Brutal honesty inbound:
Kill the character off.
I know, I get it -- you don't want to get rid of him; in fact, that's why you made this thread, hoping to find some way to salvage the character.
Sadly, this isn't going to be possible.
The fact is, is that it wasn't you who identified the flaws of this character, but your FC-mates. The fact is, is that this character has warranted two Officer interventions.
Yes, you could analyse and reflect all you want on what went wrong -- and you can read the above posts (as well as my advice later on in this one) for that; but the sad truth is that the stigma of your character being who he was will never go away.
Furthermore, it's clear that you're incredibly attached to this character (not that I blame you; we all are attached to our characters to some degree), and that means that if you continue to RP him; no matter how much you change, there's a chance that you'll relapse into RPing your character in his old, aggravating ways.
Reworking a character like that takes a lot of retconning, a lot of redesigning; all of which confuse the other people you RP with, make your own RP un-enjoyable, and worst of all; rarely affects how others view the characters, especially because he's so established in your circle's narrative.
Your FC-mates feel as if he's been built up and up and up to be a big, huge badass (maybe an asshole, too, from what you wrote), as well as the center of attention.
The laws of character development and good pacing dictate that you kill him off.
He's at his peak, isn't he? How much more could he possibly develop; relevant to the rest of the cast?
Your FC-mates feel as if he's bloated with features; as if he can do everything, and constantly steals the spotlight -- hell, you probably feel that too, now. That's the problem.
And that problem isn't going to be fixed by reworking or adding on more layers to this character -- it's going to make it worse. People are going to roll their eyes as you go through another 'your character'-focused storyline as he handles life without his abilities; people are going to roll their eyes as you change and tweak and add things to make him more compelling, etc.
Not that stealing the spotlight is a bad thing, mind you. All RP will have someone stealing a spotlight -- that's just unavoidable. In fact, a lot of the best narrative moments are when a character takes the spotlight.
The problem isn't that your character steals the spotlight, it's that the others you RP with feel he does. This means that either you're stealing the spotlight when you have no reason to; or you're doing it in a very bland, uninspired way; or you're doing it in a way that stops others from having any fun.
As much as it sucks, and as much as it pains me to tell you this, but... Just kill him off, and start over with a fresh, new character -- one that you apply all that you've learned from this one to.
You can kill him off however you like -- but I suggest staying away from any melodrama. Give him a simple death -- one that will remind everyone else's characters of their mortality; one that reinforces the idea that even the best must die. Have his closing thoughts be of fond memories, his dying words ones of encouragement, apology, or love. End the character on a muted note to bring his bombastic story to a melancholic, bittersweet end.
In closing, here are some tips for your new character:
Hope this helps, and my future self apologises for my drunk self's brutal honesty.
tl;dr kill ur character faster than a director can kill sean bean
Kill the character off.
I know, I get it -- you don't want to get rid of him; in fact, that's why you made this thread, hoping to find some way to salvage the character.
Sadly, this isn't going to be possible.
The fact is, is that it wasn't you who identified the flaws of this character, but your FC-mates. The fact is, is that this character has warranted two Officer interventions.
Yes, you could analyse and reflect all you want on what went wrong -- and you can read the above posts (as well as my advice later on in this one) for that; but the sad truth is that the stigma of your character being who he was will never go away.
Furthermore, it's clear that you're incredibly attached to this character (not that I blame you; we all are attached to our characters to some degree), and that means that if you continue to RP him; no matter how much you change, there's a chance that you'll relapse into RPing your character in his old, aggravating ways.
Reworking a character like that takes a lot of retconning, a lot of redesigning; all of which confuse the other people you RP with, make your own RP un-enjoyable, and worst of all; rarely affects how others view the characters, especially because he's so established in your circle's narrative.
Your FC-mates feel as if he's been built up and up and up to be a big, huge badass (maybe an asshole, too, from what you wrote), as well as the center of attention.
The laws of character development and good pacing dictate that you kill him off.
He's at his peak, isn't he? How much more could he possibly develop; relevant to the rest of the cast?
Your FC-mates feel as if he's bloated with features; as if he can do everything, and constantly steals the spotlight -- hell, you probably feel that too, now. That's the problem.
And that problem isn't going to be fixed by reworking or adding on more layers to this character -- it's going to make it worse. People are going to roll their eyes as you go through another 'your character'-focused storyline as he handles life without his abilities; people are going to roll their eyes as you change and tweak and add things to make him more compelling, etc.
Not that stealing the spotlight is a bad thing, mind you. All RP will have someone stealing a spotlight -- that's just unavoidable. In fact, a lot of the best narrative moments are when a character takes the spotlight.
The problem isn't that your character steals the spotlight, it's that the others you RP with feel he does. This means that either you're stealing the spotlight when you have no reason to; or you're doing it in a very bland, uninspired way; or you're doing it in a way that stops others from having any fun.
As much as it sucks, and as much as it pains me to tell you this, but... Just kill him off, and start over with a fresh, new character -- one that you apply all that you've learned from this one to.
You can kill him off however you like -- but I suggest staying away from any melodrama. Give him a simple death -- one that will remind everyone else's characters of their mortality; one that reinforces the idea that even the best must die. Have his closing thoughts be of fond memories, his dying words ones of encouragement, apology, or love. End the character on a muted note to bring his bombastic story to a melancholic, bittersweet end.
In closing, here are some tips for your new character:
- 'Stealing the spotlight' is a symptom of solution-focused Roleplay. Try to remember that encounters in text-based RP like MMORP are not puzzles to solve, or battles to win -- but stories to write together. In an encounter, think: 'what can I do to advance the plot/develop character/enable others to do so?'
- Multi-talented characters are not bad. You can write strong/powerful characters in a very compelling way, but it requires a very reserved and skillful writer to pull off.
- Special powers (like the Echo) are not bad, either. They are, however, great temptresses for engaging in solution-focused RP. In the hands of someone who has a very ego/me-centric RP-style, they get on everyone's nerves incredibly quickly, so again, you need to be a very reserved and skillful writer to pull special powers off.
- Ensure that you remember that your character is a person. They will have flaws; some they probably don't even know or understand. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need to focus on them. Focusing on them brings the exact same problem as focusing on the character's strengths if you're a sucky writer. Instead, make sure you know how your character was raised -- how they lived, and how they got where they are. Analyse their decisions. Why did they do what they did? Why are they here? How do they feel? Once you ask yourselves these questions, you'll ask yourself a thousand more, and once you answer those, then the flaws of your character will naturally appear.
Hope this helps, and my future self apologises for my drunk self's brutal honesty.
tl;dr kill ur character faster than a director can kill sean bean
