(no subject)
This is Eric Brussard, a character from my current D&D campaign. Eric's backstory is that he grew up as an aristocrat but spent much of his time in the wilderness, learning the lore and customs of indegenous peoples. He took the tribal name of Whitebear and studied to become a shaman. No one knows this about him yet-- just that his family is rich and his mother is socially ambitious.
When his name was introduced, he was not spoken of very highly. He's arranged to marry a headstrong girl who wants nothing to do with him... even though the last time they met she was 11. She'd rather be off adventuring or hanging out with the player characters than dealing with politics. My PC's are all good friends with her and one in particular, Mason, sees her as a romantic interest.
Because Mason's player likes angsty roleplaying challenges, I decided to come up with a rival for the girl's affections. I could have made Eric be a total one dimensional asshole but that would be too easy and too cliche. Instead I made him PERFECT for her-- he's considerate, concerned about the environment, not controlling etc.
Mason, on the other hand, is a barbarian with some anger management issues and magnet for demons...