#character creation

Webcam Model(Desi_Bhabi03) is live
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I had countless technical difficulties during this speed paint that I’m dreading editing the video. BUT I like how she turned out. UNFORTUNATELY the quality ain’t the best cause just as I finished Krita crashed and all my work was gone. Luckily I had the recording of the image so that was there. But it ate at the quality a bit. Oh well. It turned out nicely anyways I’ll make the speed paint of this picture later.

Unfortunately my screen recorder crashed so no speed paint of this. BUUUT I have it done! Tsuki Ootori is my favorite of my OCs so far. I used two shading styles cause idk which one I liked better but here she is.

tolstoyevskywrites: Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenoutolstoyevskywrites: Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenoutolstoyevskywrites: Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenoutolstoyevskywrites: Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenoutolstoyevskywrites: Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenoutolstoyevskywrites: Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenoutolstoyevskywrites: Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenou

tolstoyevskywrites:

Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenous people of color. (x)

This is so important


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canwriteitbetterthanueverfeltit:

Hello! I’d like to share with you a character work game! I call it “Six Secrets” and honestly it’s a work in progress but I’m sharing it anyway

List six secrets that your character has.

  • 1 is an open secret
  • 2 is a secret the people close to your character know
  • 3is a secret that your character wouldn’t really care about getting out
  • 4 is a secret exactly one person knows anything about
  • 5 is a secret no one knows about but they sort of want to come out/to tell someone
  • 6 is a secret no one knows and they desperately don’t want anyone to know about.

You can also decide who knows and how

The secrets don’t have to have anything to do with your actual plot! The secrets can have super low or super high stakes! It doesn’t matter! But you will absolutely have a better idea of your character’s intentions and state of mind, and you may wind up coming up with some new plot points/obstacles to play with

  1. You thirst for knowledge and wisdom.
  2. You’re searching for something specific; A place, person, god, thing, etc.
  3. You wish to one day rule a kingdom of your own.
  4. This adventure was a quest given to you by a mentor, church, king, family member, etc.
  5. You simply want to help the helpless.
  6. This adventure is a part of your rite of passage into adulthood.
  7. You’re adventure just for the fun of it!
  8. The glory and fame of it all has enticed you to stay in the adventuring business.
  9. The world needs a hero, and you’re willing to give it a try!
  10. You’re escaping from something, someone, a purpose, a calling, etc.
  11. You’re obsessed with danger, mystery and the unknown.
  12. You drift from town to town, with no real home and making money no matter the danger.
  13. You were dragged along on this adventure to keep someone you care about safe.
  14. You were forced into adventuring by the will of circumstance.
  15. You were indentured as a servant to your traveling mentor, learning their ways as you adventure together.
  16. You were sentenced by the law or religious beliefs to adventure and prove your worth.
  17. You really like to kill things and take their stuff.
  18. You adventure to take out your frustration on creatures you’re sure deserve it.
  19. You adventure to gain money and support those that supported you in your youth.
  20. You adventure in the hopes of gaining new allies and friends after years of lonely wandering.
  1. You stole something valuable from the wrong person, at the wrong time. You were hunted and had to run for your life.
  2. A rival saw you as a thorn in his side. For a period, your fates were intertwined in the most troublesome ways: love, money, and work. In the end, it was too much. You were challenged to a duel, and you were injured. Maybe your rival is still out there somewhere.
  3. A strange group of odd peoples seek my doom for what I am and what I represent.
  4. A Mage of immense power believes that if my head is on a spiky pole, it will increase their position in the Realms.
  5. I was discredited for an act of heroism I performed. Someone else stole claim for my deeds. I’d rather no one know of this, it is still a stinging wound.
  6. A servant of some otherworldly being seeks to bring me low, to force me to undergo changes that fit their unknowable and grand design.
  7. A blood-seeking vampire has, on more than one occasion, sought me out.
  8. A warlord from times long past still desires I die in combat to them.
  9. A cruel necromancer is known to make living corpses of their enemies, and how I’ve remained alive despite this enmity is a vile riddle I try not to think on.
  10. I awoke one night to an assassin sitting upon my chest with a jagged dagger at the ready. I beat them back easily, but every time I go to sleep, I dread their re-arrival.
  11. A clan of savage men, women and even children all seek my head for their own glory.
  12. A famed and untraceable killer is very notable for screaming my name while they butcher other innocent beings.
  1. My valiant defence of a wealthy patron was rewarded with a title and a promise that they will always protect my bloodline, and I theirs.
  2. It is in the forests that I feel most safe, for I know that its creatures will always protect me.
  3. You sought out an association of thieves and became a part of the community. Together, you planned heists, and carried out dangerous missions.
  4. You lived amongst a gang of thieves from a nearby settlement. They were greedy but they knew their place, never taking more than was truly necessary for both sides to thrive.
  5. I tricked a fast-talking swindler into handing over some of their precious coin. At first they were furious, but then they were impressed.
  6. I worked with a savvy merchant for years, they always seemed to know what it is I need, and sometimes more than happy to provide.
  7. Among my greatest allies is a master artisan, well skilled in their craft and worthy of respect.
  8. I’ve made alliances with an agent of the higher powers, who thinks me a worthy ally rather than some mere asset.
  9. My most loyal and true friend is a simple and lowly pickpocket, who amuses me and is often good for local gossip.
  10. A powerful ally I have found in an old lover, now inhabiting a position of power and who always claims to be past our failed romance.
  11. I have found a good friend in my former master, who may not be the most kind but is still of great value to me.
  12. One of my oldest but strangest friends is an old man and his dreaded white raven. He offers counsel, and strangely so.
  13. Though a fair-weather friend, a mighty ally I have found in a group of local hunters, skilled in tracking dreaded beasts.
  14. I’ve aligned myself in the past with a tactician who will surely prove useful in any coming conflict.
  1. Never meant to be: I was rejected by a lover, one I thought truly loved me back.
  2. Scorned by the Gods: The Gods have turned their back on the Mortal Realms and still cast shame upon those who fall to war and disease in their absence. I do not voice it openly, but this does not seem fair nor just.
  3. Once a Criminal: I’ve engaged in theft before, I’ve even been caught. It was a low moment, but I’m bitter to how it colours my character.
  4. Differing Thoughts: I was condemned by my order and masters in the past for daring to speak so openly on topics they deeply disagree with.
  5. So Scandalous!: I was once part of a scandal within a noble city, the sort that follows a person and causes mockery when it does not cause death.
  6. Luxurious Living: I dwelled for a time in hedonism and luxury, allowing good folk to die in my stead.
  7. Stolen Alias:I steal valour from the dead.
  8. Cursed!:I suffered from a terrible curse for many years, it ravaged my mind and ran ragged on my soul. I was freed only recently, and I fear what darkness I may have indulged in while under it.
  9. The Replacement: I was replaced. I had been gone for a moment, recovering or just away like anyone should be allowed to be. I returned and I was replaced, so easily. They lavished praise upon my replacement, they claimed them better than I ever was. I fear my companions may do the same with me.
  10. Twisted Mercy: I think the worst part about the tribesmen I fought was that they did not kill me. One grabbed me by the throat and screamed I wasn’t fighting properly, that I wasn’t giving it my all. That they knew I had a purpose, a power, and that if I wasn’t going to fight to their joy, I may as well leave. To be given “mercy” by such wild peoples, I cannot stand for that mark on my honour.
What I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but sWhat I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but sWhat I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but sWhat I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but sWhat I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but sWhat I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but sWhat I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but sWhat I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but sWhat I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but s

What I’ve Been Up To (Thirteen)

High-key, I feel like I’ve been doing too many of these lately, but since I keep going dark (as per my own standards…)

Hello followers, and welcome anyone who happens to see this because it was reblogged or you happen to be rudely looking over someone’s shoulder who is gazing at this post. Though it is not my real name, on and offline I go by Sai and I give to you [drumroll] yet ANOTHER WIP character! 

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My motivation to write has been shot so I’ve just been chilling mostly. Not making progress, not thinking about any of my stories. Honestly, it feels bad, but it’s fine. 

Reason being is that in order to try and deliver the highest quality of shots (for my stories) that I feel like posting, the post work just feels too long for my personal liking. Don’t get me wrong, people do more than I do, and I respect that, but for someone [read: myself] who has been simply doing captions for as long as I’ve been writing these Skyrim stories since [reads notes] the 26th of June in the year 2014 the jump to doing all this stuff post screenshotting is, again, a bit much. Don’t get me wrong it’s satisfying, but it’s just long as fuck. So for a bit I wish to return to my roots, and the reason I even got into Skyrim as much as I did in the first place, character creation. 

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Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, to shed light on what I’ve been up to, well… I have been listening over and over to Crossfade’s first two albums, and I’m actually surprised that they AREN’T broken up. D:

Other than that… I’ve been messing around [poorly] with outfits. Surprisingly, the textures didn’t come out bad for anything I worked with. :O


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mauesartetc:

In a recent post https://mauesartetc.tumblr.com/post/650139669708800000/what-the-hazbin-umim-supposed-to-feel-bad-for I criticized fans of Stolas from Helluva Boss for being so enamored with his design that they’ve ignored the awful ways he treats those closest to him. It got me thinkin’: If I removed appearances from the equation, could I still convey my own characters’ personalities with text and generic stick figures?

I referenced MIT’s 638 Primary Personality Traits http://ideonomy.mit.edu/essays/traits.html to gather some specific facets of personality for my ocs. Obviously, the list isn’t perfect; some traits are a bit redundant for having too-similar meanings, and a couple aren’t really personality-based (such as “attractive” and “sexy”). I might revise it at some point for a version that’s more useful for character development. But if you have a cast you want to flesh out with unique traits for each character, this is a great resource to start with.

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I ended up picking 140 traits from the list, enough to assign ten characters five positive, five negative, and four neutral traits each. (If you try this, you can pick any amount you want, as long as everyone has the same number of positives and negatives so their personalities are balanced.) From there it was just a matter of matching the descriptors with the characters (color-coded, natch) they’d fit best.

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I then drew stick figures in poses the characters would make, because, importantly: Character design isn’t just about unique appearances. It’s also about unique poses. It’s all well and good if you’ve avoided sameface/samebody syndrome, but if all your characters pose in too-similar ways, it means they think in too-similar ways. You don’t want your main cast to be a boring hive mind. I also avoided drawing faces, as I wanted these to be as bare-bones as possible, with no form of expression but the body language.

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Posture’s an important factor, as is the position of hands and feet. A useful tool to help with character posing is the power center, described in detail here: http://www.animatorisland.com/perfect-posing-1-listen-to-the-character-and-to-physics/

You can also take a trait from one character and ascribe it to another to create a potential bonding experience for them, or pair a trait someone has with someone else’s opposite/near-opposite trait to create conflict.

So yeah, just one method to flesh out characters. Hopefully I was successful in expressing my ocs’ personalities, as well as making them interesting and sympathetic despite the lack of unique appearances. It’s crucial for every character creator to remember that if your lovelies aren’t well-rounded and balanced aspeople, your audience will soon find them grating, regardless of how they look.

(Or at least that will be the case if said audience possesses critical thinking skills and actual standards for their entertainment.)

Thanks for reading!

screnwriter:

On writing characters

A great piece of writing advice I’ve heard (if not one of the greatest) is that you should always write what your characters would say, not what you want them to say.

It’s a concept that might sound confusing to new writers [the writer provides their characters with a voice], but creating a story based on what your characters would say/do, as opposed to what you want them to say/do, really just comes down to whatyou want to happen in the story, and what realisticallywouldhappen

You might feel the need to have a character talk about their feelings, or openly trust the person standing in front of them.

It might be beneficial, the right thing to do — but this character has trust issues, and they don’t easily open up to people. Forcing them to do so anyway, [thus making them act/behave in a way that doesn’t correlate with their personality] can lead to inauthentic storytelling, and characters who continuously contradict themselves. 

Keep in mind, life comes consequences! And your characters should face the consequences of their actions. You can’t protect them from all things evil, or from making mistakes. You shouldn’t strive towards creating perfect characters who can do no wrong.

Consequences are what drives your plot and character arcs forward, and your audience will look for characters they can sympathize and/or relate to. They’re not looking for characters who can do no wrong.

If you’re stuck, it’s not such a bad thing to let your characters run wild, either. There’s usually a whole world out there for you to explore, that you never would have discovered if it weren’t for your characters showing you the way. It sounds whacky, but your characters will know what to do. They know themselves better than you do.

So let your characters guide you through their lives! Even if it means changing direction, even if it means the story doing a whole 180 from what you initially had in mind. Yourcharacterswillknowwhattodo.

And eventually, the more you write, the more you familiarize yourself with your characters, their goals, fears and beliefs, the easier it’s going to be to distinguish yourwishes from your characters needs, and writing authentic characters will become second nature. 

Also,you won’t always have control over what happens. Don’t force a story in there if it doesn’t go with the current narrative. Listentoyourcharacters. Don’t make it an issue of “this is logical and that’s why you should do it.”

Would they do it. Would they say it. That’s what’s important. If you’re constantly trying to force your characters into doing the right thing or behaving a certain way, that’s how you end up with one dimensional characters.

writingquestionsanswered:

Guide: Choosing a Love Interest

Lots of us have been there: you’re merrily plotting or writing along, thinking you know who your character’s love interest is, and suddenly there’s another possibility. Maybe even a few possibilities, and now you have to choose. Here are some exercises to help you narrow it down…

1) Do a Chemistry Summary

For each potential love interest, summarize the chemistry they have with your character. What are their similarities and differences? What do they have in common? What do they like about each other? What is it about them that just… works?

2) Look at Plot-Relevant Decisions

Make a list of plot-relevant decisions your character will make throughout the story. For example, let’s say your character goes to dinner at a steakhouse and bump into someone who inadvertently offers a clue to a mystery your character is trying to solve. Deciding to go to dinner–and to that particular restaurant–is a plot-relevant decision.

Now, once you have your list of plot-relevant decisions made, look at how each potential love interest might affect that decision. For example, if Love Interest #3 happens to be vegan and that’s an important part of his character, how does that impact your character’s choice to go to a steakhouse on that fateful night? If you were planning to have them at the steakhouse because they’re on a first date with the love interest, Love Interest #3 being vegan would certainly impact that choice. And not to say it doesn’t work… steakhouses serve salads and vegetables after all… but it’s still something worth considering.

3) Consider Your Character’s Internal Journey

If you’re writing a story that is partly or fully character-driven, you know that your character’s internal conflict and character arc are an important part of your story. Since your character must go on an internal journey, changing as a result of the story’s events, it’s worth considering how each love interest might positively or negatively impact that change.

4) Do a Romantic Scene List

You may not yet know all the scenes that will be in your story, but you should have some idea of the romantic scenes that will need to happen. First meeting, first realizing their mutual interest, bonding, first time touching in a loving way, first date, first kiss… these kinds of scenes are important to developing a relationship in a story. So, list the scenes you know you’ll want to have (like: first kiss), then for each one, consider what that moment might look like with each potential love interest.

5) Do a Pros and Cons List

This may sound obvious, but if you haven’t done it yet, try doing a physical pros and cons list for each relationship, especially taking the previous exercises into account. Think about everything from the pros and cons of them actually being together (as people), to the pros and cons of them being together in terms of how it affects the story.

Try these exercises, and hopefully you can at least narrow it down. If not, or if you still find no one stands out as the better option, try drawing a name out of a hat. Truly!

Have fun with your story!

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Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

artattemptswriting:

Genius is often thought of as synonymous with “intelligent” or “smart” or “eidetic memory and know-it-all.” but that isn’t the case. True genius, or at least in terms of traits and characterization, is the ability to use what you have in ways that others won’t. Some geniuses are obviously smart, and some are geniuses in ways so subtle that the character appears deluded.

This is something I can (and have) talked about for hours at various unfortunate people. “Genius characters” is actually an umbrella term that covers a whole range of character Archetypes, from the Sherlock Holmes to the Tortured Mastermind; each one is different, because the genius of a character is inherently subjective. There are a lot of cross-overs from archetype to archetype, and the overlap can be really interesting to use when creating your genius character, but I’ve broken them up as best I can by defining characteristics for simplicity.

Remember to use the archetype as a base and build on from there, to make your genius characters as interesting as possible; they may be geniuses, but they are also human. Flesh them out, lace nuances into their character, make them hate reading or like videogames.

The Ignorant Intellectual

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I.e, the Dirk Gently.

The Gently-esque archetype is a perfect place to start, because it really demonstrates the subjective nature of a genius character. Arguably, Dirk isn’t a genius at all— he simply follows where the universe takes him, acting on the whims and impulses it gives him, so how can he be a genius?—but the genius comes in when he joins the dots together. He hasn’t been made smart by the holistic power that the universe gave him, but he has learned to adapt and survive.

This kind of genius is defined by a lack of large quantities of knowledge, but a certain intellectual capacity. These characters are usually thrown into (or willing walk into) situations, completely ignorant, where their true genius shines through their ability to talk fast, think outside the box and learn as they go along. They are also enablers, which is what sets the Ignorant Intellectual apart from the Holmes-type genius; whereas a Holmes would have the answer before anyone else, a Gently would find an answer by helping others see it first. For example, they might make one connection that is really obscure, and that will allow others to suddenly work out the rest. As such, these types are great survivors, often through luck and clever bullshitting, but they’re at their best with others.

The Naturally Intelligent Intuit

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I.e, The Sherlock Holmes

And I mean bookHolmes folks, not BBC Sherlock. The Holmes we see on the BBC TV series is better classified as a Tortured Genius; he has natural intelligence, true, but he’s cold and lacks intuition on the same level as his book counterpart.

The Holmes archtype possesses naturalintelligencecombined with a depth of warmth and intuition. They may often be arrogant or appear aloof, but only because they are ignorant of the superior speed that their mind can work at, or forgetful of it. The thing here is natural intelligence; anyone can learn to think intelligently, but very few are born with a natural ability to process and store information, and then apply it innovatively. However, this intelligence alone doesn’t make for a genius character: they should also possess very good intuition, which is always backed up by evidence supplied by their intelligent logic.

Holmes was a trailblazer in this area. He practically made the archetype, as a matter of fact, but there are aspects of his character that ought to be kept separate. One of these is his reliance on unhealthy coping mechanisms, and another is his tendency to be erratic or eccentric—both of these are traits that defined him as a person-character, rather than marks of his genius archetype.

The Tortured Genius

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I.e, the Victor Frankenstein

Although not inherently evil, these characters are often plain nasty people—but it’s not their fault, obviously! They would say something like “It’s because I’m so smart, nobody understands me, I’m tortured by my own intelligence to the point where I am are alienated from society—!”

No, Victor, sweetie, it’s because you’re an arrogant arsehole. The archtype isn’t quite that simple, but Doctor Frankenstein is a very good example of the fundamental basics.

I like this one for its flexibility. I mentioned that BBC Sherlock is a Tortured Genius and while book Sherlock almost fits the shoe, his saving grace is his humility and warmth. On the other hand, characters like Doctor Frankenstein and BBC Sherlock are arrogant, and either refuse to acknowledge their flaws or, acknowledging them, refuse to better them. Sometimes, a character like this will actively be worse. BBC’s Sherlock is actually a pretty cheap take on the Tortured Genius, but that may also be because he isn’t a very well-substantiated interpretation of the book canon… anyway, I digress. The point here is that these characters are complex to the point where they twist themselves into knots, often shaped by tragedy or trauma.

They see themselves one way, and the world another. A tortured genius could be anything from initially mild-mannered to downright cruel; either way, their internal or first intentions are usually good. They tend to change throughout their story, as their flaws get in the way and they wrestle with the feeling that nobody is ever going to truly understand who they are. The result is a lot of internalised rage or self-hatred, until they explode or start a downwards spiral of unhealthy coping mechanisms. They often have at least three of the following:

  • A fear of failure that pushes them to extremes
  • Hubris (excessive pride)
  • Arrogance, so much so that they think they can do the impossible (solve impossible cases, reverse death, create life etc)
  • Narcissism designed to cover up serious self-esteem issues
  • Put too much pressure on themselves; think they can reach unattainable goals and experience a huge drop of self-worth when they fail.
  • Unhealthy coping mechanisms
  • Either actively shun others or are shunned because they make no effort to include others that they deem less intelligent.
  • Equate worth to intelligence (see above point)

Something to be wary of is the mental health aspect of a tortured genius. It’s true that these characters are usually depressed or considered insane, but the poor mental health is always caused by their actions, rather than their mental health issues causing them to be a tortured genius. Remember, this archetype is never a very nice person which leads to them being miserable; however, if you had a person with Schizophrenia and they were also a genius when their plot began, they would struggle, yes, but it isn’t the same thing. Anyone with a pre-existing mental health condition would.

Don’t use mental health issues to drive a character like this, because they never excuse the sort of behaviour that the archetype calls for and this only strengthens the stereotype of people with mental health issues being dangerous.

The Accidental Pedant

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I.e, the Spencer Reid.

I like to call this one the soft genius. They’re the most genuine, kind-hearted of the lot. Half of the time, they don’t even realise their own genius until it’s pointed out to them, and the other half of the time they’re aware of it but don’t consider this aspect of their personality as anything other than a cool way to store information. Usually, their genius is a byproduct, or in combination with, an eidetic memory, incredibly high IQ, asperger’s (although this one is a dicy area, as it can perpetuate harmful stereotypes) or savaunt syndrome. In other words, it’s a passive sort of genius that comes naturally to them because of something out of their control.

These types of geniuses have oodles of information stored in their brains, and love to share it. It’s just that… not everyone wants to hear it. They spontaneously blurt out facts, but it doesn’t seperate them from others. Unlike the majority of genius archetypes, the Accidental Pedant is still loveable, kind, thoroughly sincere and usually gets classified as a dork. In short: all round goodness stuffed full of knowledge.

Some things to avoid in this archetype are Autistic Spectrum Condition-coding (if your genius is on the autistic spectrum, then they’re on the autistic spectrum. Make it explicit and don’t try to use the fact to negate the value of their intelligence) and infantilization. Too often, the Accidental Pedant is shown to be like a big baby with adult intelligence. In the case of Spencer Reid, you can be mistaken to think that at first as the other members of his team call him “kid”; but as the seasons continue it becomes clear that he is a valued, equal member of the group respected for more than his eidetic memory.

The Trickster

I.e, the Loki (of Norse mythology)

As with Sherlock Holmes, I’m talking about the archetype seen in mythological figures, like Anansi or Loki, rather than modern popular media. (But I couldn’t resist the marvel Loki gif).

As with the Tortured Genius, the Trickster isn’t inherently evil but is still… questionable. They think first and foremost of themselves before others, and have no problem with causing chaos to meet their ends. Their genius is one of wit and wily charm, a smooth tongue and all the cunning of a high-flying conman. In other words, some might kill or endanger others for their own delight (I’m looking right at you, Loki) but others would steal, cheat and lie but never kill. And sometimes pay back those that they have robbed, in due course.

Usually a jack-of-all-trades, with

They walk the line between evil mastermind and trickster, but they have two defining traits that set them apart:

  • Often feel remorse and know the limits that they should stay within. Leaving these limits usually leads to their downfall. More often than not, they have no desire to exceed the limits.
  • Their motivations are skewed, but not truly evil, and usually small. They would endanger their family to get some satisfaction after a petty slight, but wouldn’t harm their family in order to take over the world or exceed their station (mythological Loki being the former and MCU the latter)

The Evil Mastermind

i.e, The Moriarty

Immoral, chaotic, cruel; this genius is one who channels all of their creative energy into wrongdoings. Unlike the Trickster, these wrongdoings are pure horrors; they are intended to cause harm and are based on larger ambitions than brief amusement or emotional satsfaction. They are usually intelligent in all forms, and deeply selfish (or they believe that they are helping their family or a loved one, but actually they’re just hurting a lot of people). The ends will always justify the means, and nothing else matters after that.

Some like to have people do their foul play for them, and others like to get their hands dirty themselves. This is the sort of genius who carries themselves with class, style and sophistication; they are fully aware of their own intelligence, but are usually careful to avoid a downwards spiral.

You may want to keep in mind that not every antagonist is an evil mastermind. Macbeth would probably more accurately be described as a tortured genius, as would Theon Greyjoy and Ryzek Noavek. Each of these genius archetypes can fall into the role of either antagonist or protagonist; say, an evil mastermind becomes a highly immoral protagonist for personal gain. It would be heckin awesome to see an Accidental Pedant as an antagonist, if the cards were played right.

Stop what you’re doing! Which OC is the most underdeveloped right now?

Give them a favourite colour, favourite animal, and favourite food right now!

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