Forums » RP Discussion » Collaborative OC: reformed dictator-turned-baker

Welcome to my Collaborative OC Event thread! When thinking of ideas, the first thing that popped into my head was hey, a reformed authoritarian dictator who now runs a small bakery would be really funny, so here I am.

The premise for this character is simple: the dictator of a fictional militaristic nation got tired of bossing people around, and decided to pursue his life-long dream of owning a small bakery. Other than that, I don’t really have anything planned. I’d like for him to be somewhat physically intimidating for the lolz, but don’t have anything in particular in mind. My biggest thing with him is that I’d love to lean into the juxtaposition between Big Scary Dictator Man and Lovable Teddy Bear Baker Man.

Some jumping off prompts:

i. What does he look like? What does he usually wear while baking? Cute aprons are a must!
ii. What’s his favorite thing to bake? What’s his least favorite?
iii. Does he have a significant other? Does he have any other important family members? I’m thinking him with a young daughter would be cute.
iv. And, of course, what’s his name?

Feel free to answer these questions, share ideas of your own, and just do some character building with me!

So my immediate first thought when reading the title was... silly cake hat that looks like either a cake or cupcake with colourful fake icing and sprinkles. And then I thought "maybe the character has a kid who made/bought the hat for their parent?" which actually fits with your idea of him having a kid.
I think he has a lot of cute aprons with different fun designs, and he either has a very strict schedule (like one apron for every day of the week, some only for special occasions/holidays, etc) OR he takes a very long time every day deciding which is the perfect apron to wear. Either way, his kid and his partner like to surprise him with new aprons every so often. He deserves one with cartoon monkeys on it, and one with gingerbread people, and one with cupcakes with faces, and one with colourful pies...
For the intimidating part, he's probably very tall (at least 6'4") and muscular, very good at carrying around big bags of flour and sugar... and his kid... and his partner.
Let his kid paint his nails and convince him to dye his hair funky colours.
Also, whoever his partner is, they probably work at the bakery too. Maybe they're very artistic and they love to decorate all the cakes, cookies, and everything? And the kid likes to as well, but isn't very good at it quite yet because they're like 4-6ish.
Also I don't know if you were planning to make them human and/or people who live on earth, but I like the idea of them being somekind of humanoid aliens and having their bakery be almost like a little space station in a convenient location, so people can visit it on their space travels. Maybe it's even portable. (This could still work if they're humans of course, but if you'd rather keep them on Earth that's fair.)
Maybe something cliche and cute like the partner and kid being his reason for changing his dictator-y ways? Or maybe they came after he stopped being a dictator.
Aaaaand that's all I got for now.

He strikes me as looking like a Mike Haggar from Final Fight type, just huge. Tall, muscular, big thick mustache. Looks ready to just grab people in one hand each and throw them outside if they start any nonsense in his bakery. And then he's very soft spoken in normal conversation, jovial and kind.

His first apron started out as a very straightforward utilitarian white apron but over time has been repaired with cute patches picked out by his daughter, unicorns and dragons and the like in a variety of colors, and she's also drawn on it when he wasn't looking so it's very much not white anymore. I love the idea from MothGremlin about having several different ones as well, daily aprons is a must!

I'm terrible with names but maybe he's an Anton.

Firstborn son of the previous dictator, which made him the natural heir to the throne (or office, whatever is appropriate.) He has the blood of a tyrant running through his veins, and can be given to fits of perfectionism that his employees find a bit trying, sometimes demanding that the cookies all be remade if they didn't come out exactly right.

It was a foregone conclusion when he was born that he would be the next leader, and he did his honest best, going through all of the martial arts training, political tutoring, lessons on ruthlessness, etc. that his parents of course heaped on him. But the pressure, everyone looking up to him, was too much, and he found that despite his impressive physique he suffered from stress asthma. Of course this "flaw" was a great shame and his family did their best to cover it up. One day he had to duck out of an official event, fleeing the palace ballroom, in order to conceal how much labor it was for him to breathe. He ducked into the kitchen to hide, and there, saw the head chef putting the final touches on the tarts that were to be served that evening. The head chef took pity on him and put him to work kneading bread for tomorrow's breakfast, and he discovered that the repetitive motions actually soothed his anxiety in a way that nothing else could. Visiting the kitchens before he had to do anything public became a ritual for him, but he never thought it would be anything more than a hobby, of course...

But when his parents passed and he took the office, the pressure just kept mounting, and things kept getting worse. He had to fake his death to let his younger sibling take over, and fled the palace with just enough cash to start his own bakery.

He has shaved, changed his hairstyle, and not only does he like the cutesy aesthetic of his new job, he is leaning into it as HARD as he can so no one will suspect (despite his great bulk) that he's the erstwhile dictator.

Hope some of those ideas vibe for you!