Character Theory What are the most common tropes in character creation right now?

[Andei]

This is part of some casual research I'm doing that may potentially turn into something a bit more solid and story-like, but for now, I'd love to gather some thoughts on what you think are currently the most common trends when creating a character for RP (and why).

For example, have people been creating bundles of characters descended from gods and goddesses lately? Or is right now the time of the vampire? Are we seeing a rise in the number of super-powered heroines? What about personality? Is everyone morbidly dark or super-chippy (or both)? Are we seeing people favour the tragic backstory or the idyllic childhood?

And why do you think that trend is particularly pervasive right now? Is this all happening because of a certain movie / book that came out recently? What makes it attractive to play? What do you think draws people (and you maybe being one of them) to include those traits in their characters?

Disclaimer: While you are, of course, at liberty to make known your personal opinion on various tropes, I'd really appreciate it if we kept the discussion to primarily presentation of information so that it doesn't devolve into a debate about whether a trope is good / bad or better / worse than another. Thanks!​

 

[AndPeggy]

I don't know if it's the same person doing this everywhere I go but almost every RP with RL face claims has a bodybuilding lesbian character and also one or more viking-looking white dudes (once I saw a RP that had 3 of them and I think two were the same model.) It's not exactly a trope, maybe more if a trend?

 

[Emeraude]

I see a lot of remarkably strong characters, whether that be physically or emotionally. I also see characters that are "damaged" still being common. Perhaps this is a shift happening from the historic "someone in need of saving" trope into the trope of a character being able to navigate their own hurdles. I like both tropes (in moderation), and often my characters have features of both. None of us are perfectly strong, but we can't sit around waiting for someone to save us, either.

 

[Andei]

I don't know if it's the same person doing this everywhere I go but almost every RP with RL face claims has a bodybuilding lesbian character and also one or more viking-looking white dudes (once I saw a RP that had 3 of them and I think two were the same model.) It's not exactly a trope, maybe more if a trend?

Yeah, there are quite a lot of characters with a viking-inspired aesthetic (facial hair, plaits / buns etc). Maybe it's due to the popularity of characters like Thor from the Marvel universe or shows like Norsemen / Vikings?

I see a lot of remarkably strong characters, whether that be physically or emotionally. I also see characters that are "damaged" still being common. Perhaps this is a shift happening from the historic "someone in need of saving" trope into the trope of a character being able to navigate their own hurdles. I like both tropes (in moderation), and often my characters have features of both. None of us are perfectly strong, but we can't sit around waiting for someone to save us, either.

Yes, I'd be interested to hear where the 'strength' comes in and where the 'weak' comes in. For example, how do characters show emotional strength? Are they just in good control of their emotions or is it strength in that they are expressive with it? I think lots of characters have been described as 'strong-willed', but with variation on how that is actually demonstrated.

Also, a common trend I'm seeing in general is BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE Very few people seem to play characters who are unattractive unless they're alien / monsters / decrepit etc.

 

[Daisie]

Oh my gosh, what a cool thread! Definitely gotta get notifs for this one.
I haven't been really LOOKING for RPs for a long time, but I recall seeing a decent amount of RPs where the characters are based off of star signs. Don't know if that's still happening or what.

 

[Emeraude]

Andei For me, the weakness may be a traumatic event, a personal weakness (such as the person who performs the worst in a class, training, etc), while the strength is being able to cope with that emotionally (or, on the flip-side, staying optimistic despite it all). You can also reverse this, so the personal weakness is a lack of emotional stability/intelligence while the strength is being the top person in a given subset. I also enjoy making standard "strengths" into weaknesses. For example, optimism can quite easily delude someone into a false sense of security. Weaknesses into strengths is harder, but definitely still enjoyable. Writing is all about perspective and how you portray your perspective to readers so they understand.

In others' roleplays I've skimmed through, the weakness is typically a traumatic event, a naïve character, etc. The strengths are all over the board, but I have a good time scanning through and seeing how people develop these in their characters.

 

[CorralDust]

Lonely characters. Not necessarily loners (who are alone by choice), but ones that are in desperate need of a friend. Perhaps ostracized from their homeland, lost their family, abandoned, etc. They are looking for a shoulder to cry on or someone to help lift them up.

I have to wonder if it's been influenced by the pandemic and folks own sense of loneliness.

 

[Onmyoji]

I think Superheroes are really popular now. Mostly due to popularity of Marvel/DC universes and BNHA anime that focus on superheroes.

Tragic Backstories seem to still be popular despite somewhat falling from grace if you look at Rp pet peeves thread.

I also agree with the opinion about beautiful people. There seem to be some diversity lately but predominantly beautiful/cute face claims are used.

There is also increasing number of LGBT+ characters. Which is likely due to the topic becoming less taboo and people get more open about it which also affects the characters they create.

 

[TerrorKitty]

Increasing amount of Kpop idols as FCs especially females. I am guilty of this myself since I got into it last year.

There's a lot reasons why at least for me
- I like Kpop (which is rapidly growing in international popularity)
- They're familiar, at least to those who use them usually, so the FC isn't some random actor I don't know which a few poorly screenshoted clips. I know more about it them most other FCs I've ever used and that I think makes it a bit more special to me. My character is not that person, the FC is a stand in for what my character really is, but still, for me, it can almost be like a tribute to both my character and their FC.
- Yeah they are usually rather attractive because of the way the industry's high beauty standards (which suuuccckk)
- They often have an ENDLESS supply of FC material. My character was really sad, so I spent an hour cropping and clipping, even upscaling to get a quality gif of a specific size, of a idol who's FC I was using who was crying during an interview while thanking their fans for their support and hoping they'd stick with them till the end. It wasn't very hard to find the source material as they have such a huge media presence for each person. Paparazzi, interviews, Instagrams, music videos, photoshoots, TV apperences, other YouTube content, etc
- With that said, the images, videos, and gifs are usually rather high quality which helps
- A major factor as well, is because they have a lot of music videos and albums with specific concepts (themes), costumes, outfits, and aesthetics, you can find more than just generic stuff. I could have my character be royalty, a business woman, a morally dubious punk, crime investigator, vampire, etc etc with relative ease depending on how long they've been creating content and how many different things they've done. A bit of editing opens it up to even more which is easier to do than with FCs with less content. Because their styles change so much having different outfits and hair colors and stuff is pretty common so theres a wide pool to select from if I want to use an Idol who got example has pink hair, but has since gone with silver/platinum hair. I can use either or both styles depending on what I want to do with my character.
- I'm learning Korean so it gives me a reason to sneak it into RP for practice or flair. Having a multilingual character that doesn't rely on crappy Google translates it a win in my book.

Because of of all that yeah. I'm probably gonna keep using Kpop idols as FCs because of all the upsides and there's a lot of diversity to be had within it as well. Plus adding more diversity in the RP as a whole.

 

[LittleKitFox]

Interesting topic! Sadly, It probably won’t be able to provide much valuable insight. This isn’t something I ever really paid a lot of attention to. Now that I see your question and some of the replies from others, I find it fascinating.

I’ll offer some of my reasoning if that will help as an information point!

I make characters that I find attractive and interesting. Yeah, in real life not everybody is a model but this isn’t real life and I enjoy the eye candy. I also enjoy making nuanced and subtle characters with just enough damage to be interesting. I don’t know why bit I find a little emotional scarring attractive. I’m not personally a head case (probably; your opinion may vary) so I’m not sure if it is simple projecting.

I also like useful but now overwhelming characters. Part of the fun of a character is exploring their vulnerability.

That is all I have time to write for now. Hope it helps at all!