Forums » RP Discussion » Character Tropes That You Love/Hate

Let's talk about characters!

I'd love to hear some of your favorite and least favorite character tropes, clichés, and general character-related things you see in writing and roleplay. There's not much for me to add past that except that I intend for this to be an environment for respectful discussion, gushing over the stuff that you love, and a little bit of controlled ranting.

So personally there aren't many specific character tropes that bug me that aren't tied to poor writing or problematic players; I'm a strong believer in "almost anything can work if you know what you're doing."

But after chatting a little with a friend of mine, I still came up with a couple of things that might be worth talking about.

"The Patchwork Character"

• This guy happens when a writer tries to give their character EVERYTHING. While I'm by no means against versatile skills, traits and abilities and overly-specialized characters can be just as problematic, some people try to give their OC every single weapon, power, personality trait, etc. that they think might be cool, regardless of how these puzzle pieces actually fit together. The end result is usually one of two things: an absolute mess of a character whose attributes the writer can't keep straight, or a frustrating OP character who has the solution for literally all the problems. I've seen swiss-army knife characters work before, but it's really hard to do and I personally prefer to keep my concepts limited to just a few themes and center that character's traits around those. Keeps everything easier to organize.

"The Antisocial Character"

• To my knowledge, I've yet to actually meet a character like this, but people talk about them as if they're fairly common and I get why they'd be annoying. A lot of people associate this IC behavior with those goofy, "edgy" OCs that inexperienced writers tend to make. (I myself was probably guilty of this in middle school.) These OCs make homes out of dark corners and hobbies out of sulking and ignoring attempts by other characters to get engaged in the story. What I tend to wonder is, why are you roleplaying a character who won't interact with anyone? Seriously, what's fun about that?
  
  A variation of this I have met is the character who's kind of just a jerk for no reason. They aren't meant to be an antagonist, and they aren't hinted at to have a heart of gold or even anything resembling a motive for their jerkiness. They're just mean, and often in a way that isn't conducive to any meaningful plot development. It's like the player is either trying to start a fight because they feel like it or make sure their OC is ignored.

OK, enough negativity. The other half of this thread is to chat about stuff you LOVE to see in characters? Me? I'm not picky. Like I said, nearly anything can work if you know what you're doing.

I am kind of a sucker for dynamic duos. A weird thing I do when creating characters is that I like to make them in pairs. And even if I don't make them in pairs, I tend to take characters I've already made and pair them together. I've got overlapping duos, trios, five-man bands, the whole parade. Relationship building and messing around with chemistry within my own cast is really fun for me and I LOVE it when I see other people doing it. (Don't get the wrong idea though, I tend to find romance more than a little boring. Most of my relationship building is dedicated to the platonic loves and rivalries.)

So tell me about your favorite and least favorite character thingamajigs you tend to see! I'm excited to talk to you guys.

Oh man! Yea.. after 20 years of RP.. I got some.

My favorite is the "Misunderstood Villians/hero".. where over time you find our their entire Arch is a facade .. the hero is really a villians or the villain was really a framed hero.. or something to that effect. These lead to some amazing stories and interactions.

My least favorite is the anti social mouse character. I once rp'ed with one that took more then 5 replies before character interactions occurred because they were avoiding contact. Might as well write your own book at that point because it's a one person show!

I'ma follow that up with the comic relief. The characters that are slapstick to a serious campaign. I mean humor is always present but these are like putting Bugs Bunny in something like Breaking Bad. They are out of place, forced and complete story killers with their "cartoon" incidents like slipping on a banana peel and doing a backflip.
Honestly? It's a lot like dealing with an OP character that you just want to facepalm over.


The pointless character.
Maybe this sounds harsh but it's my personal perspective.. but I don't favor Chari who are lacking in everyway. They have no real back story, no traits, no abilities, no skills and no personality. They seem pretty hollow.. like a boring person at a party.

Switching that, the too pointed character suffering every affliction, mental illness with a jam packed backstory that makes them a walking soap opera. Half the time a campaign gets refocused to them talking about themselves because there is just SO much to talk about. Makes you feel like you ...aren't even there.



That's just a few. I'm sure I could come up with more!

From something goofy and endearing like the Munsters, strange and hilariously macabre like the Addams Family, or downright twisted and terrifying like the Devil's Rejects, I love Creepy Families because they defy the norm. They may be feared or even despised by others, but they (usually) love one another unconditionally, staying strong and true to their ken no matter the outside opposition. I don't care for forced "auto-shipped families" in which the members treat each other like inseparable blood after a very short time of knowing one another.

These odd, seemingly absent kinds of characters are some of my favorites. They're so easy to underestimate and usually unpredictable, because they interpret the world on a different level from those around them. Due to their airy and abstract manners, they're capable of plucky comedic relief or even deep, meaningful advice that some might not expect from them. NOT to be confused with "for teh lulz" or "Hollywood schizophrenic" characters that are always hamfistedly random or spontaneous, doing complete nonsense things for no purpose other than to try and be quirky or humorous. Those are on my anti-trope list, but only because I like silliness in moderation.

These Knights still have a code they operate by, but it's typically more flexible than that of the starry-eyed crowd-pleasing Knight in Shining Armor. They're willing to bend the rules to do what they feel is right, which makes them more relatable and empathetic to me. They might be gritty, disenchanted, or foul-tempered, but they're also often more down-to-earth and malleable than your average idealist, more honorable and purposeful than the typical Jerk character.

I also love the weird character pairings where you think it shouldn't work out, that they'd be at each other's throats constantly, but somehow it does work out to where they care about each other very much (not so much romantically, but in general).

Ditto what Mipps and Libertine said for what they like too! I also enjoy those.

Not sure if this is a trope, but I do love oh so much the strong character with a silly flaw. Like an assassin that's afraid of spiders or thunder. Or the really egotistical person that's actually not very brave when it comes to confrontations or scary situations. That cracks me up for some reason and I love seeing characters like that.

I also like the characters that are really old...and are just world-weary from how long-lived they are. They've been through a lot and they're just tired of the world and people in general.

This is an interesting topic, thank you for posting! I only started writing RPs a year ago, and so I thought I didn’t yet have particular preferences aside from well-written characters who are internally consistent, but actually...

I love complicated characters. Gimme a multi-dimensional quirky person anytime! I love characters who are strong and soft at the same time, imperfect and lovable. It can be past trauma, addiction or something else. On the same note, characters who are meant to be perfect are not for me!

The same for characters who are inconsistent or who have abilities beyond what would be reasonable for their past and circumstances. If they don’t struggle for anything, how could they grow? Also, if they are in their 20’s but have a few decades’ worth of abilities and experiences.

I'll keep it short.

I like:

1) Strong willed(I don't mean overpowered) characters who do they best to reach their goals and no matter how many times they fall down, they get up and keep moving.

2) Imperfect characters who have lots of weaknesses and throughout the story they grow as humans, mature and learn something new.

3) Characters with sad or dark backgrounds, something you can work with and let other characters have an influence on improvement on their lifestyle.

I dislike:

1) Crybaby characters, especially male ones. No, not everyone has to be manly man. But for me it gets really tiresome and boring when my female character has to sit next to the guy and keep saying "calm down, don't cry. Everything will be alright" over and over again, without anything changing at all.

2) "Notice me senpai, love me senpai!" type of females. Usually this is what I get when I decide to play as my male characters.

3) Characters that have to be rescued all the time and looked after like babysitter. It's really tiresome and bores me easily when my character is the only one that does something and only thing the other character does is be in the center of attention. Everything happens for them and because of them but still, they do nothing to move the story forward.

I ADORE:

The whole broody but is secretly a hopeless romantic thing. Aggressive, broody, dark and struggling characters who when they fall in love, fall hard, and would do anything for their loves.

'Shy when it comes to defending themselves, but will tear you apart if you mess with their friends/loved ones' characters.

Falls easily, but doesn't admit it easily.

Appears to be just a shallow greedy sensual character but is in fact more than people judge and perceive them for.

Complicated/super in depth, super dynamic characters who are always growing and developing realistically.



As for dislikes there's not much I dislike but I don't want to make someone feel bad about their character so I will keep those things to myself and stick to the positive ones.

A few in both my categories have already been mentioned so I'll try not to do too much repeating of what people have already said.

Characters that make me go BOO HISS! (Gonna keep this short cause I prefer positivity)-

Edit- Know what? Mercy makes a good point. I'mma stay positive too. I don't want to inadvertently hurt feelings either.

Characters that make me go WHOO YEA!-

-Spiky outsides, squishy insides. Unnnnh yes. Every time.

-Recently been on a Hades/Persephone kick, aka the dark brooding character paired with the lively and upbeat character where the darkness gets brightened and the brightness gets grounded and protected. I just...I've got like three of these going right now and I still. Want. More. So yea, both those types of characters but especially when paired together.

-Villains turned hero, cause I love a redemption arc and I'm a sucker for a happy ending. Yes, I'm aware these types of stories aren't necessarily happy at the end but DON'T BURST MY BUBBLE DAMN IT!!!

-Jesters/Jokers- No, not like an actual court jester or the Batman villain. Just any character that has a solid sense of humor and wields it almost like a weapon. Love it love it love it.

-Characters with just...just super SUPER dark back stories that are really happy, kind, generous people. They have issues and they struggle but their struggles haven't made them evil or cynical or mean. They smile and laugh and work extra hard to make the world a better place and it just breaks my little heart into all the pieces and I love it so much.

Honestly, I'm sure there's probably more but that's all that's coming to mind right now!

I really like characters that at first many would think of as 'overdone' or 'cliché' but once you actually play with them or bother to get to know them they have been transformed into something original and beautiful. I really like seeing characters take back stigmas and tropes and blossom into something so unique to themselves.

I love a lot of character tropes, big man little man is one I just adore, as well as any close friendship (like finish each others sentences, close), and siblings who actually love each other really warms my heart every time. I love seeing monsters get remade into something new! There are so many options there that it's never ending, and they are all awesome.

Most of what I don't like has already been said, so my list will be short... I don't like when characters are 'godlike' gods are okay, but when they can do everything the game is boring for me. I don't care for characters who never grow or change (though that's more of a writing thing than it is a character trope.) And I try to stay away from characters that misrepresent something close to myself/ misinform.

Other than that most of what I like or dislike has already been shared by others.

I generally dislike the 'He who fights monsters' trope. I feel like it's kinda pointless and is just used to add kinda pointless drama. Batman isn't just as bad as the joker if he kills him because the Joker's killed, tortured, and generally hurt who knows how many people, and has shown he's clearly not interested in getting better. So pretending Batman would be no better than the joker if he killed the joker is a load of horse crap imo.


As for character tropes I like

I also like making characters in duos lol. So far not one of my characters that I actively uses is a solo lone person. They've got atleast one other person who hangs out with them, or a sentient object they keep, or a pet, or some weird entity living with them.

This. I can’t seem to successfully do an RP if the other character (writer) is too self-absorbed.

It’s not I dislike those types of characters personally—in other RP sites, I actually have played a hapless/naive character before—but you have to be careful if you use those characters. It’s just so easy to write them poorly, which would in turn make it difficult for the other writing partner to carry the entire RP on their own.

I get that it’s certainly rewarding to play a character whose role in the RP is to be showered with affirmations and acknowledgement. But it should be clear from the start if your writing partner is okay “babysitting” your character. (I haven’t done it before so I’m not sure, but is that what you call writing “fluff”?)

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Actually, now that I think about it, it’s not the character type per se, but how that character is written.

I remember planning an amazing RP with someone some years ago and their character was normal. But once we started writing, the girl was like “OwO” the entire time. That would’ve been fine and cute, I knew her character would be all clumsy and childish, but it literally became a chore for my guy to be on his hands and knees the entire time trying (and failing!) to please her. It’s hard to continue a story where the guy would naturally just say “goodbye” at that point, unless he was unrealistically obsessed and a masochist.

I had to keep writing up an excuse to give the guy a reason to stay and keep interacting with that character. I felt so sad for my guy because he was on his way to getting a nervous breakdown with how unrealistic their situations and reactions are becoming.

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Enough with the bad juju, and on with those amazing character types:

I love characters with confidence. Especially those who knows how to “read” the situation and “use” it to their advantage. It’s just so refreshing to write with a character who can actually decide and act on things on their own. It’s realistic for my character to be naturally drawn to their magnetism, and so much easier to write the enthusiasm between their interactions. I don’t have to force myself to come up with unrealistic situations and plot drivers to bring them together.

the only thing i can think of that bugs me is when a character is perfect, in every sense of the word. they're attractive, there's nothing they're bad at and their writer is incredibly good at making you feel sorry for the character. it just gets boring for me to have my character be around another character that can't do anything wrong and everybody loves them - i think it gets boring in the long run because the characters don't face any struggles

i love characters that have a hard shell and are hard to get to know but when you do, they're the softest and cutest human. i remember having a roleplay with such a character - he was this muscular, tall, attractive man who didn't speak too much but as my character got to know him, he was more open and a cutie, hehe

i also love some of the classic fanfic settings; two characters who know eachother travel somewhere but when they arrive to the hotel, there's only one room available - of course only with one bed. as well as enemies to friends to lovers, with all of the tension and then they can look back at it, that's cute

writing this made me all soft, hahahah

Absolutely agree with you!

One I hate:

"Hopelessness is just a way of life". I hate a character who just refuses to do things because of a nihilistic view. I like this trope if the character develops out of it, however


One I like:

I like characters who comfortable and in tune with their more carnal desires. Flirty, charming or otherwise confident in being their "best". I have a character who actively uses their beauty to convince others to help her out with helping others, simply because she believes that her beauty is worth more than being pretty.

Yes. Ok. The bit about reading about the situation.


The recipe for a good story is a character who understands and responds. Like an improv drama, you can't be a character who follows a script. So many players ask me "what do I do?" And it's like "Dude, you can do and be ANYTHING"

I just want people to confidently assert their characters and be ok with showing off their solutions to problems.