What Do You Like or Dislike In a Character?

DxFoe

Member
After rping for a while I realize my characters tend to be a certain few groups of characters. I've also realize I've never stopped to ask what my fellow rpers like and dislike in a character that they're rping opposite of? It feels kind of inconsiderate of me considering you have to put up with my characters as much as I do yours.

So what kind of character tropes are pet peeves of yours?
 
I am rather open to styles of characters. I have one major pet peeve, mainly due to an older rp. Overly hormonal characters are annoying after a certain point. They can be funny, but players typically don't want their threads turned into erotica. Other than this, I am fine with almost any character that isn't a god-mode.
 
I've noticed similar trends in my characters as well- I tend to not roleplay as aggressive or more dominant characters, save one.
One of my personal pet peeves in characters, similar to Imperator Semper Rex's situation, is due to this one person I used to roleplay with a lot (mostly because she was ridiculously clingy to my character and I couldn't get away, dear lord-). I can't stand it when a character is, as I've heard others put it, "ruined". By ruined, I mean they are so incredibly depressed and pessimistic that they are the embodiment of the "emo" stereotype. I'm completely fine with a character that has or has had depression, but it's when their creator blows it so out of proportion that it's completely unrealistic that bothers me: pretty much, I hate it when a character's only purpose for existence is to garner pity.
 
My personal pet peeve is a character that is overly submissive (an overly anything character is a peeve). The reason being- I have no clue what the hell to do with them. The whole dominant/submissive trend irritates the hell out of me, because it doesn't do a character justice to stuff it into one dimension of being. When one character can't even drink water without searching for approval and whimpering about it, then the entire story/plot/action hangs on one person to write.
 
I don't know if this is just a personal pet peeve, but I tend to really dislike it when people have a character that constantly stutters. I'm fine with some stuttering, it's an effective technique to show emotion, but some people just go overboard. I get that they are trying to convey fear, or submissiveness? But if every word is stuttered, it's unrealistic. That said, I have absolutely nothing against people who stutter in real life! Of course not! But, if it's just in a creative writing setting, it gets very old, very fast.
 
I don't know if this is just a personal pet peeve, but I tend to really dislike it when people have a character that constantly stutters. I'm fine with some stuttering, it's an effective technique to show emotion, but some people just go overboard. I get that they are trying to convey fear, or submissiveness? But if every word is stuttered, it's unrealistic. That said, I have absolutely nothing against people who stutter in real life! Of course not! But, if it's just in a creative writing setting, it gets very old, very fast.

OH same. I tend to only have my characters stutter if they're nervous or intimidated.
 
I don't know if this is just a personal pet peeve, but I tend to really dislike it when people have a character that constantly stutters. I'm fine with some stuttering, it's an effective technique to show emotion, but some people just go overboard. I get that they are trying to convey fear, or submissiveness? But if every word is stuttered, it's unrealistic. That said, I have absolutely nothing against people who stutter in real life! Of course not! But, if it's just in a creative writing setting, it gets very old, very fast.
Oh dear goodness, this is so true. Unless they specifically have a reason, a PHYSICAL reason or speech impediment that makes them stutter all the time, then it's just frustrating to read. Sadly, I've been guilty of this a couple of times, haha... ha... (ugh I used to be so bad at writing I swear-)
 
I am generally fine with any character, moderation is key with any defining personality trait or attribute, but there have been some instances where personality traits have gone too far. I think the biggest pet peeve is the “pity me always” type of characters, they serve only one purpose to garner attention from other characters and have no other defining role other than please give me that attention.

I think the secondary pet peeve is characters created for the sole purpose of being of being shipped or the only goal is for them have a relationship. [Doesn’t apply to roleplays you have planned with another if this is the goal] just speaking from group experience here with that one. Jumping from one character to another until that fulfilment has been met.

Ehh, just me though.
 
I don't like characters who are mute.

Dialogue is an important aspect of a successful story, so when it's absent, silent characters can only interact with others half as much as they interact with them. Also, they tend to be objects of pity and woe--having 'tragic' pasts that led to their muteness and they direct attention away from the plot. You have to watch them in order to understand them, time watching that can be spent going on with the story.
 
I agree that mute is annoying and too much stuttering in a role play gets old real fast.


I'm surprised no one said Mary Sue. Back in the early 2000's I remember playing in a chat group setting and way too often people wanted to play as the super powered prettiest and all beloved person. Ugh! Who the heck wants to play with that?
 
Mary Sues don't really bother me, honestly.
It's annoying when everyone else has well-developed and meaningful characters, but at the end of the day, it's still someone's creation and it should be respected. Even though it was created out of misguidance and the character itself is completely quintessential.

Sure, I snicker at the worst of them, but I'm never going to tell someone they have a bad character.


That being said, pretty much every supernatural/fantasy/magical roleplay has a character with wolf powers.
Werewolves bore me. Their character traits have become so predictable--fierce, loyal, protective, wild, ect.

Or they act like actual lost puppies with 'insanity' induced by teenage angst and a tragic backstory that would put Twilight to shame.
They go into a blood rage when they see people they love hurt, but gore is boring and repetitive when it's unnecessary. In a good RP, your characters get hurt. It would be a waste of time to kill everything that hurts you--instead lick your wounds and move on.
They wallow in their romantic archetype, the males always independent and stoic and the females are always "mysterious" and transparent.
Wolves are highly social animals--the 'lone wolf' is a misnomer--lone wolves die when they fail to find packs.



Now, what I like to see in characters is strength.
My definition of a strong character usually isn't the same as others'.

Obviously, strength to fight for what they believe in. Strength to carry on when everyone else gives up. Refusal to back down.
But for me, I see strong characters when I see them take initiative. No one likes characters who just hang in the background, waiting for something to happen to them. There's always something for your character to do, to talk with, to find out. I hate being the person to always have to strike up a conversation because every other character is too busy focusing on random NPCs to take note of what's actually going on. I hate that. I hate using random, nameless, faceless characters as filler when I have four or five--maybe more--perfectly good ones at my disposal. But that's a subject for another day.

As I was saying, with confidence comes strength. If I'm in a roleplay, I'm going to interact with everyone and the environment as much as I can.

But, yeah, I hate using filler people and I hate tragic backstories if they're not executed well.
 
Mary Sues don't really bother me, honestly.
It's annoying when everyone else has well-developed and meaningful characters, but at the end of the day, it's still someone's creation and it should be respected. Even though it was created out of misguidance and the character itself is completely quintessential.

Sure, I snicker at the worst of them, but I'm never going to tell someone they have a bad character.


That being said, pretty much every supernatural/fantasy/magical roleplay has a character with wolf powers.
Werewolves bore me. Their character traits have become so predictable--fierce, loyal, protective, wild, ect.

Or they act like actual lost puppies with 'insanity' induced by teenage angst and a tragic backstory that would put Twilight to shame.
They go into a blood rage when they see people they love hurt, but gore is boring and repetitive when it's unnecessary. In a good RP, your characters get hurt. It would be a waste of time to kill everything that hurts you--instead lick your wounds and move on.
They wallow in their romantic archetype, the males always independent and stoic and the females are always "mysterious" and transparent.
Wolves are highly social animals--the 'lone wolf' is a misnomer--lone wolves die when they fail to find packs.



Now, what I like to see in characters is strength.
My definition of a strong character usually isn't the same as others'.

Obviously, strength to fight for what they believe in. Strength to carry on when everyone else gives up. Refusal to back down.
But for me, I see strong characters when I see them take initiative. No one likes characters who just hang in the background, waiting for something to happen to them. There's always something for your character to do, to talk with, to find out. I hate being the person to always have to strike up a conversation because every other character is too busy focusing on random NPCs to take note of what's actually going on. I hate that. I hate using random, nameless, faceless characters as filler when I have four or five--maybe more--perfectly good ones at my disposal. But that's a subject for another day.

As I was saying, with confidence comes strength. If I'm in a roleplay, I'm going to interact with everyone and the environment as much as I can.

But, yeah, I hate using filler people and I hate tragic backstories if they're not executed well.

Do you think you'd be okay with a werewolf if the powers were different than usual and their personality was separate from the cliches?

Also I love well executed backstories but I'm never able to do it too well so my characters always have super boring/normal backgrounds xD
 
Making something different doesn't automatically make it good, and cliches aren't bad things as long as they aren't hurtful stereotypes.
Though I probably wouldn't accept it in favor of better characters.

If I had a roleplay and I was accepting character applications, I'd look at the deeper and more original characters first before picking out the less developed, less considerable ones. It would be a process of elimination--even if you meet the bar line, it doesn't guarantee your acceptance.

You have to consider the fact that I'm looking for more than the information you put on the character sheet. I'm looking at your style of writing, gauging out your writing and reading comprehension level, evaluating your word choice and sentence structure. It sounds dramatic but it's really routine. I usually get a pretty good sense of what people are going to be like by just reading their character sheet. I don't mean to sound pretentious, but it's a little unnerving how my predictions end up being true. So as long as you follow the guidelines I set, you'll have a fair chance, regardless of what's actually being presented. A character is only half of what makes a roleplay successful, the other half is what happens on the keyboard.

If you have a bland character, I'll probably forgive it more if your writing showed promise and you followed the rules laid out.
I've noticed it doesn't really work the other way around. Usually people with poor writing have poor characters. Because they haven't spent enough time reading and expanding their imagination--just hopping on bandwagons and trends and end up falling in the laundry bin. However, their imagination is still theirs to own, cherish, and develop, and if you don't give it a chance to thrive, it'll wither away. That's why I try not to be too critical on characters unless I'm asked to be.

So, to answer your question, it doesn't matter what's different if you're just trying to distinguish yourself from the stereotypes yet actually give no other redeeming qualities.
 
Or they act like actual lost puppies with 'insanity' induced by teenage angst and a tragic backstory that would put Twilight to shame.
They go into a blood rage when they see people they love hurt, but gore is boring and repetitive when it's unnecessary. In a good RP, your characters get hurt. It would be a waste of time to kill everything that hurts you--instead lick your wounds and move on.

I think so many werewolf stories have gotten their information from an old and now debunked study. The whole alpha, beta, etcetera dynamic doesn't actually happen out in the wilds. It only happens if you bring a whole bunch of wolves that don't know each other together. In the wild wolves live in small family groups. This bloodlust thing you talk about also just isn't part of the nature of actual wolves. Sure they are wild animals and as such can be vicious towards strangers, so yeah basically I agree with you about wolves.
 
I agree that mute is annoying and too much stuttering in a role play gets old real fast.


I'm surprised no one said Mary Sue. Back in the early 2000's I remember playing in a chat group setting and way too often people wanted to play as the super powered prettiest and all beloved person. Ugh! Who the heck wants to play with that?
I agree completely. Sometimes, people try to add flaws to their characters, but ultimately, the prettiness, overly sweet and kind soul, ability to solve everything, having the most magical powers, and athleticism outshine the faults that aren't even noticeable anymore.
 
this sounds kinda off, but i absolutely hate the rich-white-boy-with-too-many-tattoos-who-is-angsty-and-angry, idk its over used and pisses me off.

or like the over tragic childhood cliche character, like, my parents died, i lived on the streets, got raped and mugged eleven times, learned to kill for a living and is always emotionally dying,

you see what I mean??

this is not really a pet peeve, but when characters lack racial diversity, hence the fact i usually make foreign characters to spice things up a bit.
 
bil, my dude, i second the overly tragic back story. mine is that when someone's back story is so fucked and just wayyyy too over the top and isn't realistic at all - and then when they write for their oc, it seems like it doesn't even affect the character (((( : like yes, i like messed up, twisted pasts, but you've got to take your time and do your research if you're going to commit to a character like that.

also, the 'overly shy type' irritates me. like ones that are always berating themselves for everything they say and is just generally an innocent mary sue character. like stop, this is cringy.

and as a whole group, when everyone's character seems to be gay lmao. i'm for those characters, but if everyone decides to have a gay character in a group of ten then it gets old ( : making your character gay doesn't make them unique ((((((( :

omg cailin, same i don't know why but werewolf plots irk me too.
 
ooooooo werewolves are the bane of my existence.

ugh i hate the shy type, thats why i revamped émile tbh, u know what i mean mer

or or or when theres the rich white girl who gets everything she wants, thats a way overused trope
 
Back
Top