If there's one thing I've noticed, Neopets players love to make characters, whether for RP purposes, short stories, comics and even for the Beauty Contest. The second thing I've noticed is that everyone's characters are the EXACT SAME! They all have similar personalities, similar looks and even the way they act towards others is virtually the same.
Are you sick of seeing the same type of character over and over? Do you want your character to be different, to stand out from the crowd? Or maybe you just need inspiration to get started? Well, you've come to the right place, because Kiaveth and I are going to try to help you!
Step 1: Picking a Species--
The first step to making a character is picking out a species. My suggestion is to pick one that you really like, that you won't mind spending time on creating and one that you'll have fun with. Fun is, after all, the most important part.
Most people go after the popular pet, ones such as lupes, aishas and zafaras. But don't forget, the lesser known ones are just as fun to work with, maybe even more so, since their types haven't been done over so many times. So, consider also the lennies, skeiths and tuskaninnies.
Another thing to consider is look. If you're planning on drawing them a lot, you might want to go with a species that you can draw better than the others. This isn't all too important though, if you're going to use your character for just RP and stories.
Step 2: Personality--
This is where you start to bring your character to life! Here you will decide the pets gender, how your pet will act, what they do, how they get along and respond to others, etc. Are they strong? Sassy? Or maybe a big whimp? The personality is what makes or breaks your character. If you don't have a strong, steady personality, you're character won't be believable.
Once you create a personality, stick with it. If you keep changing it around, others who you might RP with or make stories with will most likely get confused. The only exception for a personality change might be if a really important event happens to your character, it might change them in some way. Even so, the change will be a small, slow, gradual change.
Another important thing to remember is that nobody and nothing is perfect! No matter how good your character might be, they won't be believable if they don't have a flaw or three. Perhaps they're afraid of soup? Or maybe they smell really bad? So, you could give your character a really serious fear of something, something that might hinder them in certain situations. They could have a physical disability, such as blindness or a broken limb. Making them vunerable to something is also a good choice, and might go along with a fear they might have.
The possibilities are endless when creating their personalities, from combining a bunch of qualities to using just a select few. But remember, a perfect character isn't very believable, so give them a fault!
Step 3: Background--
Having an idea of your characters background or past will also aid in creating a personality. Try to stay away from stereotypical ideas. Many, many characters out there have some sort of tragic past and they spend their life moping about. While there's nothing wrong with that, it's been done so many times it's not even fun anymore.
Think of where they might've grown up, how they spent their childhood or what their friends and family were like. Did they grow up in a nice family or were they abandonded? Did they get recruited for an adventure? Or ran away because they were mistreated? In real life, our surroundings influence how we act, and it should for your character too.
Step 4: Abilities--
Every character has something special about them, whether it be magic, a skill with some sort of weapon or maybe they're really good at something like ice skating or surfing. Whatever you choose, it should go along with their personality. A character who is afraid of water might not make the best surfer.
You may also want to include how they got that ability. Did they learn it? Or maybe they were born with it? Or perhaps they even stole it from someone else. Maybe it just took lots and lots of practice.
Step 5: The Look--
My personal favorite part is creating what the character will look like, from color to clothes to markings to accessories. The first thing you should do is decide if your character will be an anthro (human-like, walks on two legs, but has animal characteristics like fur, large ears, tails, etc...) or one that walks on all four legs, like a normal animal.
Once that is confirmed, you'll want to decide if they have any special markings, such as stripes, spots, or weird swirly things. You might even want to make a reference sketch of your character in different positions to plot out where all the markings go. A color study might be a good idea too, and should reflect your pets personality. If they are fun and outgoing, bright colors would emphasize that, but if they are shy, pale pastel colors might be best. Here are some examples of great characters with unique markings:
Next would be deciding on their physical appearence such as body posture and structure (short, fat, muscular, etc...) and any clothes they might wear and accessories such as jewelery (earings, necklaces, etc...) or weapons. Again, sketches might help in deciding what looks good and what doesn't work as well. I like drawing my characters with different outfits too, just for different designs, and so no one thinks that they wear the same clothes everyday. Boy, would that get stinky! Some nice examples include:
Hopefully this guide will get you started. By no means do you have to do it in order. You could start at the last one and work backwards, or jump right in the middle. Don't be afraid to go back and modify things either. If you come up with another idea, or think something else might work better, then go for it! You could also ask friends what they think. Getting another perspective and opinion might help you find even more to add! If no one is around to ask, you're more than welcome to neomail me, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
To give you all an idea of how to go about this, I'm going to create a character on the spot. Please keep in mind though, that these are all my ideas for a character, and while I don't mind you borrowing a few aspects, please do not use the entire creation, as I work hard and put a lot of thought and time into this.
Step 1: Picking a Species--
Alright, I have to pick a species, huh? Well, I want to do something different, a pet I've never owned or drawn before and one that is slightly less mainstream. An Usul seems like an interesting choice! Plus, I've been wanting a desert one for quite some time...
Step 2: Personality--
Next is to give it a personality! Well, the usul will be a girl, first off. And because she's a desert usul, she's quite used to the hot sun and the vast expanses of sand. Also a wanderer, Neferen cannot for the the life of her sit still! She also never spends more than two days in the same area, always feeling the urge to keep moving along. Prefering to be alone, she very rarely goes near any towns or settlements and gets very jumpy and nervous when around any other creatures. Neferen knows how to survive in even the most extreme conditions of the hot desert weather and can forage for food and water easily. With that said though, she has a great fear of the stuff travellers call 'snow'. This cold, wet substance is almost as bad as being near other living beings and just gives her another reason to stay away from them and hide in the safety of the sand.
When alone though, she's usually in pretty high spirits and often murmurs to herself as she wanders. She has a soft, whispering voice since she doesn't talk to anyone else very often.
Step 3: Background--
So how did she get to be alone in the desert? Well, not so very long ago a Neopian and his usul were visiting the Lost Desert. They decided to stay a few days to explore and play games and haggle for strange new items. The usul's attention wandered right into the welcoming arms of a local. One thing led to another and soon after, the local girl, Sunnie, was expecting a child. Sandstorm, the other usul, didn't want to abandon her, but at the same time he couldn't leave his owner, so Sandstorm promised her that he'd travel the world and send back neopoints and items to help support her and their child.
True to his word, he did. He even came back to visit now and then. The two fell in love, and after, Neferen was born. The two usuls had planned to stay with their new daughter, but Sandstorm's owner had called him back. He didn't want to leave Sunnie, but the new baby couldn't travel. They left her with a relative of Sunnie's and left. Neferen however, had other ideas, and as soon as she could crawl, she snuck out into the desert.
Even as a baby, Neferen didn't like to be around others and the solitude of the desert called to her youthful ears. She never returned to her home village and was thereafter thought to have wandered too far and died of exposure.
Step 4: Abilities--
Well if she was a baby, how did she survive? Well, now abilities come into play! She heard the call of the desert, and once away from the village, she learned some special 'talents.' Her first was incredibly strong instincts and that's how she learned to find food and water. It didn't hurt that the desert sort of spoke to her either. At a little older age, Neferen learned she could play with sand. It did what she told it. Not only did that help her survive by offering shelter and protection, but she found she could make large waves and sand surf!
Step 5: The Look--
Neferen is a very small usul, about half the normal size, mainly because she moves a lot, helping her stay in shape, but she also never encountered sweets of any kind to get large and fat. Also, the smaller the size, the less heat that burns. She wears old robes that are kept in pretty good shape for the wear and tear they go through. She carries a simple staff adorned with a likeness of the sun. Neferen's fur is a red-gold, matching the desert sands and she has a long but thin tail. Markings include several heiroglyphic like swirls on her ears, arms and legs, which glow slightly when she's controlling the sands.
These were just things I came up with at the top of my head and it only took about half an hour. The names I used were just random thoughts and have no connection whatsoever to any pets who actually have those names. As I have more time to think, I might add a little more to further define the character of Neferen.
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Occupations:
Animal Keeper Artist Astronaut Banker Beautician Bowsman Clothes Designer Conjurer Enchanter Explorer Flyer Guardian Hunter Knight Law Enforcement Librarian Mage Prince/Princess Scientist Seer Shop Owner Skater Skiier Sorcerer Sports Player Student Surfer Swimmer Swordsman Teacher Theif Wizard Writer |
Personality Qualities:
Brave Bully Cannibalistic Dignified Evil Fun Goody-Two-Show Helpful Know-It-All Loud Mulitple Personality Noble Obnoxious Playful Prissy Sad Sarcastic Serious Shy Teachers Pet Tomboy-ish Troubled Whiney |
Faults:
Afraid of (insert fear) Bad Luck Clumsey No Confidence Secretly Nice/Evil Physical Disability Very Dumb Weak to... (insert weakness) |
Also, if you have an idea that isn't mentioned here and you think it ought to be, send me a neomail and I'll see what I can do.
