Character Building {Help}

[Merlin!]

Right, so, the staff have agreed to let me make a thread of 'help' as it were, so that any issues that might be brought by applications, characterizations, or playing fouls that you might not have known about. First, a bit about myself.

I've been role playing since I was 15 (maybe 16, I don't quite remember that long ago.), and considering that I am now almost 21, well... you should get the picture. I've been at this for a long time. In my tenure as a player I've owned many boards, ranging in talent and skill, some of which have closed and some of which are still open. (That should merely explain how I can explain what I have to say; the knowledge bit part will come next, so really, all I am trying to say is that I have said what I am about to say so many times in the past that it's really become second nature to me, and might be harsh to you, or long-winded, or dull, but in the long run, if you are open minded and are willing to learn and grow as a writer and character developer, then you'll probably benefit from what I have to say.)

Right, how do I know all this? I'm a sort of Jack of All Trades when it comes to my real life. I started reading when I was three, and really haven't stopped (though there was a period where I felt I had read all the books that were a challenge [meaning that all the 1000 page novels from the library had my name written in the back at least twice]), and have mastered the 'art' if you want to call it of reading four to eight books at a time, all by different authors, all with different genres, varying in length, but still managing to keep the plots and characters to their respected story. I love to read. Then comes the part where I found out that I love to write as well. When I was in the second or third grade I wrote a book on dinosaurs (ok, everyone say 'aww'), and drew the pictures and everything. At the time, it was a great book. I had done all the research myself, meaning I had gone to my encyclopedia set (yeah, my mom got me encyclopedias when I was five) and read all about the different types of dinos. (My personal favorite at the time was the t-rex, though that has nothing to do with this story.) Anyway, as I grew older I started to write poems in the backs of my notebooks from school, and then I started writing down short stories, then dreams that I had dreamed, which turned into longer short stories and I began writing longer poems and playing with the pentameter and just generally having fun with the written language. (I didn't start on my first fan fic until 2002? 2003? I was a sophomore in high school, anyway.) I went to public school, I didn't learn anything different than you might, but the difference was my passion for it (and my OCD not to get anything below an A.)

High school English really taught me the basics, which is your basic grammar and punctuation skills, as well as learning vocabulary and spelling, though you can do those last two by playing scrabble with some competitive people. My sophomore year the majority of my learning about writing was done through reading of books and doing projects on them, studying the complexities of the characters and trying to explain their motives. (I will have a suggested reading list and a few exercises to do when you read them.) The projects weren't too dull; use music to retell the story, make an art project of what you believed the message of the book to be, etc. It was really fun, and we read a lot of really neat books and did a lot of digging into the different types of characters. Later that same year I was introduced to Shakespeare, though I had already loved his plays (I had memorized Romeo and Juliet by the time I was 12, and was in the process of learning the Taming of the Shrew and A Midnight Summer's Dream at the time.) We did a lot of actual language skills, which basically focused not on the interaction of the characters but on the words and the way the words were phrased. You can be an amazing writer, using the words and the placement of those words (with the proper punctuation, of course) and still have shotty characters and dodgy plots. Look at, oh, I dunno.... The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. It's not that good of a book, but when you start to read it you can't put it down, because his words [should] captivate you.

Anyway. Moving on. Junior year in high school I actually took college classes for English, and started to develop my critical thinking, which is basically taking a step back from the situation, gathering all the facts and details and then taking those to fuel your argument. I had my mind changed about a lot of things, not because I was swayed by the professor, but because I found new details that I had not known before, and could formulate a new, informed opinion about it. My senior year in high school rolled around and I had taken all the English classes they could offer (as well as all the French classes that they could offer. Can't learn all that grammar and not be curious about another language, after all.) So, I decided to take a few literature classes (which was more reading and analyzing characters, plots, methods of writing, stylistic choices, affects of culture influencing novels, etc.) Even if you can't write at the end of all those classes, lectures, and assignments, you eventually begin to understand the writing process and how stories and characters are formed and developed, and how to make those stories interesting enough for other people to want to read them.

Yada yada, more classes go by, English, French, literature, theatre, music, all the while beginning to develop my novels, fan fictions, and RP based self.

That is where all my little notes about characters, how to make them better, how to make them deeper, more rich and colorful come in to play. Not only does it come from years of role playing, but also years of studying and writing. I want you to literally breathe your character, to know how they bat their eyelashes and what kind of mannerisms they might have. How do they talk? How do they walk? Of course, these questions will come later as well, but for now, please understand that what I have to say is not meant in harm nor jest, but out of care, understanding, and respect as a fellow writer.

That said, allow me to get to a few things that are quite common in role playing. Mary Sues and Gary Stus, God Playing, and How to Better Develop Your Character. Of course, I have also added in a few "Harry Potter" touches, since this is a Harry Potter RPG after all.


Cheers, and good writing!


Ron





Hey..... hey you! Going to audition? Have you read the rules, the canon characters and available years, or the plot? If there is something in your application that counters any of these, then I will make no comments, but rather direct you to them so that you can figure out what is wrong with your application. (Had you read them before you started, I am sure that you wouldn't need me to say anything in those regards, now would you?)

Also, before I forget.... please, please, please take a gander at Keeping to the Canon. It will help explain quite a lot.

[Merlin!]

I wrote this, which might help you if you don't know what house your character should be in. It's based on 'social status' as it were, and how smarts are involved. Draco has also added what the sorting hat has to say about the individual houses.

Gryffindor - Geeks and freaks, really, who try at school but are more into their own thing. Gryffindors are known for their courage .

Slytherin - Snobby, preppy kids who don't care about school so much. Those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends.

Ravenclaw - Kinda emo, care about grades a great deal. Might even be a bit OCD. If you've a ready mind, of wit and learning.

Hufflepuff - Do-gooders (goddie-two-shoes) who just try their best at school. Just and loyal, those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil.

[Merlin!]

This is something that actors use to build up the image of their character in their mind. I believe it should help people writing a character in the same way that it helps people act a character. If you don't have an answer to one of the questions, then you should think of your character and how they would react to such a thing, or if it's something about them and you don't know, make it up! That is the beauty of writing.

Now, this is not required of you for your application, but as you do fill out your application, it might help you in your writing if you have this to look at and answer questions with. It not only helps you build your physical description, but also your personality and history, as well as strengths and weaknesses. Note that most of these are meant to be answered quickly, with only a few words. When you take that and translate it into your application, build around those words and that will help you develop your character.

Here is a coded version of the character building worksheet. Below that is an example, one that I actually used for an acting class for the play "The Birthday of the Infanta" in which I was the Infanta. Note that there are some differences in the coded version and the sample, and that is because this is really meant for actors and so deals with scenes and plays and playwrites, rather than RPs and authors and the like.


[u]Physical Description[/u]
[b]a. sex -[/b]
[b]b. age - [/b]
[b]c. height - [/b]
[b]d. weight - [/b]
[b]e. color of hair - [/b]
[b]f. color of eyes -[/b]
[b]g. skin - [/b]
[b]h. posture -[/b]
[b]i. general appearance - [/b]
[b]j. defects or unusual physical features - [/b]
[b]k. heredity - [/b]

[u]Sociological Profile[/u]
[b]a. class - [/b]
[b]b. occupation - [/b]
[b]c. attitudes - [/b]
[b]d. education - [/b]
[b]e. home life - [/b]
[b]f. religion - [/b]
[b]g. race - [/b]
[b]h. nationality - [/b]
[b]i. standing in community/position in society - [/b]
[b]j. political affiliations - [/b]
[b]k. amusements - [/b]
[b]l. hobbies - [/b]

[u]Psychological Profile[/u]
[b]a. moral standards - [/b]
[b]b. sexual behavior - [/b]
[b]c. ambitions - [/b]
[b]d. personal habits - [/b]
[b]e. frustrations - [/b]
[b]f. temperament - [/b]
[b]g. life attitude - [/b]
[b]h. complexes - [/b]
[b]i. abilities - [/b]
[b]j. talents - [/b]
[b]k. admirable qualities - [/b]
[b]l. intelligence – IQ - [/b]

[b]4. Full name. - [/b]

[b]5. In what country do you live? - [/b]

[b]6. Are you single, married, divorced? Seeing anyone? Recently broken up?- [/b]

[b]7. Do you have any children? - [/b]

[b]8. Do you dress neatly or carelessly? - [/b]

[b]9. How do you walk? Be specific? - [/b]

[b]10. How do you rise and sit? - [/b]

[b]11. Do you use any characteristic voice tones? [/b]

[b]12. Are you in good health? If not, what is the cause of your ill
health? - [/b]

[b]13. What is your character’s strength? Does your strength change during the scene? - [/b]

[b]14. What is your financial status? -[/b]

[b]15. Do you use good English, or are you illiterate? Have a dialect? -[/b]

[b]16. In what kind of home do you live? - [/b]

[b]17. What kind of life have you lead? - [/b]

[b]18. Who were your ancestors? - [/b]

[b]19. What is your general life’s philosophy? - [/b]

[b]20. In what things are you most deeply interested? - [/b]

[b]21. Describe the character’s movement and speech. Justify them in terms of your character’s background. -[/b]

[b]22. Have you as the character's creator given your character a well-rounded person or only bones that you (the author) must put flesh on? - [/b]

[b]23. What are your character’s needs and wants? - [/b]

[b]24. Do you get what you want? If so, where in the RP? If not, why? -[/b]

[b]25. What is your general response to other people? - [/b]

[b]26. What is your occupation? What is your “type?” How does your
character differ from the general “type?” - [/b]

[b]27. What are the differences between the character as written and
yourself? - [/b]

[b]28. What are your characteristics that are like the characters
qualitites? -[/b]

[b]29. Try to create the unbroken line for your character. This is fun.
Start the morning you get up (the day in the scene), continue through the scene and end as you get into bed that night. Fill in the unknown gaps.[/b] This can be used as an RP sample!


[u]Additional Aids to develop the character[/u]

[b]1. Note all major obstacles to the character’s objectives and tell how he/she overcomes them. (Remember an obstacle can be either physical or psychological.) -[/b]

[b]2. Make a list of as many adjectives as possible to describe your
character.[/b]


Example:

Physical Description
a. sex - female
b. age - 12
c. height - 5'7"
d. weight - 130 lbs
e. color of hair - blonde
f. color of eyes - blue
g. skin - pale, almost iridescent
h. posture - princess-perfect, straight and proper
i. appearance - beautiful
j. defects or unusual physical features - none
k. heredity - graceful cheekbones, slender arms, light colored hair

Sociological Profile
a. class - royalty
b. occupation - princess
c. attitudes - haughty, “Mightier than Thou”
d. education - tutors and governesses
e. home life - poor
f. religion - none
g. race - Caucasian
h. nationality - Spanish
i. standing in community/position in society - princess, future leader
of country
j. political affiliations - none
k. amusements - watching people of lesser class and physical form
perform
l. hobbies - playing in the courtyard, being mean to people of lesser
rank

Psychological Profile
a. moral standards - I will do anything I please. I’m the princess!
b. sexual behavior - none
c. ambitions - to marry a prince and become Queen
d. personal habits - I flirt with boys.
e. frustrations - No one ever does things my way! My father doesn’t love me, my uncle smothers me.
f. temperament - cruel, snobby, mean
g. life attitude - Everyone should kiss my feet and worship me.
h. complexes - none
i. abilities - laughing evilly, throwing temper tantrums
j. talents - I can skip really well, and I like to sing
k. admirable qualities - I am beautiful
l. intelligence – IQ - average

4. Full name. - Catherine Rosa Zeta, Infanta

5. In what country do you live? - Spain

6. Are you single, married, divorced? - Single

7. Do you have any children? - No

8. Do you dress neatly or carelessly? - Neatly, of course!

9. How do you walk? Be specific? - I walk with pride and dignity.

10. How do you rise and sit? - I sit carefully and with good posture,
and rise straight.

11. Do you use any characteristic voice tones? If so, specify. - I use a haughty infliction in my voice, and it really flares when I get angry.

12. Are you in good health? If not, what is the cause of your ill
health? - I am in good health.

13. What is your character’s strength? Does your strength change during the scene? - My character’s strength is making other people feel bad about themselves so that I can feel good about myself. My strength is consistent throughout the play.

14. What is your financial status? - Wealthy beyond wealth.

15. Do you use good English, or are you illiterate? Have a dialect? - I use proper English, since I am a princess.

16. In what kind of home do you live? - A castle, a palace.

17. What kind of life have you lead? - I live a life alone, even though I am surrounded by people. I wish my father would love me as much as I admire him.

18. Who were your ancestors? - The great kings and queens of Spain and France.

19. What is your general life’s philosophy? - “... I’ll do it MY WAY!”

20. In what things are you most deeply interested? - I am most interested in myself and handsome boys.

21. Describe the character’s movement and speech. Justify them in terms of your character’s background. - I move like a child and speak like a child, since I am a child. I move a little more proud than the other children, though, because I am a princess.

22. Has the playwright given your character a well-rounded person or only bones that you (the actor) must put flesh on? - Yes, the playwright gave me a very good character to play. I didn’t have to add much to the bones of the Infanta to make her the meanspirited person she is.

23. What are your character’s needs and wants? - The needs of the Infanta are for her father to love her and for her birthday to go her way. She wants to have her father pay attention to her, and then she wants the Fantastic to dance a second time.

24. Do you get what you want? If so, where in the scene? If not, why? - No, I never get what I want; my father never comes to love me and the Fantastic dies.

25. What is your general response to other people? - My general response to people I don’t like is a yawn and something scornful to say, and to people I like, I laugh.

26. What is your occupation? What is your “type?” How does your
character differ from the general “type?” - My occupation is princess, and my type is mean. I think the Infanta’s character is a bit off from the normal mean type, because she is especially mean because of her position.

27. What are the differences between the character as written and yourself? - The Infanta is really mean, whereas I am really nice. Where the Infanta likes to laugh at people for their faults, I would comfort them. We are on the opposite ends of the mean pole.

28. What are your characteristics that are like the characters
qualitites? - The Infanta and I both had horrible birthdays. We both didn’t get exactly what we wanted, and we both kind of threw a hissy fit because of it. We both are flirts, we both try to get what we want. (But by different means.)

29. Try to create the unbroken line for your character. This is fun. Start the morning you get up (the day in the scene), continue through the scene and end as you get into bed that night. Fill in the unknown gaps.

Today is my birthday. I opened my eyes. My birthday. Twelve. Almost of age to be married to a prince. I swung my feet over my bed and touched the camisole carpet. Ah, to be a princess. The life is rich.

The servants were already in my chambers, stoking the fire, getting my clothing ready for the day. Breakfast was on the table. Fruit and cheese with tea. A lovely breakfast for my birthday. A robe was presented to me and I allowed the servant to put it on me. I sat down stiffly and picked up a strawberry. It was ripe and fragrant, and there was a bowl of sugar and a pitcher of cream nearby. Good. Just the way I like it.

After breakfast, I dressed. It is a tiring task, but must be done nevertheless. My party will be quite fabulous today. I invited the children of the lords of the court, to please my father, and Andre, to please myself. I really hope today will be fantastic.

When I was ready, Uncle came to get me to take me to the party. The day was to begin early, and I was going to meet all of the children and we would play all day before the feast in my honor. My father promised me that he would be there for me today; I really hope he sticks to his word this year.

The children were all very nice to me, and brought me gifts and flowers. It was all the same humdrum, the rigamarole of birthday celebrations and whatnots. The gifts were lovely, as usually, and boring. Andre gave me a particularly beautiful bracelet. I like him very much.

Then the games began. It was very fun, to run and play as if I were any other child. Until we played Blind man’s Bluff. That is a game in which a body can lose. And when I began to lose, I grew upset. I hate losing. And then I was pushed over, and it was the last straw. No one pushes the Infanta over. No one. And so I let the children feel a taste of my wrath. I hope they all quivered in terror. That is the way my father keeps order, and that is the way I will keep order.

Anyway. There was a pantomime, a very nice, dull ordeal, until Andre started to act. He is so very funny to watch, but so nice to look at. I think he was very funny. But then he died, as was written in the play, and he was very good at it. He was very good. Uncle came out after that, with my present from him. He made everyone close their eyes, so we couldn’t see, and when he told us all to look again, there was a box. Inside the box, there was a fantastic monster! It was the best gift I had ever received. It was such an ugly creature, so lively and ugly and horrible and very amusing to watch. The little dancing monster is much better than any jester or fool I have ever seen. It was so amusing to watch, I wanted him to dance again, but Uncle said that it was too hot. I consented.

After the party with my friends, I went inside and joined in the boring feast and ate cake and watched my father at the other end of the table. He looked so sad and despicable that if he were not my father I would pity him. He loved my mother so much that he has no love left for me. But that is all right. When I am Queen he will love me, or I will find some other man, like Andre, to love me.

When I awoke from my nap, I went back out into the courtyard, ready for my second dance. But the Fantastic was napping as well, and would not awake when I told him to. He was so insolent as to die! Ha! No one dies on the birthday of the Infanta! No one!

I was so angry I fled to my room and forgot to say goodbye to Andre. I went to bed without dinner and dreamt troubled dreams.


Additional Aids to develop the character

1. Note all major obstacles to the character’s objectives and tell how he/she overcomes them. (Remember an obstacle can be either physical or psychological.) - The first major objective, and the real objective of sustenance in the Infanta’s life, is to have her father notice her. However, as her father is obsessed with her dead mother, that will never happen; the obstacle that will never be overcome. The second objective it to have the Fantastic dance a second time, a selfish objective, yes, but one of her goals nevertheless. The obstacles in her way are her Uncle and nap time, and then the untimely demise of the young boy. She takes her nap, and comes in to watch the Fantastic dance, but he is dead so her second objective is never fulfilled. (Alas, she is a girl of many disappointments.)

5. Make a list of as many adjectives as possible to describe your
character.

- beautiful
- young
- vain
- twelve
- blonde
- mean
- cruel
- spiteful
- hateful
- lonely
- sad
- pathetic
- vicious
- snobby
- pale
- evil

[Merlin!]

Good morning, this is God speaking. You have fastened your seatbelts, and we will commence take off in thirty seconds. Tough luck if you don't want to be flying with Moding Airlines.

[/i]

God-moding can also be known as powerplaying, of which the definition is, "a player can be described as a powergamer if (s)he presumes or declares that his or her own action against another player character is successful without giving the other player character the freedom to act on his own prerogative. They may also be a player who tries to force others to participate in role-playing they don't want to engage in." _{(Source: Wikipedia)} Basically, someone says that your character does something without having previously discussed it with you, or letting you have any option but to go along with the direction they're taking the RP in.

Hi, it's God again. We have now reached thirty thousand feet. Oh dear, you've just been sick! Someone get him a sickbag! Here you are, now you have to go to the bathroom to clean yourself up. What? You don't get airsick, and so this is completely out of character? Never mind, just this once, eh? I need you to be sick to tie in with my plot. Don't worry about it, now you're in the bathroom, you'll be fine.

[/i]

Let's take a scene with a fight in, for example. Adam is fighting Bob. Although the two players have discussed before that they are going to have a fight, they haven't really talked about the outcome of the fight. If Adam starts off by saying, "Adam raised his wand and knocked Bob off his feet with the spell he shouted", that would be god-moding because it doesn't give Bob the chance to dodge the spell, or cast a shield; he has to go along with what Adam said, even though Bob might be lightening-fast on his feet and be able to dodge the spell really easily. This isn't allowed in most RPGs because it is taking control away from one of the players and not allowing the situation to develop through the playing of both people.

Yes, it's me again. I'm coming out to greet the passengers now, it's a special treat from God, of Moding Airlines. Wow, you just fainted at the sight of me! Am I that great? Hmm, I guess I must be. Now this gives me a chance to do my sympathetic and concerned act. Great.

In a role-play, players write what their character is thinking and feeling, as well as the expression on their face and what they say, because it makes it much more interesting reading, and also allows the other players to understand a character's actions better. However, your character can't see these thoughts, and so they cannot react to them. They're there for you as a player to read, but when writing as your character, you are oblivious to them. Exploring the feelings and personalities of a character is great, because it allows other people to see new depths to them, but what you can't do is write that A, your character, could sense that B, the other person's character, was upset, because even though they may have thought it, the expression on their face could have told another story.

Hi, this is God speaking again. Now, we are coming in to land, glad to see that you've already fastened your seatbelt. Great. I hope you have enjoyed flying with Moding Airlines, and will come back and fly with us again. Actually, you will, next week. Anyway...hang on! Where are you going? I know we've landed, but you can't just get up and leave like that! I want to talk to you. Stop! Come back! Oh, thank goodness the door is locked. Now you can't get out.

[/i]

So, we all want to avoid god-moding because it leaves other players irritated, and can take away from the whole enjoyment of RPing. The simplest way to do this is to look at the questions below, and answer them before you make a post. They will help you to see where you are going wrong, if you are, and how to make it better. And if you still need some help, feel free to ask; there are plenty of people here who are willing to help others.

1. Have you written the other character's name in your post? If so, is your character simply thinking about them, or is your character doing something to that character? If your character is doing something to another character, what is it? Did you have permission from the handler to do that to their character, or, was it something that was planned between you and the handler? If not, was the thread leading to that point in your character's actions, or was it inserted without prior warning or hinting?

2. Does your character know the name of the other character even if they have never spoken before? If so, how do they know this person's name? Does your character know from the look on the other character's face exactly what they are thinking? If so, how does your character react? If the other character doesn't say anything at all, does your character react to their thoughts or to their actions? If to the thoughts, what is said or done? If to the actions, what is said or done?

What? I'm being banned for god-moding? But I am God! You can't do that...I had a great plot, it's not my fault he didn't want to play along. It's a bad thing to do...I have to give everyone a chance to have the freedom to decide what their character does for themselves, because it's their character? Oh, well, um....

This is God signing off. Please enjoy the rest of your day, free from Moding Airlines.

With footnotes:

From Liberty Martin:

A player may write that their character is upset, for example, inside. So although they are smiling and laughing to the other character, the player is quite likely to explore the feelings of their character; I do this with Libby a lot. However, as a reader, you can read the thoughts of the character, but you can only see what they show to your character.

You're right, sometimes you can sense that someone is feeling something different to that which they're portraying, however, a lot of people are very good at disguising how they really feel - all people doing it intuitively up to a point. It becomes god-moding when your character starts voicing the feelings of the character, or saying what they are thinking, because there's very little chance that your character is so clever at reading people's feelings, especially if they don't know the character that well. You just have to be really careful with how much your character senses of the feelings of others, because most people wouldn't notice that someone was feeling upset inside if they were smiling and talking normally.

And yes, obviously it's god-moding if they didn't mention anything about different feelings at all.

From "Drake":

Another thing is that a character you are posting with might invite you to read such things. For example if I say: Draco was really down in the dumps, but disguised his mood with a clever smile. It is certainly considered godmoding to say that you know that something is wrong. But if something like: he tried to hide how he was feeling, but had a sick sense that he was failing miserably... that is inviting you to notice. Also, it depends on how well you know the person. Like your character and mine don't know each other that well, so little things that he does that would hint to a friend that something was up, your character should not be able to pick up on. But you want to be careful about being specific in reading people. Unless Liberty, for using your example as mine, said that sadness could be seen through her eyes, or in her profile said she had expressionate eyes that no matter what she did always gave her away, then that could be considered godmoding too. Instead, assuming that nothing was said to that effect by Liberty, you could be vague, saying something like: Rivcah felt a strange sense or sadness in Liberty. Her demeanor was giddy, laughing and joking, but something in her aura made Rivcah wonder if something more was not going on behind a false face. - Something like this still gets your point across and avoids stepping on your posting partner's toes. You don't want to say anything definitive about the other person unless they said if first. That way they have a chance to work around it without saying flat out - No, Liberty's eyes were deceptively happy too.

[Merlin!]

Keeping to Canon - The Cake Theory
When role-playing something like Harry Potter, which was, as you all know, originally a series of books written by J.K. Rowling, although as RPers we are allowed some artistic liscense to take the original stories from where they are to where we want them, we have to make sure we follow the 'canon', and don't do things that are too extreme.

The definition of canon is "in the context of fiction, the canon of a fictional universe comprises those novels, stories, films, etc. that are considered to be genuine, and those events, characters, settings, etc. that are considered to have inarguable existence within the fictional universe." In other words, something that either definitely happened in the Harry Potter books, or cannot be disputed as fitting in.

Now for the cake theory. If you are making a basic sponge cake, you mix together flour, eggs, milk and sugar in the correct proportions, and when it comes out of the oven, you have a nice, well-risen cake. Now, on top of this cake, you can put some icing, and perhaps sprinkle a few nuts. What you can't do is stick on a few tomatoes, drizzle salad cream, or perhaps grate some cheese over it, because can you imagine what that would taste like?!

In the context of canon, your sponge cake is the story the RP is based off - here obviously being Harry Potter. The icing on the cake is what you can change without changing the canon. We can have original characters, because there are all those students at Hogwarts that never get mentioned in the books, but are obviously there, or it would be a very small school indeed. We can have different teachers, because the ones in the books may go on to another job, and some aren't named at all, so we can create them from our imaginations. The nuts are the few things that perhaps may not have been entirely true to the canon, but were introduced in the books, like half-bloods being in Slytherin, a generally pure-blood house, or the occasional first-year having their own broom, like Harry.

However, you don't get many tomatoes in a sponge cake. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a tomato in a sponge cake. The tomatoes, as well as the salad cream, and the cheese, are things that you don't get in cakes, and are the things that aren't canon, that you have to be extremely cautious about writing about. It is very unlikely that your character is going to be an unregistered (or even a registered) Animagus, or a werewolf, because there were very few of them in the book, and J.K. Rowling states in various places that they are not very common; just like tomatoes in cakes. None of the characters in the book is a cutter, or extremely 'emo'. There are no outrageously suicidal characters, and so these are things that you should try to avoid when building your character, because let's face it, I don't think salad cream would be too tasty on a sponge cake. And the sprinkling of cheese? Well, not everyone is a pure-blood Slytherin, whose parents own a money tree and have been doing magic perfectly since they were three. Variety is the spice of life. Or that extra bit of icing on the cake.

Is My Character Keeping to the Canon?
By this, we are not meaning 'canon characters' - characters that were already mentioned in the book and are being taken on as a role by someone, such as Harry, Ron and Hermione, but what can be perceived as accurate for the setting of the book. These are a few questions you should ask yourself to make sure that your character fits in with the basis of Harry Potter, and does not go against the canon. If you answer 'yes' to too many of these questions, you may find that your character is not keeping to the canon, and you may wish to review how you are portraying them.

- Is my character an Animagus, werewolf/part-werewolf, or full/part other magical creature?
- Is my character 'emo', have they ever self-harmed, or are they wanting to end their own life?
- Has my character been flying for years before they attended Hogwarts?
- Has my character performed 'proper' magic before attending Hogwarts?
- Does my character come from extremely rich heritage?
- Is my character a Legilimens, can they detect people's feelings or if someone is lying?
- Does my character have a similar last name to that of a main character (it can be assumed that most of the last names of main characters aren't very common)?

[Merlin!]

The role play here does NOT take place in the current year, but rather in the year 1997, when the books take place.

So, if you have a character born in the 90's, they would be babies when this is all taking place! Please, if you must include a year of birth, please make sure that it is the correct year for the time period that we are set in.

So, if I am going to be making a first year, the minimum year that they could have been born in is 1986. Why? Because eleven years after 1986 (in the year 1997), they would be eleven.

I don't want to have to keep reminding people of this, so, take heed and do your math!

[Merlin!]

Location, Location, Location
Written by Libby

Everything, role-plays included, has a location, and when role-playing you have to do your best to stick to it, especially here, where we are trying to keep things as canon as possible. Harry Potter is set in the UK, which means that for those RPers who come from other places in the world, there may be a few differences between the culture here, and from where you come from.

Firstly, Hogwarts students are going to have been born and/or brought up in England (including the Isle of Wight, the Channel Islands, the Isles of Scilly, the Isle of Man), Northern Ireland, Wales or Scotland. It is also quite likely that characters who were born in Eire (the Republic of Ireland) would attend Hogwarts, because it is probably the nearest magical school to them. Hogwarts would not accept students who lived the most part of their lives elsewhere in the world, because there are wizarding schools in most countries; the majority of students will have been born in one of the countries mentioned above, or at least lived there since they were very young.

So, what makes the UK different to America, for example? Aside from the fact that we spell things differently, and have different words for the same thing, there are a few things that you should be aware of.

Any muggle-born students would have attended school before they came to Hogwarts, because that's the law, and you can't argue with the law. This school is called 'primary school', and it ranges from Reception (ages 4-5) to Year 6 (ages 10-11). We don't have a Kindergarten here - Reception is the equivalent - and before their fourth birthday, children may have attended a nursery school or playgroup. The years in schools are called 'year x', with x being the number. It's very unusual for people to repeat years, although it does happen.

There are a lot of stereotypes about English people - we all love tea, talk with a posh accent and live in country manors. Well, yeah, but they're not all true. Of course, there are some people who fall into those stereotypes, but I hate tea, and I'm English. In fact, a vast majority of the UK population doesn't live in large country estates, but in small towns or villages, with a lot living in industrial areas; the countryside is great, but there aren't too many jobs out there. And yes, our houses do sit in lines. I'd never even heard that until recently, but apparently it's always depicted in films. So there you are.

Names are another thing that seem to be different. Although there are obviously exceptions to the rule, there are definitely names that shout 'American' to me, because traditionally, British children were named after the monarchs of the day. There are very few people called Taylor, Morgan, Brandon, Madison, Riley...you get the idea. Here you can find the current list of popular children's names in Ireland, England and Wales and Scotland. There are two things to note here: we don't want fifty Jacks now, because that would just be silly. Use your common sense, everyone, we know you all have some somewhere. Also, the site is set in 1997. Most of the names on these lists have been popular for a while, and are common, but again, just use your common sense. It's there, I know it is.

Politics and history. Two things that, especially the former, aren't particularly interesting (considering the current political events in England), but could be talked about for hours. The UK is a monarchy - that means we are ruled over by a Queen, and it has been like that for hundreds of years. During 1997, there was also the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, who was loved by many people during her lifetime, and a major event in modern British history. We also have a Prime Minister, who at the time this site is set, was Tony Blair. Although the books don't specifically mention any Prime Minister by name, it can probably be assumed that the political state in the muggle world was pretty similar to how it really was. Blair had been recently elected and New Labour's promises had made everyone see light at the end of the tunnel. I was too young to remember it, but apparently it was a good time in the world of British politics. Which isn't really saying much.

Other things that may be useful to you: we call 999, not 911, in an emergency. It's 'mum' (or 'mam', for the Irish), not 'mom'. London has an underground train system called the Tube or The London Underground (for its full title), which characters may use to get to Diagon Alley (and is also where Platform 9 ^3/4 is). And we don't all drink tea.

[Merlin!]

Before you begin, ask yourself....

"Self, is the character I am about to make a Mary Sue or a Gary Stu?"

Sue and Stu: The Brother-Sister Team of Doom

Welcome to our section on Mary Sue and Gary Stu. This section is not a mandatory read, but is simply here for reference for those who are unsure of what a Sue/Stu is, or who want a nice little giggle, because remember, there’s no humour like sarcastic humour.

Mary Sue:

Mary can be either male or female, in the most painful of cases she has blonde curly hair, radiating blue eyes, skin that shines like porcelain with plump red lips perfect for kissing. Her figure is curvy and womanly, but she’s also a perfect ballerina (don’t ask how, just continue with the image). She is innocent, yet intelligent. She’s coy and flirtatious, yet virtuous in every sense. She appears out of nowhere and claims to be Harry Potter’s girlfriend, the person Hermione Granger goes to for study tips, and the girl who’s secretly training Ron Weasley how to play wizard’s chess. And all before midnight so she can get her eight hours of beauty sleep! She has a magical power to sing and call animals to her with her faerie-like twinkling voice. Her ringing laughter, like bells on the hill, summons her unicorn steed in a flash of rainbows and pixie dust.

Like I said, that was the most painful case. But you can see where I’m coming from. Mary Sue is a character who somehow manages to be perfect in every sense. It’s not that a character can’t be good at many things, hell, if you’re making an Auror character it’s hard not to give them many skills, which is understandable, however, the best way to avoid becoming a Sue is to make sure that you give your character some faults to go along with it. Think of you, yourself as a human being, no here, in fact I’ll use me. If I created a character of myself she would probably come across as a Sue. I act, I sing, I dance, I play guitar, I cook really well, I’m definitely not a hag, I read a fair amount, I would consider myself very intelligent, I write (fiction and poetry, as well as my own songs), I used to play soccer, etc. But I’m also dry and sarcastic (in case you haven’t picked that up yet), prone to bouts of depression, insecure about some things (who isn’t?), have a habit of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, lack a certain amount of human compassion, make a whole whack of bad decisions (especially romantically), and have a very unreasonable fear of stairs. Yes, stairs. Don’t ask.

Just take yourself into account when making a character and if everything balances out in the end, she’s not a Sue.

If you think your character might be a Sue, answer these questions, if you say yes to any of them, you may be in danger (unless your character is a canon and the answer was in the books or was discussed with the character involved before you applied):

- Has your character dated any of the following: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy/Ron Weasley/Fred Weasley/George Weasley/Bill Weasley/Charlie Weasley/Ginny Weasley/Remus Lupin/Sirius Black/Hermione Granger/Orlando Bloom?

- Does your character’s name involve any of the following words: Rainbow/Butterfly/Princess/Faery (or any of its variant spellings)/Moon/Star/Angel/Madonna?

- Are your characters eyes purple? Or, excuse me, violet?

- Does your character somehow have the answer to everything, in every situation?

- Does it state in your character’s bio, somewhere, that everyone finds her attractive or that everyone likes her?

- Can your character read minds?

- Does your character have your name? Or a name that you really, really wish you had?

- Is your character a metamorphmagus and an animagus, and a gifted Seer, and an Elementalist, and a Star Quidditch player, and Teen Wizard’s most eligible bachelor-ette?

- Does your character have a pet unicorn/dragon/giant hummingbird?

- Does your character wear leather regularly?


Gary Stu:

Gary is Mary’s evil brother, though he can be male or female. He is very angry and lonely; he constantly wants to kill himself or other people. He is usually plotting how to kill Mary. His posts always involve blood, his or someone else’s. He carries a knife around in his pocket. He wears nothing but black. He hates sunshine, people, noises, himself, the world. He has no reason for living other than his overwhelming sense of hatred that fills his core and radiates out from him like an aura of doom. Gary Stu is the son of Satan incarnate, but without any lust for power, any desire to take over. Only the will to die, or to kill, because hatred and self-pity are all that he knows. Angst, my friends, extreme angst.
Again, this is the most extreme case, but you understand what I mean. If your character is wallowing in depression, with no sign of recovering, or getting worse, but simply satisfied with the idea of being down all the time, then there may be a slight problem. Gary Stu is the exact opposite of Mary Sue. I don’t think you need any questions to help you with this one, but since they’re fun to write… If you answer yes to any of the following questions, rethink your character a tad:

- Does your character have black hair, black fingernails, an entirely black wardrobe, their own black-handled 10” dagger that they know how to throw, and black combat boots?

- Are your character’s eyes black?

- Does your character’s name involve any of the following words: Evil/Death/Black/Devil/Demon?

- Is your character plotting to kill their entire family, simply because they’re happy people who don’t “understand”?

- Is your character an orphan/has your character been abused as a child?

- Has your character already killed more than one person, and enjoyed it?

- Does your character carry a sword or staff instead of a wand?

- Can your character make things explode, set things on fire, or open a Portal of Doom through mere thought-power?

- Will your character abandon all his evil ways once a pretty girl sees through it all and loves him in spite of his evil-ness?

- Can your character read minds?

- Does your character have a pet demon?

- Does your character wear leather regularly? (In case you haven’t caught on, leather is just a bad idea.)

Well there you have it, the brother-sister team of doom. Stay away from them and you will have a long and happy career in the RP world! Good luck!

Much thanks to The RPGD for the much needed Mary Sue guide!

____________________________________________________


The tell-tale signs you have a Harry Potter Mary-Sue:

1. The biggest giveaway that your character might be a Mary-Sue is the fact that they are either related to, best friends with, or in love with a character from the books. This might mean the long-lost daughter of Snape, the forgotten sister of Harry, the girl-we-never knew who loved Fred and George, or Voldemort's bosom buddy. Unless you have a reasonable explanation for your circumstances in relation to the canon characters, don't have your character even remotely know the canon characters until something has been worked out through posting.

2. Parents killed by Death Eater attacks, again?! While the Death Eaters are generally evil people who take pleasure in killing others, unless your parents were very involved with the Order, they are unlikely to have been killed by a Death Eater. And not everyone's parents can be involved with the Order - it is a secret organisation and though not all the members are mentioned in the books, it's safe to say that there aren't going to be too many 'unknown' people there.

On this note, most parents don't abandon their child, or send them to live with their third cousin twice removed, because this cousin lives in England and they don't. However, we're set in 1997, where the divorce rate in England and Wales was much higher than it had been 50 years ago, so yes, parents can be separated, but not everyone's parents are divorced. What happened to the happy family scenario?

3. Is your character only in their teens and already on their own? In the UK it is illegal to live on your own before you are sixteen, and until you're eighteen, you need your parents' permission to do so. Therefore, there are not going to be half of the sixth year who live in an expensive apartment in the middle of London (which happens to be one of the most expensive places in the country to live) on their own during the holidays.

4. Mean but nice syndrome, or loner-itus? A lot of people think that their characters should have a "cruel to most but can be kind" or "loner until you talk to them, drifter" personality. Kind, shy, and sweet is okay, but when the character is kind, shy, and sweet only some of the time, and temperamental, aggressive, cruel the rest, there is an issue. Characters should have depth, such as why they are shy and sweet, rather than just 'because' reasoning. If they are aggressive, why? Is it a learned behavior, something they don't realize they have, why? Answer why and viola! you will have depth. Actions (such as being nice to those around your character because they helped your character) are not personality traits, though they can help explain traits.

5. Does your character self-harm, because they were abused as a child? The opposite end of the spectrum to the nice, kind, sickly sweet girl that everyone loves, is the one that talks to nobody, and is typically 'emo'. If no-one understands them, and therefore they take their anger out on their family, because their father abused them and their mother deprived them of ice-cream on Sundays (of course, these parents then went on to be killed in a Death Eater attack, leaving the poor child an orphan), then we need to know why.

6. Beauty Queen of Hogwarts? Let's face it, this is the real world. Not everyone has perfect skin, long, silky hair, a slim yet curvy-in-the-right-places figure or that toned look despite never doing exercise. In fact, mentioning how other people view them is a tell-tale sign your character is a Mary-Sue - it's up to them to decide.

7. Using yourself as your 'celebrity face'? Another sign that your character is Mary-Sue. While we're sure that you match up to all those people on the A-List in looks, and are in fact a more accurate representation of a student at Hogwarts, this plan has flaws. Using yourself as a face means you're putting yourself in the situation that your character should be in, and could end up with the other players posting with 'you' as opposed to your character. This is called a role-play for a reason. Also, does your character have your name, or a name you really, really wish you had? Another clue that you're on the Mary-Sue trail there.

8. Come hither, Rainbow-child. Does your character have a very unusual name? Does it contain any of the following: Rainbow, Butterfly, Princess, Fairy, Moon, Star, Angel? If so, this is another case of the Mary-Sue strikes again. While we understand that there are people out there who do name their children wacky things, they always have a reason for doing so, and it's not very common. This is the UK, not Narnia.

Generally, Mary-Sues are copies of characters that are already out there, and/or have plots that conform to fantasies. The world of Harry Potter might be a fantasy in itself, but we have to make it fair for everyone.

[Merlin!]

If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, you may want to re-evaluate your character. This is in fact for female characters, but it can also be applied to any male characters with any of the female characters from the books.

---

1. Is her name YOUR name?

2. Your nickname?

3. Your net name?

4. A really cool name?

5. That you wish you had?

6. That you've tried to get other people to call you?

7. Is your character's name a noun not usually used as a name?

8. Did you spend more than a day thinking up the perfect name for your character?

9. Did you not need to spend any time thinking up the perfect name for your character because all your characters have the same name?

10. And it's yours?

11. Is the character's name an unusual spelling of a more common name or word?

12. Or a female with a male-sounding name?

13. Or a name the character chose for him or herself, because s/he "didn't want to forget"?

14. Is the character the same gender as you?

15. Is the character the same race as you?

16. If not, is this because the character is a veela or a werewolf?

17. Although s/he didn't know s/he was until mysteriously transported to Hogwarts, although they lived previously on the other side of the world?

18. Is your character a combination of two different races?

19. Are they...

a) Human and Veela?

b) Giant and Veela?

c) Werewolf and Veela??

20. Does your character have the strong points of both races?

21. And the weak points of neither?

22. Is the character really, really young?

23. Is the character the exact same age as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco or Ginny?

24. Is the character in the same age as you?

25. Or is the character at the age you would like to be?

26. If your character is an adult, are they a teenager or in her early twenties?

27. If no, does your character look like she's a teenager or in her early twenties?

28. For no good reason?

29. For a good reason?

30. That you plan on making a plot point later?
(If the good reason is because s/he's found a brand of moisturizer that actually performs as advertised, please let me know what it is).

31. Is your character beautiful?

32. Extremely beautiful?

33. More beautiful even than Fleur Delacour?

34. Does your character have grey, black or violet eyes?

35. Do your character's eyes change colour with their emotions?

36. Does your character have long hair?

37. Of an unusual colour?

38. That you describe at length?

39. More than once?

40. In the first two paragraphs?

41. Has the character already read Harry Potter from the first book to the last?

42. So she/he can predict everything that's going to happen?

43. Because she's a seer and can read minds?

44. Or does she/he suddenly become amnesiac upon arriving at Hogwarts?

45. So all s/he gets is a nagging feeling of dread right when a bit of precognition would come in handy?

46. And then a lot of angst afterward because s/he "should have known"?

47. Is the character related to any of the main Harry Potter characters?

48. Does your character have a spitfire personality?

49. Is your character:

a) Harry's younger and rebellious sister?

b) Sirius's younger and rebellious sister?

c) Snape's younger and rebellious sister?

d) Hermione's younger and rebellious sister?

e) Draco's younger and rebellious sister?

f) Luna's younger and rebellious sister?

50. Or royalty of any type?

51. That she/he does not originally know about?

52. Is your character Dumbledore's daughter?

53. Adopted?

54. Because she's really Ron's sister?

55. And the true heir to the throne?

56. Was the character adopted by someone other than Dumbledore or did he/she otherwise live with people who were not his/her parents as a child?

57. Does your character have a secret past?

58. Is it tortured?

59. Is Harry in it?

60. Is Hagrid?

61. Is Lupin?

62. Does your character suffer from guilt about something terrible that s/he did in the past?

63. Do the other characters eventually convince her/him that it was not his/her fault?

64. Do any of the following typos appear in your work?

a) Harry Radcliffe

b) Emma Granger

c) Severus Rickman

65. Does your character frequently lift the company's spirits with her beautiful singing?

66. Of 2007 Top Twenty songs?

67. Does everyone in the Order admire/approve of your character?

68. Does everyone end up liking the character?

69. Even though she keeps showing them up and correcting them all the time?

70. Do animals that are usually untamed like and obey your character?

71. Does your character have a horse?

72. Is it a white horse?

73. Or a unicorn?

74. That she can talk to?

75. Does it talk back?

76. Only to her?

77. Telepathically?

78. Does she also have a pair of ferrets, an eagle, and a Bengal tiger who follow her around defending her?

79. Does your character fall in love with your favourite canon character?

80. Does your favourite canon character fall in love with your character?

81. Do they end up devoted and deeply in love?

82. Is Harry in love with your character?

83. Is Fred in love with your character?

84. Is George in love with your character?

85. Are Harry, Fred and George all in love with your character?

(If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, please lay down your pen and turn in your test, unless: )

86. Your character is in love with Ron.

87. Is your character so good, beautiful and persuasive that s/he can persuade otherwise evil (or misguided) canon characters to change their ways?

88. Does she convince Voldemort that world-domination isn't all it's cracked up to be?

89. Do any of J.K. Rowling's other characters act outrageously out-of-character when they're around your original character?

90. Because their love for him/her overwhelms their common sense?

91. Even though they're trying to deny that love to themselves?

92. Thus making them unusually testy around him/her?

93. And it never occurs to anyone they might have a few other reasons to be testy? (Dark Lord, Death Eaters, potions homework...?)

94. Can your character produce a Patronus better than Harry?

95. Play Wizard Chess better than Ron?

96. Get better marks than Hermione?

97. Take on Bellatrix and Voldemort simultaneously and beat them using Unforgivable Curses with one hand tied behind her back and no wand?

98. Does your character have any magical powers not prevalent in the world of Harry Potter. (metamorphmagus and an animagus, and a gifted Seer, and an Elementalist, a Legilimens and Occlumens, and Teen Wizard’s most eligible bachelor-ette?

99. Does she just "know" things?

100. By "sensing" them?

101. At critical plot points?

102. Do you really like your character?

103. And think everybody else should like her too?

104. And get really defensive when anyone suggests she's a Mary Sue?

105. So defensive that you can't resist making a personal attack on the player?

106. And suggesting that the only reason s/he doesn't like your character is because you're adored by all and s/he isn't?

107. And it doesn't seem strange to you that you count your character's adoration by Harry/Fred/George as you being adored?

108. Do you ever pretend, just to yourself, that you are the character, with the same strengths and abilities?

109. Do you ever pretend to other people that you are the character, with the same strengths and abilities?

110. If the answer to question 109 is "yes," is it your medication time yet?

111. Does Voldemort die in your plotline?

112. And stay dead?

113. Really?

114. Is your character able to restore anyone to life by weeping over them?

115. Is it Voldemort?

116. Does he sit up and say: "Quiet down, that crying will wake the dead and... Oh." (If yes, please send me a copy of the plotline.)

117. Does your character save Harry from...

a) Legilimency

b) Lord Voldemort

c) single-handedly?

118. Does your character die in your plotline?

119. Really?

120. And stay dead?

121. Even in the sequel?

122. Does she have an identical sister or mysterious lookalike?

123. Who you plan on writing a plotline about?

124. Are any of the canon characters wounded in your plotline?

125. Seriously?

126. And nursed back to health?

127. By your character?

128. Is your character wounded in your plotline?

129. And nursed back to health?

130. By Ron?

131. By Draco?

132. By both?

133. Do any of the canon characters fight over your character's attentions?

134. Is it Harry, Fred and George?

135. Does the character save the day and/or another character's life?

136. Through magical/mystical intervention?

137. Through wandless magic?

138. Through divine intervention?

139. Through almost dying?

140. Through dying?

141. Does everyone go into mourning?

142. The whole of the Wizarding World?

143. Does a beautiful flower miraculous bloom at your character's gravesite?

144. Only once a year on the anniversary of her/his death?

[Merlin!]

Death To Mary Sue!
Creating a balanced character profile, and avoiding the King and Queen of Perfection.

Mary Sue and Gary Stu.. the absolute nightmare of any Forum RPG administrator. They come in many forms. Students, adults, animals, aliens - even kitchen cupboards, given the right sort of RPG. They're hiding in your bathroom. They're knocking on your door. They're going to make you cringe in later life, because you know you invited them to your door... but let's backtrack a little.

You'll see what I mean. First, I'll explain a bit.

1. Who Are Mary Sue and Gary Stu?

Mary Sue is the friend of all the girls, chased after by all the boys. She is beautiful, and kind despite her often tragic past. She probably has a lot of money, always knows what to do in every situation and excells at everything she does. She's the girl you find taming the horse no one could ride, the one who's parents were both killed by ravenous hippos or something equally horrifying. She may have lived with an Aunt who hated her, or a kind old grandmother who ensured she had all the creature comforts of life... but you can be sure that nothing ever got her down until those few moments where it seems a teary breakdown is called for. She's so sweet it makes you sick, and so perfect she makes Barbie look like a hag.

Gary Stu, well... he's much the same. The most handsome boy around, he gets along with everyone and all the girls have got secret crushes on him. He's incredibly good at sports, even if he didn't have a father to play ball with him, or a mother who made sure he ate his bread crusts. Like Mary, his parents (or entire family, in some cases) are probably dead... but again, he takes it all in his stride and maintains that wonderful air of amazing calm that keeps him in place as leader of any group. He'll always do the right thing in any situation, he has no vices, and he always gets the girl.

2. Right... So Why Is This Bad?

Strictly speaking, it's not. Mary Sue and Gary Stu are characters in their own right. And if you're playing an RPG set in Impossible Land, I'm sure they would be happily accepted there. However, the bottom line is - that unless the RPG is set somewhere similar to Impossible Land - there is no case where any character should be that perfect.

True. Characters are fictional. They aren't bound by the limitations of say, you and I in the real world. But at the same time, they should be just as affected by character flaws and history as we are. Keeping your character to a realistic balance of talent and troubles will make your character more believable, more easy to play, and a lot more complex than Mary and her boyfriend up there.

Also - most people have already written a Mary or a Gary. I won't lie and say I never did - more often than not, a person's first character posesses all the goodness in the world, I went through quite a few Mary's before someone pointed out to me that my characters didn't have enough flaws.

3. Need More Convincing?

Here's the list of problems with having a Mary or a Gary, in short form.

- They're the most overdone characters, ever. Can you imagine a board full? Yuck. It's been done.
- Nobody's perfect, so why should they be?
- They're boring to play, and boring to play with.

4. Right! So, How To Avoid Them?

Easy. When planning a character, think very carefully about their history. Think carefully about their mannerisms, how they respond to others, and what their pet peeves are.

Below I've put a few things to consider. As I mostly write human characters, the examples are for that species - but keep in mind that the same principles apply to any species/race/whatever!

Name.
As odd as it sounds, this is usually one of the first things that screams MARY SUE! Unless you're in a fantasy RP where it is appropriate, try and steer away from odd, or Elvish sounding names. Likewise, Moonstar Rainbowshine tends to make people vomit - and not in the good way. Try and pick something that's not overdone, unsusual in it's own way - but not over the top.

Age.
Another interesting factor. Many characters are purposefully designed to be roughly the same age as characters of the opposite gender on the boards. The reasons for this are quite obvious, and while that's okay - don't ever be afraid to play the old grandmother, or even the eleven year old child.

Personality.
Whether it's a requirement of the character sheet or not, always consider this carefully. What you decide to be your character's personality from the start should have an impact on how you play your character to the end. Things you should think about include:

- How does my character act generally? How do they view life?
- How does my character act in bad situations? What makes them angry?
- How does my character act in good situations? What makes them happy?
- How does my character respond to unusual situations?
- What upsets my character?

Important Notes: Never. Ever. State what other characters feel about your character. Unless it has been predecided, your application should be about your character, not how others see them. While you can say that your character is 'difficult to hate', you cannot outright say 'no one hates my character'.

History.
Another important topic. As with anyone, what has happened in your characters past will have an impact on how they see life in the future. Often it helps to write your history before the personality, to get some idea of how your character might have turned out. Also remember that a character without a history is an incredibly boring one, the more you put here the better you will understand your character from the beginning.

Things to avoid:
- Dead families/parents.
Orphans are so overdone. The occasional one, yes - I'll give you that, they exist and so should be represented in the RP world. But, there is such thing as going overboard...
- Overly tragic events that conflict with personality.

Fair enough if you're writing a tragic past. But remember that whatever you write, has to be reflected in how your character manages day to day situations. You can't have a tragic past simply for sympathy calls every time you feel like writing something sad... it has to be there every time, always in the back of your mind when writing your character.

Appearance.
Ye gods. The RP world is swamped with supermodels and iron men! If you haven't got the gist of this guide by now, here it is: Characters. Are. Not. Perfect! Not every girl can be Barbie, and not every guy can be Ken. So write that. You'll find eventually that playing a character who is physically perfect is just as boring as playing a character who is perfect in personality.

Some things to consider when writing appearance:

- What weight is my character? (Hint: Overweight is FUN!)
- How tall is my character (Be unusual.. or average. Do not be cliche and put 6 foot 2, eyes of blue...)
- How pretty/handsome is my character? (Zomg! I'd LOVE to see plain Jane! Or someone really ugly..)
- Crooked/discoloured teeth are awesome.
- Eyes that are not green/blue or some unusual shade are excellent.
- Scars that don't mean anything... wonderful. Accident scars... brilliant.

.. Let your imagination for personal defects run wild!

5. So, What Did We Learn?

Just the golden rule of RP:
Nobody's perfect - so why should your characters be?


This article appears Courtesy of Tallygarunga.

[Ron Weasley]

Yet another Mary-Sue explanation. Sometimes what we already have written doesn't cover every kind of Mary Sue. There are all kinds out there, and while we can always spot them when we see them, we might not always be able to write about the different kinds. So, here is is what the Mary-Sue embodies, even if the circumstances aren't the same.

Mary Sues represent the extremities of characters. Super happy people who suddenly get very mean or angry, super depressed people who are always moping about and moaning about how miserable their life is, characters with super abilities and strengths and no weaknesses, the most attractive person who has to beat off the opposite sex with a stick to walk by, that sort of thing, or a combination of them. It's not so much that the whole character is even Mary Sue, but aspects, like, a character could be fine until they wish to be an Animangus or Legimens, and since those are rare, unless the person had a viable reason to back up their wish and then showed how the use of it would be reflected in the character, they wouldn't be allowed it because it was Mary Sue. Of course, there are characters with extremes out there, it is just that they have a web of reasoning and explanations as to why they are like that, and show how that little thing affects the whole of their being and life.

[Ron Weasley]

Father died? Mother died? Sister, brother, auntie, uncle? Any kind of death in the family at a tender age? Raped or molested by someone trusted? Causing self-mutilation because no one cared?

It's not that interesting. And it's boring. Everyone's characters seem to want to have them. (Which is why it gets so old so fast - everyone has the same sad past, and it's monotonous.) We do know there are a lot of accidents and deaths, but what are the chances that most of the students at Hogwarts have had that happen to them? Probably not very high.

Unless you can have it twist your character so horribly that it forever alters their lives. You know... if because of that tragedy a sweet girl is forever bent on being as vile and loathesome as she possibly can, if it causes a young man to have a breakdown that shatters the hearts of those who knew him, if it does not alter your character in some drastic and fundemental way, then don't include it. Why? Because these things really do happen in real life, and people's lives are greatly affected by it. If they do get over the death of a parent, it's years and years later. If they are molested, it might never properly heal. This is real, honest, horrible stuff, and it better have a real, honest, horrible effect on a character.

There are better ways to include drama into a character's past than to have a family member die suddenly, violently, etc. If you need help thinking of something that might throw a wrench into your character's past, feel free to message a staff member. We're here to help you create casual mayhem.