Forums » RP Discussion » When creating a character, where do you begin?

Where do your inspirations come from? How do you piece together your character?
I'm curious to know others' processes as mine feels a little cookie cutter.

No all, but most of my characters follow these sources of inspiration:

1. The world/time period/genre/verse I want to RP in.
2. Their job/occupation(s)
3. Their ethnic/racial and/or religious background if it applies to the RP
4. Interests/hobbies
5. Family
6. Abilities and/or powers if it applies
7. Pets (yes, most of my characters have an animal companion)
8. Their general world outlook or moral compass
9. Likes and dislikes
10. Background story
11. Specific appearance details
12. Favourites; colours, clothing styles, jewelry, music, etc
13. RP Playstyle list/chart

All of my characters are pulled out The Vibe Aether. For the most part, i just let my mind spiral and come up with a character.

Some of mine can feel cookie cutter too, I think... even when made for different settings, they were tending to fall into just a couple different personality types. So I've recently taken to exploring the 16 personality types and trying to pick one that is different than my usual!

Not sure if I'll stick with that method long term, but it helped me with my latest character!

Oooh, definitely checking that out, thanks!

I mostly look at fandoms(cartoons and movies) and I also get inspiration from songs or coloring apps that are in the app store. And sometimes I just get inspiration from random objects in my household.

I also have a habit of creating characters that i don't see around, but think should be around. A sort of "look around the room and see who's missing" type thing haha

It depends on how I'm feeling! Sometimes I'll see something I want to mimic so I'll put my own spin on it and develop from there. A specific trope like a frilly angel or the exasperated voice of reason is usually needed, but sometimes I will literally just see a meme and think 'I need a character for that.'
In that case, it's...

Role in the story
General age group
Main personality traits (at least three, for later rounding out/polishing up)
Race and ethnicity (with careful examination to not recreate harmfuls stereotypes or caricatures)
How they fit in with the lore/how they work with the lore of the universe
Finishing touches (possible familial connections, sexuality, previous feats, possible job or occupation)
Backstory as needed/when an idea hits. It doesn't have to be finished up in one go!

I swear I answered a similar question a month ago but I’ll be damned if I can find it. My inspiration comes in two ways. I develop my characters either forward or backward.

Forward is when I have some concept of a character and I put them together inspired from various traits I know from people I knew or admire, I build a backstory and I go forward into RP with them.

Backward is when I see an opportunity in an RP and I usually create an NPC shell character and develop their traits and backstory as I RP.

Inspiration comes from concepts I’d like to see or think would be fun to play with and originate from any number of places. Imagination...