[Art] Original DMFA Characters

[k9evilfox]

Even though I'm a six year fan, I'm still a noob to the forums. Nevertheless, I decided I wanted to post a thread about any orginal DMFA characters you all might have come up with. Also I wanted to show off my own.




Name: Kilali Dragmire

Age: 567

Race: Succubus

Species: fox-cat

Sign: Pices

Clan: Kouri

Signature Emotion: Sorrow

Personality: somewhat quiet, with a tendancy to go into a fangirl spaz attack at the sight of vampires. Loyal to those she considers friends. Has a strong sense of honor.

Abilitys: Able to claw her way into other universes at will.

Set backs: Born half human, she can only shapeshift by biting her intended host with her tentacles and taking a sample. She thereby takes on the origanal's appearance as well as their abilitys. The only good thing is that once she bites someone, she can change into the person anytime she wants. She has little magic abilitys.

History: She can't remember anything about her life before S.A.I.A.

[Jigsaw Forte]

Seems more like a Tower of Art thing to me...

(and on a sheer continuity note, How can she be half-fox, half-cat, and half-human? Especially when humans aren't supposed to exist in furrae... Additionally, why would she have fangirl-spasms at the sight of vampires when they're supposed to be extinct?)

(Granted, it's your character, but still.)

[Kishyka_Stormwalker]

That's an interesting concept. I think I remember a being of folklore, perhaps Celtic, which had similar shifting limits, i.e. could only transform once they had sampled their victim. Unfortunately, I can't think straight after a 10-hour shift, but perhaps someone else remembers it.

Good job on the tentacles. They look fierce.

-Kish

[Fuyudenki]

Smells like a Mary Sue to me.  Don't worry, though, she'll get better if you're willing to work at it.(This I know from experience.  My own character is far less of a godmodder now than he was at first inception.)

Seriously, though, what's with all the cubi?(I know, I know, that topic's been done before.)

Yes, this belongs much better in the Tower of Art.

[Tapewolf]

Seriously, though, what's with all the cubi?(I know, I know, that topic's been done before.)

For me, it's because there are so many possibilities.  It's fascinating to write about them.

[Schol-R-LEA]

Mary Sues, eh? Well, in that case...

Character: Rev. First Speaker Schol-R-LEA;2
Profession: Marty Stu; Cult Leader (Last Eristic Church of Finagle and Holy Bisexuality); Annoying Jerk
Species: Human (mutated), though he appears as either a panda or an owl when traveling in Furrae (not that he is, mind you, but just so that it is clear if anyone was wondering)
Abilities: "Mostly Harmless"-ness (a variant of the Charm mutant power); shapeshifting; dimension travel; Springfield Effect navigation (huh?); time travel (sort of); teleportation (sometimes); levitation (when it can't interfere with the plotline); Summon Cast Member; Summon Really Cool Ride; Improved Googling (16+); other techno-magic of a suspiciously vague sort; authorial protection; being a know-it-all prick
Equipment: sonic pistol; Porta-Portal(TM) dimension wand (he can d-travel without it, but it's a lot easier with); shield belt; warlock's wheels (six originally, three left - the initiation code is "Boobies Boobies Boobies Boobies Boobies!"); one of Tedd Verres' TFGs; the Tent Peg of Homosexuality +5; the Gymbag of Holding (which can produce needed items on demand - though what the bag thinks is needed isn't always what Schol-R is looking for). I suppose you could count the Last Church's minions as 'equipment' (he would), if it actually had any at least...
Vehicle: The Gremlin, a modified Imp class Flying Spoon in-system yacht with improved shields and weaponry ('Modified' and 'improved'? Oh, that description helps a lot...). He also once summoned the Black Pearl out of the depths of fiction, but it got torpedoed by another Marty Stu named The Dagda shortly afterwards (man, that was a really big water park Urban created...).
Appearance: Varies. Schol-R's long-lost original body was a typical pasty, skinny-but-flabby Citizen pumped out of the cloning vats who spent a life time underground in The Computer's 'Utopian' society. He had since been residing in the temporal lobe of Jay's typical pasty, fat-and-flabby 21st century computer geek body. It is no wonder he spends most of his time as either a teenaged girl (don't ask), or a  panda (really don't ask),  or this bust-of-Franklin-balanced on a giant apple and traffic cones thingie (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?). Of course, some of those bodies belong to the other Personas who live in Jay's brain...
Allies: Various Discordian groups, when they feel like it, most notably the Johnny Von Neumann Memorial Floating Poker Game Cabal and the Jack Parsons Temple of Sublimated Phallic Idolatry. He used to be on good terms with another Mary Sue by the name of Ophidia Varegia, but they had a falling out after they got stuck first on Discworld, then Tatooine (which is how he knows who Anakin's real father is - how was he supposed to know that 'sourcerer' would translate to 'Chosen One' in the Star Wars universe?) , so she (and her author, Plaid Adder) isn't talking with him these days.
Weaknesses: Just about everything else about him (150pts in Disads - how do you think he got so much cool stuff?)

Schol-R-LEA;2 was a typical Alpha Complex clone whose only claim to fame was that he never seemed to get in much trouble for what he did (owing to his mutant ability to seem completely non-threatening). This allowed him, among other things, to drift in and out of different secret societies without the usual assassination attempts that following leaving one of them. However, when he got caught in a compromising position with two female citizens, a male citizen, a Doberbot and a bottle of hormone suppressant antidote, this wasn't enough to save him from 'volunteering' to test a new time travel device.
The long and the short of it was that his body went one way and his mind the other, and after some odd adventures in the 1950s with Lt Wilkes, 'Bob', and a twelve-year-old Japanese girl (actually, Schol-R was a twelve-year-old Japanese girl, or at least inside her - ewwww, not like that you pervs, I mean his mind was stuck in her head),  he moved forward to the 1990s where he merged with the brain of a befuddled college dropout named Jay. Shortly afterwards, he came to be the leader of the Last Church, which doesn't mean much since he was also the sole surviving member. Easy come, easy go...

Schol-R is well aware that he exists as an Authorial Avatar, and has been known to try to manipulate narrative causality in those places where it has a chance of working (e.g., Discworld, Furrae, forum RP games). He isn't very good at it, though.  He tries to assuage this with frequent visits to places like Balador and Yiffburg (you really, really don't want to know). Was last seen hanging out in Tsuiraiku for some reason, though he left shortly afterwards.

(You know what the sad thing is? Most of this is Canon, in that it comes out of fifteen years of forum RP that I actually did with this Persona, and these frequent edits have come out of me remembering yet another bit of silliness I committed at some point. I have no life. )

[k9evilfox]

Ooh, I got moved. I'm seriously a noob to the forums, guys. Anyways, seems yer all asking questions about my character, so I'll answer a few. First off, she isn't a godmoder. She isn't even from furrae. She frome a place called Kavaria, which exists in a place between heaven and hell. Kinda close to limbo. Second, the fox-cat hybrid speices is what her mother was. I should have made that clear, huh? Her father was a human. Like I should have said, the kouri clan harbors the ability to enter diferent universes. I gave her this gift so I could do crossover fanfics with her. Third, vampires might be extinct in furrae (I already knew that!) but the exist in other universes, namely the primary universe where humans reside. Now, does that clear anything up?

[Fuyudenki]

Oh, don't worry too much.  When I was 19, my character was an ubercaster psychic werewolf who was the best combatant on the planet, skilled in the use of all manner of armed and unarmed combat, Mr. Exposition, could do no wrong, and had a parallel-universe self, also a werewolf, who was an immortal.  And a godmodder.

Now, he's just a werewolf who only knows how to run away from his problems, spends most of his time making mstakes, the alternate universe got blown away in a copyright convolution and the characters in it went with it, and he can't use magic at all.  And he's supposed to be a bottom-rung character in his world.

Oh, and all zoanthropes are ax-crazy where he comes from.  So he's ax-crazy, and he knows it.

And he's unable to love.(No, like really.  I suck at love.)

[Suwako]

I should erase all my god-modder characters..  but they became supporting characters of another few

That is why I should -never- be allowed to RP. Character that isnt immortal always has fire resistance, bah. I like pyromania too much.. fire.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Ooh, I got moved. I'm seriously a noob to the forums, guys.

We figured.

Or, at least, -I- figured. Which is why I didn't jump up and down, or throw my toys out of my cot or something. ;-]

[Omega]

Thanks to my vide experience with roleplaying, I've noticed that there are three kinds of characters/players.

1)People, who make a character they would like to be, also known as super_me. Super_me's are all the god characters, indestructable avatars of all holy and profane. If these characters are any way not perfect, it is a direct ofence against the player of the character and there for cannot be allowed, because to that person, it would mean to admit that he/she/it is some how flawed and just like rest of us mortals.

2)People, who want to play a specific character from some story, or just steal every little detail from somewhere else. These are the fanboys/girls who can't get enough from Drizzt Do'Urden, Raistlin Majere, Legolas and/or Daniel Ti'Fiona, often mixing these characters and make hybrids that make most of us weep on the lonely hours of the night. Despite what I just said, sometimes these characters turn out to be alright, but that requires some originality and perhaps ripping of a minor character, not the friggin' hero of every bloody story. Here's a personal opinnion of a copy-paste such character: A huge katana wielding angel maiden, with a crazy haircut, named TIFÅ, whose father is a vampire lord and mother is some Chaos Dragon or something.
Here's a personal opinnion of a good copy-paste character: Carebear ghost buster, who speaks like it's the 90's again.

3)People, like me, who try to create a character(s) that might be fun to play. Characters that they haven't tried before. Characters that they might learn something by playing through their eyes. These are the characters that people like to read about, because they are somthing that hasn't already been seen dozens of times before. These are the characters that might one day become as popular as that crazy drow and his panther. These are the characters that are the core of ROLEPLAYING!!!

Or that's what I think.


*cough*

k9evilfox, these are not words ment only to you. I do like some bits of your character. It has good deal original ideas. The art is medicore, but not the worst that I've seen, by far. Avoid plot holes and keep dreaming. Those are my advides.

[Lucheek]

I'm tempted to make a Fan-Character just for this forum....
must...
resist....

[Ryan_Galen]

...didn't really know what to think about this at first. Honestly, just didn't.

Is this character really original for the setting of Furrae, or is it a personal original character who you're adapting to Furrae? Either is ok, but I also see problems either way.

If this is an original character who you have thought up just for the world of Furrae, then the details of what she is cluttered. I know Amber hasn't done her Hybrid Genetics segment yet on Demonology 101, but from what we've seen just from observation it just doesn't work like that in Furrae.

Yes, I know you've said she's from another world and is just currently in Furrae, but even that is a bit much. Why does a character created for Furrae need to be from another world anyway? Can't a creature from Furrae just have the ability to travel dimensions?

I think you need to keep in mind a phrase here: "You are more then the sum of your parts." You're character should be interesting because she's interesting, not because she has a genealogy you'd need calculus to keep track of. (Your character is no where near that bad, by the way, but I'm trying to make a point.)

Now, put that aside on a backburner while we look at it from another angle.

If this character was created as a personal original character adapted into DMFA... it seems forced. And trust me, I've seen this alot, and it rarely doesn't seem forced. I've done it even. The handle I'm using for this account is a prime example. I even created in my head a version of him as he would be on in Furrae. (Did try to introduce that version back on the Nice forum... best not to ask about that too much. Really, I'm glad I haven't run into any of the players on this forum just yet. And I know they're still around.)

So long story short, I have an idea or two to help you convert an existing personal original character into a setting not of their origin. First thing, unless the setting has a revolving door policy on dimensional travel, don't go the route of direct porting by way of simply taking the character from a world they currently exist in, and moving them. Two, don't force what you think are essential aspects of the character onto a world that don't accept them that easily.

What you should do is take a butcher knife and get ready for some carving. Carve up your character into metaphorical bits, and separate the bits into three piles: what is truly essential for the character, what is important to the character, and what just really isn't that important.

What is truly essential to the character is really only going to be personality and gender. Gender you can keep flat out no matter what... usually. Personality you should take a pairing knife just briefly for from pruning. Don't get rid of anything, but prune none the less, if only because it's a learning experience for 'how does my character really act'.

Now for the stuff that just really isn't important, you might have stuff you want to toss, but you'll also have some stuff that is just morphic in nature in a conversion sense. Descriptive traits like species and color scheme are a prime example. These are important, but belong here because they are highly morphic depending on the setting. So take those descriptions, look at them, and decide on alternatives. What would this character convert to if she had to be human would be a key concern for furry characters, and vise versa for human characters. In your case, you character is a halfbreed in origin. Which side would she favor if she couldn't be a halfbreed in a certain setting?

Now for the middle section, you're going to need to take off your thinking cap, and put on a thinking cap +5. For things that are important but not essential, you don't need to trim. You need to reimagine what do these things mean in a larger roleplaying/literary/imaginative sense. This is your most important step since most of these items are things we're tempted to bring over lock stock and barrel, but might not work on the receiving end of the system. Redescribing these important details in a more adaptable manner makes transition easier without being bogged down with flavor elements. A curse of being plagued by demons becomes bad karma of being plagued by hostiles. A loss of a parent can easily stay as such, but might be better if described as loss of parental figure/mentor to allow for further adaptation where needed. Powerful sorcerer? Try adapt wielder of one of the current setting's special effects, with preference towards those of innate quality if existent. Make note of what everything originally was, since if not broken in a new setting you'll want to try and keep it, but be ready to change it if necessary. Also be ready to possible toss things out entirely if you look at them and realize that they are not important.

Once you're done and have cleared off the excess that turned out not to be essential, you should have what I call a character core. Use as you see fit.

And... I hope that helps. I don't know what situation fits you, but either bit should help someone at least... though I had more to say on the later part then anything else. As I said, I call this a character core. The process is something I've been working on, on and off. ...reflecting on what I wrote, the process still needs work on description, but one or two things clicked more in the current description near the end, only if in reflection of how to improve it. Still, this one is usable.

[k9evilfox]

Weel, I really apreciate all the constructive critisim and advice I've been getting. Really, I expected to be ignored. I will clear up a major issue: what the character was designed for. She's was not adapted to DMFA. It was sheer coincidence that the character I've been building and using for eight years was similer to amber's creations. I've been a furry fan ever since I was very little, and have always been fond of drawing anthros. She was origanally ment for Legend of Zelda furry style. The summery was comprised of bits and pieces I tryed to cobble together because I lost the notebook that had her background summery in it.

Ooh, one more thing on her universe travel ability: the claws are the secret. she uses her claws to open portals, but like regular animal claws they break easily. In one of my upcoming storys, she gets caught in the neitherworld (beetlejuice: the cartoon) because her claws shatter from over use. Like I said before, she isn't a godmoder. In a fight, she would lose horribly if she wasn't smart.

Anyways, later I will post a proper summery when I can find that darn notebook.

[e_voyager]

Don't worry  about it. you're starting out and new to this i believe. take it form and old hand a the art of Mary sue a term i learn last year. E is perhaps the ultimate Mary sue. he even took the name in one fanfic when he had to become a lawyer to try and save the soul of a renamon and her boyfriend. he's an entity who's live at least 100 lifetimes among people can become almost any thing (e can't become a Mab Fae as they require souls and as far as he knows he has none. sure he has limits but death is not one of them. if you kill him he's kicked form the world he's in banned 1 generation unless someone uses a dues ex to revive him. he is what ever he seems to be with all it's pros and limitations. he's new ever started off at super buff mode.  let's Z  it It to compair. it's the Frezza sage how strong would e b? as strong as Killian in the saiyan saga was. it's the cell saga how strong would e be? as strong as Yamaha in the androids sage. it's the buu sage how strong would e be? he would as he would have died in one of buu's attacks on the city before he knew what was going on and had to watch form the sidelines until the dragon was used to bring him and everyone back to life. sure he could simply live the world bu he wouldn't as he wants to life at least one lifetime in every world he visits.  and keep in mind that strength is not skill. any Z fighter would still be able to kick his head in if they tried. he's simple their on the world as a tourist. like in supermegatopia. power is good to have but so is the anonymity (ability to be over looked.)   that's is E's mentality after all he's not trying to fight he just wants to explore and learn what he cane. its hard to do that if you find you self in three weak long fights ever few minutes.

[k9evilfox]

Ookay, how many times do I have to say "Not a mary sue, not a godmoder, coincidence that happened to look like Amber's style"! You guys seem nice and all, but calling my artwork mediocre isn't cool. Seriously, there are styles of art and drawing other than the one you all seem so used to. My point is there is no such thing as mediocre artwork. Everybody has there own style and each is unique. I do all sorts of art  in general, which I useually post as much as I can, and from what I've noticed is that furry fans are the quickest to critisize. I'm not saying I have something against furry fans, because I am one. I'm just sayig that in every Furry forum someone's always got to use words like weak, mary sue, and mediocre. You know some people like myself post our artwork just to show it off. I never said I was picasso, I just wanted let people see what I could do. I'm sorry if I sound rude or anything, I don't mean to. I just don't take well to having my artwork being called mediocre. Let me tell you something, people on deviantart are nicer so I think from now on the art stays there! No more posting art in this forum for meh!

P.S. Please don't hate me just because of this post. I just wanted to put out my thoughts on some of the replies I got. This is NOT aimed at everyone, just a few. I'm still posting here, just no more artwork.

Ok, 2esque rant over. Yes, I'm a fan of 2 the ranting griffon.

[Fuyudenki]

Eet ees usually called "Constructive Criticism."

Admittedly, the levels of "constructive" versus "criticism" can vary, though... prefferably, we've got more of the one than the other.

'Owever, mere fact of the matter is that art can and will be what one may call "mediocre."  Simply means you need more practice.  Never trust anyone who says their art is good: they've got a pride complex.

Pride's one of the 7 deadly sins, y'know.

[WhiteFox]

Smells like a Mary Sue to me.  Don't worry, though, she'll get better if you're willing to work at it.(This I know from experience.  My own character is far less of a godmodder now than he was at first inception.)

Volfram, I wouldn't call that constructive.

Art: I like it. The pose is a bit stiff, but that's not hard to fix by planning the pose out in advance and practice. The arm being held up looks much too long: the elbow should meet the ribs if it were hanging straight down, and the wrist should meet the hip bone. The breasts look a bit high. As for the wings... ouf. I've had troubles with that, but a little practice goes a long way. (My work on wings can be found on the first page of my art thread, about half way down. It's pretty big, can't miss it.) Lastly, the mouths on the tentacle-heads would look better if we saw the inside of the mouth or the opposite cheek. A patch of red or black would do. It'd add depth, too. I kinda like the heads.

Character: Honestly, I think you have a rushed sheet for a good character. I like the vampire quirk (I have no problem with the fact that she likes vampires. Furrae has goth clubs, doesn't it? ) I really like that taste-blood-to-shape-shift restriction: Most cubi have to practice long and hard to shapeshift well enough to mimic someone... here's one that can't shapeshift other than to mimic. Interesting trade off. I'd work on some of the phrasing, though. "Fangirl Spaz attack" makes her sound like a blond anime ditz, when "Somewhat quiet" "Loyal" and "Honor" seem to paint a more somber picture, matching her emotion of sorrow. (Not that I'd get rid of the quirk. I'd just find a better way to describe it to make it fit with her personality) I'd find *something* to put in the pre-SAIA phase, though, and I'm not sure the Dimension ripping thing really fits with the DMFA setting. I

[Tapewolf]

I'd find *something* to put in the pre-SAIA phase, though, and I'm not sure the Dimension ripping thing really fits with the DMFA setting. I

Warp-Aci can claw through to another dimension at will, so it's not unheard of within the context of DMFA.  On the other hand it is not a normal 'Cubi trait, although having said that, different Clans seem to have different specialities.  You could probably work out a plausible explanation if you sat down for five minutes... 

[k9evilfox]

Okies, just breaking hiatus to say thank to the last couple of posters. I fell better now. I'm still hunting for the origanal story sheet, so you probally won't see me for a little while longer. I'm do have a life outside of the furredom, so you can expect to see me go on hiatus quite a lot. I'll get the Kilali story links for yall later. See you soon! ^_~