Viewpoint Unstable Characters, and your opinion on what makes a good one!

[Ginko The Mushishi]

Hello! This is my first time whipping up a discussion in general other than my introduction post to RPN years ago. Recently I've been tinkering with the idea of how to make a well-written unstable character; what opinions you all have of unstable characters when written well or written poorly, and what you would do when thinking of creating an unstable character! . (Unstable as in one who is mentally ill, showing signs of being a sociopath, psychopath, etc.)

I'll start with my own example!
If anyone has ever read/watched "Monster" by Naoki Urasawa, Johan Liebert is in my opinion one of the most well-written unstable antagonists I've ever seen in manga/anime to date. He's such a great, thought-provoking character that oozes pure evil with his nihilistic view of life and death as well as the disregard of his own life. Throughout the story Johan enjoys manipulating his victims and deconstructing their life before their very eyes, forcing them to experience loss and suffering without killing them; and leaves the victims to kill themselves on their own. His true colors are hidden under a mask of a charismatic, well-mannered, and compassionate young man.

With that, If anyone can emulate the same traits Johan possesses without compromising the character's personality or in other words switch them up from being unstable to stable like it was nothing, that's how I like to think an unstable character is written well. Although protagonists and side characters are able to have mental illnesses, I believe my opinion doesn't change with them either. Keep them the way they are and don't let them change unless something profound happens in the story that results change from the way they are at the beginning.

I like consistency with my characters, and it is the main gripe for me at least especially if it concerns a mentally ill character. But enough of my own opinions, whats yours!? I hope you enjoyed this discussion! I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

 

[still watching fma]

As a psych student I find that actually unstable characters are at best, emotionally scarred. A real schizophrenic is incapable of living on their own and bipolar people are too manic to be cunning and too depressed to operate half the time. So at best, you'd be an overly emotional joker in my opinion, if you wanted to be unstable. Since instability usually leads to people who can't take care of themselves.

That said, I can suspend my disbelief for a yuno or a riddler. It's just hard for me on most rps, not just rpn, because people are too cautious. Players who have normal characters don't want to interact with wierdos and actively disparage these players. And the crazy players aren't allowed to be crazy. Because there's too many rules and the shackles of consent holding them back.

Trust me. If I could sacrifice 1000 children to cthulu and open a portal to the Hell in order to usher in the apocalypse. By god I will do just that while laughing uncontrollably.

 

[The Regal Rper]

One things I've learned from rping is if you want a character that fits the tragedy genre to be well liked and not stapled a dramatic self-insert, edgelord or Mary sue (which honestly is sort of a loose term that can vary in its use excluding critique cuz it honestly isn't critique at all)-- is by balancing the sweet, sour, bittersweet, and dry moments.

One thing I've personally experienced in writing is that you can't expect readers or fellow players to buy in to the constant sob story. No one wants to read about Harry potter complaining about his life 24/7 or even 20/7. There's bitterness, there's comedy, there's the dark bits in the series and they all mesh together. Finding the balance between it all for characters isn't easy. And doing it with consistency is tough.

Writing a character alone is sort of a challenge. Writing a character with issues is trial and error and is more often executed better with experience than simple guess work. There's research involved if you want to make a psychopath or a character close to it, there's things to understand before adding "he/she/they or freaking crazy" into a personality section unless that's just superficial lingo I'm not familiar with. In most cases, not many really will do this or spend time to really take a shovel and dig into understanding certain concepts when writing. As not many are too invested in doing these sorts of things. I wasn't at 15, and that didn't change till i took writing more seriously after graduation. Which is fine, not saying there is anything wrong with a player making a maniacal chara. Heck, if I like them, I'll root for you while whatever character I have will do whatever it is iv designed them to do.

But, in my opinion writing good tragic characters is more than just constant pity parties/ soap opera events. I write my fair share of 'edgy' characters, particularly because I enjoy writing from various avenues. And in my opinion the best advice I could ever give from experience and past interactions- is learn when to use drama and when to not.

Too much ruins a character. Sudden plot twists, forgetting to maintain certain character traits, going off script- it kills a character. Which kills interest. I've heard some people are often hesitant or become disinterested in other characters that seem to have too much 'edge' in their background- that's more subjective. Different people have different levels of exposure and honestly tragic characters aren't easy to write. Especially if it flies in from nowhere. It makes people lose interest or in some cases makes them disinterested in playing with the character you had (unless they the types who start something over innocuous or silly stuff in that case, see ya). My point is, writing for a tragic character isn't easy because its easy to botch them. It takes careful consideration of a characters actions, behaviors in situations, and how you have them play things that makes kr breaks things, all while keeping the sob story limited but not erasing it entirely

 

[Jannah]

Unstable characters can be interesting, but only when portrayed accurately. I expect a partner to do research if they intend to take that route.

 

[High5ives]

I personally feel like the most important thing about having a crazy/tragic character is the buildup to it all. Sure, you can create a character that starts off in an rp as crazy, but what fun is that? Then you just have a maniac that no one really cares about and doesn’t really fit in.

Personally, I like to take a relatively normal character and break them down over the course of the rp. This allows people that I’m rping with to not only get attached to the character in a sense, but also empathize with them as well. Having a character that’s crazy for shits and giggles is dull. Watching a character you love devolve into madness is heartbreaking.

Granted, this can end up being pretty drawn out, but I think the end result is worthwhile. It’s always fun when the group you’re writing with catches on to what you’re doing and realizes that the character you began with is long gone.

But yeah. I feel like the most interesting part about a character’s madness or insanity is what got them there in the first place. Take the time to flesh out their personality, and then break it apart bit.

Like mentioned before though, consistency is important. A person generally doesn’t go crazy in a day and typically doesn’t lose their marbles for no reason. Plan it out, but don’t rush things. Try and be realistic with the development of the character. Don’t suddenly flip flop a character’s personality for the sake of plots and storylines. Set a path and stick to it.

 

[Ginko The Mushishi]

still watching fma
I'll kidnap a 1000 children before I let this company die! (Monster's Inc reference right there for ya) I agree too, emotional scarring can also add depth to the character in question, why they do the things they do (if they're the villain of the story or if there's a certain tick that they can't get over) And if they depend on another PC because of whatever happened to them. Very interesting!

The Regal Rper
I LOVE IT! AND I TOTALLY AGREE!
You're definitely right with the idea of balancing a character out when they are unstable. Nobody wants to hear it over and over again, I believe if you can dedicate yourself to being consistent with their personality though that it works best. You wouldn't see an apathetic character showing remorse to someone that just lost their arm in a fight. They'd more than likely walk over them without a second thought. People that do that with an unstable character though just annoys me because that's not how the character would act in that situation!

Jannah
Research is highly important, I'm not an expert when creating a character myself but I find that I like reading up about the illnesses when I need information on how to make the character seem realistic and not just painted on for fluff when it comes to mental illnesses.

High5ives
I never thought of this one before! For Johan Liebert in "Monster", Johan is already a cool-headed maniacal killer by the time you meet him. Although there are moments in the story where they show you flashbacks of his younger life before he spiralled down into his messed up nature. I remember it was only once or twice, because most flashbacks with Johan only deal with the chaos he caused while he was already a psychopath. It was a great way to showcase what Johan was like before his fall, and to some extent might have given him some sympathy from viewers.

(Sorry for the long response guys XD)