the answers in a private location to determine how your character thinks and acts.
X: Religious Stance:
What does your character believe? Are they Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Agnostic, Atheist, Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhist, Muslim?
More importantly, how do their beliefs color the character in attitude towards others, whether good or bad? How do their beliefs color the characters' perception of the world, or the motivations they have when participating in the tenets of their beliefs?
This should be at least mildly covered in the characters' biography, and you should make a private note on inner conflicts this might cause, what morals does the character hold dear, and if they are acting in direct contravention of what they believe, how do they feel about that? Does struggling with the issue affect their relationships with others?
Do conflicts exist with members of their own, or other groups, that might bring attention to them (even if no conflicts are currently present in the environment, humanity isn't very nice.), would these beliefs put that character in danger if publicly stated?
XI: Political Stance: These have much the same result as your religious stance, are you Liberal, Conservative, Republican, Tea Party, Democrat, Greenpeace, National Socialist? Fringe group?
More amusingly, but perhaps a worse idea, does your character belong to a Cult following? Are they indulging in satanism, witchcraft, or do they follow a kooky old guy trying to teach them how to channel the Force? These things are a mixture of politics and religion, and while they aren't really taken seriously, people really do try their hand at it.
XII: Biography.
Who is this person? Who do they want to be? At this point, your voice in the character and his or her desires may be gravely diminished, and this is why the Biography should be postponed until the character is more than a skeleton, so that is it not you talking.
It is best to start with the characters' birth date, I write my biography in auto style, while I tend to roleplay in third person when not 'thinking' or "speaking".
This helps you provide a relatively neutral starting point, while the birth date should be accurate to the age of the character and the year of the story, it is no big deal, letting you anchor yourself against writers block.
But what then? Do you have siblings? This is when you have to decide the family dynamic (If you feel like it, you are free to skip to XXIV and XXV and fill them out, before coming back here and filling this out.)
Where did she or he grow up? This is a vital reference to XXIV, Community, as duration of his or her residence determine how familiar they are with others, and how familiar everyone else with them. At this point you should pause and decide on the dynamics of their childhood home, who they lived with (XXV, Family.) and how they felt.
Like any proper biography, it is linear, you do not have to cover much of childhood, but it would add flavor. Education is not a huge issue until the college years, but you should note how knowledgeable your character was, whether they self-studied, what they learned during middle and high school beyond the normal curriculum.
If the character is still a teenager, and in truth, regardless, you should interject personal statements from the character into the Bio, a notable memory, a goal they hoped to achieve, a Biography is a commentary, and the character is talking to themselves.
If you have never talked to yourself, I suggest you try it before writing this.
If the character is an adult, you should include the same goals, notable memories, and tasks achieved, what does she or he want? Feel free to ask yourself how to fit a whole life into a few paragraphs, and this is my advice.
Write down ten things about your own life you would like to share: And find the equivalent for the character.
XIII: Sociality.
This too, could go hand-in-hand with parts of the biography. What is the Character? How do they communicate with the world, are they edgy, cynical, narcissistic, optimistic, shy, abrasive, and it is the backdrop for the reasons and motivations of how they interact with other people.
And what is that reason or motivation? How did they come to think they way they do, were they abused, moved around a lot, never around people their own age, a gamer, a nerd, a social butterfly, Chess Club or Drama Club, this is mostly reflective of self-image, and it would be good to delve into self-image through the biography and all the way through the evaluations.
XIV: Emotional evaluation.
Many of the words used for sociality apply equally to emotions, as what you feel naturally rolls into what you say, how you act, even being insecure and faking it is not truly an exception.
Who is your character? If you could look into their eyes, what would you see there? How has their life, outlined in the Bio or not (consistency is a must though.) affected their stability, are they bitter or resentful of past abuses, happy-go-lucky because no one taught them discipline, eerily restrained because they were restrained, or are they, by some chance, a balanced individual?
This could easily be the hardest part of the entire creation process, the human heart is not easily discerned even with your own character, and it helps to work with the Biography and earlier social evaluation at this point, does the character have skeletons in his or her closest? Did they blow an encounter way out of proportion in their mind? How much credibility do they give their emotions over their mind?
I personally apply careful examination to who the character is, I mull it over and examine it, and list three ways it makes me feel, it would be beneficial to do this for at least fifteen aspects of the character and his or her past.
Feel free to pull a bit of a Mary Sue here, if you assign the character an emotion you are already familiar with, but from a different angle, it can still perform wonderfully if you don't stress it out or overuse it. And this why you should always carry the perspective of the character with you, because his or her world isn't real, so they must be.
XV: Psychotic evaluation.
This is the sum of their personal history, their social and emotional status, the mind, the consciousness, and it's relationship with the body, the heart, how it justifies sociality with thoughts, their beliefs and desires, all that burns in the darkness.
This balance is what really brings a character to life, do they have a pressing urge to see the world, but an emotional feeling of insecurity? Do they have a mistrust of people, stemming from the family, and yet a mental desire to be chatty and friendly?
This is how they handle their contradictions, whether they break or soar, whether they move through the world like a zombie, become a recluse, disassociate, or gain weird quirks as a form of release.
And it is a source of willpower, the mind implements an action, even while the heart may fuel it, you and your character must decide how he or she flies their own banner in defiance of everything that oppresses them, this is where Pinocchio becomes a Real Boy.
XVI: Physical description.
This is where you provide extra relevant information on your character, whichever picture you find, it is not likely to entirely reflect what and who you want your character to be, and since it must be decent, it must be clothed. This is where you describe scars, tattoos, secondary eye or hair colors, or shades of them, more detailed pigmentation or freckles, claws even.
XVII: Interests.
What does your character like to do? Some of these may be mentioned in the Biography in more detail, but here you can provide a list on things that you find interesting based on how your character thinks, and what other people who think similarly might find as interesting as she or he does.
And maybe it never was an interest, but she or he had to do it, and it became one. You can provide extra flavor here that was lacking in the Biography for important moments in the pursuit of an interest, and what they sacrificed for it.
XVIII: Dislikes.
Anything the character is repelled by, even if it something that the character has a double-standard on, and commits anyway.
This should be explained with the detail of the Interests, how they came to dislike it, if they didn't always, what the character thinks about disliking it, and what they sacrifice for their avoidance...
Or whether there is an actual reason to avoid it, and what they sacrifice for partaking, similar to if an interest is dangerous, and sacrificing for it.
XIX: Strengths.
What physical or mental performances is your character skilled, or at least reasonably proficient at? You will likely be drawing these from his or her pre-existing Interests, as well as personal details from the biography regarding education or childhood.
You can even create one or two, something that the character started doing recently, with a note to that effect, or something the character does in secret
XX: Fears.
What scares your character? This is meant to be beyond mere dislike, a fear must actually induce panic in the character, the fight-or-flight reflex is a good marker for judging a fear.
Being afraid of spiders or the dark are the most common, but this is information that should be hinted at in the biography, and drawn from the lore in the area the person was raised. Did they grow up near an ocean, or in a desert? Are they unfamiliar with ocean predators, or too familiar with them, and does this result in fear?
Did they grow up around snakes, by cliffs, in a contested piece of land?
Fears may be irrational, but the source of the fear is usually grounded firmly, and should be treated as such.
XXI: Magical/Supernatural abilities.
This is largely up to the environment that the Roleplay is taking place in, and the whims of the owner themselves, I would caution getting too esoteric (mostly present when you are drawing from a pre-existing universe, like a book written by one person but abusive in a multi-person environment.) but in general, roleplay owners allow anything to be chosen that isn't restricted by name.
I would like to clarify between Elemental powers and "Magical" powers, in my mind, Elements are a sub-set of Magic, and Elemental powers are generally a physical reaction, something that you could perform more or less equally, or not at all. (As it's just energy that drives physics.)
And due to that, I don't think you should say "Light powers.", that you should be specific and say "holy magic", instead of "darkness", try "blood magic", or "necromancy.", Pyromancer, Stormdancer, or other more descriptive names that are subsets of magic do very well.
If you have to restrict yourself to base words, try "Shadow", instead of "Darkness", adding that little bit of description makes it like, 20% cooler.
XXII: Residence.
Where does your character currently live? Describe it, preferably each room, provide detail on things necessary to actually live in the environment, and some of the people who the character knows.
Also provide information on acquired objects that the character holds dear, what would stand out to a person entering the room for the first time, and what would stand out for a person entering it for the hundredth?
What would the character grab first, do they have a fireproof vault, an insurance policy? What makes it Home?
XXIII: Occupation.
Where does your character work, does it provide for them adequately, do they like their job, and do they perform well? Have they been promoted, what do they think of their co-workers and employer, did they choose the job, or was it the only one available?
What would it take to motivate them to leave, and why? What task do they hate the most, what task do they enjoy the most?
This is mostly basic information, with touches of all three evaluations that we covered, feel free to review them.
XXIV: Community relations.
Who do they know, both friends and enemies? What resulted in those relationships and does the character regret or delight in anything specific with either group? How close are they and how much effort is spent maintained those relationships?
Does the character perform community-driven tasks, and does he or she get along with the children, what is the physical locale like, does it factor into their interests, do they like a particular field or flower?
This is to provide detail for when you inevitably meet the other characters or have a post to yourself, your character needs to live outside of Player-interaction, and like any neighbor, you should be able to interpose or allow yourself to be interposed on to help a friend, your character isn't in stasis between posts.
XXV: Familiar relations.
Who is your family? What are they known for, and what do you know each other for? How many are there, and how many extended members do you see? Do they live near you, with you?
I believe we're nearing the end of most people's patience to create a character, especially if it's for a dying roleplay, and this is mainly Fluff outside of the Biography.
Therefore: For this section, I would merely list everyone in the characters' immediate family, as well as any extended family they enjoy, provide a brief description a sentence long, and provide one or two thoughts by the character on each of them.
XXVI: Name of character.
This I enjoy saving until last, but it requires editing the name in should you speak for the character in third-person.
The name is the Face for the character, it personifies all the emotions and your effort, and it cannot be chosen for you.
You should have a feeling by now for what the character should be called, and if you need to scroll through a list of a thousand or two thousand names until one grips you, feel free.
XXVII: Name of player.
Please insert the name of your favorite Pony account name.
XXVIII: Theme song.
This is largely unnecessary, I am not a fan of it, but when it is required of me, I attempt to select a song that portrays my characters dominant emotions or motivations, or lack of.
XXIX: Images.
This is the image you have selected for your character, as well as any Fluff images around the roleplay text itself, as most people use Photobucket or Google Images to select one, most of my advice at this point revolves around the keywords you use in your search.
I believe this is an exercise in synonyms, I select a mental image of what I or my character want, think, or otherwise hope to look like.
Then, I describe the image, what stands out about it, pose, clothing, and any objects they hold in their hands are worth noting. For the next step, enter the most basic keywords, for example: A character holds a career in law enforcement, physical prowess is a necessity, but they are only of average weight and height.
Keywords for Google Image? "Anime police officer", you should not expect to find anything worth using on this page, most of it will likely be related to strapping poster boys and Death Note.
Select the top two or three pictures that you would choose, and decide which aspect about them you like best for your character, replace "Police officer" with the new key words. At this point you are likely to be focusing on the clothing color or firearm, so your new keywords are "Anime
If you do not find what you are looking for, go back and type "Anime
If you have not yet found an image, choose a few more images from the second brace of results and use their attributes to determine your next image search, this applies to any Fluff images you want alongside your post, although those images are usually in the vein of the character and his or her emotions.
As such: You would go to an online dictionary for synonyms or extensions of the foremost emotions or activities that character has, and sort through the images the same way.
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If you enjoyed this, found it useful, want to drop me a private message asking anything or just leave a comment here, go ahead!
Please leave your hangman's noose at home. rofl
I am reserving two posts, as "and other things" in the title are things I want to write about if I have time later, such as building a suitable world for the entire storyline, or opening a new roleplay without flopping out on attractive fluff.
One last MLP reference, in recognition of your hard work in reading this far.
"PICKLE-BERRY KUMQUAT.", and you know, Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang.
I will Edit this post later to provide an Example Character built off this article, but I am worn out from typing this long, and probably should be doing some RL things.
