[Discussion] Researching Your Characters

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Research, possibly my most dreaded part of writing, but very important for certain things. It can be many different topics. Such as how naval battles work, or a mental disorder, or even something such as slang in certain areas of a country.

 

But what about characters? It would seem to be logical that one would need to know everything about everything involving your character right? However, is that true? How important is it really to research? And to that end what kinds of things should be researched, and how thoroughly?

 

How often do you research things for your characters, and what kinds of things? To get more specific, what are some interesting things you've researched/learned for your characters?

[Mr. Hyde]

I research if I make my character a knowitall in a certain subject.  I brushed up on my chemistry and biology when I started playing Blake in Teen Titans.  I also did research on Australian slang when I played Leroy in Teen Titans.  

 

Other than that, I've only mostly participated in fantasy type settings, and you can just make sheet up in that.  

 

I believe research makes you more credible IC, albeit a bit pretentious, but I don't think it's necessary all the time.  

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Oooohhhh boy is this a fun little subject!! XD

 

For my characters, I sort of find inspiration through ideas in mythology (be it Shinto, Greek, etc.) or even music...though it all depends on the RP in the given context. Right now I'll place two breakdowns for two characters I made...

 

[spoiler=Genzai Hatsune]

For example, one character I was happy in creating was Genzai Hatsune from Kyng's RP known as "Ragnarok". With that RP, your character literally had to be a Vanguard of a deity. While some chose simple ones from Greek and Egyptian mythos, I went with Shinto and chose Ryujin, the Shinto God of the Sea (who also happens to be a dragon).

 

I chose that and went directly into researching things for the character to reflect this:

• Genzai, meaning "current"
• Enjoying eating fish and other sea wildlife
• His summons being sea wildlife or a literal dragon whelp
• His techniques and abilities dealing with water and even ice

There was even a point that after one mission Genzai received Kusanagi from Susanoo. Everything from head to toe of the character I designed with researching LOTS of Japanese and Shinto mythos. From it all, I actually understood more in the realm of the Shinto mythos and its become a normal go to area when I want to make a character...usually.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Benjamin O'Hara/Arachnid]

Since Hyde mentioned good old Teen Titans, I will too!

 

Benjamin "Ben" O'Hara/Arachnid is another fun character I had making. But research went into it...a lot of it the fun type. By the fun type, I mean the usage of comic knowledge with this. He is supposed to be a type of Spider-Man character put in the DC universe (since Hyde's character Blake is pretty much Tony Stark xD). Because of it, I was able to research different names and even characters from the comics dealing with Spidey:

• Benjamin/Ben in a sense from "Ben Reilly" (Scarlet Spider)
• O'Hara being from "Miguel O'Hara" (Spider-Man 2099)

Not only this, but I even researched the many powers that countless Spider-Men have had aside from the wall-crawling. I barely even knew about the Miles Morales Spider-Man with the Venom Strike he had, so I found it and utilized it.

 

But getting out of the comic aspect, I once again went to mythos for suggestions. Of course, I was immediately drawn to Anansi from African mythos. A storytelling spider like being who became a god of all stories by Nyame. As a kid, Anansi always fascinated me whenever it was talked about. A spider outwitting a leopard, hornet, and snake...unbelievable! However I never quite knew he became a god of stories...which was the best idea for Ben as this would be the basis of making him a writer.

 

Because of the Anansi thing and beginning to make him a writer, I even started paying attention to adding and finding works of literature for him to make references to. I've made him quote Shakespeare, recite lines from the Art of War, and many others. Having him like this is actually fun for me and it gets me to look up new things. Before all I knew was "To be or not to be"...but now its more along the lines of knowing everything about that line, like, its from Shakespeare's Hamlet...its his famous soliloquy in the moment just before he talks to his beloved Ophelia...moments before he tells her to leave and get to a nunnery.

 

Not only this, I've had him travel around the world so he knows different languages. And its always fun to find a new way to say certain words from different languages!

 

 

[Sethera]

Yeah, I research. I research for my characters, research for RPs, I research, research, research. Because I believe if you don't have a good foundation, then your posts don't seem as authentic. So yeah.

 

Probably the most extreme example for me is Matthias from Lore Online. Before, I didn't really know anything about plants, gardening, nor any special meanings. However, Matthias did. So before even making his app, I researched. And then, for every post I made with him, I researched. It was a bit exhausting, to be honest, but worth it in the long run, I think.

 

However, I tend to research on random things in my spare time anyway, so most of my characters draw on prior knowledge instead of new stuff, so they don't take as much time to write up.

[Dova]

However, I tend to research on random things in my spare time anyway, so most of my characters draw on prior knowledge instead of new stuff, so they don't take as much time to write up.

 

This has been my characters for the most part, however I do have something to add.

 

I had an idea for a character recently involving a mental disorder. Of course, I was tempted to run with my knowledge of said disorder, but decided to do some research so it didn't just seem like name-dropping. Turns out my knowledge on the subject was incredibly skewed, and I am still doing research on it.

 

So yeah, moral of the story: I should do this as a rule of thumb. And that's something I intend to stick with.

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Personally, I only research if I have to. I prefer to just dive right into an RP with a character that I make, because research takes time that I'm hesitant to spend :/

 

That said, I'd researched a few things here and there. I've researched mythology of different cultures so I could find the right Persona or the right SMT demon for their respective RPs, among other things. I've also researched a handful of mental disabilities for sole purpose of seeing if I can play characters with those disabilities. Call me a sadist if you will, but that helps me gain valuable EXPs so I can better myself as a RPer, alright? You can never stop learning :]

[Maeriberii Haan]

Research is something I take really seriously if I am doing things that requires it, especially when it comes to writing. While RP demands less of this, I still find it to be important if I want to portray things tastefully. If it's a fandom RP with a source material, then I'll read around the source material and wiki dive to see whether there's anything I can use to make a weird character that can still feel compelling on an odd angle. It's like researching the material to figure out a way to create someone overpowered without being obvious about it, but used to make something else instead.

 

Same things happen in RPs that are more original. I did tons of research both out of curiosity and out of the desire to find interesting things while being able to portray someone properly. For Sigil (an Aix RP), I spent quite a lot of time reading Mesopotamian myths to try figuring out interesting plot points that I can use, then I researched the dragon myths around the world so I can make out a mock lineage of the different kind of dragons out of a whim. In another RP, I spent 6 hours researching medieval-renaissance era clothing so I can properly describe a character's clothing style. For an RP I was planning but never got off the ground, I spent a week reading different mystery novels and trying to write my own mystery (to no avail).

 

For Eris in CH, I read interviews of soldiers with PTSD, even if her case wasn't actually identifiable with PTSD in the first place. In making a few unique things in SF for my mechs, I researched about some obscure science experiments and see if they could hold up in the setting. For a magician-like character in a Yugioh RP, I tried to learn about magic tricks and try figuring things on my own and writing them (I failed at this).

 

Granted, I tend to do more research if the topic interest me, and if not, I usually just wing it. And RPs don't force me to research that much since I don't have to research that much about the setting and other things unlike in other kind of writing, unless I'm hosting an RP.