Workin workin
Hey folks.
I haven’t posted in a while, SURPRISE. I’ve been spending most of my time working on the cutscenes for Unstoppable, a game JForce Games is making for Xbox Indie Games and PC. It’s coming along super great, and I can’t wait to show you guys how it’s going. 
Those who’ve been waiting for Puzzmosis, it’s going smooth, I’ve just been focussed on these cutscenes. We have a few more loose ends to tie up and we’ll be in business.
Follow my Twitter for more updates on various things… I always feel so shitty about never keeping up with my blog, but it’s because I’m saving all of my notes, editorials, and jokes for something greater.
Man I want to make a new awesome toon. Wouldn’t that be cool?
But let’s talk mano e mano. I’m writing a story right now, and I wanted to see others’ insight on how you write characters. What kind of exercises do you do? What kind of cross examinations do you use? I love writing characters and I’m always looking for the next thing to strengthen them even more.
June 20th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Hey Ego ! I write scripts for short movies and and well the only excercises I do is : Observation and exagerate my own life experience. You can’t create characters without having a real person inspiration at least I can’t ! So I go in the shopping centers , restaurant …And I spot the person who looks the most interesting and I write some notes about his /her behavior , style… It’s sounds creepy but it work !
I do some brainstorming with my friends . Read a lot too about everything …
Man ! It’s awesome for Unstoppable!
June 20th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Oh , I almost forget .
The other thing I do in caracters creation is to take a emotion ( ex : Fear)
and to write some ideas about caracters / lines about caracters who feel the emotion and why he/she’s feeling like that. Pretty simple but it help when you don’t have any idea where to start.
I hope that will help !
June 20th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
I do something similiar to jeepy, not that I write scripts or anything though. Follow his advice.
June 20th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
Awesome Portal!
Awesome Street Fighter!
Awesome Pokemon!
Awesome Halo!
June 21st, 2010 at 12:00 am
How I make my characters is simple: create a user on both Myspace and Facebook and fill in EVERY FIELD as the character. Believe it or not it actually does wonders in creation, sure there are a few holes missing, however the common and not so common options are in both sites to help you flush out the character.
June 21st, 2010 at 1:26 am
I’m actually a bit of a story writer in the literature way, unlike jeepy who does scripts. But my advice is also try to live the character you’re writing about and live their life through their eyes. Like, try taking an every day thing you would normally do, for ex: what are you going to eat today, and if you do go out what are you going to eat? Another situation is to say the character is given a choice to kill someone. Would he/she actually kill the person t hey are supposed or would they not. And if they do choose to kill the person, how would they do it and what would happen to them after wards, like, would they feel guilty about doing it or would they become blood thirsty and go on a rampage.
Then the question about what type of personality the person has. It really depends on how the character’s personality you set up. Most writers and movie producers say that the character makes the story but I say it’s the setting that makes the story. Sure, the story is told through the character but its the setting that helps guide the character along the chosen path that the writer has set up for the character to develop the chosen personality.
But it’s about how to write characters that you asked for so i guess i was rambling a bit. But it does help and I’ve written a short story and a couple of books with a third on the way. But i’m rambling again.
That’s the only thing i can think of right now as i sit here typing at 10:30 at night.
June 21st, 2010 at 1:41 am
the website is a wiki i made to post a fantasy setting im working on, i know its not an exact paralel but when i make a nation for it what i do is i make up random infromation then make it fit, for example i asked a friend of mine for some seed details on a nation, knowing he would try for one that cant use the magic, as a by product of this i ave a method for making magic proof armor and, a nation that is the perfect cause of a story. like pet rat said characters dont make the story, the story makes the characters.
June 21st, 2010 at 2:11 am
character background for me usually comes from a vast amount of exageration of a certain quality in character whether it shines the most or is the spur of the moment, like how your parodies exagerates over the top antics in a hilarious manner. I like doing research with old stories and ask questions about the characters, how they reacted to their situations, why I’m attracted to his personality, is it something I can admire to a degree? The same can be said for the diabolical characters, what traits that add to his personality.
Let’s take the Dark Knight’s version of the Joker, the only past we get about him is his scar stories. Though his mannerisms speak louder than what he says, the fact that there’s no trace of his background adds a mysterious trait that’s pretty clever way of expressing how ingenius the Joker is with the insane plot twists that made anyone watching think this guy pretty much thought of things through better than watching someone react in a game of chess.
The downside with background info is having too much that’s irrelevent and is more of a sidetrack from what’s going on. Unless you want to make one huge episode with nothing but background references to explain the most questionable antics, be my guest. Even the Metal Gear Solid series couldn’t explain all their background history in one game (IE: Snake Eater, Portable OP’s, Peace Walker).
* Let the atmosphere act on the character, and then create the reaction the character has with it.
* What psychological events that could happen to make that person be the way he/she/it are now
* What is missing from their timeframe that differentiates the main character, Batman seems to be really good at using areas that the main character could be similar to if he allowed himself to go too far in certain areas. The villains tends to be a dark reflection in personality that it’s a psychological battle within Batman himself in some of the comic series he struggles with his best judgement when compared to theirs.
* Human qualities, everybody has them. There’s always someone out there with their own demons to contend with. Not everyone has it in them to be a great leader, though not everyone has it in them to not care about anything but themselves.
* Breaking stereotypes, it can be funny depending on timing.
* Don’t do what J.J. Abrams does in most of his stuff, ending everything that makes everyone think, “wtf is going on and why is it happening?” It’s clever the first time, but some explanation is better than none. Nobody wants to feel stupid after watching something, unless what they watched was mindblowingly bad and they knew about it going in.
I’d say more, but I think I’m just conversating than saying anything new that the others have said.
June 21st, 2010 at 2:33 am
What I like to do is find a motivation for a character then what I do is use that to change the persons personality ex. motivation=revenge character= angry, rash, try to get something at all costs, but they are also secretly depressed on the inside. I love to use an unreliable narrator bc i think they are the funnest to write.
June 21st, 2010 at 6:58 am
I think the key to creating the perfect character for a story is to become the character try out bits of his/her personality within everyday life! Be the character!
To create a character you must understand the character, at least thats how I create mine. I think trying to be your characters makes them feel more dynamic and interesting! Because you have taken the role of that character you can make him feel more human to the readers or to the viewers whatever you are doing.
As for the backgrounds of characters, I talk to different from all across the world, I learn a bit about their past and try and blend them altogether and create the darkest of past for the lonely, shady cool protagonist.
I hope this helped you =3
An awesome cartoon eh? How about some of these;
Awesome’s Inferno (Dante’s Inferno)
God of Awesome (God of War)
AwesomeShock (Bioshock)
Silent Awesome (Silent Hill)
Awesome the Rapper (PaRapper the Rapper)
Metal Gear Awesome 3 ^^
June 21st, 2010 at 9:12 am
well i surely cant compete with these incredible literates.
but i just wrote a 5 chapter book. very very short about 9 pages each and with my characters (as in pet rat says) you should know what they live by, as in taking a walk in their shoes.
get a true feel of how that person will act and react in any situation.
balance out emotion and action, conflict and resolution.
Balance is key to any good story.
that’s all i can pretty much give you Ego hope it helps!
l8s
June 21st, 2010 at 9:57 am
well what i do is always draw first the eyes, which i draw them like squares and for the mouth and nose of a character i just put 1 dot where the nose and mouth be, to make them cute, well, thats just me on how i draw faces for my characters
June 21st, 2010 at 10:51 am
Contrary to the usual sort of requests for Awesome cartoons, I would love to see a cartoon featuring your original characters, such as the three girls on the top of this website.
As for character development, I usually start out with a basic personality, and then run the character through a story that tests the character’s morality and views on the world. It’s probably not very sophisticated, but It’s a lot of fun to do, for me at least.
*slight fanboy moment coming up*
OMG U R AWESUM
June 21st, 2010 at 12:04 pm
i seem to remember you mentioning a Doug Awesome back at Infinite Bits. do that one. as for character development, i suck at it, which is why i don’t write stories anymore >_<
June 21st, 2010 at 2:03 pm
If you’re going to do a new “Awesome” flash, I would recommend that you do some game that is relatively unknown such as the following:
-Any Tri-Ace RPG
-Galaxian, Galaga, or Gaplus
-Any old vector arcade game
-Bomberman
As for the short story, I would have to concur with what others have said before. Plus, I’ve written stuff for myself, but I usually get stuck on what to write at certain points, which is a total bitch.
June 21st, 2010 at 2:26 pm
hey ego,
a good way to improve building characters is to look at your friends and what they do. Do they have any pets? anything drastic happen? for example lets say you have a freind called bob and he got hit by a car. you could use that in your character! like you could say he has a damaged hip from a car accident. that sorta thing.
also for the new awesome toon… that would be fucking cool! i suggest you do it on left for dead. even though oneyng did some on that, id love to see it egoraptor style!!
June 21st, 2010 at 7:08 pm
My characters are extensions of myself. For example, in my story “Onijin”, I have several characters that represent the highest of each emotion or trait. Hiana Meer is the innocent, shy part of me. She is also physically what I wish to be. Roku and Hibana are my meaner sides, complete with short tempers. Onijin himself is from the darkest parts, my anger and hurt and such. Ker Berethrou(means ‘demon of the pit’ in latin) is my mood swings. The villans represent what I detest.
If it works for you, then try changing your many traits and preferences into characters. When drawing, form their appearance around their personality. Hiana has big, kitten-like eyes and is very small despite her age. Onijin is lean and muscular, riddled with scars and stands tense.
Mainly, just have fun with it. I hope my information helps.
June 21st, 2010 at 8:09 pm
Nice, good luck on those cut scenes.
As for how I write my characters? Well I do it several ways actually. One way is if the character is a one shot deal, like in only one short film or so, I only write a page or two describing the characters back story (doesn’t matter if it’s in the movie or not).
Now, if the character will be in more than one short, or a feature length, I can go so far as to write an entire book on them. In fact, when I write a feature length movie, I start by writing it in book form before adapting it as a script. Don’t ask me why, it just works for me.
As for where I get inspiration for my characters? Well I tend to look at my own life, and tend to have main characters that are outcasts, or society rejects them. But I love writing villains the most, and I try to make them have some sort of connection to the main character, and I some times try to make them as disturbing as possible, not always though.
What I hate though is villains who don’t have clear goals, proper motives or anything to do with the main character.
June 21st, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Those are more the tweeners of villainry, the anti-hero. You don’t know what to expect from them, and I would consider them to be part of a subplot where those kind of people get entangled in the situation than being the main source between the main characters and the antagonists.
I think those kind of villains are better suited to be cliff hangers, like saying a team mate goes rogue due to a big disagreement with orders from the leader. Ex team mate has a vigilante means of handling things that gets more people hurt. The original team ends of having a quarrel of situational means of trying to talk th ex member back into the team, but fails in the process. Something happens to a good friend in the team that helped kept the connections between the team leader and the ex marginally close to knowing their on the same side and the friend dies. Ex defects to the enemy side and an engaging battle of morales surface and pointing fingers of who was really at fault.
Though, at least that has a purpose for being there. It’s better than trying to put together a dude who doesn’t need to be in there like say a little boy with no special abilities coming in to make a saveand the characters never say anything about who that kid was later on in the story. You get a big WTF moment that’s never explained, and that’s what gets me a lot.
June 21st, 2010 at 9:47 pm
i find a good way to develop characters and interactions is to simply write random scenarios, for example.
taking your main characters and making them pop off to the shop’s, what would they say. what would they buy, what would they think about the others purchase’s, what if they ran into the main badguy at KFC.
it dosnt have to make sense, it dosnt have to be in chronological order, this is for your benefit only, its just playing with what you’ve got.
9 times out of 10, you will find that you will do this a few times and start to combine characters to create new characters.
peace out
June 22nd, 2010 at 2:53 am
I agree about Silent Awesome. I’ve been wanting to see a Silent Awesome ever since The Legend of awesome.
Stuff you could make fun of are:
-The lock is jammed, this door cannot be opened
-Harry’s favorite line: “What is this?” -> used when he saw a skinless dead body
-Health Drinks and Bullets conveniently left lying around
-The way Harry dies: “Ugh.. Ohh…” *kneels and falls face first
-You could make Cheryl a bitch and make her clues either too random and nonsense for Harry to figure out or too straight forward.
-Dahliah Gilesppi. There are endless possibilities on how you can make fun of her.
I have a lot of stuff in mind but I bet you have better ideas. I really look forward to seeing this! : )
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:07 am
When I write characters I actually do it in a reverse way.
I get a good idea of the story and what kind of story it will be. I get the setting down and the kind of place the setting is well set around. Then I set the tone for the story, choosing if it will be a happy or sad story, exciting or intriguing e.t.c. Then after I have all that I write the characters around the story.
It sounds a little funky but that’s just my process. And if i’m feeling really desperate or can’t think of something. I browse forums and such and find a person’s post that matches my story and I tend to try to read most of that persons posts and try to grasp a sense of their personality.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:00 am
I always seem to make my characters have a very strong personality that’s very obvious because I feel that it’s important to eliminate doubts or assumptions that the reader makes.
Each character often tends to be of a certain stereotype and have very distinct traits. I don’t write many conversations in my stories, I try to keep it mostly from a third person perspective.
Rather than making one main character, I try to write it so that the reader gets to choose as to which character they feel more attached to.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:49 am
You want to try to make characters? Well, when I took my fiction writing class in college, there was something of a questionnaire you had to fill out about your character. It kinda worked, but I think that if you want to truly make a timeless character, you need to put a lot of creativity into its creation.
Think deeply about the kind of things he’d say in a tone of voice he’d have. Think about what kind of clothes she’d wear, and the kind of people she’d associate with. Make your own sort of questionnaire, I suppose.
June 22nd, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Also, in my mini-episodes “I Am Happy” I write out my anger through Dircetly, my serial killer. I can write a few exercises for you if you like.
June 22nd, 2010 at 3:29 pm
One thing I’ve started doing is a massive grid which I can use to develop all the characters’ relationships to each other. “How does Aaron relate to Bob? How does Aaron relate to Charlie? Heck, how does Aaron relate to Aaron?” Obviously you might not use all the material you come up with, but it still helps define the characters because you get to see all the different facets or sides of them that are (or could be) brought out by their interactions with other people.
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Stick to the Awesome Series dude everyone wants you to make more of those because there fucking funny and your sense of humor is something we can all relate too. it really seems like your just giving yourself a big work load which is gonna make all your pieces of work (Awesome Series, GirlChan, Lemon Bill, etc..) not so awesome. no doubt we all love you as the guy who made the Awesome Series ,but if your asking us for help, asking us what we like, then for sure your next piece of work is not going to be as great because its something we\’ll all be expecting.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:40 pm
The awesome series are funny, though working on the same project gets tedious. Projects are fun when it\’s in the moment, and Egoraptor likes doing things randomly. It works for him, and I can see his point in doing so because awesomely stupid ideas pop up when you\’re in the middle of a project and you\’re like, \
June 23rd, 2010 at 1:10 am
I like to use the seven deadly sins for my characters.
June 23rd, 2010 at 5:48 am
Well what I personally do is first think of it’s purpose. Comedy? Hero? Rival? Something like that, and from that perspective, I then come up with it’s appearance. What do I want it’s appearance to reflect? Do I want it to reflect a loaner, someone obnoxious, something like that. From that point, I then build a background. The background I try to use relative history, and make the life and interactions original. After that to me it’s simple as I just develop it through my eyes. If I was god, what would I lay out along the lines of interaction, to development, bonds, and experiences. It’s all something where you get to play god and watch your creation either grow, or fall apart. Something evil if you ask me.
As a background for 5 years now I’ve been running fan based RP sites, D&D and all sorts of crap, so creating life and developing it is my forte, one would say. But I get a kick out of it~
June 23rd, 2010 at 6:22 am
wow, my last reply got brutalized and cut off.
It was suppose to end with, “Aww man, I need to do something with this idea while it’s still fresh in my mind!”
June 23rd, 2010 at 1:05 pm
I always hate my characters because i take them from real life
From strippers to bartenders to drunkards to bitches that call themselves ladies and other bad people.You can use them for comedies to generate hillarious stuff
June 23rd, 2010 at 1:12 pm
When i create characters, i always look for that spark of inspiration from games i play, different time periods, emotions, movies, etc. Then i let their design come naturally, their designs are never the only version, a lot of my characters change drastically over time. One thing i always make sure of is that the characters are never fueled by only one emotion to make them more three dimensional. After i create characters, i create a story around those characters using an ongoing theme.
From one creator to another, i hope this helps
June 24th, 2010 at 11:18 pm
I might need some clarification when you say “characters”. Are we talking about quirky cartoon characters that are fun/cute/simple? Or are we talking about characters with emotional depth? As someone who has written for as long as he can remember, I can offer you some solid advice on both fronts. Go ahead and drop me an email (I’m assuming you can see it, even though its hidden from everyone else), or just drop me an IM on AIM.
screen name: porrages
June 25th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
1. For 3 days every time u have interaction first think, hey how would this char react in this situation. Then write it down
2. I know u get this a lot, but props on your animating. I’ve been keeping up with the stuff you’ve been putting out since the beginning and I think its awesome seeing animators mature through there work
And 3. Can’t wait to see ur cutscenes
June 25th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Create some basic archtypes you are familiar with. Try classical ones. Then try to give them something that influences them. a speech impediment, a disease, a chip on their shoulder. (try positive things too.) One tool to try is too imagine the voices of the characters. Extrapolate beyond your own, that is, and picture what events could lead to that character’s specific tone.
I know that must sound hard, but with day-to-day practice, it comes natural when developing. Try to take long periods to think up cool “past events” for characters, or quick stories of adventure they might have experienced.
Frank shot a man. The man was his old english teacher. he tried to run from Frank, because Frank was a sociopath.
Simple stuff, but with some extapolation, it could make for a good read.
Always Tumble-Dry the ideas.
June 25th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
OH!
Also, try to commit as hard as you can. Pitch the idea over and over to yourself, even if you don’t think it’s the “best,” it has potential because it CAME OUT OF YOUR BRAIN!
It’s always dissapointing to see fresh ideas fall apart because of a lack of commitment.
In fact, write out a full page of dialogue with the character. if you like where it’s going, keep the character.
If you don’t, hey.
it was only one page.
June 26th, 2010 at 1:00 am
A goal. A goal can be the most important factor when writing a character. Goalless characters are boring. Readers/viewers will care much more for a character that has purpose. You could also try basing a character off a word. Think of a single word to describe the character you want to create. Then branch off from there. Friends and family that have had an effect on them. Events that changed them. There are so many ways to go about creating characters.
June 26th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
you know how you can picture a friends reaction in your head? or you sometimes say what they wouldve said in a random situation? apply that to your charecters. the evolution and thought process they have will come naturally if you think like the charecter thinks. your instincts are ussualy right, especially with someone as artsy as you
June 26th, 2010 at 3:44 pm
I’ve heard that you were doing the Unstoppable cutscenes before but I never bothered to check it out until the other day and it looks like they are doing an awesome job so I’m definitely going to give it a try.
Yes another awesome toon would be awesome I hope it’s MGA3 :p but after watching the last 2 girlchans it will just be nice to see another animation in your style again. Not saying Girlchan isn’t your style but it is parodying the way anime is animated and voiced so it’s just a lil different ya know?
However I do enjoy Girlchan as well and couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t mention it even though the fourth episode was supposed to be next (you even held that contest on NG for it).Is it being postponed by any chance?
June 27th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Characters shouldn’t be a chore to write, the basic outline for a character should just appear in your head… Then base a backstory around them and see what happens! I always find that, when I write, it’s better to just improvise and make it up… It’s more fun that way!
June 27th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Its mano a mano, not mano e mano.
June 27th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Listen to music or watch a film that you know will give you that chill up your spine.
In the mean time, have a pen in hand, notepad in front of you, and conjure up as much influence as you can (without having it being too plagerized of course).
And similar to what Jakes-Exception said, just let the idea come to you.
That’s what I occasionaly do. [:
Hope it was enough help,
Alex Borrego
June 28th, 2010 at 12:06 am
What I try to do with creating characters is to create a basic history of the character. Nothing too extensive, in terms of going all the way back to childhood or something, but maybe perhaps the past 6 months or so. I also try to think about the character’s intentions and motivations. What makes this particular character tick? If all else, use people from your life as inspiration for your characters.
Sometimes, what I like to do is do a short free-write with my character in mind and either write a short dialogue/monologue or between myself or the character to help get a feel for the character once I’ve fleshed them out with their general background.
June 28th, 2010 at 11:08 am
I always draw the character first. Sure, I may have a vague idea of what they’re like, but designing him/her is one of the first steps. After I find a design I like, I write/think about the character…a lot. It’s good to work on other characters as well at the same time. Then you begin developing their relationships. Pick certain quirks, accents, props, etc. based on the way the character looks. Does she look like she might have a cat? Give her a cat, then, and decide why she has one. Work that into her character. Give some background info on it. Decide how the others feel about her cat (after you have begun fleshing them out, as well). Does the coolest male design you made, who you have decided is her boyfriend, have an allergy to cats? That could be important. You could write an entire short story about those few vague details (though I wouldn’t. Develop them more).
Who are their friends and where do they all live? Do they even live on Earth? What time period? Is it a million years ago, or 1995? Time and place are crucial. Unless it’s a comedy, it would be too silly to put a t-rex in an 1850 mining town, but you know that. I also like Coldguy’s idea about the facebook/myspace field-filling-outage.
Pay attention to people around you. What do they dis/like? What do they do? What are their views on things? Are there types of people you just cannot stand? Write them in. For example, an annoying customer. I hate them, personally. Whatever makes that person an asshole to you would be good to add to an asshole character. Perhaps you can write a character around them, even if you met them only once. Is there some asshole saying/expression one of your friends/relatives uses? Use it! If you have a design you want to use and you think the character looks like an asshole, you can use that. It’s good to have an asshole character. That’s just one example, though.
Here’s an exercise I like to do:
(I’ll do it as I write this)
1) Think of a character you think you might like. In my case, I want to write about a bad guy who is very cool.
2) Now draw him/her.
-Mine came out as a brunette anime fighter. He has two scars and an evil look in his eyes.
3) What makes him bad?
-Think about where he got his scars. In a fight, duh. Against who? Why were they fighting? How about his brother? Okay, so he got in a sword fight with his brother. Why?…
4) What is his past/where is he from/how old is he?
5) What is his relationship with the other characters?
-Well, I also drew a cute girl. She’s short, has big hair, nice tits, and ’90s clothes. What kind of friendship/rivalry can they have? I have decided she likes him because he’s “super cool” because he knows magic. So there – she likes him. Does he like her? Time to develop the relationships from there.
6) This is the best time to develop likes/dislikes.
-This guy is cool and tough, so he likes bar-b-q. Why not, right? Oh, and working out! So, what is his training regimen? Is he always busy working out? How does the girl feel about this? Could it be a catalyst for a story involving the two? Perhaps. Now the story is starting to work itself out.
7) Work out a story based on the characters you just made. However, it would be a good idea to make more than just 2 or 3, obviously. It also helps if you have had an idea for a story, even if only a very vague idea, so you can use it as a model. Maybe it will change so much as you write draft after draft that is isn’t anything like your original idea. That’s okay. You can use it later, then! Do you have any story ideas you just don’t know what to do with? Now maybe be a good opportunity to make them into something.
(P.S. Those characters copyright John Null 2010)
It’s good to get attached to your characters and get to know them on a personal level. You know you’re there when someone says/does something (in real life) and you think, “That’s totally something ___would say/do!” Then you’re there. If I heard a girl say something very sweet, I could think, “Oh, that’s what ___ should say to ___!” A whole scene could be written around that.
At this point it may be a good idea to re-evaluate their appearance. Maybe she would look better if she had pigtails? Would he look better with a haircut? What about his best buddy? Maybe their outfits should be more similar. In that case, what does it have to do with the story? Could there be a hilarious flashback about it? You get the idea.
This method of making characters is very effective and is also good for developing the plot. I don’t know how similar this is to your current style of character creation, but employing these techniques helps me a lot.
John
June 28th, 2010 at 11:18 am
You should take inspiration from other stories/series/etc., from their characters. I’ve got a story in the writing, that has over 2000 characters, most concepted and designed by me (about 1300 of them).
June 28th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
ScribblenAWESOME; Scribblenauts
June 29th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
It’s always good to base characters off of people or even concepts you know of.
June 30th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Hey man-
I know I’m not really contributing to the post but yeah I’ve been watchin’ ya stuff for awhile now, and I think it’s time I wanted to wear it. Is it possible for you to contact newgrounds.com to get some more O-Face T-shirts and some Awesome T-shirts? It would be (no pun intended) awesome. Thanks brotha!
June 30th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
I start by basing my characters on someone I know, like me, then make small changes and thinking about how they would change the character. I’m currently working on a book , and i’ve realized that good characters require layers, even comedy. what mudfish says basically
June 30th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
parodies of existing characters (fictional or not,) are a perfect way to make characters, nothing new to you.
keep up the good work!
July 1st, 2010 at 9:59 am
Ah, creating characters. That is always a fun endeavour. I can give you some input for that.
I come from a background of Pencil & Paper Roleplaying games, of the ilk of Dungeons & Dragons, Vampire: The Masquerade, Shadowrun, and Exalted. Making good characters is a constant task that I always take fun in. Whenever I’m GMing a game, or playing in one, making characters for others to interact with is always fun. If you havn’t tried Roleplaying in such an environment before, I suggest you try. They make character creation a breeze.
Usually when I begin to make a character for a game, I either first think of a personality I want to portray, or a character archetype I want to portray. Usually I can sum these up within a couple words; 80s Metal Sex God, Jaded Gangster, Spunky Rebellious Teenage Dennis the Menace Wannabe, Naive Barbarian, Gluttonous Prettyboy, Enigmatic Medicine Man, etc.
Then, I think up a reason for them existing. What drives them, what motivates them in life. One thing to keep in mind in RPGs is that Game Masters want to have a clear idea of what you want out of your character, so I make sure that my characters all have clear ideas of where they want to go, what they want to do, and how much fun I could have doing it. For instance; my 80s Rocker wants to get laid, rock out, and get famous. My Barbarian wants to protect his friends. My spunky teen wants to chase her boyfriend. These are clear goals that can come into play and are easily brought to light.
As a Game Master, I look how I can bring character plots into the limelight, and produce plots. The most delicious plots happen when Non-Player characters controlled by the Game Master come into conflict with the Player-Character’s characters, and even juicer still when Player-Characters’ goals come into conflict. After all, conflict produces drama, and drama is what you want out of a good story.
Normally, to get a handle on my character, I ask my Game Master to run me through a few scenarios to wrap my head around my character’s thought processes, to understand their emotional functions, their values, their gut reactions, and so forth.
The character sheet section of character creation also lets me get a handle on my character; since no system worth it’s salt lets your character start out being the best at everything, it makes you pick & choose what you want your character to know. This helps me figure out my character’s strengths & weaknesses in a mechanical sense, and helps me portray that character in such a fashion when dice arn’t being rolled.
If you’re sufficiently bored, drop me a line at clarencemage@gmail.com , I’ll be glad to run any characters you want through interesting scenarios.
July 1st, 2010 at 9:22 pm
hey egoraptor, long time fan first time…. um responder….. well anyway when is that game you where helping out with gunna come out??? i has an xbox but it doesnt read disks because im an abusive xbox owner, so i can only play arcade games.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:23 pm
idk I just do with characters B: I draw constantly, and I like to make up stuff along the way? So a girl with a red drew = charater.. and then I add on? Idk it just depends how I feel when I make people. Witch characters, I never plan, I just do?
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:54 am
How about:
Bordawsome or Awesomelands (Borderlands if you didn’t pick up on the obvious).
July 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 am
HOLY SHIT MANY COMMENTS!!
Anyway, for characterization: it is almost always about symbolism when I make a character. There are lots of character archetypes and clichés that sometimes I can’t resist using. For example, the evil guy almost always has a scar across the face, or something deformed about his body. Colors are always helpful in conveying secret character information, and even hair and eye color can be important. I don’t get that specific, so just the clothing type is enough to show off some of the character’s feelings. An item the character uses, like a priceless artifact or an all-powerful weapon, could further characterize.
But the most useful thing to think of when making a character is WHAT they actually DO. If a character is a nice person, he may give money to a beggar. If a character is evil, even something as small as spitting on the ground can show how mean this guy can get. Big actions give off the obvious character traits, but the small actions are what really take the character farther.
I’m currently in a college-level Theatre course (though I am currently in high school), so I have picked up on these things when I look at a role.
July 4th, 2010 at 2:04 am
OMG Mr Raptor, Ego why is Girlchan 2 still under features, surely girlchan 3 is more of a feature now!
Sorry for the slightly spammy message, your work really is quite awesome
July 4th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
My good man, I haven’t seen your stuff in a long time, and checking newgrounds tonight for Metal Gear awesome, made for an awesome laugh, and then the power went out; what does that say for this? nothing, except the randomness, in any case…
In how I write my characters out, I try to put thru me what reactions they’d have towards certain situations, act it out a bit, then jot it down. In my world, the more ridiculous, the better, that how I love to perceive things though =P.
July 7th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
WHERE THE HELL IS GIRLCHAN 4 AHHHHHHHH UR GAYZ LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL RETARDZ
I HAZ RECONZ
July 7th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
HEEEEY I KNOWS GRAET IDEA FOR AWESOME VIDEO, SCRIBBLE N’AWESOME, THATS NEVER BEEN DONE B4 THAT IDEA NEVER LOLOLOLOLOLOL DO HALOS COS HALOZ IS AWESOME NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM
July 7th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Egoraptor, I am afraid to tell you that Girlchan 3 was an utter disappointment, I understand that the series parodies anime, manga and other cultural exaggerations, but your use of sarcasm and irony aswell as tempo and pitch used in your voice acting (which, don\’t get me wrong, are extremely hilarious) however, I believe, along with many peers that it has become repetetive and in a sense, all though I assume that no plot is ment to be included, the overall point to the series is lost. And also the stereotypical Japanese/asian elements that worked superbly in the first two are being \’bombarded\’ by western cliches and other \’westernised\’ nuances, which in-turn derive Girlchan of being something better than it already is. That aside, Egoraptor, you are a genius for creating the ‘O’ face seen in Awesome Center and the \’Awesome\’ series in general, also i love Mr. Literal and 3rd Grade Transformers, good job.
July 7th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
This sounds stupid, but it works. Tear up a page from a magazine you never read. Then tear it our, roll it up, and drop it on the floor. Pick it up and look at it until you see a word or letter. If its a word, use it in his/her description. If its a letter, use the first adjective that comes to mind that starts with that letter. Its random, which is good if you get stuck in a creative rut.
July 8th, 2010 at 4:53 am
Also, an observation gleaned from “The Last Airbender”: characterization is not just about a character’s actions, but also their motivation. A character who does awesome things is okay; a character who does boring things is meaningless; both of them are just a pile of gestures. It’s the WHY of the character’s actions that make the difference–especially since two people might do opposite things in pursuit of the same goal, or do identical things for opposite reasons. And it’s the Why of a character that makes The Reader able to identify with them. More often than not, you’ll find the same desires in your own heart. (“I want people to take me seriously. I want people to respect me, even fear me if necessary.” Does that mean you’ll make your soldiers rape your son’s wife, and then make your SON rape her too? Probably not. But you can’t hate Lord Tywin for doing it, because you know why he did it.)
July 8th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Hey egoraptor love the awesome series and think you should make a load more one suggestion i have is the half life series i’m probably not the first to suggest it but reckon you could make that hilarious. If you ever need another voice actor then let me know (probably something else you’ve heard about a million times before).
July 9th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Hey egoraptor, why dont you just go die because iv been waiting ages for your parody of what ever the hell it is too come out and i just dont know what to do anymore, im gunna blow my freakin head off, god i can make a better parody series than you
July 9th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
GIRLCHN 4 NOW DOUCHE
how long does it take to pick a freakin fan made character half these guys draw freakin stick figures.
July 9th, 2010 at 6:30 pm
JForce are seriously some of the biggest douchebags I can think of…
August 25th, 2010 at 4:35 am
http://zoutg.myloger.com/
August 25th, 2010 at 11:09 am
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August 25th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
http://www.productdigitalreviews.com/games/console-guides-repairs/james-dean-3-red-light-fix
August 25th, 2010 at 11:13 pm
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