character meme
Graciously ganked from mumumugen then accidentally posted in his comments~
REGULAR VERSION
For my vaguely embarrassing but not entirely Persona 4-universe OC.
1. What is your character's name? Toru Ishinomori. Exhibit A: ansemaru.deviantart.com/art/Toru-Ishinomori-Artwork-126071171
2. In ten words or less, how would you describe your character? He's a beauty obsessed, socially awkward, master-of-denial hikikomori/otaku. Also, since I have no regard for the ten-words-rule: The Hermit Social Link.
3. What is your character's main motivation? He's trying to keep his friends from disappearing/dying in Paradise, a mysterious world accessed when one turns a doorknob the wrong way on a sunny day. Also, being more "beautiful" by living vicariously through his online "persona."
4. What does your character do for a living? He's a student at a prestigious private high school in Hokkaido. Of course, it would help if he didn't shut himself up in his dorm so much.
5. Dreams are nice. Does your character have any? He dreams that someday, he'll be remembered as heroic instead of wimpy. Also, dreams of possibly being a designer of FREAKIN' SWEET games or manga or something.
6. Shortcomings are not nice, but fun. What bugs your character? What problems ail him/her? In short, his Shadow. Regular!Toru is pathologically shy, to the point of being a shut-in, and spends all of his time on video games and the internet. This mostly stems from his awkward (read: tall, gangly, bad skin) appearance in middle school, which he was teased about mercilessly by his fellow students. He lost all faith in his outward appearance (sadly, he really wasn't that bad-looking) and the appearance of people around him. As a result, he became obsessed with the more "perfected" beauty in artwork and computer graphics, shutting himself off more and more from "ugly" real people and living more and more in a world of false images through games and websites. Of course, he represses this. Along with the inevitable perversion that results from living on the Internet.
7. Tell us something (an activity, a hobby) that your character is enthusiastic about. He is beyond enthusiastic about playing video games, watching anime, reading manga, and generally living on the Internet. These things have evolved into his entire life. He's especially fond of Matsuri Online, a relatively new MMO developed by the family company of one of his teammates.
8. Tell us something, or someone, your character hates and why. His own appearance. He was mocked about it so much when he was younger that he grew to despise it, even after he'd matured and grown out of the initial awkwardness that caused him to be mocked.
9. Love, exciting and new: does your character harbor any romantic or sexual feelings for someone? Toru has, in the past, an extremely awkward crush on Reizo Shirai, one of his classmates. It was one-sided, poorly repressed/denied, and really, really kinda dumb. This was compounded by the fact that Reizo is a delinquent and a yakuza heir who feels no need to be anywhere near him. The worst part was when his Shadow, during the course of his dungeon, attempted to hit on the poor guy. That left an exceedingly poor impression. More recently, Toru received a series of anonymous love letters in his shoe locker, which turned out to be from Kazuya Arai, a shy, awkward-in-his-own-way sempai of Toru's. This appears to be blossoming into a sort of semi-secret relationship between them. Yum.
10. A question for the writer: what does this character mean to you? How do you feel about him/her? Toru's pretty important to me. The RP he's in is really matters a lot to me; I love everyone and their characters in it, and I'm glad Toru can be around all of them. He's also got some major elements in common with me [cough], in addition to elements from a person who's very near and dear to my heart.
VILLAIN VERSION
For my slightly less embarrassing major antagonist in my main, major story.
1. What is your character's name? He's Plague. See exhibit B: http://ansemaru.deviantart.com/art/Bleachy-Plague-107931256
2. What makes your character a "bad guy"? Describe how they may be seen as antagonistic. He's antagonistic because he naturally infects people with a deadly and potent combination of leprosy and ebola, which isn't exactly easy to survive. He's also into the business of reviving gods of death, hanging out with Warfare and Famine, and starting other peoples' wars.
3. Evil is not (always) so simple. Let's talk reasons: what drives them to act that way? He's "evil" because of his loyalty to Death, his master, and what remains of the man Death possesses. Each one of Plague, Famine, Warfare, and Death was once a man like any other, until in a terrible incident their bodies were used as vessels for the gods of those respective nasty things. Now, their actions aren't entirely their own, as they're hybrids of man and god. Plague is subservient to Death, not just because that's the way they were as gods, but also because the man Death once was once was Plague's king. Plague and his teammates quest to revive Death from a cursed sleep, by feeding him innocent souls/kidnapping boy mages to bring him back.
4. How does your villain see himself/herself? Plague is perfectly aware that's he's an abomination, but he so dearly enjoys it, since he can practically do whatever he wants. But he's also conscious of the drawbacks: killing anyone he touches (even people he'd rather have alive), his mortal body dying slowly from the diseases kept within it, the loss of use of his arm. He might get a bit fatalistic about it at times.
5. Who are his/her opponents? Pesky heroes? Rivals? Tell us here. His opponents are, unsurprisingly, a ragtag team of nineteen misfits from around his world, who don't appreciate him starting wars for people in order to collect souls. Notable in this group of people is Alexander, a boy mage with an unusual aptitude for the magics of life and death, who Plague yearns to capture for his own purposes. *ahem*
6. Meanwhile, in the Hall of Infamy: does your villain have any allies or cohorts? His true allies are Warfare (big guy with an axe, loves fighting, can break everything), Famine (skinny half-starved-looking guy, can make food and drink into ash with a touch), and Death (the big bad boss behind the three, who enjoys such activities as possessing formerly innocent kings and killing the human race, along with everything else he can find). There's also Ansatsumaru, who Plague's starting a war for.
7. That cottage didn't burn itself! What would you say is your villain's worst deed? To name a specific example, entering a city and infecting the entire population with his disease, then leaving them to die. The whole lot was dead within a week.
8. Your villain is stuck in a Disney movie! Care to tell us what that would be like? He'd be slightly less slaughtery, and more interested in kidnapping that "princess" to revive his evil master. Also, better-animated. And he'd get awesome songs. The kind of guy who'd get more fans than the main hero. Like Jafar.
9. Would your villain have a "villain song"? If so, how do you imagine they'd go at it? Oh man, he'd love every minute of that. Singing about his illness and how he just can't help but infect everyone around him, dancing, doing ensemble pieces with his team... he'd be so into that.
10. If your villain had a choice to change their lifestyle, would they?
Only if his goals could be somehow met. Essentially, he'd go back to being good if the god's influence was purged from his body.
REGULAR VERSION
For my vaguely embarrassing but not entirely Persona 4-universe OC.
1. What is your character's name? Toru Ishinomori. Exhibit A: ansemaru.deviantart.com/art/Toru-Ishinomori-Artwork-126071171
2. In ten words or less, how would you describe your character? He's a beauty obsessed, socially awkward, master-of-denial hikikomori/otaku. Also, since I have no regard for the ten-words-rule: The Hermit Social Link.
3. What is your character's main motivation? He's trying to keep his friends from disappearing/dying in Paradise, a mysterious world accessed when one turns a doorknob the wrong way on a sunny day. Also, being more "beautiful" by living vicariously through his online "persona."
4. What does your character do for a living? He's a student at a prestigious private high school in Hokkaido. Of course, it would help if he didn't shut himself up in his dorm so much.
5. Dreams are nice. Does your character have any? He dreams that someday, he'll be remembered as heroic instead of wimpy. Also, dreams of possibly being a designer of FREAKIN' SWEET games or manga or something.
6. Shortcomings are not nice, but fun. What bugs your character? What problems ail him/her? In short, his Shadow. Regular!Toru is pathologically shy, to the point of being a shut-in, and spends all of his time on video games and the internet. This mostly stems from his awkward (read: tall, gangly, bad skin) appearance in middle school, which he was teased about mercilessly by his fellow students. He lost all faith in his outward appearance (sadly, he really wasn't that bad-looking) and the appearance of people around him. As a result, he became obsessed with the more "perfected" beauty in artwork and computer graphics, shutting himself off more and more from "ugly" real people and living more and more in a world of false images through games and websites. Of course, he represses this. Along with the inevitable perversion that results from living on the Internet.
7. Tell us something (an activity, a hobby) that your character is enthusiastic about. He is beyond enthusiastic about playing video games, watching anime, reading manga, and generally living on the Internet. These things have evolved into his entire life. He's especially fond of Matsuri Online, a relatively new MMO developed by the family company of one of his teammates.
8. Tell us something, or someone, your character hates and why. His own appearance. He was mocked about it so much when he was younger that he grew to despise it, even after he'd matured and grown out of the initial awkwardness that caused him to be mocked.
9. Love, exciting and new: does your character harbor any romantic or sexual feelings for someone? Toru has, in the past, an extremely awkward crush on Reizo Shirai, one of his classmates. It was one-sided, poorly repressed/denied, and really, really kinda dumb. This was compounded by the fact that Reizo is a delinquent and a yakuza heir who feels no need to be anywhere near him. The worst part was when his Shadow, during the course of his dungeon, attempted to hit on the poor guy. That left an exceedingly poor impression. More recently, Toru received a series of anonymous love letters in his shoe locker, which turned out to be from Kazuya Arai, a shy, awkward-in-his-own-way sempai of Toru's. This appears to be blossoming into a sort of semi-secret relationship between them. Yum.
10. A question for the writer: what does this character mean to you? How do you feel about him/her? Toru's pretty important to me. The RP he's in is really matters a lot to me; I love everyone and their characters in it, and I'm glad Toru can be around all of them. He's also got some major elements in common with me [cough], in addition to elements from a person who's very near and dear to my heart.
VILLAIN VERSION
For my slightly less embarrassing major antagonist in my main, major story.
1. What is your character's name? He's Plague. See exhibit B: http://ansemaru.deviantart.com/art/Bleachy-Plague-107931256
2. What makes your character a "bad guy"? Describe how they may be seen as antagonistic. He's antagonistic because he naturally infects people with a deadly and potent combination of leprosy and ebola, which isn't exactly easy to survive. He's also into the business of reviving gods of death, hanging out with Warfare and Famine, and starting other peoples' wars.
3. Evil is not (always) so simple. Let's talk reasons: what drives them to act that way? He's "evil" because of his loyalty to Death, his master, and what remains of the man Death possesses. Each one of Plague, Famine, Warfare, and Death was once a man like any other, until in a terrible incident their bodies were used as vessels for the gods of those respective nasty things. Now, their actions aren't entirely their own, as they're hybrids of man and god. Plague is subservient to Death, not just because that's the way they were as gods, but also because the man Death once was once was Plague's king. Plague and his teammates quest to revive Death from a cursed sleep, by feeding him innocent souls/kidnapping boy mages to bring him back.
4. How does your villain see himself/herself? Plague is perfectly aware that's he's an abomination, but he so dearly enjoys it, since he can practically do whatever he wants. But he's also conscious of the drawbacks: killing anyone he touches (even people he'd rather have alive), his mortal body dying slowly from the diseases kept within it, the loss of use of his arm. He might get a bit fatalistic about it at times.
5. Who are his/her opponents? Pesky heroes? Rivals? Tell us here. His opponents are, unsurprisingly, a ragtag team of nineteen misfits from around his world, who don't appreciate him starting wars for people in order to collect souls. Notable in this group of people is Alexander, a boy mage with an unusual aptitude for the magics of life and death, who Plague yearns to capture for his own purposes. *ahem*
6. Meanwhile, in the Hall of Infamy: does your villain have any allies or cohorts? His true allies are Warfare (big guy with an axe, loves fighting, can break everything), Famine (skinny half-starved-looking guy, can make food and drink into ash with a touch), and Death (the big bad boss behind the three, who enjoys such activities as possessing formerly innocent kings and killing the human race, along with everything else he can find). There's also Ansatsumaru, who Plague's starting a war for.
7. That cottage didn't burn itself! What would you say is your villain's worst deed? To name a specific example, entering a city and infecting the entire population with his disease, then leaving them to die. The whole lot was dead within a week.
8. Your villain is stuck in a Disney movie! Care to tell us what that would be like? He'd be slightly less slaughtery, and more interested in kidnapping that "princess" to revive his evil master. Also, better-animated. And he'd get awesome songs. The kind of guy who'd get more fans than the main hero. Like Jafar.
9. Would your villain have a "villain song"? If so, how do you imagine they'd go at it? Oh man, he'd love every minute of that. Singing about his illness and how he just can't help but infect everyone around him, dancing, doing ensemble pieces with his team... he'd be so into that.
10. If your villain had a choice to change their lifestyle, would they?
Only if his goals could be somehow met. Essentially, he'd go back to being good if the god's influence was purged from his body.