Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos

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How Your Character Came To Be

James Justice was born from something I heard a writer say once (I believe this was at a writer's conference), "Don't try to write an original character. You will stink at it. Every idea has already been done. Instead, take an archtype and make it your own."

And that's what I did for James Justice as his bones. I spent a few days thinking, "What is a classic smuggler who means well like?" I nuanced it out; they have addictive personalities, they love danger, they love women, and they rarely form lasting relationships.

Then there is the fact that most of the more charming types unknowingly draw on force persuasion without knowing it. And I thought, "What if I make a character who draws on it without knowing it, and even (ironically) denies it exists? and mocks FUs?" While I was mulling the idea over, I saw a documentary about the evolution of martial arts and they covered Drunken Kung Fu. That was when I had the epiphany: Make a character who can only use the force when he has alcohol in his system.

Thus Star Wars Robin Hood (AKA: "James Justice") was basically born. The part about him meaning to do well, even through illegal means was added a bit later on, after he had done a few threads because I wanted to give him a cause worth fighting for. After all, no one is an anarchist for no reason, and he was one.

His accent came and evolved from the pirate accent you hear on tv and stuff. I shaped it further out of scottish and Irish accents, because I am of Scottish and Irish decent. I thought it would be fun to thrown in the best of the Irish (drinking, fun-loving, easy going, hair-trigger temper) when he is working with you. When he isn't I wanted him to be more Scottish (cross, angry, pugilistic, fierce, grumpy the point of nearly comical).

Though the two came to a head and an epiphany a few weeks later. I had about 100-200 posts and was using a different Avatar. I was playing with the idea of a new play-by but I didn't know what to choose. So, at last, frustrated, I went to go talk and watch some shows and Doctor Who was on. David Tennant's "Silence in the Library" the two part episode was just starting after Peter Capaldi's (I think it was the one where they rob the bank) and I was like, "THAT'S IT! DAVID TENNANT!" I threw the idea around with some friends on here and they encouraged me to go for it, so I did. It has been a hit.

Ever since I have added another dynamic to his personality; David Tennant. I began to ask myself, "How would David play this part" and it hasn't served me wrong since! There were so many factors in making this character and a lot of great people who have caused it to be, I really think they deserve the credit more than I do. ESPECIALLY David for.... well being himself.
 
I made Julius as an attempt to have a combat oriented character as a Force User. For this site, anyway. His original incarnation was just more as a plot device for a friend on another set of boards.

I have a terrible time playing characters who can't fight. Peace just isn't in my lexicon it appears. Originally it came as almost an exact translation of my mandalorian Ijaat. Then quickly realized this, and began to change him. Several of the threads I got trying to detail this stalled ICly, but I kept plugging. Then, Sarge made a joke one day on Skype about him being able to wear Buck from Halo's armor as a set of powered armor. And the idea for the new face claim gave me an idea of how I wanted Julius to become one day. He's almost there. Several people have astoundingly changed and warped his identity as he evolved, and I can honestly say this is one guy I've truly kept the reigns off and let transition organically.
 
Glad this thread has some meat on it. A lot of these stories range from the long and tedious to the simple and straight forward. I don't think people fully understand some of the struggle that the writer has to go through to make their character. Mostly just look at the profile and are like 'Cool char.' And move on from there...ignoring the potential hours or years that character has spent in development before being posted xD.


Cheers ya'll. I love reading all these =) Even if i have no replied to anyone i've read each post lol.
 
@Winter Sovereign

If you actually read them all

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Sor-Jan Xantha

Guest
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All of my characters spawn off of this one, even though I brought him to Chaos last (because I thought I was done writing him).

In high school and college (my first go-round with college anyway), I was an art major focusing on storyboarding and animation. Now, this is before computer animation was the norm, so I was using a lightboard and painting cels. For one assignment, I had to animate a face for 45 seconds. The character I designed and worked with was a pretty stereotypical shonen protagonist. About this same time, some college friends introduced me to Vampire the Masquerade and a roleplaying board that was hosted on InsideTheWeb (yes, this is 1994). With the character I'd designed fresh in my head, I created a Tzimisce vampire with the Child flaw named Eron.

Fast forward to 2003 and a board known as Moons of Iego, my first 'go' at Star Wars roleplaying. I took the concept behind my vampire character and brought that into the Star Wars universe with an Anzati Jedi named Sor-Jan Xantha.

In my stories of Sor-Jan as a Jedi youngling, I had created a recurring character that was his best friend. While Sor-Jan (because of being an Anzat) stayed the same, his best friend grew up in the back drop of the stories I wrote for him. That Nautolan's name? [member="Zak Dymo"], who I turned into a stand-alone PC for a SW game that sadly didn't pan out before I stumbled upon Chaos. And then wound up bringing Zak to Chaos when I decided I wanted a Jedi character.

Now, separately, I created a nemesis for Sor-Jan who was meant to be a literary foil for him. While Sor-Jan, as a vampire, was a light-side Jedi fearing the Dark Side, this nemesis was a happy, anti-Jedi, ultra-religious Pantoran who believed the evil he did was actually good. Who else would that be but [member="Boo Chiyo"], who was my second character here at Chaos because he fit into the Primeval so well.

[member="3X744"] was basically the "new" Zak Dymo for Sor-Jan's more recent stories, and he's only been around since about 2012. Whereas Zak Dymo was the 'sidekick' of the stories of Sor-Jan as a youngling, Three was the 'sidekick' of my stories of Sor-Jan as a Jedi knight in the Clone Wars.

My other characters, Jon-Jon Nemo the Gungan lawyer and BB-4001A, were likewise NPCs and recurring characters from Sor-Jan's stories and adventures from over the last 20 years of writing him in his various permutations and forms.

So this character was the snowball that just got bigger as it rolled downhill. And even when I think it's stopped, it proves to continue gathering momentum.
 
When me and my sister were younger when came up with the idea of adding characters to shows we liked to see how things would change if somebody else was their following their own stories along side the characters we were such big fans of or in other-words RPing. We had a RP on everything from Spider-Man to Lord of the Rings, from StarGate SG-1 to MegaMan X. At some point I had added a group of characters from another series into the MegaMan X RP that really, really didn't mix with the characters we had added or the characters that were originally there so my sister demanded that I come up with some original characters to replace the group or we would stop using that setting. This lead to the creation of Kayden Ouron as well as a completely original setting I wanted to use him in.

The setting was based off two series I had just gotten into, Full Metal Alchemist and Kingdom Hearts (If that sound scary it should). The idea was that we would play as characters who would travel across different realities fighting soul-eating demons that were trying to destroy the dimensions as they went. It would be dark and character driven so I needed a guy who fit the setting and Kayden was it, He was a guy struggling with literal inner demons so he was afraid to bond with characters out of fear that he'd lose control and hurt them but he was still a good guy who wanted to do good things, he would butt heads with his allies but he still cared about them. At the time Kayden just kind of came out of the setting I was making but looking back I think I based him off the main character from a show my sister was watching called Inuyasha without realizing it. The two had a lot in common back then before Kayden started evolving into a different kind of character.

Claire is the one that caused Kayden's eventually shift in character, You see I had started to RP online with Kayden and one other character and this was... well... boring, I knew I had made tons of other characters before them but they were all basically copies of eachother (who were also copies of me) and I had gotten sick of playing as them after I started playing new character types. I realized I need a new character type so I looked around the site and saw a lot of sibling around and then I realized that I haven't done any complex relationships aside from lover and I didn't really enjoy doing that. Around the same time I got a PM saying that I should take Kayden in a different direction because too a lot of people he was coming off as a jack@$$ so I made a gamble and gave Kayden a younger sister.

I was watching the final episode of Lost at the time and all I needed was a name for the character, then I looked up and from my PC screen to find out that two of the main characters, Jack and Claire were actually brother and sister, I kind of had to use the name at that point because I thought it was so funny that the TV show beat me to my plot twist by 5 minutes. So Claire was based off Kayden in a way as she was meant to have a opposite personality and (at the time) opposite role. Where Kayden would charge in guns blazing Claire would try to stop the fight, Kayden was a fighter who made a lot of enemies, Claire was a pacifist. This got her....kidnapped... 3 times in a row. This was great for Kayden's development, He became really protective of her and anyone who reminded him of her and was becoming more liked by the site but Claire was doing a great job at absolutely nothing during that time and that had to change so I made Claire fight and soon she was just as good as her brother and so she became my most loved character even when I had like 5/6 characters on the site, She had this wonderful personality that I can't seem to recapture anymore, She was this playful, caring, inexperienced, and extremely snarky kid that was just a blast to play as and with.
 

Jsc

Disney's Princess
Tef had created a new site and I wanted a new OC to go with it. So I created what I always create, a completely average human born to do heroic things. The rest came easier than a coin flip. I picked female to be different than my first OC who was male. I picked blue hair as a commentary on red-heads and their sexuality. I picked a warrior woman to join the PvP. And I picked Aimee as my avatar because she was perfection.

Her development has been 100% reactive to the Meta too. Which, is the complete opposite of my first OC. With him I told a single campaign from start to finish with zero influences from his website environment. And I love having the opportunity to experience both. :D
 
Cryax Bane was my Edge of the Empire character that I RPed in my weekly pen and paper game. Unfortunately the game broke up due to that one guy. You all know that guy. The one who spends two hours arguing with the GM about some insignificant game mechanic, but then keeps saying stuff like "Whatever you want, you're the GM." Maybe one of you is that guy. It's cool, though. I'm not judging.

Anyway, I had become attached to the character, and wanted to get my Star Wars RP on in a PBP setting. Cryax seemed like a good first character to translate into this universe, especially because his bio was already written and he was somewhat developed off the boards. He started out as a geeky, credit-less slicer who literally had nothing. And he worked his way up on the boards to become a Nar Shaddaa kingpin with the highest bounty on the board. All as a NFU.

I'm quite proud of his achievements. Even if he is a horrible little bastard. :D
 
Cryax Bane said:
Even if he is a horrible little bastard. :D
Well... :p

When I first created Keira I didn't intend to do anything with her beyond the Red Ravens. She came about because someone had posted a topic in Roleplay Discussion about starting up a family of spitfire Corellians known as the Ticons. I'd been tossing around the idea of a rogue Force user for awhile, since I've never been sold on either dogma, and that thread gave me the name to put to that concept. I'll be honest and say my first threads are honestly a bit terrible in terms of writing quality, but they helped me get a feel for the initial personality of the character, which was originally go-lucky, sarcastic and all around a bit of your stereotypical Corellian as far as attitude goes. Some of that still hasn't changed even now.

It took me a bit to find a real direction I wanted her to take, but somewhere along the line I ended up in a thread with The Primeval, and after that writing her really took off. From that point forward I had a much more solid take on who she was as a person and what ultimately drove her, and I truly do believe I have that one thread to thank for her ever getting to the point she's at today. Toss in another two threads with The Primeval, some more crime with the Ravens, a large amount of fights and a sprinkle of psychological instability, and you get something close to the character you see now. She's one of those that always proves to have a new storyline to offer just when I think it's all been told, and is without a doubt my favorite of all within my repertoire to write.
 
@Winter Sovereign

Oh girl, I spent WEEKS planing James out before I even tapped out the first letter of his bio; and then a few days after that ruminating before my first thread.

Akio Diachi, my alt was also the same. I wanted to make an amazing assassin. So I thought, "Star Wars assasin; what are they?" That lead me to think Ninja, and I wanted him so bad to be a NFU. So I settled on the Ninja archtype. From there, I wanted to make him even more unique; who makes a great ninja? Easy: Chiss. Their cold, calculating methodical nature makes them the most ideal to preform the act of Ninja life.

From there I shaped his creed, forming it off the Sith and Jedi creeds. I made his mythology and belief system; he believed that death was an art, from a cult of ninjas who perfected it. Drawing on eastern ideals, I crafted a culture who believed life was an art, and to assasinate well was the highest form. They claimed the mortals learned the art of death, killed the gods and ascended. One could ascend as well, if they became a good enough assasin.

Then I was like, 'who is a good host for him to belong to without belonging in this clan?' Umbarians. Akio became a Chiss, adopted by Umbarians, turned into an assasin undersaid creed. Not too much later, he fell in love with Dryzl. And then he died. When he died, the droids brought him back, but the damage to his brain left him shattered. He tries now, for her to do the right thing. But he is a murderer at heart, and often kills without remorse. Apparitions of the dead haunt his damaged mind.

I love this place......
 
I think only really [member='Kida Malgus'] has a real origin story out of mine, the rest were more "I'm feeling x"

Kida was a result of me reading an article at college about a woman who had been found; I don't remember the details now, if she had been abandoned or simply not cared for, but she was so desocialised that she was legitimately deemed feral. She couldn't speak, couldn't walk upright, etc. It had me a little bit curious about what sort of conditions would bring that about... And of course it put me in a Jungle Book mindset - raised by wolves etc. Only I prefer big cats >~>;'

Thinking back, the inspiration was really sad... as is Kida's story really. I always sort of sugar coated it, as the character herself was happy living this blissful existence. And many of the people who stumbled upon her in the wild, before the likes of [member='Jaxton Ravos']/[member='Thurion Heavenshield'] and later [member='Lord Mythos'] came around, realised this and after short interaction left her be.

Of course, now she's being a lot more socialised, she can speak and walk after just a year or so on Atrisia. But I'm not sure if the turnaround could be quite so fast in-real-life. Maybe if it was a child so young, but in the case I drew my initial inspiration from I honestly doubt it.

Now I've made myself all sad :(

If I think of any other specific origin stories outside of "I liked the idea of x" or "I made it for y" I'll post it up.
 
Obi-Wan in a dress meets Hermione Grainger. Seriously.

Most of my characters have a big chunk of a 'real' character in them initially. It helps get into their head early on. Then they take their own personality traits and add to the 'template.'

Images are key too. If I can't get the right avatar, the character doesn't work in my head. Corvus was right from the get go.

Maja? Maybe on her fifth or sixth avatar? But been this one since post 200 or so. Maja was based on Zannah loosely. Except... (and don't tell anyone)...Corvus was me and Maja was who I wanted to be. Corvus is orderly and polite and private. Maja (created at the same time) is a flirt and loud and speaks her mind.

Melori started as Maul, Nubica as Windu. Tejori is part Han, part Rey and (oddly) part Millennium Falcon.

Melori's image has been static since day one. Nubica is on number three and I'm still not convinced (ageing them allows me the chance to change them). Tejori is still on number one, but I have an avatar prepared for when she ages.
 
2002 was 14 years ago. I don't remember how Asemir came to be.

Oh, yeah, something about how I always had this sci-fi universe built up in my head. Background creation, lore creation, that type of thing. It's something I enjoy doing, creating the context and environments and everything. In any case, I had that universe built, created a story, a government, everything. Naturally, a character was born. He (and the universe) went through many, many iterations over the years until about 2007 or 2008, when I officially ported everything to fit into another forum's SW RP. That's how Asemir came to be.

Not a whole lot of detail, but I'd have to dig through a ton of ancient documents to figure it all out.

Also, I have and always shall suck at names. That's why Asemir has such a silly name.
 

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