Hello everyone, this is my first post here. So, I normally stay away from cliches, but I do have one edgelord character in another forum roleplaying site. I'm trying to rework him and make him less edgy, but he is edgy by default. What are your guys suggestions and tips on writing edgy characters without making them cliche or just dumb?
Ehh, I think developing them by that fleshing their backstory would help greatly which would made sense why he's the way he's now.
For example I wouldn't call edgy character if it was done not for shock value but it had sense, for example they lived in rural area where law was almost non-existent or law-enforcing were either powerless to gangs or simply corrupted.
In that case writing them out via role-play or what ever you do is really great for them, just show they're humans and not dolls which are chewed by 'dog'
Anyway cliches aren't bad so don't worry about them other than that make what you think is right or you would enjoy the most.
For example I wouldn't call edgy character if it was done not for shock value but it had sense, for example they lived in rural area where law was almost non-existent or law-enforcing were either powerless to gangs or simply corrupted.
In that case writing them out via role-play or what ever you do is really great for them, just show they're humans and not dolls which are chewed by 'dog'
Anyway cliches aren't bad so don't worry about them other than that make what you think is right or you would enjoy the most.
Thanks for the quick response and good advice. Yeah, fleshing out his backstory is a definite must. I also think I'm gonna make him slightly less confrontational. I think I'm also just kind of bad at playing an edgy character so he might be a bit too intense at times, which is something I'm trying to cut back on.
It depends of what kind of edgy this character is and what are you willing to do. There are three techniques I like to use.
First, the satire: Make the edginess of the character something funny, examples of this are Alucard in the netflix adaptation of Castlevania, Kirito in the abridged version of SAO by "something witty entertainment" and the protagonist of the korean novel "dungeon defense"
Some explore this subject to a more exaggerated degree than others, but the core principle remains the same. The edgelord personality as a source of humor.
Second is what i like to call, the cardboard figure. Take a two dimensional character and adapt them just enough to make them three dimensional. For example, the edgelord is not only an edgelord, is a a man struggling with a crippling depression he doesn't know how to handle do to the way he was raised, believing it to be a source of weakness. Explore into that with inner monologues and make him commit mistakes for it. There are other more diverse ways to do this, as an edgelord that is actually a pretty nice guy with communication issues, an edgelord with autism that act that way because it looks cool in his head and so on and so forth.
Third is the overkill. Take the edgelord and make him go ALL the way. He is not only an edgelord, is a horrible human being with psychopathic tendencies and a potential danger to everyone around him. Break the boundaries and explore what an actual edglord would be, a monster in human skin.
First, the satire: Make the edginess of the character something funny, examples of this are Alucard in the netflix adaptation of Castlevania, Kirito in the abridged version of SAO by "something witty entertainment" and the protagonist of the korean novel "dungeon defense"
Some explore this subject to a more exaggerated degree than others, but the core principle remains the same. The edgelord personality as a source of humor.
Second is what i like to call, the cardboard figure. Take a two dimensional character and adapt them just enough to make them three dimensional. For example, the edgelord is not only an edgelord, is a a man struggling with a crippling depression he doesn't know how to handle do to the way he was raised, believing it to be a source of weakness. Explore into that with inner monologues and make him commit mistakes for it. There are other more diverse ways to do this, as an edgelord that is actually a pretty nice guy with communication issues, an edgelord with autism that act that way because it looks cool in his head and so on and so forth.
Third is the overkill. Take the edgelord and make him go ALL the way. He is not only an edgelord, is a horrible human being with psychopathic tendencies and a potential danger to everyone around him. Break the boundaries and explore what an actual edglord would be, a monster in human skin.
Drink wrote:
It depends of what kind of edgy this character is and what are you willing to do. There are three techniques I like to use.
First, the satire: Make the edginess of the character something funny, examples of this are Alucard in the netflix adaptation of Castlevania, Kirito in the abridged version of SAO by "something witty entertainment" and the protagonist of the korean novel "dungeon defense"
Some explore this subject to a more exaggerated degree than others, but the core principle remains the same. The edgelord personality as a source of humor.
Second is what i like to call, the cardboard figure. Take a two dimensional character and adapt them just enough to make them three dimensional. For example, the edgelord is not only an edgelord, is a a man struggling with a crippling depression he doesn't know how to handle do to the way he was raised, believing it to be a source of weakness. Explore into that with inner monologues and make him commit mistakes for it. There are other more diverse ways to do this, as an edgelord that is actually a pretty nice guy with communication issues, an edgelord with autism that act that way because it looks cool in his head and so on and so forth.
Third is the overkill. Take the edgelord and make him go ALL the way. He is not only an edgelord, is a horrible human being with psychopathic tendencies and a potential danger to everyone around him. Break the boundaries and explore what an actual edglord would be, a monster in human skin.
First, the satire: Make the edginess of the character something funny, examples of this are Alucard in the netflix adaptation of Castlevania, Kirito in the abridged version of SAO by "something witty entertainment" and the protagonist of the korean novel "dungeon defense"
Some explore this subject to a more exaggerated degree than others, but the core principle remains the same. The edgelord personality as a source of humor.
Second is what i like to call, the cardboard figure. Take a two dimensional character and adapt them just enough to make them three dimensional. For example, the edgelord is not only an edgelord, is a a man struggling with a crippling depression he doesn't know how to handle do to the way he was raised, believing it to be a source of weakness. Explore into that with inner monologues and make him commit mistakes for it. There are other more diverse ways to do this, as an edgelord that is actually a pretty nice guy with communication issues, an edgelord with autism that act that way because it looks cool in his head and so on and so forth.
Third is the overkill. Take the edgelord and make him go ALL the way. He is not only an edgelord, is a horrible human being with psychopathic tendencies and a potential danger to everyone around him. Break the boundaries and explore what an actual edglord would be, a monster in human skin.
Thanks for the response. He is definitely the second. A deep down nice guy who just can't/doesn't let himself trust people. I'm trying to make him less confrontational and more... tired I guess. The gist of him is that he went through something horrible which scarred his psyche and changed his life, and is now trying to prevent people from experiencing similar things, but to do that he has to hurt himself mentally even further and I'm trying to represent that more.
Hmm if you think you would handle dark fantasy then Berserk manga is your go to.
I think I'll just be repeating what others have said in another way, but anyway: You need to take them seriously. No one else will take them seriously if you don't.
Probably the most "edgy" character I have is Chaser, the Black Orchid. (An aside, hers is probably one of the profiles that I need to rework...) She was created to be edgy. More specifically, she was created for another RP website that was single-setting, and it bothered me how everything seemed to be very black and white there. The characters were good or evil, the magic system felt like good and evil with a Jedi and Sith vibe, and the other players there, from my personal perspective, were super naive. (It's not an issue so much now, but I used to deal pretty poorly when I had that perception of someone, but fortunately I'd usually do pretty good keeping the stress to myself.)
So when I made my character, she was very intentionally a grey area, and to do that, there had to be reasons for things. She had a bad childhood - one of the sort that I know really happens. She was an introvert, and knew she needed to work hard to get what she wanted. When she made an amazing discovery, she couldn't handle all the attention it would surely turn on her, and she didn't trust the "legit" systems, so she started learning to navigate the black market - at least it was upfront about being untrustworthy, and it let her keep hiding. She is paranoid, neurotic, and controlling, and she has reasons for all of that. But she's also still a human with a human heart, and sometimes she'll still reach out to help, even if she doesn't understand why she's taking a risk. She isn't evil, she's just damaged. I even managed to work in a separate green magic system (though to try to focus on more scifi vibes, I changed that to a psychic thing, and I'm still not sure what I'm doing).
And when I say you need to take them seriously... I mean you need to believe them. Like a person telling you their story, you need to believe that these things really hurt and changed them.
Probably the most "edgy" character I have is Chaser, the Black Orchid. (An aside, hers is probably one of the profiles that I need to rework...) She was created to be edgy. More specifically, she was created for another RP website that was single-setting, and it bothered me how everything seemed to be very black and white there. The characters were good or evil, the magic system felt like good and evil with a Jedi and Sith vibe, and the other players there, from my personal perspective, were super naive. (It's not an issue so much now, but I used to deal pretty poorly when I had that perception of someone, but fortunately I'd usually do pretty good keeping the stress to myself.)
So when I made my character, she was very intentionally a grey area, and to do that, there had to be reasons for things. She had a bad childhood - one of the sort that I know really happens. She was an introvert, and knew she needed to work hard to get what she wanted. When she made an amazing discovery, she couldn't handle all the attention it would surely turn on her, and she didn't trust the "legit" systems, so she started learning to navigate the black market - at least it was upfront about being untrustworthy, and it let her keep hiding. She is paranoid, neurotic, and controlling, and she has reasons for all of that. But she's also still a human with a human heart, and sometimes she'll still reach out to help, even if she doesn't understand why she's taking a risk. She isn't evil, she's just damaged. I even managed to work in a separate green magic system (though to try to focus on more scifi vibes, I changed that to a psychic thing, and I'm still not sure what I'm doing).
And when I say you need to take them seriously... I mean you need to believe them. Like a person telling you their story, you need to believe that these things really hurt and changed them.
I think the backstory or background of the character matters the most so there is a reason behind their personality. I’m in the process of developing an “edgy” character myself. If a person influenced their personality or a certain event happened that changed their personality occurred, it would make the character unique.
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