forum Non-traditional Character Ideas or General Character Concepts

Started Feb 01 by @Null-Gravity language

tune

A place to share WIP characters that don't fit traditional character concepts or typical character roles. Normal concepts also welcomed.

I'll start us off with a really twisted idea I had about a month ago.

War is bad. Therefore, any byproduct or end result will also be, on some level, bad. That holds true always. However, when we think of war we always think of the entire force or the specific number of casualties. Never a specific victim. And even when we do it's always obvious: a corpse. Never the small details like the scratches left on a wood floor from a clearly unwelcome boot, or the nail marks on a door or wall from an attempt to run, and yet nothing but a blood splatter where a body once was. Or even an abandoned children's toy, sitting trampled next to a pile of rubble.

Therefore, my concept is an entity or a human with a supernatural power to not only share and give the pain of a battle for another to experience, but show every part of a battle down to the last disturbed patch of fresh soil in a town to anybody. The concept still has the info of the pain and all the images and feels them in full, but when the info is shared the sensation and images are numbed slightly for the concept, and the recipient feels and sees everything shared in full. The concept is always receiving new pains and memories daily, even when asleep, and cannot stop it. If the concept dies, they simply come back, and whatever pain they experienced from their death stays with them. (I didn't make it clear but all pains are felt, from a papercut to being burned alive, but the only memories are of war. And this applies to all pain humanity has ever experienced, and all memories of battle.)

Despite all this, however, the concept chooses to continue to walk a good path and stay kind to everyone they meet. They never force the pain or memories onto others.

I love this??

Also it’s nice to see you again Null :}

It's just a side project of mine, but maybe the concept will flourish in one of my settings.

Indeed. I'm hesitant about rejoining the chicken chat considering that when I left it was under stressful terms in regard to the whole group, but I may be around once in a while.

My “side project” is now my main hyperfixation (oops) I cannot be trusted with side projects

I think we’re doing better now, but I definitely get why you’re hesitant,, we’ll be happy to welcome you back if you decide to join again! <3

Ooh, I am definitely stalking this. Also, welcome back Null. It's good to see you.

I get that. My concept has taken priority, honestly.

Thank you for your reassurance, Ame.

Ooh, I am definitely stalking this. Also, welcome back Null. It's good to see you.

You're very welcome to post if the urge arises as well.
Thank you, it's good to see you as well.

Stalking-

not sure if this counts as a non traditional character design but I have two characters who are twins. They are the embodiments of good luck and bad luck. The twin with good luck, Carmen, was always praised and loved by their peers while the bad luck twin, Carlos, is the outcast loner. Despite this, Carlos never resented Carmen and was always happy when she succeeded or made new friends. He would make accommodations for her and loved her deeply.

Carmen didn't hold the same regard for Carlos though, she loved him but was more prone to jealously and often followed the crowd. She never made accommodations for him, having grown more entitled by her peers.

In other words, the concept is a pair of twins-one side good and one side bad. Inside the good one is hatred while inside the bad one is love.

The good one is more resentful and takes advantage of their counterpart, knowing that the bad one was too blinded by their loyalty and love to question their decisions and words.

The bad one is more closed off but deeply cares for their counterpart, bending over backwards to please them. They don't realize that whatever they do won't ever make their twin see them the way they do.

I love it. It represents, in my opinion, everything wrong with abusive and codependent relationships, and displays it in a non-romantic light. The concept of luck here, I think, is also tied to mormal society's view of talent and such, and how it can corrupt anybody and turn them hateful, or if they have a lack of such talent it can turn them into mindless people pleasers/people who want to be seen as useful.

Of course, I'm likely just reading too far into it. It's a cool concept in itself, two characters who are two sides of the same coin. It's a very interesting spin on good and bad luck regardless of whatever conjecture I have!

No you're right on target with that, the good side is more subjected to more people's opinions, feeling the need to change themselves in an effort to fit in with the right people while the bad side is very limited with their contact with others, not getting corrupted in a sense but still seeing their other half as amazing and wanting to help them in anyway they can

The bad luck's talent lies in art, something that is not exactly praised as much as academic success like the good side. Again there is no animosity on behalf of the bad side, but the good side finds it frustrating that they are unable to outshine the other in the artistic field.

Through the course of work, I introduce other embodiments, one being time. Time is a type of embodiment that can be seen as good or bad, but is always just. Time first made friends with the good side before forming a much deeper bond with the bad side, the two of them relating over the dangers of their own concepts and how those around them who are supposed to love them are afraid of their power. Time is the one that allows for the bad side to see through the good side's lies. I kinda took inspiration from the quote time reveals all things lol

I have one that I'd consider quite unconventional actually.

When you think of murder, usually we think of a penalty, usually death. When we think of immortality, we usually think of a great blessing, something that thousands of scholars spent years trying to achieve at the cost of their lives, for centuries.

In one of my universes, murderers are met with the worst of curses the universe could bear upon them: immortality. Oh, so you killed someone? Now you'll live forever. Yep, you'll live with what you did for the rest of existence. Oh no no no, don't try to kill yourself! Your body will always regenerate just enough to keep you alive, so blow yourself up and you'll be disfigured for eternity, but still alive. Everyone will know too, because people will notice you don't age if you stay too long in the same city, and when you get hurt you heal too fast for a typical wound which is a dead giveaway, and they KNOW that those signs means you're a murderer, so good luck having a life or a job. Good luck not having any sort of meaning to life anymore, because now you'll have no end-goal to work towards and there's no reason to do anything anymore, welp, enjoy eternity to think about what you've done!. Oh! btw uh, also you're kinda gonna be stuck on a rat race or having to work and get jobs forever, or you know, you can try to starve but that'll just hurt considering you won't die anyway.

So, nowadays in this universe, we're in the 1960s. The main character in this universe, Dmitri, is a very jaded murderer who doesn't think life is any worth it anymore after 40 years he's murdered his best friend on a drunken rage fit and regretted it from day one. He went to jail, and once released tried to enjoy it recklessly during some years but deep down he feels like "why should I do this today if I won't be dead tomorrow. FOREVER," and ends up never doing anything at all and is extremely nihilistic. He's also partially/legally blind, so life is already hard. It's a universe that I use to really stretch my understanding of grey morality, specially because almost all the main characters are really just assholes or generally bad people. One of my faves is a dude that tried killing his girlfriend, left the body without checking and she survived but he has no idea. So he's all cocky and reckless thinking he's invincible and "won't die anyway" but in reality he's still perfectly mortal, but thinks he's not (and had a LOT of luck to not die in the past few years. Another one is an old lady who I still don't know who and how she killed someone, but she keeps using that time to learn new languages and travel as a way to try to find new meanings to life, quite the opposite approach to Dmitri. One character is a kid who accidentally caused a death and is now stuck in the same level of mental and physical maturity forever, and not knowing why. Another is a housewife who killed her husband and is proud of it, and still keeps getting away with the murder.

So yeah! I think it's a pretty non-traditional set of characters and main idea for in-universe lore, let me know what you think bc I love to hear some feedback :]

A very interesting concept. It shows just how much a murder can change a life, just in a different light. Like it almost wouldn't feel like a curse eventually. If you lived long enough, you would start to be convinced that your body is the thing truly at fault and not truly a curse - until you get hurt and are reminded all over again of your grim reality and fate, forever wandering a barren wasteland and eventually suffering countless deaths when the sun eventually envelopes the earth. A hell in its truest sense.

I think it's also an interesting take on the concept of normal mortal lives as well - their infinite potential being thrown at the ender of such a huge potential source of good in the form of immortality strikes me as so poetic, and honestly quite scary. If even an accidental murder gets you cursed, then what happens when you take into account the butterfly effect - would that, too, curse you for a murder you didn't even know you commited?