Splitting the Atom -- Compact Personality Disorder

So, how would you describe his personality? Well, he's paranoid most of the time. No, wait, he suffers from chronic anal retention. Was that it? No, he was raving mad and them some. But then there was that ego--arrogant son of a bitch, I'd say. No, no, no. I'm sure he was my Knight in Shining Armor, come to rescue me from the drudgery of daily life. Nope, he was funny, giddy, elated, a lark, truly. And then perhaps...

Personality with characters is tricky. Yeah, you say otherwise, but truthfully, when you want to stick to that underlying personality you set out to create for your character, you're influenced by your own personality. However much you might try not to, your personality will shine through your characters in some way, through some core value whether you try to have it like that or not.

But even then, the personalities we attempt to create for our characters are unique--and sometimes not so unique. We suffer chronically from "Ultimate Badass Syndrome," the cocky, cool and collected guy that oozes awesomeness and power. Too many characters like this, even some of my own. But we love it; we love to make those characters because we want to be them.

Ah, but now we push away from those and rush headlong into the belief that originality is key, that we must attain this sacred chalice at any cost. So, we create the characters of the opposite end of the spectrum that suffer from mental disorders, have shaky personalities, are bumblers and fumblers and cads and cards and resentful characters and blemishes to society characters; the list goes on. You jump in, find that happy-go-lucky badass isn't any good, so you swim to the other side trying to find the elusive deep, dark onion-man of many layers kind-of character.

But where's the middle ground? The Average-Jo's? They don't exist, and if they do, they don't last long in the world of the super-powered and under-powered and ultra-powered characters. They're like cars. You get your base models and then the ones that come with special features like mental and personality disorders to make them more "interesting." They come in various makes and models, some with leather, some with good stereo and speakers and CD players and mileage. And they all, no matter how pretty or gaudy or compact or basic, get the job done, these characters with personality.

We drive them along, and along the way their personality gets dints and pings and scraps. Do we take into account their journey and the effects it has on the character, on their personality? Or are they stuck in a kind of temporal warp, unaffected by the passing of time? It's strange, the personality of characters. They're conveyed in our words, and while we might set out to say one thing, the wording and choice of them might paint an entirely different picture. The traits and qualities ascribed to those characters come through now and again, but is it really what we want? What kind of personality are we striving for, and in truth, is it just another rehash of a vehicle we've driven before with a couple added options and bling to make people see differently?

 

- W. Visarett