I’ve always created characters, for as long as I can remember.

There was Moonhat, the crazy old, raggedy hat with a moon embellished on it, who lived in a banal society centered around how many stars they had. She conducted rituals such as barcday, where she and the other moonhats tried to pull daddy moon into a bonfire. It was as weird as it sounds.

There was Paisley, a plush cow that was so strange looking yet so cute that no one could resist him. “You can’t resist-a-bull”, as he used to say. He was a mild, baby-like character who was vastly knowledgeable for his years in certain regards. He had an older brother called Elvis who was smaller than him, and had the strength of the hulk. They were adorable.

There was Birdman, a self-insert superhero who looked like a demented humanoid chicken with ram horns. He was massively overweight, and solved all his crimes via a handy machine that could do anything. His sidekick Birdy was actually way more competent than he was.

And then I found D&D, and my knack for creating (and roleplaying) characters went into overdrive. The Danger Duo were the first couple that really clicked, after I’d made a few “typical” heroes to get used to the system. The duo was composed of Kilmorn, the rather dim but loyal dragonborn, and Callie the cheery British huntress. There was something about the brother/sister relationship they had that just *worked*. Everything from Killy’s raspy pirate accent to Cal’s pep talks before battle; they felt like real people, instead of cardboard cutouts brought in to fight this week’s monster.

From then on they just got better and better: Flamer the kingly Warforged, Pandora the sweet natured noble, Vikina the batty Golath girl, and Chloe Scott, who was originally from the modern world but got dragged into an inter-planetary conflict. I’ve created over fifty characters for D&D. Roughly two thirds of them have/had memorable personalities. But none of them stood out as strong, none of them had such an impact on my life, as Vanella Thane.

(Vanella and Flamer) Anyone who’s read Playing Solo knows what I’m talking about, but as a quick recap: V’nell is a hyperrealistic synthetic human with a big heart and a confused accent. She’s one of a kind, physically unaging, got two conflicting versions of her past bouncing around her mind, and the “daughter” of the main villains. She sounds like a clear cut case of Mary Sue, but she couldn’t be farther from the truth. For example, Thane originally thought she was human (as did I), and when the DM revealed her true nature it changed her as a person. She didn’t go full angsty brooder, but the alienation she felt caused her to retreat into her shell for a good few years. All this leads into the big thing that I’ve been trying to figure out for a while now: What makes a character memorable? Let’s break this down. What are some of the traits that my favourite characters share? A voice. Thane is the biggest example of this, with her Texas/Westcountry mishmash (or as she’d call it, Orthrazian/Pernep). Paisley also had a weird vocabulary; I could immediate translate any word into his way of pronouncing it, but the “rules” for this seemed to be defined on a subconscious level. Flamer had a powerful growl reminiscent of movie Optimus Prime, and moonhat had a sneering nasal tone. A gimmick. To properly define this, a gimmick is a character trait that seems like it would dominate a character’s personality; however, in the case of these characters it merely served as a base for their personalities. Moonhat’s gimmick is that she’s evil. Pandora was a mute: a classic gimmick character. And finally, Thane had her expressionless face. Fun factor. Birdman bumbles his way through life, and Moonhat’s antics are so bats#&! insane that they almost go beyond funny into the realm of obscurity. Vikina was crazy in a similar way. They’re funny characters, which makes me want to play them. They don’t need to be comedic relief all the time, but it does lend itself to an enjoyable character. (Vanella and Aelar. For some reason she doesn’t like the word “husband”, so she refers to his as her “better half”). So I wrote these out, trying to find something that tied them all together. What was the key ingredients of a memorable character? Was it the voice, the gimmick, or the fun factor? And then it kinda clicked. Thane wasn’t originally a favourite of mine. She was fun, but not hall-of-fame worthy. The moment she became the person I know and love was when her life was turned upside down. When she (and I) found out she was a Warforged, she became interesting. She became part of the world. And that’s the key. Not to load your character up with quirky speech patterns, because Chloe Scott never had a particular memorable voice. Not a gimmick, because Flamer never had one, and he actually ties with Thane as my favourite character. Not even the fun factor, because Flamey and Chloe are hardly comedic in the slightest. It’s all about the change. Flamer became fun when his race was wiped out, leaving him as a saddened, wise old sage who traveled the stars. Pandora became fun when she clawed her way out of the dark mirror after a hellish few weeks that turned the mild mannered noble into a warrior. Vikina became fun when she found out she’d been experimented on by aliens. And Chloe Scott became fun when she was turned from a moody emo traceur into a spellcasting liaison for another world. All the other factors help, of course. But the change is the big thing. When building a character, set them up to be challenged. Give them flaws to overcome, motivations to achieve, and pasts that anchor them in the world, but also leave room for development without retconning. Set up your characters, and set up their world. Establish the status quo, then challenge it. Because at the end of the day, your true character only comes to light when it’s taken out of its comfort zone. (Elo and Vanella, the duo that started it all) Thane became fun when her mechanical nature was revealed, and she continues to delight to this day. Last weekend she leveled up to the big two-oh, nearly twenty months after her conception. She’s been more than a character to me. Assuming her mindset in public has helped me deal with what was almost becoming a social phobia, and her occasional 4th-wall-breaking criticisms of her “player-dude” have allowed me to somewhat view myself from an outside perspective. She’s been a good source of mirf, a good conscience, and a good friend. Here’s to many more adventures with you. Aaaand I’ve triggered her. Because I’m supposed to be calling her Vanella Liadon ever since she got married (which is almost a year ago now). It just doesn’t roll off the tongue at all. Elvish, am I right?