Week 29: Which one of your currently posted characters has gone through the most changes throughout the years? Have they been more visual or narrative related, or equally both? Why have you made the changes? Have they been subtle or complete overhauls?
Want to suggest a question? Feel free to DM me!
I figured that since the "weekly show me a character" thread has been alive and running for a couple of years now, I could give a shot at doing similar with development questions! I'll post a new prompt each week both on this starter thread and the comment section! Feel free to post answers weekly or combine previous ones into one post - whichever feels the best for you.
Week 43: (Pick a character) How do they feel about big gatherings like parties? Do they enjoy having a lot of people around them or do they prefer less (or none)? How likely are they to approach people they don't know?
Previous weeks 2021
Week 1: (Pick a character) What would you consider to be the most impacting event in their life (that isn't their own birth or death) and why?
Week 2: (Pick a character) What makes them feel the most confident? Is it more internal (being good at something, succeeding in things etc) or more external (being praised, getting their skills acknowledged by others etc?
Week 3: What is your favourite part of character creation and why? Does it depend on character/time/your mood/etc?
Week 4: (Pick a character) How does your character generally react to failures, both their own and the failures of others?
Week 5: Do you have distinct "favourite" characters among your ocs, or does your current favourite change? Or do you consider them all "equals"?
Week 6: (Pick a character) If someone were to attack them out of nowhere, how would they try to defend themselves? Or would they try at all?
Week 7: How do you feel about your characters sharing traits/interests/etc with you? Do you try to avoid similarities or do you embrace them?
Week 8: When you create a new character, how much of their story do you work out on the spot? Do you prefer to get all details done at once or prefer to add more little by little?
Week 9: Which one of your characters would you consider to be the most "unexpected" character from you and why? The reason can be anything from their story to themes and even the design.
Week 10: When you're creating a new character, how much do you think about their family/guardians? Are they usually an active or a distant presence in your characters' lives?
Week 11: What was the first original character you posted online like? Do you still use them?
Week 12: (Pick a character) How do they feel about positive attention? Do they thrive in it or does it make them uncomfortable? Feel free to talk about the nuances of "positive attention" or attention in general if you want!
Week 13: What's the most drastic non-visual change you have made on a character? Why?
Week 14: Pick your oldest and your newest character on TH. Would they get along? What would their chemistry be like?
Week 15: What is your process when it comes to naming characters? Do name meanings matter to you? Do you pick a name with a "purpose" or based on a "feeling"?
Week 16: (Pick a character) What is their love language? Does it depend on people? Have it changed throughout their lives? Is it a combination of several types? (Suggested by PicklePantry)
Week 17: Pick your current most and least favorited characters. What do they have in common? What's different? When were they posted on TH? Do you think they still reflect your current tastes in character design and/or story?
Week 18: Have you ever learned a tip/trick related to character/worldbuilding development that changed the way you view your works? Or do you have some specific tips/tricks that you consider to have been particularly helpful for you?
Week 19: Have you ever had OC related "advice" that has done more harm to you than good? If yes, how did you end up learning out of it?
Week 20: (Pick a character) What's one memory they wish to never forget (and why)?
Week 21: What kind of compliments do you enjoy the most when it comes to your characters? Is it about design? Certain story elements (backstory, personality, trivia etc) or maybe about people finding them easy to understand?
Week 22: What do you find to be the most important aspect when you create or buy character designs for yourself? Is it the colors, clothes, silhouette, simple design to draw fast or something else?
Week 23: Pick two characters you'd consider similar to one another, either in design or story/personality. What would you consider to be their main differences?
Week 24: (Pick a character) How reliable would they consider themselves to be? Would other people agree with them?
Week 25: (Pick a character) What would they consider to be their greatest passion? Alternatively, what is something they find to be "their own special thing" that they delight in doing?
Week 26: When you're reading someone's character profile, where do you start? Is it the overview? Trivia? Backstory? Something else?
Week 27: If you had to name exactly one movie that has had a huge impact on you as a creator, which one would it be and why?
Week 28: How did you discover original character communities/the general concept of them on the internet? If you don't remember, what would you consider the most fun aspect of ocs for you right now?
Week 29: (Pick a character) If they had to pick an animal to describe themself, which one would they pick and why? Would you describe the character with the same animal or would your own pick for them be different?
Week 30: What's the most bizarre/interesting/weird piece of trivia you have learned while doing oc research? Did this trivia find its way into the character or some other character later on?
Week 31: (Pick a character) How do they express their anger? How does it appear to others, and how does the character themself feel about their own anger? Does their society encourage or discourage certain expressions of anger?
Week 32: What's the biggest story and/or personality related change you have made on a character? What made you want to change it?
Week 33: (Pick a character) What do they do on their free time? Do they have hobbies or have they had any in the past? What's something they wish they could put more time into (such as learning a skill, participating in some activity etc)?
Week 34: (Pick a character) What kind of impression does their appearance tend to give to others [in their worldsetting]? Is it an impression they want to give to others? Are they aware of the way people perceive them in the first place?
Week 35: Have you ever created a character but refrained from actually posting about them publicly? If yes, why? And if no, could you ever see yourself in a situation where that could happen?
Week 36: (Pick a character) What is their most treasured item and why? If they don't have any feel free to talk about the reason for it!
Week 37: (Pick a character) Who is their most trusted friend and why? How would the character describe this person? And if they don't have anyone they trust, feel free to talk about the reason for it!
Week 38: (Pick a character) What's their preferred sleeping position? Are they a calm or a restless sleeper, and do they like sleeping next to others or prefer sleeping alone?
Week 39: (Pick a character) What do they typically smell like? And why? Do they use a certain perfume, cologne, or deodorant that makes them smell a certain way? Suggested by soyyemilk
Week 40: (Pick a character) Where did they grow up in? Did they live in the same place/area most of their life or did they move places? How would your character describe the place they consider their childhood home (or the closest thing to it)?
Week 41: Which one of your characters would you consider the hardest to draw? If you're not an artist yourself, what would you imagine being the hardest?
Week 42: (Pick a character) How open are they about their feelings? Do they have anyone to talk to if they're worried? Are they more likely to talk about positive or negative feelings with others?
Previous weeks 2020:
Week 29: Which one of your currently posted characters has gone through the most changes throughout the years?
Week 30: Which part of character creation do you tend to struggle with the most?
Week 31: (Pick a character) What are they afraid of? How do they handle their fears? How do they respond to other people's fears (friends, strangers etc)?
Week 32: (Pick a character) How does your character feel about change? Do they welcome with open arms, or are they afraid of it?
Week 33: How do you go about making a new character? What kind of things do you like to keep in mind when planning their story/personality? Do you consider your other already existing characters when planning new ones (avoiding stuff already done with one character etc)?
Week 34: (Pick a character) What do they consider their greatest achievement? How about their lowest low moment?
Week 35: Do you have story elements or certain character tropes/cliches you love to use in your characters? If yes, what are they? If not, have you ever noticed common elements despite trying not to have them?
Week 36: (Pick a character) How do they handle money? How do they earn it, if at all?
Week 37: What kind of settings do you prefer to use in your works?
Week 38: What kind of villains do you prefer to create? Does your preference differ from what kind of villains you love to see in fiction?
Week 39: (Pick a character) Do they have any goals/dreams/aspirations in life? What are they? If they don't have any, does the lack of them ever bother them?
Week 40: Are there things in fiction you love to consume, but prefer not to create yourself?
Week 41: What do you usually do if you can't connect with a character you have or you can't make them work quite the way you'd like?
Week 42: (Pick a character) What kind of things get them excited? How are they like when excited?
Week 43: What type (human, feral, anthro, monster etc) of characters do you have the most? Have your tastes changed at any point?
Week 44: Do you have any fears or insecurities as a creator? If you do, are these more based on your work itself or the way other people will react to it, or both?
Week 45: Do you tie your interests/hobbies to your character in any way? Why/why not?
Week 46: Do you prefer developing your characters on your own or by interacting with other people (be it RPing or discussing)?
Week 47: What kind of questions do you prefer to be asked when it comes to your characters or setting?
Week 48: What kind of conflict do you like in fiction? Is it a conflict of interests? Morals? Based on lies or miscommunication? Something else entirely?
Week 49: When you get an idea for something you'd like to explore in fiction, are you more likely to make a whole new character for it or use the idea for an already existing character?
Week 50: How do you use your characters? Are they something you collect? Part of a story? For RP?
Week 51: What kind of layout do you use for your character profiles? What makes you like it?
Week 52: What do you do when you feel like you have ran out of ideas or you have hit a creative wall with your work?
Week 53: Do you like to look back at your creative works or do you prefer to just keep on going and paying little attention to what you have made in the past?
The most changes? Alexander, I believe. He has had multiple changes over the years. I'll list them up.
Most are story-changes.
- Name changes. He was first called Eddie, later Xander, then Silas and now Alexander
- Originally, he had a brother called Adam (same dad, different mom. She was from Italy/Greece?). Dunno why I created him; back then he got bullied for a leg limp he had or sth
- Had a big distrust regarding women bc he watched his dad start and end a lot of relationships and it left an impression on him. That changed sometime around late 2019. He now has a general distrust
- He had Pisanthrophobia (Fear of trusting others) in his earlier incarnations. I might add that in again
- For some time he had a trauma regarding fights. I scrapped the idea after a roleplay ended as it didn't fit with his personality
- I changed his hair from black to blonde. He was an Alex Mercer faceclaim back in the day
- Gave him a brother yet again. This time with a good concept though
- Originally, he didn't had any disabilities. However, I changed that in early 2020. He now has two prosthetic arms
Week 29: Which one of your currently posted characters has gone through the most changes throughout the years?
Out of my non-wip ones it's probably Daniel! His current "main canon" was actually an AU so that in itself tells he's been through a lot haha. I made him in January 2014 (or December 2013; can't remember for sure) and he was supposed to be a background prop for another character's backstory, but I got super attached and wanted to keep him. The problem was he was already dead in the main canon so I just... made him a ghost and had this elaborate lore about a Limbo Realm(tm) where he was now living and would visit his crush as a ghostly observer. Since that both characters have canonically died and got their happy reunion in the limbo but I guess I eventually grow tired of that limbo world? Since it was kind of a retcon more than anything lol so after I started working on AUs I realized I was super attached to his vampire AU, and slowly shifted his main canon from Taros setting into the Enhyria setting.
His design has stayed the exact same as far as I recall, with maybe slight alteration to his height? Most of the changes are purely narrative tied since things would naturally change when going from one universe setting to another. His backstory obviously got a complete overhaul, though I did try to make it parallel his original canon, and so he is still chronically ill.
I have no clue if their profile is actually filled with info at this point, but Rain is one of the oldest OCs that I still use (kind of). They started as an Undertale OC back in 2016 or so, and were basically Grillby but slightly different. They've gone through a bunch of design and world/setting/universe changes over the years.
Originally they were a candy store owner, which later changed to candy store employee because I felt like Rain wasn't the best choice for that. Later on I changed their occupation again, now they also work at a dragon cafe (cat cafe but with cat- or small dog-sized dragons).
a few things that always stayed the same are Rain's colorful fiery apearance and their love for sweet food.
I'm currently working on remaking my super old story that was supposed to be a sequel of my main novel, something that I was working for a few years since 2011, and now I'm revamping SO MANY of these old characters. I'm actually really proud of the current results, because for years I was thinking that I can't do anything with this story anymore as it somehow doesn't fit the main story at all. It turns out that I can connect all my plots together, but there's so much hard work to be done. This shit became so huge after almost a decade---
This guy here is an example of a character who came through a lot of changes...or maybe I should call him brand new character because he doesn't remind his first version at all...but well, I decided to kept some of my old ideas anyway. 9 years ago his name was Orion and he was literally the WORST character I've ever created :))) It was my first attempt to write a serious story so no wonder why it was so shitty. :'D Originally he was a protagonist of the first part of sequel, he was acting like psycho weirdo without brain and writing about him was a pure pain. Ariamon is also a protagonist in the first part of sequel, but his personality is different (at least he has a personality, in contrast to Orion) and he's way darker and mysterious, he can't be considered as good or evil character. He has similar relationships with other characters like he had in the first version though, and he is supposed to become father of one of the most important characters in the saga. If it comes to the design, the only thing that he still has from Orion is his eye color.
I can say with confidence that this is Cherra.
She appeared in 2014, when I first started playing TEF, she looked like a 17-year-old doe girl, with acidic colors, because at that time I was addicted to extremely bright colors.
I added bird's hind legs, feline's paws to her, but in the end I settled on the cervidae anatomy, making her a full-grown woman.
that would probably be Scarlett
she's been around from the really old comic (2004) where she was a guy, but then I ended that series and went on to the next one that was a completely new and changed thing and Scarlett also became a whole different person since then. She was originally meant to be a completely new character, but themn story-wise it ended up making more sense that she's actually that guy form the old comic, but you'll have to take my word for it because those old comics are now buried deep somewhere in some drawer :'D
Oof... Probably Otohime who is a regeneration of a character I made around age 10. I think she was originally pirate-themed, and then a Naruto fan-character, a cat girl ("possessed by a cat"), and now she's just a goth theatre kid with a fursona, an ironic sense of humor and a penchant for smoking weed.
It's honestly difficult narrowing it down to one character, because Roy had more of his story expanded on and continues to do so to this day, and actually got some world lore developed. Then there's En, who started as just a concept over the years into a full fledged character with an interactive story attached, along with two different versions of him, his older and AU self.
In the end, though, I have to go with Ark. I've had him for longer than Roy, in fact the more I think about it the more I think he was my actual first character. And jeez, the name I had for him. It was Aromoto, I think? Eww, it's gross hearing it again KEKEKEK. He had the cliche emo anime hair with like seven big ole spikes over his right eye, at first just for style, but through time I wanted to add a reason behind it. During my RP days he turned into a variation of names that ultimately settled on Erik Ram, which I consider his canonical real name before changing it himself to Kaine. At first I think he was just blind in that eye? Then I gave him those memory powers, at first just to see someone's past, but then added the alteration ability. But he was also a demon? Then a wolf demon? Then a minotaur demon? It was SO wild LOL. He is STILL in the works because I still need a way to explain that his biological father is the personification of an actual element without it sounded as bizarre as it is KEKEKEK.
But yeah yup, he went from "edgy emo anime guy" to "edgy corporate anime guy with cool coat". I feel like he's in a much more stable area, with his basic background, his powers, and his voice, but like I said, fine tuning the details of his past are things I'll need to set aside some time for someday.
This guy holy hell. I've had him for at least 3 years and only settled on his personality and story a few months ago. His overall theme has always been the same, pompous entertainer who likes being over the top. But he looks almost nothing like when I first drew him and he was a lot more shallow back then
His personality went through a ton of small changes and while he's still an annoying priss, he's a little more humble and capable of shutting up for others. Being a doting family member was something I could never see Jinx doing but well here we are. Showing them off and having that dynamic are now things he thoroughly enjoys. He also wasn't supposed to be an overly empathetic friend but that also never stuck. Jinx will always be an annoying, overconfident drama queen but he's now someone you can actually like. In small doses maybe but he became a lot more human and easier to sympathize with
She's pulling double duty this week.
But yeah, she has been through the most changes of mine, easily. Like if I counted all the times of every other character having a change, she's still had more than all of that combined.
Visually sometimes, but mostly narrative.
From a bad MLP fancharacter when I was learning how to make characters, to one of my best over her nearly 9 years around!
And yeah this is a great idea for a thread! Shall be fun seeing the future prompts!
I've definitely had a couple of characters go through many changes over the years, but I think Cassius is the most fitting for this question!
He was initially the deuteragonist of a medieval fantasy story I was trying to write a few years ago. I always have trouble scrounging around for exact dates but I think I conceptualized/began writing the story in late 2012? I never finished writing the story because I was too busy with school so it lay abandoned, but I did have the plot... mostly fleshed out. To an extent lol. All the characters had Japanese names at the time because I was and still am a weeb so he did undergo a name change later.
Fast forward to 2016, I finally revisited my old and unfinished stories, including Cassius's story. Telling my sister about the characters and the initial plot interested her and she encouraged me to redo some of it. Her favorite character was Cassius lol, so I made him the protagonist in the remake. I didn't actually rewrite the story because I knew I wouldn't have the time or commitment to do so, but my sister and I rewrote the entire cast and the plot from beginning to end which was nice. Then again, a few years later, I decided to remake him as a Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War fc since I could see ways to fit parts of his original story into the game's plot! This is his current rendition on toyhouse and one I've put probably the most effort into. I also rather recently (I think last year) rewrote his story again to be more up-to-date and fit into mine and my sister's original universe.
tl;dr he's been rewritten about 3 times. His name changed but he retained his original kind-hearted and well-intentioned personality, as well as his personal sword and appearance -- he's always been a redhead. :D