Forums » RP Discussion » What are your fav character dynamics?

I know we've had a fav themes/elements question, so I hope this isn't too similar! I'm happy to delete this if so haha.

Anyway -- what are some of your favourite character dynamics? I say this as in, a dynamic between two characters, but I'm also interested in hearing about the types of characters people prefer to use, their favourite kind of character development, any juicy info along those lines ☺️

As an addition: do you have a range of characters with diff personalities? Who are your favourites to use, and why? How has their personality changed, over time?

An added bonus: do you have a canon/AU/semi-canon dynamic between your own characters? If so... I'm curious 👀

Awwww yeah, gotta couple of these! I tend to value character dynamics about as much as the plot of an RP itself- I'll give a couple of examples of my most favs, but I will absolutely forget to name a bunch of them. Some are from RPs, some are from my own stories, yada yada.

• CHARACTER NO! CHARACTER YES! - Aka The Obi-Wan Anakin Dynamic (minus the trying to killeach other part). I dunno, something about an older wiser character and a younger and more reckless character teaming up really tickles me the right way, ESPECIALLY if there's proper respect and heartfelt (slowburn) friendship between the two besides the comedic moments. My characters Randle and Sprite, only sane man & reckless fool respectively, are the prime example of this to me. I kinda restructured my entire lore so that they could canonically meet, and it's one of my proudest creative decisions lmao
• PARTNERS IN STUPIDTY CRIME! - You know, two triggerhappy fools butt heads and become a chaotic power duo you do NOT want to stand in the way of. My friend cri86titanium's Burt and Sprite form my favorite example of this. While both complex & fun characters in their own right, they seem to enable each other's reckless nature and fiery tempers, and all their interactions so far have been wonderful and hilarious.
• STUCK TOGETHER, DEAL WITH IT - Okay so this one is quite odd because I happen to have this dynamic with 2 RPs with the person, but they're both very different; both RPs have been massively enjoyable tho, I absolutely love 'em both. I have this 'stuck together whether they like it or not' dynamic with two of my homie Leighoflight's characters: the first one are Kiran & Sprite, where there's this fun dynamic of an absolute sweetheart of a reasonable doctor-man being dragged along through tragedy by a weirdo werewolf, and believe me when I say that they are stuck-stuck, literally everything around them goes about 10 times more wrong than they expect it too, and I love it. Second are Rene and Randle, which is hilarious in its own right because it's literally a cannibal monster & a 'lawful' good detective guy who are forced to set aside their differences, or a big possessed werewolf will murder them. Dunno, I do think these dynamics are really intertwined into the plots as well, but I really enjoy seeing characters that otherwise would have a very different dynamic if their situations weren't shitty being forced to work together and becoming (varying degrees of) friendly with one another.
• ANYTHING WHOLESOME/FOUND FAMILY - A have a lot of these that I don't have to time to go into detail about, but I love it when there's an unproblematic, peaceful and wholesome dynamic between characters. By this I mean stuff like the one romantic pairing I have going within my own crew (Sprite and Artie), as well as younger characters looking up to others (that would be my OC Zero with nearly any good-aligned character, such as my homie cri86's Cris, as well as Cris' kid Reyn playing with 'Woofy', Sprite's Therion form), or just roommate/found family dynamics in general. I like it when characters can be comfortable around one another and induldge in all sorts of casual shit between the misery & heavy action, y'know?

A'righty, think that's about it for now! These were all that I could think off right off the bat. Curious to hear 'bout what everyone else has to say, thanks for opening a thread on this 'cause it really is one of my fav things to RP and read about!

I'm posting using Victi for a reason. ~v^

Nearly unstoppable force and regrettably moveable object: When the voice of reason can't stop the reckless enthusiasm but can at least re-direct that energy along a safer path. Victi is absolutely the nearly unstoppable force to her partner Ni's regrettably moveable object, but she also tends to find a replacement moral compass or voice of reason whenever he's not with her... or at least tries to. Lisa is an anxious mess afraid of some of her own powers. Victi is addicted to both adrenaline and magic use. Lisa also has another nearly unstoppable force already, who does NOT need to be enabled by magical support.

Zoomy and Zoomier: Again typically Victi-related for me, but when someone who is usually the allegedly reckless and wild one (In this case Victi) is forced to show that they do actually know what they're doing when they do things that seem risky because they've found someone EVEN MORE prone to it who isn't as well equipped. Usually the result is less Zoomy stopping Zoomier and more Zoomy suggesting the slightly less risky but still fun path to Zoomier. Or at least saying "Okay, but what if we make sure we know what kind of trap it is before we walk into it, because we do TOTALLY need to walk into it!"

Rekindling the Fire: Not something I have going on right now, but when a younger or more in-prime character is able to help someone who retired or withdrew from the wild life to dive back into it for a bit, if just one last time, and have fun with it. A young adventurer helping someone older pick up that sword again, even if they'll need to rest their back later, the peppy "girl in the tower"-archetype helping the world-weary wanderer to see the beauty around them again, or anything like that!

Oh no, now there's two of them: Some people should never be allowed to meet. They're similar in all the worst ways.... but wow is it fun to watch the chaos. In the case of the linked characters, most recent scene between them involved Ziktia jamming a dagger into Vincent's skull while Vincent bites her hand off. Don't worry, they'll both get better. Unfortunately for Vincent, Ziktia probably considers this friendship.

The Lost Friendly Alien/Out of Context Toolbox: TFW someone from another world asks to crash on your couch. This is kinda my fave. Letting characters with WILDLY different backgrounds and abilities learn to get along and enjoy the options their new friends offer in solving problems is REALLY FUN. I have a LOT of RPs where this happens because I like it as a character interaction starter and I like mixing skill sets in different settings to make all the options, but it's usually either caused by Victi ending up places or by Water/Liqui exploring or getting summoned by people.

Ee thanks everyone!! I'm loving reading these. I'll drop a few of my own in here too!

The Cynic and the Sunshine - this is my guilty pleasure. I know it's an old chestnut, but I enjoy it. I've had a lot of practice since I have a certain someone that seems to attract bubbly characters... much to his annoyance. I've had a few really brilliant RP partners on here regarding this one, too - who, admittedly, I'm ETERNALLY sorry for ghosting when my mental health crashed. Anyway, I digress; this doesn't have to be a romance dynamic, but I'm a big softie for it when it is. Doesn't always have to be positive, either - perhaps the Sunshine has had enough of the Cynic's shit, and their change in mood is enough to cause the Cynic pause for the first time. Or perhaps the Cynic, upon pushing, manages to hurt and push away the Sunshine... only to realise they kind of got used to having them around. That is to say... oh, they don't miss that thorn in their side... do they? Surely not. But... oh, no.

Platonic Life Partners/Found Family - totally agree with this one, Garnaal! I'm a sucker for found family with characters. Especially if they're very different to one another, but still get along and help each other be better. My very, very favourite pair to play using this trope is my two / idiots simply because I love the contrast of, "anxious empath who just wants to be useful and cared about" and "depressed metalhead drunkard who would happily die for this ray of sunshine". Can be with shipping or without... I tend to be very cheeky and enjoy blurring the line juuust a little with my guys. Only because Jack has a crush 😂

Slow-Burn Character Relationships - a bit of a nebulous one, but these are my top fav. I've mainly had this with old friends in the past, in RPs that have spanned literal years. There's just something about building a relationship between charas that's genuine and seems real, and doing it over time. This can be in-RP time or real time, but I'm a fan of enemies-to-friends. Sol in particular has had a certain few people that he's started out hating, only for them to become a pseudosibling, or in one case something like a very problematic, adopted son. Either way, complex and changing chara dynamics are 10/10 every time for me!

I also do agree with you there, AvitraThePhoenix, when it comes to the Lost Friendly Alien dynamic - I'm doing one of those sorts of RPs at the moment, with a very talented writer! It's genuinely been my favourite, simply because it's fascinating seeing how their characters react to the world they find themselves in - and my own characters, too. It's been a ton of fun so far, and I'm absolutely hooked at every reply, so I think that's a good sign 😂

In general? I love opposites. Light/dark, intuitive/thinking, stable/wounded, introvert/extrovert, the flirt/the oblivious, lawful/criminal, sunny/rain cloud, refined/uncouth- you name it; be it through upbringing, interest, aesthetics, background, I don't care. Characters that sit on one spectrum, but thrive on wildly different ends of that spectrum is what I live for, they're so much fun to write.

Pretty much all the tropes/dynamics stated in the posts above, are my kind of thing, especially the Friendly Alien one. E.T. eat your heart out. I play monsters, so I love when a strange bunch of OCs get tossed into a bowl and mixed around, and are left to deal with each other. I have a ongoing roleplay (that I need to respond to, I'm sorry Sky, my little raccoon fingers are all rusty 😭) like this and it's been loads of fun.

Which leads into a few other dynamics I really like:

Magical and Mundane. It's just funny? I mean I don't really know what to say about it. The idea of a supernatural creature teaming up with a literal dude, never ceases to make chuckle. How'd they get to this point? They don't know, they're just vibing with it. It can be kind of cute too if played right.

Mortal and Immortal. There is just something so beautifully tragic about having one character who has traversed the world, lived through it's high and low points, and watches everything and everyone change while they stay virtually untouched by the passage of time; meanwhile they are stuck with someone that they know will wither, and they will one day lose. Despite this, they acknowledge that their time spent together is worthwhile, although very temporary- which makes it all the more beautiful. Sort of like a highlander thing. In a way, the characters are unobtainable and untouchable.

I can't help but regurgitate this one, but found family is wonderful too, and a big favorite. The take on a traditional family, but with the roles filled with non-traditional people, is super cute. I love seeing a little group of misfits that found each other and collectively went "you're just as freaky as I am, and I think that's wonderful". This probably explains my adoration for disgruntled old shelter dogs men, and my habit of writing nurturing "mom" or "big sister" characters (while occasionally channeling "grandpa")

Another thing I especially adore, is when characters can learn from each other- like when you can tell one is in their element and the other takes an avid interest. This could even be played up with values and morals. I play a lot of characters that are "out of touch", and are morally questionable (though they try to do the right thing.... sometimes) in some way or another, and it's so much fun when they can discover something new through another character. I want to see them notice a struggle and go "it's okay, I'll teach you how, let's learn together". I wouldn't call it mentor and mentee, but it's along the same line of thought, just much more broad.

Now, as for my favorite kind of character development? It ranges from gritty trauma, to the more tame, like discovering something new. If we're talking about character development in terms of character relationships? Uh. The same, but with the addition of quiet talks. There is something so special there, and rewarding. It's like a little side quest in a game- you've put in the work to befriend a character, and now they want to just have a quiet chat. It also provides a nice timeline to reflect on how much the characters have grown, and how much they have changed because of each other.

I do have canon dynamics with my OC's, since literally all of them are connected in some way! But my brain is string cheese at the moment so I can't cover all of them coherently; especially since they vary a lot in personality (they're like spaghetti thrown to the wall, they range from eldritch entities to dumpster fire, degenerate demons, and phantom kids- a general mess). But, to be brief, their primary dynamics are either: partner in crime, guardian/guide, (psuedo) mother/daughter/sister, symbiotic, or (with those that have met in passing) a person of interest.

I love how Found Family has already been mentioned.

Also: Loner/dour guy with energetic/upbeat little girl is a good one for wholesome stuff.

So almost all my favourite pairings (romantic or not) have some element of... both of these characters have some unique characteristic that isolates them, right? And it doesn't matter if they're truly alone (they can be super social people!), but they are deeply lonely nonetheless. And they find each other, and they deeply misunderstand that specific characteristic in one another (they look different, manifests differently, but inherently the same), UNTIL THEY DON'T AND THEY KISS (or not, or whatever, point is they're not alone anymore).

Extra points if they're otherwise drastically different in personalities, because that's fun.

Lends itself neatly into both found family and slow burn stories.

Note: Not all of these have to be romantic in nature.

• Monster/freak/eldritch being who cannot navigate society alone x similarly effed up person who's got it all under relative control. Love it. Peak. Absolutely cannot be topped for me. My character Ambrose is in this sort of relationship with his partner, Alexios.
• Warlock x Paladin. Ambrose and Alexios, once again.
• Emotionally unregulated in an emotional way x Emotionally unregulated in a repressed way.
• Artificial intelligence x Creator (toxic). So fun. I'm honestly into any situation of AI interacting with a non-AI.
• Artificial intelligence who thinks organic beings are absolutely disgusting x AI who longs to fit in with organic beings.
• Artificial intelligence x Anybody, seriously, I just love exploring sentience and the evolution of--or entire lack of--"emotions" or something resembling them.
• CLOOOOOOONES. I love clones. Especially if the cloning was done against the cloned person's will, or if the clone wishes they could be anything but a clone. Metal Gear Solid didn't instill this love in me, but it certainly expanded upon it.
• Good old fashioned rivalry/enemies to lovers/enemies to enemies that are attracted to each other. My OCs Ambrose and Crania hate the hell out of each other, but before Ambrose met Alexios, the two warlocks had some chemistry, much to both of their chagrin.

Very fun exercise...why do I not have an AI character??? What is wrong with me???