Common tropes to avoid

[Meowser]

So I've been working on my character's background with the intent of (hopefully) trying to establish some sort of small RP community on my seemingly RP-less world.

 

I have the basic idea and framework of the character worked out, an outfit built and my house decorated to complement my character background. But being that I have very little experience in RP in this game, I'm a little bit concerned that once I start actually preparing a written character I'll learn that similar characters are everywhere

 

I've browsed randomly through the character sheets on this site and haven't noticed anything similar, but I thought I'd ask here. Are there any trope background or character histories that should be avoided on the basis that everyone does them?

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Put simply, no. This is roleplay and the limits are your imagination.

 

Tropes exist because they are common. What may make one person roll their eyes, another may find interesting. What I would suggest is thinking about what story you want to tell and what story you can provide to better other characters' stories. Remember that RP is a team effort! What might work nicely in fanfic doesn't always work out when you can't make certain decisions about other people's characters. That is the bigger picture. The collaborative writing effort is what keeps it going. Provide something for your fellow RPers to write with, as they should for you. Remember that while your character might be the spotlight in your stories, they will be a side character in another person's.

 

Naturally, you'll want to figure out where you prefer to reside on the low fantasy to high fantasy spectrum. Are they a seasoned adventure? Are they educated? Where are they from? Who are they trying to be? A backstory is nice, but remember that it's then the past. What is your character doing now that might bring the attention of other characters? Or what sort of people would catch your character's interest?

[Faye]

There are a lot of people in the FFXIV RP community, many playing multiple characters or who have rerolled/retconned with entirely new concepts in the past, and they are all across the board in terms of character archetypes. It will be difficult to make any sort of character who doesn't have basic similarities with at least a few other characters, and I don't recommend striving for that for a few reasons. The good thing is that at least on a server with a smaller RP community like Famfrit, you will probably run into fewer similar characters.

 

Otherwise, there are way too many tropes to list them all and little point in listing them because, well... they are all subjective, albeit some more subjective than others. Tropes are not inherently bad things. Everyone will have differing opinions on whether tropes in general are good or bad, what tropes exist, and which of those tropes are "okay" to RP. Just have your own fun and make the character you want to make, and don't let anyone else define the tropes you want to avoid or embrace, just use your own judgment and preferences!

[ArmachiA]

There's no tropes I can think of that will get you barred from any RP because it's too "common", if that's what you're afraid of.

 

If you want to know what's super common in the community for reference sake though...

[Aegir]

All of my characters are super generic and super trope heavy and I still find people to RP with. Do what makes you happy~

[Kerrath]

if anything, it'll be easier to get rp with a character with common features. make something you like. the only advice i have is that if this is your first time and you don't have pre-existing contacts it might be a smart idea to make a character that is not only simple, but accessible, and being an extroverted character helps a little bit.

[Edvyn]

the most boring characters are those written with the express intent of not being boring - to avoid giving another "do what you want" reply (even though you really should just do what you want) I can list off some questions that I ask myself when I'm first setting up a RP character - maybe they'll help you idk

• What's the basic, overarching concept I'm aiming for here?
  
• Is this workable within the setting's bounds? (don't fuss too much about this but many roleplayers are strict about lore)
  
• Can I play this well? (if the answer is no, this isn't a reason to trash the idea - you just might need to learn a bit more)
  
• How will this character interact with others? (important - most people don't have a lot of fun rping with themselves)
  
• What drives/motivates them? (this is how you find plots!)
  
• Will I enjoy playing this in the long run? (this one's very important to avoid burnout!)
  

[Damien]

Tropes aren't really bad on their own. Everyone and their mother does tragic backstories, but that's because they can give a character a compelling ambition or drive to do something. You can use any tool you like to piece together your character, but a simple character done well will forever be preferable to engage with than an butchered attempt at a horribly complex character. 

 

Don't feel obliged to be different. After all, RP is sort of about fitting in. Having similarities to people is what can draw them together just as much as appreciating differences. I've made a character and played it without developing a backstory at all, and who the character eventually became was sort of improvised, shaped by ideas on the fly and RP with others.

 

I wouldn't get too caught up in background. It's only there to explain the way the character is now. When you start RPing, it doesn't become an exercise of referring to written out notes to calculate how your character would respond, nor does it become a task of trading fictional past experiences with other characters for theirs. 

 

Things that really matter are the sorts of things you'll have to think about throughout your RP. What a character fears, what they hope for, their preference of weather, what hobbies or hidden talents they might have, how well they can cope under stress, how they deal with people, what secrets they're unwilling to share, how they talk, whether they are wealthy etc etc.

 

Aside from the past of your character, far fewer give thought to their future. I think it's a good idea to have goals for your character; short term ones they might achieve in RP, long term ones that might slowly unravel over time and change the character as they do, and even the long milestones that your character strives for but probably never ever reach.

[Impstatus]

Human brain likes familiarity. It's our hardwiring that makes tropes persist. Everything has been done before. Free yourself by stopping worrying about tropes and cliches and what other people think about. Opinions are still like butts on current year, everyone has one. 

 

Since I like stories, I usually focus as much into the framaework of the story I'd like to be my character's story as I focus on the character itself. If that makes sense. Just remember the basics. Write what you know about; what you like about, and you are on right path to creating character that just might stand the test of making it in RP community alive. You can't please everyone, but never forget that you are your no. 1 priority.

[Literal-Ghost]

Pretty much just 'do what you want', like everyone else has said.

 

Though I would expand a little on what Edvyn posted, regarding 'How will this character interact with others?'

 

If there is a roleplay trope that I would recommend avoiding, it's the 'antisocial lone wolf' kind of character, but even that is more because people take this trope and then don't play with it in a smart way. I've seen it happen before where someone will have a concept for a character that they get very excited about, only to sabotage themselves when they are unable to draw others to that character because their personality is unappealing to others.

 

It's one thing to see a hard edged, sarcastic, antisocial character in a piece of media, where the characters around them are written to tolerate or even enjoy/respect their behavior. It's another to expect other actual people to want to interact with a character who, for all intents and purposes, is just a prick for no reason.

 

This isn't to say that it is impossible to play that kind of character trope, but the problem comes from a) when that trope becomes that character's singular defining feature on the surface, and b) when a player fails to recognize their character's antisocial behavior as a negative personality trait. If you do choose to make a character with a more dour personality, think of what value they would have to other characters, and of other facets of their personality. Do they have a specialized skill that would draw others to them? An interest, a hobby? Something they would like to talk about if given the chance? If this character has a bad attitude, then what is a reason why someone would want to hang around them and seek out their company? Or you could even take that trope and spin it. Why does this character behave this way? Did they experience something that they're having a difficult time coping with, and they project it in an unhealthy way? If so, do they exhibit other behaviors as a result of their trauma? Do they have a hard time relating to others for some reason and push then away to protect themselves? Do they see their behavior as something they don't really enjoy and want to change, but their negative tendencies still slip out in spite of their best efforts? Think of setting up your character in a way that would attract another character's attention another give people hooks to engage. Remember that RP is a social activity.

 

There aren't really 'good' or 'bad' character tropes, and it can be fun to draw from multiple tropes to help you fill out the meat of your character. But a trope in itself is more like a fluid category that your character can happen to fall into, instead of a concrete rule/building block of a successful character. Don't feel too bound to stick to any specific tropes, and don't feel like "my character is x trope so they can't have y personality trait". You have the freedom to experiment with your character and see what you enjoy and what feels natural, and then rework them if your decide you don't like what direction they're going in.

[Nebbs]

Avoid them all, and create your own character.

 

If it turns out to be a trope match, who cares.

[Meowser]

Wow, lots of unexpectedly detailed advice in this thread. I appreciate everyone who has responded - you've given me better perspective about this and plenty to consider. I don't mean to be so brief but it's a lot to digest right now.

[Kamome]

I think a good metric for testing tropes is running your character concept through the Mary Sue test. Mary Sue stereotypes tend to line up pretty well with what ends up being somewhat common as the basic heroic archetypes many players go with naturally when making up a character.

 

Some examples of quizzes that can be used to help guide:

 

http://www.springhole.net/writing/marysue.htm

 

http://www.gotoquiz.com/is_your_character_a_mary_sue_2

 

Again, just a good measuring stick and tool to use to gauge generic traits, in the end. Don’t worry too much. Just do what you enjoy. The most important thing is to have a character you actually enjoy playing. ＾＾

[Nero]

As TVTropes is so fond of saying, something being tropey doesn't mean it's bad. Tropes are tools. Cliches aren't inherently bad either; a character can be predictable without being boring (and vice versa), and there's nothing wrong with predictability on an innate level, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

That said, I haven't noticed anything in roleplay as extremely prevalent. There are a lot of characters who are mercenaries or adventurers, obviously, but other than that I would call the variety wide enough that you don't need to worry about being "samey".

[Mermaid]

I feel like this topic has pretty much been covered but as people have said most ideas out there have already been used. Tropes on their own aren't a bad thing. Heck, most tropes became tropes because they were ideas people liked so much or worked so well that people overused them.

 

I feel like no matter what any character is going to fall into a few tropes. I personally like to offset this by breaking one or two. A good example would be you made an adventurer out to do good? Break the "dead parents" trope.

[Marisa]

I think a good metric for testing tropes is running your character concept through the Mary Sue test. Mary Sue stereotypes tend to line up pretty well with what ends up being somewhat common as the basic heroic archetypes many players go with naturally when making up a character.

 

Some examples of quizzes that can be used to help guide:

 

http://www.springhole.net/writing/marysue.htm

 

http://www.gotoquiz.com/is_your_character_a_mary_sue_2

 

Again, just a good measuring stick and tool to use to gauge generic traits, in the end. Don’t worry too much. Just do what you enjoy. The most important thing is to have a character you actually enjoy playing. ＾＾

 

Huh. I wasn't aware that an anti-sue was a thing or that it was general frowned upon. I just think its more fun to fill out the 'weakness' section than the 'strength' section. Scored -3 on that first test. The scoring scale didn't even go that low.

[Unnamed Mercenary]

Huh. I wasn't aware that an anti-sue was a thing or that it was general frowned upon. I just think its more fun to fill out the 'weakness' section than the 'strength' section. Scored -3 on that first test. The scoring scale didn't even go that low.

 

I think it can kinda go in both extremes. Like, it can be problematic when a character is "too" special or so not-special that they lack any defining traits. Both can be indicators that the character isn't going to seem real or relatable when they're hitting those extremes.

 

But it's also important to take the Mary Sue tests with a heavy heap of salt. What's special and overpowered in one setting may not be the same in another setting. And this is something that's had some pretty heated debate in FFXIV because we have a mix of high and low fantasy ideas. And even the people living in the world are splattered across a gradient of abilities. We have adventurers and named NPCs who would likely check all the boxes on a Mary Sue test. We also have other NPCs who would check few, if any. It's why I'd generally recommend looking for people who are into the same type of RP than trying to make a character that can be and do everything.

[S'imba]

Yeah while weaknesses are great and all something that kills a scene fast is a character who is so helpless that most of the scene becomes protecting them. 

 

Another one to be careful with in my opinion is the emotionally fragile to the point they break down and cry whenever anything goes wrong. Which tends to lead to the emotional crisis dominating the scene. 

 

But yeah both of those types of characters tend to lose my interest fast since they tend to lack character except for weaknesses. I find it ok at first but if there isn't really any character development going into overcoming those weaknesses it just gets feeling repetitive.

[Asyria]

Just don't have your whole family dead, is all I'm gonna say.

[Verad]

Just don't have your whole family dead, is all I'm gonna say.

 

There was a continent-spanning not-quite-apocalypse six years ago in-game, dead families are fine.

[Asyria]

Not saying it's unrealistic, but it's the most overdone trope.

[Caspar]

Just don't have your whole family dead, is all I'm gonna say.

 

There was a continent-spanning not-quite-apocalypse six years ago in-game, dead families are fine.

And the huge war. And the swarms of ravenous monsters. Beastmen attacks. "Minor" disasters caused by aetheric imbalance in the environment. Considerable sickness among the poor as well as starvation...

 

Regarding the topic of Mary Sue, it can be contentious because many people mean different things when they apply it to a character, often just "they have features that deliver too much distinctiveness to an undeserving character," but the basic idea I've perceived to be consistent is that many people tend to feel it best applies to a character who draws a disproportionate level of narrative impact. In other words, a character who is remarkable for being exceptionally incapable in areas that count is just as likely to weigh the plot in their favor as a character who is exceptionally incapable, depending on the narrative. Say, a character with no combat ability thrown into a warrior society setting, or a machine-hater (and not the kind who knows how to use them in order to destroy them.) in a technocracy. Or maybe a mundane soldier with no ability to channel aether, who is somehow not released from his elite unit for being a logistical stubbed toe, unable to use the aethernet for rapid travel or be treated using minor recovery magic. These aren't inherently bad concepts, mind you, since these kinds of characters can work in a group of characters that interact well with them. (And they're very popular in fiction since the narrative does cater to them.)

 

A character who was made deliberately lacking in proficiency and then thrown into a situation in which they ought to perform at least passably well may strain credibility OOCly to the other players involved, or worse, draw attention from their mundane success to the exceptional failure. It won't draw as much ire if they don't make the scene about them alone by failing, if they're just good enough to struggle in a way that entertains other players and squeak by, or not bad enough to render their RP moot. The only reason why this isn't harped on more is because there is more negative stigma attached to being distinctive in ways that confer power within the setting, rather than weakness. Making a strong character is seen as selfish, weak as selfless, distinctiveness is derided and scorned, and mundane exalted. The idea of creating characters who are proficient in the necessary skills to articulate the story you want to tell is ignored. 

 

And sometimes the Anti-Sue is just a boring character with really nothing to make them stand out, and somehow the player manages to become confused as to why nobody remembers them among the countless other samefaces. There are plenty of characters in fiction who would easily mark high on these tests that people remember because they're entertaining. Would they be fun to RP across from? That's where people disagree, but standing out in some way is useful. 

 

If nothing else, Mary Sue tests are very useful in determining fads, or trends. Many of them give points for features the authors and others like them specifically do not like, regardless of whether they actually make the character a plot black hole. By my perception, the original Mary Sue concept has a lot more to do with how much your character draws the narrative focus away from where the audience believes should be and to themselves.