Author Topic: Where did you draw your inspiration for your characters?  (Read 8540 times)

Heq

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This is just a wonderment I have, especially as to the spread (literature/movies/history).

Here's mine...

Ciann-  Abdul Haq (Afgani warlord)
Widden- The Medici family (the Fraochs as a whole were imagined as Celtic Medici's)
Gog- Crocodile from One Piece.  Only with an ax and a hook hand and he can't turn into sand.
Solips-  Frankenstein, almost whole cloth, some alchemical theory regresses to circa 1300, but otherwise pure Frankenstein.

So where did everyone else get their mojo, or am I just less creative?

Jimgerdes

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As far as names are concerned all of my characters were D&D characters at one point. : P
As far as their personalities, each one represents a part of myself.

Sidd-The proud, honourable, sociable aspect of my personality
Jonn-The funny, although sometimes obnoxious and irritating part
Jennifer-The shy, quiet, ambitious aspect

I didn't originally intend for it to be that way, it started towards it, and I realized that and went with it.  I can do all kinds of things since my characters are all so different.
No man is an island, unto himself.

Hyral

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I start my characters off with a word or two as their core and build from there. They tend to become products of their environment over time, though...

Keiichi: Camaraderie and Amusement
Araia: Serenity
Azrea: Like-a-puppy-with-floppy-ears (seriously)
Seri: Distracted (even before she went off the deep end)
Min: Dignity and Pride
Kin: Confidence and Zest

My first character, Baiko, was orginally inspired by Tomoe Gozen, but she didn't end up anything like her :p






Silverfire

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Everyone single one of my characters or at leas the base of their personality and goals is taken directly from literature. Having read a lot of books, and not being creative with names, I literally just name them for their namesake.

Brom and Eragon, both are their namesakes from the books if you've read them. (Spoiler Alert: RP'ed as Father and Son as well)

Merlin, is somewhat similar to his namesake, but also wasn't. I always play a character named Merlin in every game. Same goes with Dante. However, Merlin is probably a mix between Iago and Caesar.

My next hopeful creation of a character is a 100% copy of Iago. (That is going to be fun...)

Nerukou

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I dug around in the deepest, darkest part of the cesspool that passes as my heart, and I chose what I thought would piss people off the most.

True story.

Woelfen

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All of my characters draw from a different part of the historical eras that BM encompases, depending on which part of the world you focus on. It's an odd combination of every legend or myth I've heard of. At least, once I have a longer family history, it shall be.

Markus - Proper Roman Legatus/Wolf of Chaos. Complete jerk, but extremely efficient. Militant in the extreme. Rather insane, truth be told.

Woelfen - Smaller German Noble (Baron or equivalent amount of territory). More worried about his people and upkeeping the law than anything else.

Berwin - A Nordic Princeling, descended from Ziu. Duty bound, honourable, and was the only one in the family to stand up to the Wolf of Chaos, Markus.

songqu88@gmail.com

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I start my characters off with a word or two as their core and build from there. They tend to become products of their environment over time, though...

Keiichi: Camaraderie and Amusement
Araia: Serenity
Azrea: Like-a-puppy-with-floppy-ears (seriously)
Seri: Distracted (even before she went off the deep end)
Min: Dignity and Pride
Kin: Confidence and Zest

My first character, Baiko, was orginally inspired by Tomoe Gozen, but she didn't end up anything like her :p

Seri's gone off the deep end? And I thought she got another chance at life in Dwilight.

Ok, so my characters...Yeah, this might become a long list, and I'm not even an old player. More middle-aged.

Jared: Since he was my starter and I had no idea at first what to do in this game, he was modeled after service, a hero fighting for his realm Fontan with no questions asked or words spoken.

Samael: Eventually figured out that he is a fighting scientist/herblorist. He was the guy who writes how to mix strange drinks and at the same time duel someone with the other hand.

Garret: Would you believe the original template for him was an ambitious knight who would train his swordfighting skills to become a champion of Lasanar? Since he has been the longest lived of all my characters, I guess it makes sense that he has evolved the most.

Mahalo: Not much developed here. I think his original design was to be some weakling who is supposed to grow stronger. He never did.

Zephyros: He's the brash and rude youngster who does everything according to instinct.

Iksandros: For this guy I tried to incorporate a bunch of different motives, from being the last of his family, seeing his mother die, growing up with a more energetic and skilled Ramuh, reluctantly joining the military, and other typical background stuff. He was originally intended to be a champion riding gloriously in tournaments, though 4th Inv altered that path a bit.

Ramuh: Originally he was much like Zephyros, but he did things according to what he thought the law would allow. In Fontan he laughed when a hero who guaranteed his death or something got killed the next battle. He was basically another brash young noble, but like most things go, 4th Inv altered that path.

Peregrin: I thought about the most boring personality possible, and tried to do so. Must die in battle as hero.

Kylen: I thought about the most annoying bubbly personality possible, and tried to do so. Have some cookies of love and friendship! Yay!

Patchouli: I guess she smells nice.

Talek: Who cares about some random commoner wandering around southeast Dwilight.

Amvaroleia: The Beamers contributed to her creation, so her personality and goals are a combination of their input.

Mercer

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Each character was seeded by the father, then shaped by in-game events and a desire for some differentiation from the others.  In the beginning, before I knew much about how BM worked, I figured my family would focus on wealth.  Mercer is derived from "merchant," and striving for money and the Banker offices was the foundation for the first generation.  My characters are named alphabetically as they are created.

Archibald, the eldest, happened to begin play in a theocracy, and became very pious; ultimately a zealot and a martyr.
Bernard began in the slow, secular colonies, and to contrast with Archibald became an open-minded seeker of a variety of meaningful philosophies.
Charles, to contrast with the older two, began as a brash warrior, but evolved and matured into a diplomatic leader and legendary hero.
Darla, the illegitmate daughter, began as an adventurer and had to earn nobility the hard way.

Edward is the son of Archibald.  Furious about the circumstances of his father's fall and death, he roams the continents seeking only to fight.
Franklin is the son of Bernard.  Having grown up posh and traveling through many lands, he began adulthood as a trader and courtier.
Geoffrey is the son of Charles.  He lives in the shadow of his famous father's great achievements, and is on a quest of personal development to try to fill his father's shoes.

I do not draw from any resources for personality, preferring to let characters develop naturally from their upbringing and experiences.  I have enjoyed the Showtime series, the Tudors, though, and the novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel as examples of noble behavior. 

DoctorHarte

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None at all. Mostly just from my imagination.. and some herbal plant..  ::)

I develop my characters as they interact IG with events and other people.
New Harte Family: Eros (Vix Tiramora, EC), Nyx (Fronen, BT), Chance (Avernus, DW), Scopuli (Gothica, Colonies)

Old Harte Family: Hyperion (Aurvandil, DW), William (IVF, BT), Katrina (Fronen, BT), Callandor II (Ohnar West, FE)

wraith

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I start off with a few charater traits (try to get at least one unique one in there) to get a feel for their soul write a backstory on the wiki and just let them grow from there.
"There are 11 kinds of people in the world; those who do not understand binary, those who think they understand binary and those who understand endianness."

Cadfan

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I start with their key characteristics. From there I just interact with the realm a bit, to let the character grow and the concept really take form. Once I am happy that I've discovered the character completely that is when I write the back story.

Vellos

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Amgar- Viking warmonger
Hireshmont- Politician with a deeply buried conscience
Amekal- Viking warmonger plus religious prophecy
Hireshmont II- Prideful, virtuous, idealistic lord
Onamont- Pompous
Oradrikkon- Haven't decided yet
Sfara- Crazy
Onliana- Kind, virtuous, diligent
Komnogar- Haven't decided yet
Cyrilos- Religious fanatic and ascetic

That's how they began; they changed over time.
"A neutral humanism is either a pedantic artifice or a prologue to the inhuman." - George Steiner

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dustole

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LOL @ Doctor Harte.


I use the same strategy.    When it comes to Allison I think about the crazy Knights Templar guy from "Kingdom of Heaven".   Helps me get in the religiously fanatical mood.
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LOL @ Doctor Harte.


I use the same strategy.    When it comes to Allison I think about the crazy Knights Templar guy from "Kingdom of Heaven".   Helps me get in the religiously fanatical mood.

Didn't Saladin cut that guy's head off? Or was that someone else? I didn't really pay so much attention since I kept channel hopping.