Why this type of character annoys me (rant?)

[Idea]

Hi everyone! How´s it going?


So, recently I came across YET ANOTHER set of the character I`ll be talking about today. That is the character which is "shy and rough outside but really a nice person and caring and friendly inside, to those that manage to get close to him/her", to put it simple. Of course, rpers will put this in a variety of different ways of wording, but whenever I identify this trope I get chills. I will explain:


You know the trope "his/her parents died in [insert motive, usually car accident or murder]"? It was overused, and many times poorly used. Not in every case, of course, but in many it was a cheap way to get the parents out of the way or the make the character an emo.


The kind of character I`m talking about also has this problem. It is overly used, but hardly ever properly used. This is because that description means "My character is entirely arbitrary". Yes, you heard me. This type of character usually amounts to a metagaming time bomb, since the player has an excuse to change their character`s attitude entirely by simply saying "oh they warmed up to your character" or "oh the are that nice" or "they`re still a little rough".


It is worse when they add "he/she will do anything for his/her friends". This means the character has any excuse they want to ignore all principles established before, by calling it "character growth" or "friendship". Those feeling are perfectly valid to be used in rp, don`t take me wrong. Simply, this kind of thing is instant in that type of character and happens immediately.


You might say "oh you`re biased against it and are only looking at the downside.". And that is true. This type of character has a lot of potential. That`s one of the things that annoy me so much. The sheer amount of times this type of character is used by people who simply don`t want to think up a character or who are too inexperienced to understand a minimum of how things play out in practice is overwhelming. It is overused because this type of character is entirely neutral (which leads to arbitrary in practice) and seems appealing to those who don`t wanna commit to character with the chance of making mistakes that will be hard to repair. It is poorly used because it is often just an excuse for metagaming, or just a way to fill up the empty space in the personality section.


As you may imagine, this type of character won`t go very far. Rps were this character type is misused lead to the rp getting dragged a bit longer while everyone strives to put up with it, until it finally decays and dies. In my opinion, approving this kind of character without any form of proof that the person has actually planned a way to counter how arbitrary it is is signing the death sentence of an rp.


Does anyone agree with me? Who disagrees? Why (note: don`t give me counter examples, I already addressed those cases if you have been paying attention so far)? Any other type of character with problems like these you know of?

 

[JayTee]

I disagree, mostly because I play these shallow backstory-less characters after years of games dying off and conditioning me not to invest too much in to a character's backstory because odds are it's not going to be used.


I also tend to go for the whole "will do anything for friends" because, in my opinion, the party takes priority. If an In-Character action would hurt the party or the game overall, then that In-Character action is bad and shouldn't happen. There are exceptions, for example if the group agrees it would be more dramatic and interesting, but those should be discussed before the act.


I do agree that killing off the parents is often used as a cheap way to get the emo factor in, though. Along with rape in the backstory, or being sold in to slavery. I made a character once who had all three things happen to him as a way to make fun of all these faux drama points in backstories, but it never went anywhere.

 

[Idea]

I disagree, mostly because I play these shallow backstory-less characters after years of games dying off and conditioning me not to invest too much in to a character's backstory because odds are it's not going to be used.
I also tend to go for the whole "will do anything for friends" because, in my opinion, the party takes priority. If an In-Character action would hurt the party or the game overall, then that In-Character action is bad and shouldn't happen. There are exceptions, for example if the group agrees it would be more dramatic and interesting, but those should be discussed before the act.


I do agree that killing off the parents is often used as a cheap way to get the emo factor in, though. Along with rape in the backstory, or being sold in to slavery. I made a character once who had all three things happen to him as a way to make fun of all these faux drama points in backstories, but it never went anywhere.

I do see your point, however, you missed mine. I was talking about the kind of character whose personality is and quote:


""shy and rough outside but really a nice person and caring and friendly inside, to those that manage to get close to him/her""


This is the type of character that the whole text is about. The thing about killing parents was a term of comparison to help understand what I meant (given I sometimes don`t express myself very well) and the thing about "do anything to protect friends" is bad in this SPECIFIC type of character.

 

[Usuru]

HELL YES I AGREE!! I am so sick of these kind of characters man ESPECIALLY when poorly used LOL even if they don't have one super big generic tragic case (yes, the stuff that makes seem so very "interesting" and to prove they "been-through-it-all-and-survied") the shy, timid ones that "only open up when they get to know you" has GOT to stop. I mean, I see these type of character bios so much that it makes wonder is this the ONLY personality people can do? Do these type of characters HAVE to be crammed into every RP there is??? In most cases I've been in, the people who normally RP these kinds of characters are like this themselves OOC, meaning they are shy, emo, only open up when they warm up to you and so they can relate to their character more. I understand that people. But hell, a lot of people are like that, shy or not. To keep this short and sweet, people need to step out of their comfort zones and start RPing other personalities other that this shit (NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE WHO DISAGREES!!)

 

[Idea]

HELL YES I AGREE!! I am so sick of these kind of characters man ESPECIALLY when poorly used LOL even if they don't have one super big generic tragic case (yes, the stuff that makes seem so very "interesting" and to prove they "been-through-it-all-and-survied") the shy, timid ones that "only open up when they get to know you" has GOT to stop. I mean, I see these type of character bios so much that it makes wonder is this the ONLY personality people can do? Do these type of characters HAVE to be crammed into every RP there is??? In most cases I've been in, the people who normally RP these kinds of characters are like this themselves OOC, meaning they are shy, emo, only open up when they warm up to you and so they can relate to their character more. I understand that people. But hell, a lot of people are like that, shy or not. To keep this short and sweet, people need to step out of their comfort zones and start RPing other personalities other that this shit (NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE WHO DISAGREES!!)

Comfort zones and self-inserts, huh? Interesting, never looked at it from that angle...Still, it does make sense in some cases.


Also, a word of advise (although this is a bit of a rant thread): please refrain from doing posts that include word like "shit" and this concentration of capital letters. I can practically hear you screaming.

 

[Ixacise]

Best of both worlds approach you get to be self indulgent without hobbling yourself by alienating yourself from the group

 

[Idea]

Best of both worlds approach you get to be self indulgent without hobbling yourself by alienating yourself from the group

Hmm...Could you please clarify?

 

[Ixacise]

You get to be indulge in some melodrama or being the grizzled lone badass without the separation from the other characters that would be logical from your guy which would get in the way of the adventure and also the attention you get by their responses

 

[Idea]

You get to be indulge in some melodrama or being the grizzled lone badass without the separation from the other characters that would be logical from your guy which would get in the way of the adventure and also the attention you get by their responses

Well, there are plenty of good and healthy ways to do that without creating an arbitrary character. You may create a softpot, or associate your character`s motivation to the plot. Or you can try REAL character growth and try to work with the type of character you have created. Will it be harder? Yeah. But if the rp is worth your time, then it`s worth your commitment. If it isn`t, then don`t bother rping. Again, I`m not saying you can`t make those characters, I mean they annoy because they are so often misused. Those characters do have potential, but it is lost by how lightly it is taken.


Also, taking away logic for the sake of your character doing something more convenient, actually has a name in rp: metagaming.

 

[Usuru]

Comfort zones and self-inserts, huh? Interesting, never looked at it from that angle...Still, it does make sense in some cases.
Also, a word of advise (although this is a bit of a rant thread): please refrain from doing posts that include word like "shit" and this concentration of capital letters. I can practically hear you screaming.

Sorry about my uuuh, ranting style! I COME IN PEACE!

 

[Idea]

Sorry about my uuuh, ranting style! I COME IN PEACE!

No worries

 

[Ixacise]

Crutches are gonna crutch.


Can't do shit as a player but as GM you can tell them to change that with some suggestions on doing what they want to get out of the initial concept in a better way. And if not then fuck'em and just reject the character.


Also I wouldn't call it metagaming


Metagaming calls something a bit more specific and far more disruptive

 

[Idea]

Crutches gonna crutch.
Can't do shit as a player but as GM you can tell them to change that with some suggestions on doing what they want to get out of the initial concept in a better way. And if not then fuck'em and just reject the character.

I know. I made this thread cause I needed to let out some air (and have a place to link to the next I complain about it, I sound like a broken record speaking about the problem)

 

[lixAxil]

I had a character like this in a RPG i once made


She was a shy closed girl with a few outburst of kindness sometimes and a tragic past.


The plot twist is that she was a bitch in sheep clothing. Her attitude was 'cause people were a bother and the kindness just fake. She turns to be the main antagonist of the story

 

[Idea]

I had a character like this in a RPG i once made
She was a shy closed girl with a few outburst of kindness sometimes and a tragic past.


The plot twist is that she was a bitch in sheep clothing. Her attitude was 'cause people were a bother and the kindness just fake. She turns to be the main antagonist of the story

I see...Forgive me for asking, but...your point being?

 

[lixAxil]

I see...Forgive me for asking, but...your point being?

You can pick that hated kind of character and mold it however you want.

 

[Idea]

You can pick that hated kind of character and mold it however you want.

Well, that`s the general idea of creating a character. Once again, changing the character instantly in the middle of the rp is metagaming.

 

[lixAxil]

Well, that`s the general idea of creating a character. Once again, changing the character instantly in the middle of the rp is metagaming.

What do you mean with that?

 

[Idea]

What do you mean with that?

Molding a character however you want is what you do when you are in the process of creating it. There reasons for changing a character mid-way, at least if done instantly, would be OOC. When OOC drives IC illogically that's metagaming. Therefore, a character who`s attitude is made to be changeable at a moment`s notice is metagaming.

 

[lixAxil]

Molding a character however you want is what you do when you are in the process of creating it. There reasons for changing a character mid-way, at least if done instantly, would be OOC. When OOC drives IC illogically that's metagaming. Therefore, a character who`s attitude is made to be changeable at a moment`s notice is metagaming.

Well if that's called like that it is. Though since the beginning that was the plan, and I was GMing that time.


Anyway, if it works, fine for me

 

[Idea]

Well if that's called like that it is. Though since the beginning that was the plan, and I was GMing that time.
Anyway, if it works, fine for me

There are plenty of ways t do that without making a completely arbitrary character. Any character can grow, just not instantly.

 

[lixAxil]

There are plenty of ways t do that without making a completely arbitrary character. Any character can grow, just not instantly.

Buddy, been RPing like 5-6 years, I know what I do. Of course anything like that wasn't arbitrary.


Also was just trying to give an example of how to not let things set in stone. Perhaps that's your issue

 

[Idea]

Buddy, been RPing like 5-6 years, I know what I do. Of course anything like that wasn't arbitrary.
Also was just trying to give an example of how to not let things set in stone. Perhaps that's your issue

Maybe it is. Still, I did address (I you read the original post) that there were exceptions that actually did make good use of the potential of that type of character, but the overwhelming majority was crap.

 

[Servant]

Yeah, I can see your point. Personally I don't mind them that much, but I could see them getting in the way of someone else's enjoyment, specially when done badly. I rarely find myself using this kind of character, and when I do so I base them off the true neutral character archetype, simply because I find them boring to play.


As a whole I would say that these characters can be annoying from time to time, but is that enough to sink a whole RP? I don't think so. It's a simple overused character trope that can't cause much harm as they don't alter the course of the RP like other types of characters (Ex: Overpowered characters).

 

[Idea]

[QUOTE="The Servant]Yeah, I can see your point. Personally I don't mind them that much, but I could see them getting in the way of someone else's enjoyment, specially when done badly. I rarely find myself using this kind of character, and when I do so I base them off the true neutral character archetype, simply because I find them boring to play.
As a whole I would say that these characters can be annoying from time to time, but is that enough to sink a whole RP? I don't think so. It's a simple overused character trope that can't cause much harm as they don't alter the course of the RP like other types of characters (Ex: Overpowered characters).

[/QUOTE]
Do they directly sink an rp? No, of course not. The concept isn`t bad in of itself. However, when done poorly, this type of characters lead to arguments and over things that greatly affect the morale of the whole group, or even for the two parties of a 1x1 rp. As you may imagine, this loss in morale eventually leads the rp into sinking.


This, of couse, will not be the case every time, for several reasons. However, the number of times that, from my experience, this has happened led me to grow this animosity against this type of character.