An Undying Hate - Character Development I

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Dec 19, 2009, 1:15am

An Undying Hate :: Inportant Info. :: Student/Staff Handbook :: RP Tips/Help/Questions :: Character Development I - Strengths and Weaknesses

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Topic: Character Development I - Strengths and Weaknesses (Read 79 times)

Dorin Hayden
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Character Development I - Strengths and Weaknesses
« Thread Started on Oct 14, 2006, 4:54pm »

Special Thanks to Wild Hogwarts/TbHogwarts, for which these wonderful tips come from!

So you have a name and a house. What next? You'll need a wand, an animagus, a patronus, and knowledge of all spells from avada kedavra to unbreakable charms. Naturally you want your character to be the friendliest, most gifted, and pure-hearted wizard there is. Or perhaps you want them to be the most evil bastard out there right? Wrong!

A cast of Harry and Draco wanna-bes gets very old quickly. How does the plot ever evolve if nobody gets hit with a curse or everybody is casting unforgivables? What about conflict within the story beyond shouting names at Slytherins and Gryffindors? A good character has strengths and weaknesses. A few examples from canon:

Lucius is a cunning leader but convinces himself that he's too smart for everybody else. Now he's in Azkaban.

Harry's supposed to be powerful but he's nothing without his friends. He never takes advice until it's too late.

Draco has family history to his name but he's living in Lucius' shadow.

Hermione's brilliant but a Muggle-born. Lily had the same trouble.

The easiest way to begin developing strengths and weaknesses is to start with classes. Take a look at your year. Have you ever used a wand before? If you're a first year it's not bloody likely. Are you going to be taking O.W.L.'s? N.E.W.T.'s? Pick a class or two to excel in, a few to not stand out in, and perhaps a few that are troublesome.

Not everybody is Hermione Granger. It takes far more effort and creativity to ruin a potion, mess up a transfiguration, or not achieve the charm. Anybody can copy the professor's instructions and call them their actions. Likewise anybody can copy and paste from the Lexicon but they must consider their character. How many people here, when answering a question in class, give a lengthy (multi-paragraph) answer complete with scientific names, etymology,and history? Now of those smart-asses who said yes, did you do so when you were 11?

Now that your character's academic side is figured out, look at their personal life. Do they want to be popular or are they a loner? Keep in mind the house they've been sorted into. A Slytherin is not going to be befriending Gryffindors left and right. Hufflepuffs probably would. Now for the interesting part, the enemies. You're not going to like everybody you come across, why should your character? What do they like in a person? What do they dislike in a person? They don't need to go starting duels and likewise they probably won't be smiles and sunshine to all people.

One player said your character is nothing without a good neurosis. Keep in mind I said neurosis, not psychosis. Neuroticism is primarily a personal quirk. Psychotics are beyond this reality. Examples:

Speaking primarily in a pirate dialect

Being obsessive compulsive

Napoleonic complexes for short characters

Biting your lip

Twirling your hair

Overthinking a situation

Naturally these are only starting points. The best way to develop your character is to plan it out. Write out at least a paragraph describing your character's appearance, their family history, what they expected in going to Hogwarts, their attitudes, and their quirks. Knowing your character will lead to better posts because they'll have more to do and say than:
lolz!!!
*jumps in lake*
oh my god!!! This is so fun!!!!

Also, keep in mind that Hogwarts is not filled with part-veela. If they were, Fleur wouldn't have been such a stand-out. For more traits that make up the characters known as Mary Sue/Gary Stu, see this site (http://www.theninemuses.net/hp/work/marysue.html)Note, these are not desirable characteristics to have. Check your score. The lower the better.

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