I had a realization moment the other day when I realized that my character is quite similar to myself in real life in terms of personality at least. Thinking about it, his bio, while being far from a bio of my own life, is influenced by the events and experiences of my life. His experiences and knowledge and tastes are also influenced by mine, not to say they're the same but there is certainly a strong influence... For instance, the home town of my character is a place I know well and he went to the same school as me, Alex has similar music tastes to me to a certain degree... In many ways, I am Alex May and Alex May is me. I make many of the same comments, jokes and so on. I have the same hot-headed type personality (it was when I was in an argument with someone on a forum that I realized this)... except, Alex May is something more. Perhaps he is an idealized version of myself? A more confident, outgoing, extroverted version of me with better hair but some of the same quirkyness.... Thus Alex May is what I want myself to be like, in some respect...

Man, this is deep.

Anyhow, has anyone else developed such a strong connection to their character? Is anyone elses character very similar or even basically the same as themselves or are they completely different?

Drogo is fairly similar to me aswell, in some ways. But like you said, Alex, he's more of an idealized version. But even so, if I'm at a point in some RP where I have no f.... idea what to do, I try put myself in the same position as my character is in, or relate to similar situations I've been in myself, in real life. So we're quite similar and very different at the same time.

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Local Lurker and Knower of the Unknown and Unknowable. Also a bit full of itself, and an occasional prick.

I'll contribute to this one.

The main three characters I've had have developed to be extremes of parts of my personality. >_>

Seth - He's just some childish, twitchy, hyper student.
Ryen - Eh, turned out to be some clingy, jealous/envious guy who went psycho. lol
Emily - Quiet, reserved, 'in control' of herself - but also a selfish person, hiding behind a mask.

Sums it all up, kinda.

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Currently playing Caro.
"One who knows nothing of freedom has no reason to wish for it."

I'll agree with the "idealized representation of me" bit. Feargus bears some similarity to me, yet he is much more like who I wish I was when I was his age.

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"They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me" -Nathaniel Lee

Shifty are the eyes of the gambler...

I usually act on impulse when I RP, like sudden reactions, but otherwise (especially with the crazyness) Peter and I aren't very alike.

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Patrick Quigley, Seventh Year Hufflepuff.
Reuben Pumpkin, First Year Gryffindor.

That's a good questions that hits very close to home. Over the months, I've been reflecting on it, and realized that Mary is -alot- more similar to myself than I first thought. There are some marked differences, particularly in her strong moral character and careful nature, that I don't share. But otherwise, the similarities are frightening at times. Her emotional life, her sense of justice, her deep loyalty to friends, and her overall personality, lends heavily from my own personality.

As for Hester, I'd love to say that we have absolutely nothing in common.

And I'd be right.

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Mary Maywell, Ravenclaw, Resident Ray of Sunshine
Also, some other dudes I barely play.

I refuse to comment on the grounds that my PC's have very little in common with me, and are numerous.


I'd also say that my main RC PC is probably the closest to me in terms of temperment, personality, and everything else, for that matter.

On a related note, I believe, having many years of tabletop behind me, having seen hundreds of characters from many different players; absolutely every single character I have ever seen played, has borrowed clear traits from their player. No exception.

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Mary Maywell, Ravenclaw, Resident Ray of Sunshine
Also, some other dudes I barely play.

Nathan... he has a small part of me inside of him.
He's not that similar to me, although, he has various aspects that I've given him and expressed in his personality.

Syrra's based off a good friend I have. She's quite fiesty, and I just bring that out in her. Times 100.

My newest character, Rochelle, is based off various songs I like. She's the nice type that everyone likes. Well, almost everyone.

So, I base my characters on various people/personality traits. I'd never be able to say my characters were very similar to me. But, I'd find it hard to roleplay myself. I wouldn't be able to act the way I would without treating it seriously. :S

Amber... clearly was similiar to me, at times. Her dependence, fear of being alone and betrayed by those she loves... that stuff is from me. Though, I can at least say 75%ish of her had nothing to do with me.


*Goes back to lurking.*

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“Just like a drug, she’s consuming you slow
You can’t love like you used to before
And you can’t find trust in nothing else anymore
Those pale lips, the bourbon-soaked kiss
She’s the den of your sins—the slit of a wrist”

Similar, but I'm much more introverted than Sierra, she's an extrovert. I wouldn't go as far as to say she's an idealized version of myself because she has a ton of faults. But I do think we share a common bond of getting lost, being a bit clumsy, and sometimes misguided. I would like to think of myself as being more brainy than she is. Oh, and she likes coffee... *Shudders*

It'd be more interesting to hear my hubby's interpretation 'cause sometimes it's hard to see past our own noses to truly realize how much or how little of ourselves are represented in our PC's. (*Side note* I hope he has very little-to-nothing in common with his PC, Liss.)

I actually don't see a whole lot in common between Sierra and Ree. There are a few things that I might be able to point to, but you pick a random person off the street and I'm sure you could find a few things in common with them as well. That said, Sierra does seem like a character that would be very natural for Ree to RP.

I won't go into too much detail on Liss because she's strictly FOIG. Like Tsunami said there's no way that a character can be completely different from the player, after all any character's mind is a creation of the player's mind and resides somewhere within the player's mind. Therefore, at least, the character is limited within the boundaries of the player, and to some lesser extent, the natural habits of the player.

I have found with Liss that I think that there are aspects that I think would be appropriate for her character, but I simply am incapable of RPing those aspects because my OOC personality and understanding simply limits it. (If you are interested ask me, but for the purposes of the forums I'll keep it FOIG) At the same time, I will find Liss going beyond my understanding and doing things that I simply want to kick her for. Only later on after things have played out, for good or for evil, do I actually understand why she was doing something or acting a certain way. Sometimes I never completely get it.

Kalara has a few very interesting aspects of myself, but is so shy that she's just too boring to play. If -anything- negative happens to her during a venture from the common room, she retreats back to read books in the safety of the commons, making it very difficult to actually RP her much.

I don't know where the hell Elizabeth's mind came from. She's inspired from a couple fictional characters which will remain my secret. I can't play her for extended periods of time... what's going on in her mind, put simply, is just too disturbing.

With all my characters it is usually the differences I enjoy the most. I create a character around what I find to be interesting. I never pretend to know how my characters are going to react to something, because many of the times I try to predict how they will react I actually end up wrong. I will never decide anything in advance because a character with a mind of their own needs to play though the RP and make decisions of their own. This to me is the biggest proof that they are really "their own person" in a way, and not me. I know my characters better than anyone else, and even still I can't guess what they will do next. And it's not because they are played randomly, it's because they are not -me- even if they are somewhere in my brain.

Multiple Personality Disorder ftw.

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-Calan

Liss Crest, Slytherin
Kalara Crest, Hufflepuff
Elizabeth Finley, The Moon

Haha.. Wow.. This -is- deep.

But eh.. I guess I have something in common with Calan, in that I can't always predict how Drogo would react to something. Obviously, since I'm playing him, it's ultimately my decision, and as I said, I may draw off my own experieces in some cases. But as Calan said, I don't pretend to understand what's going on in his head. Partly because I'd hurt my brain if I did. But I wouldn't know anyway.

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Local Lurker and Knower of the Unknown and Unknowable. Also a bit full of itself, and an occasional prick.

I would have to say my PCs are very similar to me. Taking an aspect and pushing it to an extreme.

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Character and imagination are not the same boundaries. Your role-play is only limited by the latter. Your real personality is also limited by your superego. There are things you might imagine doing, or might even consider doing in real life, which you would never actually carry out. That's where the fun of role-play comes in.

Jack is a good deal like me. Not totally. I try to use in-character discoveries and events to shape his character (even when I eventually forget the details) and I've played him consistently enough for several years on HP to maintain some of that (especially when old friends drop back in on HP after periods of absence). He was once my respite from certain other characters that aren't very much like me at all (like Snape, back when we had full-time assignments of GMs to professors). When I make a realization in-character, I try to go with it. I've had moments of discovery while inhabiting certain characters that have creeped me out.

Then again, like Ree said, it can be difficult to judge our own role-play. Perhaps some of the players who have known me might say Snape did inherit some of my own character. And maybe, as Calan suggests, it's impossible for that not to be the case. I'm going to keep telling myself otherwise, though, for my sake.