Developing your Character(filling out the profile)

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Filling out a profile for your character can often be a daunting task so I set up this thread to simplify the process, and maybe give some inspiration to those of you that are unsure of what to do.

So please read on, and don't be afraid to ask questions.

[Headmaster Gayfor]

The Name

First Name:
A lot of people have issues with the first name. I like to have a simple, easy to remember first name. If you can't think of a name you want an easy place to find one is babynames.com/

Middle Name:
When I think of middle names I just try to keep them simple with no more than one or two syllables. But for some fun you could also give your character an really 'old sounding' name after one of the grandparents.

Last Name:
A lot of people have trouble with last names. I often pick too common of a last name; Johnson, or too odd of a last name for anyone to remember. What I do is either go through people that I know and there last name, and either use theirs or a variation of theirs. If you are still stuck go through an old yearbook or phonebook.

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Nicknames:
Don't stress too much about nicknames. Your character doesn't even have to have one if you don't want them to.

I start by thinking about my nicknames. I don't have too many, basically mine are shortened versions of my name, and just some random things dealing with events in my life, and my personality.

Shortening: So start out with the first name. With a name like Brittney you can shorten it to Bri, Britt, Britty, and so forth, but with some names like April, it dosen't seem to shorten too well.

Personality: Now, people are often given nicknames because of their personality. Literally, they sometimes may sound stupid but they stick. Ex: Bubbles for a bubbly personality, and Simmons (as in Richard Simmons) because the person is energetic.

Appearance: First impressions are often made off of appearances, and so are quite a few nicknames. For example at a separate forum that I rp at, my characters name is Derek but his nickname is Morgue. You probably are like, what the heck? That sounds nothing a like. That is because the nickname Morgue was not based off his name, but it was given to him because of his deathly pale skin.

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Blood:

Pure-Blood: This means both of your parents were wizards, and all relatives farther up the tree are also wizards.

Half-Blood: One of your parents are not a wizard, or somewhere along the line a direct relative, grandparent, great-grandparent, was a muggle.

Muggle-Born: Both of your parents are muggles.

Squib: Not exactly a blood type, but... you come from a family of wizards/witches and you seem to posses no/limited magical powers.

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Age & Year
This will be rather quick, and I am putting these two together because they make sense together.

The youngest age that you can enter Hogwarts is 11 years old, and the oldest is 17.

Now your age must correspond with the year you are in. For example, if you are in 5th year you should be 15, and so forth.

Keep in mind if you are a first year your magic is limited and you cannot take on a 3rd year on or up, and most likely you cannot beat a second year.

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Appearance
This is helpful for when you or another character is describing how youlook during a particular point in the rpg.

Below is a list of things that will help you to describe your character the best you can.

Hair: Color and length
Eyes: color, and shape if you want
Nose: shape
Lips: shape (full, or thin, etc.)
Teeth: (straight, white, braces, etc)
Face shape
Skintone
Birth marks
Height
Weight (don't need actual number, just skinny, average, etc.)
Clothes commonly worn
How hair is commonly worn

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Personality
This is a way to helpfully keep your characters personality in line. If you are an introvert, then please when you start rping don't talk your head off and submerge into all social situations quickly.

Also, the personality is just basically how they act around people, and different situations. We aren't asking you to give us a blow by blow in each situation just a general overview of how your character acts.

Here is a list of possible pesonality traits:

Introvert (ant-social)
Extrovert (social)
Funny
Pessimist
Optimist
Bubbly
Cynical
Sarcastic
laid back
uptight
clean freak
drama queen (or king, lol)
stuck up
spoiled
Shy
impatient
patient
nosy

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Background
The background section is a section discussing your character's family and their childhood. The list below gives some suggestions to start you off in the right direction.

Siblings? how many? names? ages?
Parents? age? divorced/married? blood? names?
Birth place?
memorable moments
relationship with family
living situation ( with family, grandparents, guardians )
past schools (if any)

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Characteristics
Characteristics are a part of the personality so you may have already described it in a previous section. Basically these are the things that tell you apart from most other people. I, myself, have many fears, so if I were to do a character on myself (I wouldn't that would just be weird), I could have my unnatural fears of birds, moths, butterflies, fish, and wet paper towels (I am one of a kind what can I say?). I could also list obssesions like mascara, bright colors, fishnet, contrasting patterns, and boys in eyeliner. Habbits, I have a lot of habbits, like only half asking question and then answering them myself, and my ADD tendencies x.x

Now that was just a look at various things you could have. Your fears do not have to be the classic, clowns, ect. They could be social pressures, like embarassing yourself infront of others, being gossiped about, ect.

Now, you don't have to describe all three you can just stick to one. And unlike me you don't have to have 500 fears, you can maybe only list one of your characters and then describe how your character got that fear.

[Headmaster Gayfor]

Other
I usually don't use this section but it is for any extra information you didn't mention in the above form. Most the time it is about pets but it can honestly be about anything you want.

I really don't have much to say on other because this section is all up to you, and most the time I don't use it