Creating Unique Characters

creating unique characters
a forenote
I've been thinking about how to write this guide for a little while now. The demand for this guide was overwhelmingly popular, with 2/3 of participants from the survey requesting it. Being neither a published writer nor the best writer on this game, I question my authority in telling others how to create unique characters. All I can do here is offer you my opinion from personal experience. I believe that, first and foremost, the most important thing with a character is that you, as the writer, mesh well with him or her. You can have the most unique and unprecedented character in the world, but if you don't get on with him or her, then you won't enjoy posting them. Writing should always bring you enjoyment, and that is the most crucial thing to consider when you are creating a new character.

To write this guide, I've drawn on a lot on things I learnt when I studied Psychology and particularly Sociology. Many RPers I know have also studied Psychology and "mentally messed up" characters seem to be one of the most popular types on RPGs. For anyone who likes Psychology or is interested by anything I'm about to write about identity, I encourage you to look into Sociology. Although Psychology has been more useful to me in real life, Sociology has definitely been more useful in terms of my writing and in helping me to understand fictional characters. My old Sociology textbook has a lot of information about identity for enthusiasts:
O'Dwyer and White (2009) OCR Revise AS Sociology. Heinemann.

And now, onto creating unique characters!

introduction
All people have at least one identity. Identity is something which can come from almost anything, but it is always something which is somehow important to a person. When considering how to create a unique character, I encourage you not to try and come up with a unique history, a unique personality or a unique illness - try and come up with a unique identity. The Oxford Dictionary defines identity as "the fact of being who or what a person or thing is".

There are so many things which contribute to identity that I cannot possibly explain them all in detail here. Consequently, I've written an overview of all the things I can think of off the top of my head pertaining to identity and then described a few of those in detail. In real life identity can be complex and made up of numerous things, and some people have more than one identity. In fact, one theory has it that we take on a different identity for each person or group of people we are around - for example, you may use a different identity at school and at home. For the purpose of writing, however, I would recommend you pick one or two things off this list and focus on those. For a character to be unique, they don't have to be totally different from everyone else. They don't have to be crazy or from some obscure place or have some special power. For a character to have a unique identity, they just need something which is memorable to people as being specific to that character. People want to remember that your character is the one with the small hands, or the Irish one, or the farrier one with the horse obsession. If you make references to something regularly in your posts, you can gradually build up a reputation for your character's identity.

Here are some things which can contribute towards a person's identity:

Age: This is very important, especially for younger people. The great thing about age is that it's never static (unless your character has eternal youth) so you can really evolve and develop it over time. Most people get along better with others of their own age or maturity level.
Gender: Gender is not the same as sex. Sex is determined by biology, while gender is determined by social construct. A character could be biologically male but lean towards the feminine gender.
Ethnicity: In a multi-cultural place like Shaman, this should be hugely important. The importance of skin colour, cultural background and ethnic origins are continuously highlighted in the media (I quote the film Bring It On: "I know you don't think a while girl could have made those moves.") This can be linked with age, since ethnic identity usually means something different to older and younger people.
Sexuality: In modern society, sexuality is very important to identity - especially for men! Both straight and homosexual men use their sexuality as a huge part of their identity.
Appearance: Very important, and not just for girls! Most people can find something wrong with their appearance, and most people also like one or two things about themselves. A confident or arrogant character could focus on an aspect of their appearance they like, while an insecure or shy character might focus on things about themselves that they don't like. Similarly, people use clothing as a way of expressing their identity.
Social class: I can't speak for the rest of the world, but Britain has a (generally agreed) four-class system and social class can be crucial for a person's identity - to the extent where they often won't mingle with people outside of their own class. A person's attitudes and beliefs can help define their class.
Religion: Usually most important to people who have one, but atheism is becoming a distinctive identity nowadays. Religion is a fantastic way of expanding your character. Most people believe in something - if not in a god, then sometimes in ghosts or spirits.
Language: Closely linked with ethnicity. Many people use language as an important part of their identity. English is the dominant language on Shaman, but that doesn't mean it has to be your character's first language.
Species: Probably more relevant to familiars, but can also be relevant for fairies who haven't been fairies their entire lives. It's perfectly possible for your character to have lived life as another creature before coming to Shaman, and adapting to being a fairy could be a crucial part of their identity.
Defects and physical disorders: Can play a big role in identity, and they don't have to be glaringly obvious either. Something as small as an allergy (perhaps hay-fever or Coeliac disease) could be important to a person. Does your character wear glasses? Or perhaps they have a slight hearing disorder which means they can't distinguish sounds easily and have to lip-read in noisy circumstances? If you go down the defect road, don't be tempted by the simple, well-known ones such as "blind" - do your research and come up with something really interesting you can really play around with.
Psychological disorders: I'm always a bit wary of recommending these, because people seem a bit obsessed with them. That said, psychological problems can be important identity factors even if your character doesn't have them. Many people believe that they have a disorder when they actually don't - for example, many perfectionists think that they're OCD, and many shy people think they have social anxiety disorders.
Skills and talents: Can be important even if your character doesn't know what they are yet! You can have a talent in pretty much anything, and it could be something really obscure. What if your character is good at flower arranging, or has a knack for golf? Maybe it really annoys them that they're good at something they think is lame and bad at something they think is awesome.
Personality and morals: Some people have personality traits or morals that they're really proud of - like honesty. For others, an element of their personality could be too huge to overlook - such as arrogance.
Family and friends: Humans (and fairies!) are pack animals. How we behave around others, how others perceive us and how we perceive others is hugely important to us. Many people don't feel comfortable admitting their weaknesses to others unless they're really close with them, so finding ways to overcome weaknesses so as not to lose face in front of friends could be a part of a person's identity. People also play a big role in shaping our experiences and attitudes.

There are, undoubtedly, far more. Those are just a few things you can play around with. Now let's examine a couple of those in detail.

social class
Bear in mind that this is from the perspective of a Brit, and that social class systems vary across the world. There is, however, the same basic structure everywhere you go. A class system is even starting to emerge in Shaman now.

In the UK, there are four basic classes: the underclass, the working class, the middle class and the upper class. The middle class is usually referred to as "the middle classes" since it covers such a wide group of people. Also, there is a valid argument in place for a fifth class, which can be known as the "celebrity class". Many people will only interact with other members of their own class and, while there is social mobility to an extent, many people stay in the same class they are born into for the rest of their lives. There are a number of things which group people of the same class together.

The upper class are the traditional elite, who back in the "olden" days would have been the landowners. It is generally believed that a person cannot enter the upper class, no matter how rich they get, but must be born into it. Wealth is of some importance, but not as much importance as social standing and lineage/breeding. Many of these people are aristocrats who don't need to work because they can live off their inheritance. A Lord is not necessarily rich, however. Members of the upper class are usually highly influential and tend to operate on the "old boy network" (they have good connections and can get what they want through knowing important people rather than being good at something). The upper class enjoy high culture entertainment such as opera and ballet.

The celebrity class or the "new money" are slightly different. Since one cannot join the upper class, there is a problem categorising all the people who are too rich or too high-cultured to be considered part of the middle classes. This usually includes celebrities (such as actors, singers, TV presenters etc) and very rich businessmen. The celebrity or new money class is widely varied and some members of it prefer to identify with the class they were born into. Other members of this class try desperately to get into the upper class.

The middle class is the largest group in the UK, and covers a very wide range of people. One type of middle class is the "white collar worker". Professionals and small business-owners are generally considered middle class. Members of the middle class are future-oriented, so they are generally more inclined to plan ahead than the lower classes. They tend often to save money rather than spend it immediately and are more likely to make investments. For example, when buying a new house a middle class person might consider the neighbourhood where the house is built and how that is likely to affect property value. A good education and quality family time are important to the middle classes. Members of the middle class are more likely to watch documentaries on the television, read their children bedtime stories, have a family meal around the dinner table or sit down with their children to help them with their homework.

The working class is the second largest group in the UK and generally consists of unskilled workers or manual labourers. Masculinity and sexuality are often very important to working class males. Education is usually considered less important, and among working class children it is often considered "uncool" to be intelligent. Working class people are more present-oriented than middle class people, so they are less inclined to save money. They are also usually more concerned with material possessions. A sense of unity and loyalty amongst family and friends is often important in the working class identity, and workers often have an "us and them" approach to their managers. In a working class family, people are more likely to watch soap operas on the television, go on the type of holiday where the adults are separated from the children and eat dinner on laps in front of the television. Working class parents can be interested in their children's education, but if they didn't have good educations themselves or if they work long hours they may struggle to be able to help with homework.

The underclass is also known as the "benefits class". These are the people at the very bottom of the social ladder. As with the upper class, these people are usually born into their situation (although unlike the upper class, it is possible to fall into the underclass) and social mobility is very unlikely. These people are either unemployed or take employment in the lowest, worst paid jobs. They can afford very little and often survive on government help.

As you can see, socio-economic background is important in social classes. However, attitudes are important too. The most important thing in defining class is how you categorise yourself. It's very easy to write a person who has a different amount of money as you - it's another thing entirely to write a person in a different social class with completely different attitudes. Personally, I'm middle class with working class links (my mother is working class and was dragged screaming and kicking into the middle class by my father, who came from a middle class family) so I'm able to write as both middle or working class characters - but I struggle to get into the mind-set of underclass or upper class characters. It can be incredibly challenging.

When you consider your character's socio-economic background, think about their social class and how their attitudes, beliefs, likes, dislikes and skills could be linked to that. For example, research has shown that middle class children are more intelligent than working class children - but is that because working class children don't try as hard (because they consider it "uncool"), or because middle class children have more access to help (as well as from their parents, they may go to a better school or be able to afford private tuition), or perhaps because middle class children get a head-start from all the documentaries they watch at home? Middle class people are often healthier - why? Because they have access to better health care, or because they can afford higher quality food? Socio-economic background and social class has a big impact on a character's life, experiences and personality, so consider it carefully when you create your character.

Remember also that there are good and bad points to each class. Your character doesn't have to have been raised in the gutter to be somehow special or awesome.

ethnicity
Ethnicity adds an amazing dynamic to characters and is something which, I feel, the RPG community doesn't play around with enough. The number of ethnic identities available to you is literally endless because of the number of regional differences and sub-cultures in the world. Ethnic identity is more than just skin colour: the Oxford Dictionary describes ethnicity as "the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition". You could narrow that down to the cultural identity of a specific neighbourhood where someone is from, or widen it out to a national identity. Ethnicity affects language, attitudes and behaviour.

There are far too many ethnicities for me to talk about individually, but I thought I'd run a few generalised cultural norms past you from Britain. British-Chinese families tend to value education very highly, and they also value family and dependence; therefore, divorce rates are lower and children often care for their elders. In Afro-Caribbean families, there is a culture of the men not staying with the women, so a very high proportion of Afro-Caribbean children are raised in female-led single-parent families. In Devon, there is a huge emphasis on caring for the well-being of the young and the old, and on finding happiness in any form. In Hertfordshire, there is a stronger emphasis on ambition, independence and being a high-flier. And that's just Britain! There are many countries with even more cultural identities. In huge places like America, the ethnicity of an American person can vary immensely.

Even in English-speaking countries, the language employed by people of different ethnicities may differ. The differences between British-English, American-English and Australian-English are well-known.

Another thing to consider with ethnicity is dual identities and hybrid identities. Because of multiculturalism, many people have hybrid identities: that is, their cultural identity is a mash of cultures. This may occur in families where people from different nationalities have married and found compromise in a mixed cultural routine. Dual identities more commonly occur in families where the parents are first-generation immigrants to a country and the children are second-generation immigrants. In these cases, the children may have to adopt one identity while at school or with friends, and another while at home with their parents. Some people with dual identities can switch their identity as easily as flicking a switch. This has nothing to do with acting skills and both identities are an honest part of their person, they simply grew up with the two cultures and can adapt to each.

creating the original fairies
As a kind of "this guide in action", I thought I'd run through how I created the original fairies. The originals are not necessarily unique, and they were never intended to be so. The important thing about the originals was that they were unique in respect to each other (no two could be alike) and that they all had big personalities which clashed frequently, similar to the gods of other polytheistic religions - like Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece.

The main identifying feature of the originals is their ethnicity. Each one comes from a specific country, and I try to make those countries as varied as possible. I make a point of reinforcing ethnicity in posts by referring to them as "the Spanish deity" or "the Russian deity", and often have them say a few words in their native tongues. The originals weren't born into those ethnicities (they're all African really) and most of them are somewhat distanced from society, which gives me room to play around with their attitudes. I also actively use stereotyping to reinforce ethnic or cultural elements to their personalities, under the assumption that many of those stereotypes would have been born from the originals themselves.

The other main identifying feature is appearance. All of the originals have different appearances (most of them reflecting their personalities) and can be instantly recognised. Mallos, for example, has forever been associated with black clothing. That has become a part of his identity, is something he is known for and is something very small and simple which makes him a bit unique.

Finally, all of the originals each have a specific personality trait and/or skill which they are known by. Mallos is known for his acting skills and his flirty personality; Aura is known for her intelligence and her insecure personality; Tsi is known for his people skills and his friendly personality; and the list goes on.

Really quite simple when you pick them apart. Obviously, there's more to it than that. The original fairies I've played the most have more developed personalities and histories, and will interact differently with different people... but all of them have two or three underlying focuses which really pin down their personalities and make them a little bit unique. I think that's the key, is just having a couple of things to focus on. Next time you create a character, pick two things off the list up there - perhaps sexuality and social class, or religion and gender - and try to write that character with those elements in mind.

For existing characters, think about what is important to that character. What defines them? What is their identity? A bit of focus and a few references in your posts could make your character unique and memorable.