CREATING A DEFINED CHARACTER

How to Create a Defined Character


Step 1: Name

One unique aspect of Star Wars are names. While using a regular "Earth" name such as Tom or Jack can work, try coming up with something that sounds, well, "starwarsy". Anakin, Obi-Wan , Han, Galen, Wedge, Corran, Ooryl, Ysanne. All these Star Wars names have one thing in common: If you had their name on earth you would get very strange looks. Find something you like or that has meaning for your character and base the name off that if you can.

IMPORTANT: Do not use the title of 'Darth' in your name. That is a title reserved for the Dark Council, so make sure you are careful about it when you Register. Also, no names from notable Star Wars characters are allowed to be used. Make sure your name is original.

Step 2: Appearance

The first thing people will base your appearance off is your avatar. Choose something that fits how you want others to see you, because every time they read your post, there it is, right next to it. Seeing as most, if not all guild activities, take place through text, you will need to reiterate your character in your posts. If you have a tall character, make mentions of looking down. If your character has a beard, scratch it occasionally. Reminding others of your appearance not only lets them see your character better, but it improves immersion and overall roleplay.

Step 3: Speech

How your character speaks is an extremely important aspect to your roleplay. Your character's speech can be very graceful, making the words flow from your mouth as if pouring like ink in the hands of a skilled author. You can have a very "rogue" character, who ain't gonna take no smack talk from no one, ya hear? Or you can have an insane character, no you can't, yes you can, what? I don't know, maybe....

As you can see, the possibilities for character speech are near endless. Be sure to pair this with both appearance and your character's mannerisms (see below) to achieve a wholesome, complete character.

Also, a new implement to the community. Should a Darth give your character an order (IC of course) be prepared to suffer the expected consequences if you refuse, or don't show them the proper respect. Certain Darths will be aggressive about their respect, others not so much. Officers and Darths both are allowed to assert their dominance over non-officer characters IF the character in question is being disrespectful, breaking rules, disobeying IC orders. We want a comprehensive RP community. If you insult Darth Malgus he's like to be less than forgiving. Should you insult Darth Tyrannus he may laugh and brush you off. The thing to take away from this little diatribe, be prepared to suffer should your actions warrant such behavior.

(Be careful with speech! There is a line between improper speech and laziness. If you are going to have a character with bad grammar, be sure that it is constant bad grammar. Changing the way you speak can really throw people off.)

(A note to remember though, you do not have to have a unique way of talking to have a character. WHAT they are saying is equally, if not more important than HOW they say it.)

Step 4: Mannerisms

This has to be my personal favorite part of developing a character. No one is the same, boring old person (no offense to the elderly). Mannerisms are any little detail that will define your character, whether it be a stutter (this goes with speech as well), a knack for being indecisive, a small surge of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personalities), or the simple bad habit. Now, with these you have to be careful however. Try to incorporate too many traits and suddenly you have what I like to call the "All-Character". You have no character that is you, instead you have everyone else's character bound into one, and that is hopefully not what you want. Define yourself with a unique mannerism, that is personal to you and has meaning for your character.

Step 5: Research

I am going to say this once, and only once. http://www.wookieepedia.com is your friend! Use it! Learn about your character, their planet, their species, and by species, yes, I mean human too! There are no "earthlings" in starwars! Even humans have different planets, so look one up as your home planet, and learn what you can. Pulling out a piece of ryshcate from your homeplanet is just going to further your character's immersion to others (as well as fill their bellies).

Example: Jesck KeSann. incorporates the mandalorian culture in his posts as well as his character line. Darth Feralis is a tribal zabrak, many of his past memories and perceptions stem from a brutal warfaring life on Iridonia. This is the type of research you can and should do.


Step 6: Become One with the Character

From what I have seen, this can be the hardest part of defining your character. You need to make your character your character, and you yourself. They are two different people, remember that. While it is perfectly alright to incorporate your own mannerisms into your character, be sure not to let your own characteristics that are not part of your character bleed into yours. Rereading your posts can help you quite often, and trust me, spotting yourself in your posts is often easy. To reiterate the concept of meta-gaming, what you know as a writer about others characters, can not and must not translate to something your character knows about another persons character.