My favorite technique for fully fleshing out a character's personality is to treat them like a villain and think, "if this character turned evil, why would they be evil and what kind of villain would they be?" Because in my opinion, nothing says more about a person than their breaking point.
I'd love to see you guys try this with your characters, especially the ones that are designed to be righteous heroes.
Here's an example using two sister characters of mine:
The older sister
Craves:
To be understood and finally meet someone who can fully empathize with her past experiences and avoidant attitude.
To be given a chance rather than have people assume bad things about her because she's a demon with a punk-like appearance.
To have luxuries and relax instead of constantly worrying about work, stability, and whether or not she can afford something.
Resents:
Her responsibilities and always being looked up to as the "leader".
Her sister's freedom to make mistakes and act childish.
Her sister's natural purity and ability to draw people in.
Regrets:
Her past decisions, particularly her criminal past and every time she pushed people away or played in to demon stereotypes.
Is tempted to:
To rebel
To hate
To destroy
To be greedy
To free her "demonic nature"
As a villain, she would:
Show no mercy.
Make others suffer the way she suffered.
Take what she thinks she deserves.
Opt for a "slow kill".
The younger sister
Craves:
To have control over her own life rather than always being influenced and manipulated by other people.
To have independence from her sister and to feel like an individual who doesn't need to rely on others.
To be recognized for her capabilities and skills rather than always being taken at face-value.
Resents:
Coming second to her sister in everything and being treated as less strong and capable because of her feminine nature.
Having her opinions, thoughts, and ideas dismissed in favor of her sister's thoughts and ideas, even by her friends.
Having so many friends but so few genuine, deep connections and only being treated like either a diary or a "potential mate".
Regrets:
Her losses, particularly losing her parents and losing her few close friends in favor of popularity.
Is tempted to:
To hate.
To destroy.
To over-throw.
To feel superior.
To seek power, regardless of its source or the path to it.
As a villain, she would:
Strip power and authority from others.
Force obedience, recognition, and worship.
Seek out complete and utter superiority.
Kill off those who resist without hesitation.
Both:
Hate the world for taking the irreplaceable; their innocence, their childhood, their family.
Show me your character's dark sides!
I'd love to see you guys try this with your characters, especially the ones that are designed to be righteous heroes.
Here's an example using two sister characters of mine:
Character introductions
The younger one is very sweet, dainty, and specializes in holy/light magic. She's, social and has an easier time making friends than her sister, and her raw magical ability is admirable. People often think she's the less "mature" sister, but her emotional stability, patience, and ability to cheer people up is all that keeps her older sister going.
The older one was adopted into the family. She's a demon who specializes in dark and fire magic, but I always say she's more like a candle flame. Warm and mild, yet keeps people at a distance. She's quiet, responsible, and a leader. In this world, demons aren't considered evil anymore but there are still some negative stigmas surrounding them and their association with highly destructive magic.
The two sisters run a business together making enchanted goods. The older sister is a mechanic of sorts. She's well-versed with technology and has been running the business since their parents passed when she was 16 and her younger sister was 10. The business thrived once they reached their 20's, but before then it was a constant struggle against poverty. It should be noted that the older sister lived in poverty before she was adopted. She hopped from one foster home to the next and scarcely settled down long enough to form attachments. She eventually ditched the system to live on the streets (until she met her sister-to-be, of course).
The younger one is very sweet, dainty, and specializes in holy/light magic. She's, social and has an easier time making friends than her sister, and her raw magical ability is admirable. People often think she's the less "mature" sister, but her emotional stability, patience, and ability to cheer people up is all that keeps her older sister going.
The older one was adopted into the family. She's a demon who specializes in dark and fire magic, but I always say she's more like a candle flame. Warm and mild, yet keeps people at a distance. She's quiet, responsible, and a leader. In this world, demons aren't considered evil anymore but there are still some negative stigmas surrounding them and their association with highly destructive magic.
The two sisters run a business together making enchanted goods. The older sister is a mechanic of sorts. She's well-versed with technology and has been running the business since their parents passed when she was 16 and her younger sister was 10. The business thrived once they reached their 20's, but before then it was a constant struggle against poverty. It should be noted that the older sister lived in poverty before she was adopted. She hopped from one foster home to the next and scarcely settled down long enough to form attachments. She eventually ditched the system to live on the streets (until she met her sister-to-be, of course).
The older sister
Craves:
To be understood and finally meet someone who can fully empathize with her past experiences and avoidant attitude.
To be given a chance rather than have people assume bad things about her because she's a demon with a punk-like appearance.
To have luxuries and relax instead of constantly worrying about work, stability, and whether or not she can afford something.
Resents:
Her responsibilities and always being looked up to as the "leader".
Her sister's freedom to make mistakes and act childish.
Her sister's natural purity and ability to draw people in.
Regrets:
Her past decisions, particularly her criminal past and every time she pushed people away or played in to demon stereotypes.
Is tempted to:
To rebel
To hate
To destroy
To be greedy
To free her "demonic nature"
As a villain, she would:
Show no mercy.
Make others suffer the way she suffered.
Take what she thinks she deserves.
Opt for a "slow kill".
The younger sister
Craves:
To have control over her own life rather than always being influenced and manipulated by other people.
To have independence from her sister and to feel like an individual who doesn't need to rely on others.
To be recognized for her capabilities and skills rather than always being taken at face-value.
Resents:
Coming second to her sister in everything and being treated as less strong and capable because of her feminine nature.
Having her opinions, thoughts, and ideas dismissed in favor of her sister's thoughts and ideas, even by her friends.
Having so many friends but so few genuine, deep connections and only being treated like either a diary or a "potential mate".
Regrets:
Her losses, particularly losing her parents and losing her few close friends in favor of popularity.
Is tempted to:
To hate.
To destroy.
To over-throw.
To feel superior.
To seek power, regardless of its source or the path to it.
As a villain, she would:
Strip power and authority from others.
Force obedience, recognition, and worship.
Seek out complete and utter superiority.
Kill off those who resist without hesitation.
Both:
Hate the world for taking the irreplaceable; their innocence, their childhood, their family.
Show me your character's dark sides!
Craves:
-Attention
-Love
-A new life
Resents:
-Her mother's torture upon her.
-Girls who have loving boyfriends
-Her father for leaving her
-Court (due to a traumatic experience of testifying against her mother and being attacked).
Regrets:
-Living
-Not being perfect
-Going to court
Is tempted to:
-Kill
-Torture
-Abuse
-Take her own life
As a villian she would:
-Murder
-Steal
-Taunt children
-Burn down courtrooms
-Burn down boarding schools
-Attention
-Love
-A new life
Resents:
-Her mother's torture upon her.
-Girls who have loving boyfriends
-Her father for leaving her
-Court (due to a traumatic experience of testifying against her mother and being attacked).
Regrets:
-Living
-Not being perfect
-Going to court
Is tempted to:
-Kill
-Torture
-Abuse
-Take her own life
As a villian she would:
-Murder
-Steal
-Taunt children
-Burn down courtrooms
-Burn down boarding schools
Craves:
-Balance
-Order
-Bursts of escapism from both of the above
Resents:
- Those who abuse their station
- Those who abuse his trust
Regrets:
+ Misplaced trust and loyalty
- Wasted time
Is tempted by:
+ Vampiric instinct
- territoriality
- hunger
- Wrath
As a villain he would:
- become obsessed with keeping his clan safe, at any cost
- resent humankind, as opposed to attempting an establishment of coexistence
-Balance
-Order
-Bursts of escapism from both of the above
Resents:
- Those who abuse their station
- Those who abuse his trust
Regrets:
+ Misplaced trust and loyalty
- Wasted time
Is tempted by:
+ Vampiric instinct
- territoriality
- hunger
- Wrath
As a villain he would:
- become obsessed with keeping his clan safe, at any cost
- resent humankind, as opposed to attempting an establishment of coexistence
Craves:
- Peace
- Happiness
- Company
Resents:
-God
- Cancer for taking his leg, for taking his mother, for taking his friends on the wards and for trying to kill him a second time
Regrets:
-Hurting his family by giving up
- Not pushing to let his mother die at home instead of in hospital
Is tempted to:
-force his beliefs on others
- Spit in the face of god
- punch bigots and facists
- Indulge his blood lust (Vampire)
As a villian He would:
convince himself he was doing righteous work, for the greater good. Comit attrocities and violations of human rights by banning religion, dictating how people behave and clamping down hard on "undesirable" behaviours.
He'd be a dictator with delusions of grandeur, believing so sincerely he was doing "good work" while he oppresses people's freedoms and liberties.
- Peace
- Happiness
- Company
Resents:
-God
- Cancer for taking his leg, for taking his mother, for taking his friends on the wards and for trying to kill him a second time
Regrets:
-Hurting his family by giving up
- Not pushing to let his mother die at home instead of in hospital
Is tempted to:
-force his beliefs on others
- Spit in the face of god
- punch bigots and facists
- Indulge his blood lust (Vampire)
As a villian He would:
convince himself he was doing righteous work, for the greater good. Comit attrocities and violations of human rights by banning religion, dictating how people behave and clamping down hard on "undesirable" behaviours.
He'd be a dictator with delusions of grandeur, believing so sincerely he was doing "good work" while he oppresses people's freedoms and liberties.
Craves:
- love
- affection
- an easy life
Resents:
-His sister
- His parents because he knows they'd never believe him
- The world for not giving him an easier time
Regrets:
- His sister and not being strong enough to stop her
- Never telling anyone
- The way his relationships always end
- Not making more of his life
Is tempted to:
- get revenge, twisted awful revenge.
- hurt himself
- take it out on other people
- Lie
As a villian he would:
Use his power of charisma to get anything and everything he desired.
women, power, money, all of it.
- love
- affection
- an easy life
Resents:
-His sister
- His parents because he knows they'd never believe him
- The world for not giving him an easier time
Regrets:
- His sister and not being strong enough to stop her
- Never telling anyone
- The way his relationships always end
- Not making more of his life
Is tempted to:
- get revenge, twisted awful revenge.
- hurt himself
- take it out on other people
- Lie
As a villian he would:
Use his power of charisma to get anything and everything he desired.
women, power, money, all of it.
Very interesting characters so far!
I'm working on making this character into a 'connected guy', if you know what I'm saying. It could be good for me to flesh this out. This could also be a good place to spot like minded characters.
Craves:
Money
Power
Respect
Love
Resents:
Those who get to live in a safe world of peace
Those who have everything handed to them
The people in power who profit off the world and the less fortunate
Regrets:
Not getting married
Letting his anger constantly get the best of him
Having to hurt anybody he's told to, especially when they're former associates
Is tempted to:
Break off from the Lazios and start his own famiglia
Take his money and dissappear
As a villain he would:
Recruit good people and turn them into villians
Extort, rob and do all the dirty work
Make lots of profit
Find a neighborhood to run like an Empire
Craves:
Money
Power
Respect
Love
Resents:
Those who get to live in a safe world of peace
Those who have everything handed to them
The people in power who profit off the world and the less fortunate
Regrets:
Not getting married
Letting his anger constantly get the best of him
Having to hurt anybody he's told to, especially when they're former associates
Is tempted to:
Break off from the Lazios and start his own famiglia
Take his money and dissappear
As a villain he would:
Recruit good people and turn them into villians
Extort, rob and do all the dirty work
Make lots of profit
Find a neighborhood to run like an Empire
I'm leaving out Ghaurug because he already is a villain. There's more to him than just a dark side, but he lives a life where his dark side is up front, if that makes any sense. This is a good character building exercise though, so I hope nobody minds if I do this for all of my other characters.
Cchaaneh
Craves:
Craves:
- Knowledge, especially the kind one gains from experience.
- To make a lasting, visible difference in the world in which they live. Particularly one involving sweeping social reform among their people. They also want to survive the process.
- Exciting new experiences, and exciting new people to share them with.
- Those among their people with psychic powers, as they lack any themself.
- Being treated like they aren't good enough for the sciences, even a "less rigorous" science like xenoanthropology, because of their caste.
- The threat to their own life posed by their avenue of research.
- The backwards views of their people that they believe are holding their civilization back.
- Quit their self-imposed mission of exposing the lies of the xenophobic establishment and retreat into the seductive safety of obscurity, despite forever shaming themself in the public eye and losing whatever credibility they have in the process.
- Alternatively, throw caution to the wind (even more than they already have) and become an active and public champion of their cause, likely becoming a martyr in the process.
- As a third option, give in to the pressure to conform, quit their cause, and rather than hanging their head in defeat, become the kind of person they were fighting against. Especially the part where they eat aliens.
- Possibility A:
- Fight for their cause by becoming the monster they are made out to be.
- Bomb processing facilities, meat factories, and other symbols of alien oppression in the Imperium, killing guilty and innocent alike.
- Destroy anyone who would dare to stand in their way, even if they were on the same side.
- Do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals.
- Possibility B:
- Give in to the enemy and become the monster they were trying to fight.
- Use their knowledge of the other side to most effectively counter and destroy their efforts to enact positive change in the Imperium.
- Destroy anyone who would dare stand in their way, even if they once shared the same vision.
- Do whatever it takes to accomplish their goals.
Mia
Craves:
Craves:
- The attention of the adults in her life.
- Being exalted in the eyes of her eldritch deities.
- The life of a magical girl, full of action and friendship and kicking bad guys' butts.
- Her parents, for:
- Leaving her behind in the mortal world while their souls were sent straight to the sides of the gods.
- Doing the bare minimum required of them to raise her while they were alive.
- Not leaving behind any familiar sort of support system, and instead letting near-strangers pick up their slack.
- Obey the otherworldly voices that whisper in her mind, no matter what they tell her to do.
- Throw herself into danger, fighting violent criminals and villains like a "real" magical girl.
- Fight the other magical girls in her city for glory and territory.
- Act out, both in her regular life and as a magical girl, in her desperation for any sort of attention.
- Sow chaos and destruction with her unnatural powers at the whims of those outer gods with more malevolent intentions towards humanity.
- Hold a very twisted and unrealistic view of virtue and justice, and seriously hurt or even kill anyone who didn't meet her standards.
- Go as public as possible with her magical persona, engaging in flashy and very visible battles and basking in the attention of the media and law enforcement as they tried to bring her to justice.
Kai
Craves:
Craves:
- A cure for her vampirism.
- Human blood and fear, though she hates herself for it.
- A peaceful life, one where she never needs to worry about basic necessities.
- Knowledge and learning.
- The stalker who turned her into a vampire, both for what he did to her and for cutting off her ability to pursue higher education and get on with her life goals.
- The circumstances in her life that have kept her from achieving her full potential (poverty, parental neglect, vampirism, etc.).
- The dark urges that accompany her new condition, particularly her perverse delight in inflicting mortal terror upon her prey.
- Give in to the monster inside her, gorging herself on mortal blood with wild abandon and terrorizing her city.
- Give up on mastering her vampirism and turning herself in to the proper authorities, to be dealt with however they see fit.
- Kill the man who stalked and turned her.
- Do whatever it takes to find a cure, regardless of the cost.
- Give herself over to her vampirism entirely, leaving any semblance of humanity behind.
- Hunt mortals like animals and delight in their fear before feasting on their blood, then wipe their memories or kill them.
- Use her vampiric glamors to charm and enthrall her way into a position of great power and influence.
That's very interesting thread!
Craves:
- To walk again
- To deal with his PTSD
- To return to the army
- Piece of mind
- His team back
Resents:
- People who don't take responsibility for their actions
- Spoiled people
- People who don't obey their superiors, when they don't have enough experience in a certain situation
- Liars, cheaters, lazy people
- His PTSD
Regrets:
- The death of his team
- Letting the PTSD control him
- What he turned into
- Some things he had done on deployments
Is tempted to:
- It's very hard for him to deal with the loss of his team, the PTSD and the fact that he is wheelchair bound now. He is always under pressure and has suicidal thoughts, so he is quite tempted to end his misery.
As a villain he would:
- I imagine him in a sci-fi setting with an exoskeleton, so he could walk. After that, I see him trying to improve his physical abilities to almost dangerous levels and gather a team of mercenaries, train them and try to somehow (by bloodshed) overthrow the system and end the wars. He'd think he is doing a good thing, but in reality he is still just mindlessly killing and had gone insane. You know like those villains who believe that they're serving justice, but in reality they're just inflicting pain and making chaos.
Craves:
- To walk again
- To deal with his PTSD
- To return to the army
- Piece of mind
- His team back
Resents:
- People who don't take responsibility for their actions
- Spoiled people
- People who don't obey their superiors, when they don't have enough experience in a certain situation
- Liars, cheaters, lazy people
- His PTSD
Regrets:
- The death of his team
- Letting the PTSD control him
- What he turned into
- Some things he had done on deployments
Is tempted to:
- It's very hard for him to deal with the loss of his team, the PTSD and the fact that he is wheelchair bound now. He is always under pressure and has suicidal thoughts, so he is quite tempted to end his misery.
As a villain he would:
- I imagine him in a sci-fi setting with an exoskeleton, so he could walk. After that, I see him trying to improve his physical abilities to almost dangerous levels and gather a team of mercenaries, train them and try to somehow (by bloodshed) overthrow the system and end the wars. He'd think he is doing a good thing, but in reality he is still just mindlessly killing and had gone insane. You know like those villains who believe that they're serving justice, but in reality they're just inflicting pain and making chaos.
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