12-26-2005, 02:24 PM
I'm in need of brainstorming for coming up with deeper character personalities for two of my characters.
Benjamin is a male straight teen with a girlfriend (see below) who doesn't fit in anywhere because his only real talent is for manipulating people. He has been the friend of another character, Lenina, since elementary school and sometimes cons her into continuing to be his friend at all. Recently he attempted to get in with the Geeks, but was rejected due to lack of real technological competence. This leaves him with a better-than-luddite grasp of technology, but any real hacker could crush him to dust, tech-wise. He also has the personality of Mercuremon from Frontier, because he basically is Mercuremon. This means that he is fairly ambitious, which feeds his manipulative tendencies. When he gets a job he'll likely be in Management. Whether a good manager or a bad one is up to how his character develops through the rest of the story.
Good places to give brainstorm comments (if you consider doing so worth your time) would mostly be on Ben's inner view. WHY does he act like he does, what does he see in it? His friendship with Lenina and the relationship with his girlfriend are both about 85% honest relationships, so what does he like in people? What does he not like in people? Also, what kind of sense of morality does Ben have? How does he feel when "managing" someone?
Jane is a female straight teen with a boyfriend (Benjamin, see above). In Digimon Frontier she was known as Ranamon, and I intend to work from the personality I gave her in "Stockholm". This means she will be cunning, but vain. Among humans she is probably generally regarded as a bitch, and this is why Benjamin is the only one willing to go out with her. Being a vain bitch, she obviously doesn't see what a vain bitch she is. However, all the popular kids are vain and/or bitchy, so she fits right in with them. Her obvious career is going to be as a celebrity motivational speaker, which is the same she held in Frontier. If she was ever faced with The Real World she would quickly break down crying before becoming a better person and revealing that she actually has a tender underbelly, though it would toughen under stress. Jane and Lenina have a "too close for comfort" point with each other. Keep them apart just enough and Lenina's genuine qualities and Jane's fake qualities will even each other out, but put them too close and Bad Things happen.
How does she feel about her relationships? On the one hand, she's obviously aware of the fact that she is regarded as a vain bitch, but on the other hand she's popular and actually likes her boyfriend (remember Ranamon and Mercuremon working together during the series? I'm trying to model that.) Jane does what she does because she knows it's the best way to hold attention, but why does she desire attention and why does she tend to view people she doesn't care about as things whose purpose is to fulfill her desire for attention? Why doesn't she realize that if she'd be more genuine to everyone she'd have more real friends and a better sort of attention?
How will both of these people feel to find out they're actually digital monsters from another world, which will in time be confirmed their own memories? How do they feel power, social, political and Digimon should be used? How do they want to use it? How will the previous two answers interact?
Just writing all this out is helping me make inroads, but anyone with a keen suggestion is of course perfectly welcome to say so. There's a good chance I'll use it.
Benjamin is a male straight teen with a girlfriend (see below) who doesn't fit in anywhere because his only real talent is for manipulating people. He has been the friend of another character, Lenina, since elementary school and sometimes cons her into continuing to be his friend at all. Recently he attempted to get in with the Geeks, but was rejected due to lack of real technological competence. This leaves him with a better-than-luddite grasp of technology, but any real hacker could crush him to dust, tech-wise. He also has the personality of Mercuremon from Frontier, because he basically is Mercuremon. This means that he is fairly ambitious, which feeds his manipulative tendencies. When he gets a job he'll likely be in Management. Whether a good manager or a bad one is up to how his character develops through the rest of the story.
Good places to give brainstorm comments (if you consider doing so worth your time) would mostly be on Ben's inner view. WHY does he act like he does, what does he see in it? His friendship with Lenina and the relationship with his girlfriend are both about 85% honest relationships, so what does he like in people? What does he not like in people? Also, what kind of sense of morality does Ben have? How does he feel when "managing" someone?
Jane is a female straight teen with a boyfriend (Benjamin, see above). In Digimon Frontier she was known as Ranamon, and I intend to work from the personality I gave her in "Stockholm". This means she will be cunning, but vain. Among humans she is probably generally regarded as a bitch, and this is why Benjamin is the only one willing to go out with her. Being a vain bitch, she obviously doesn't see what a vain bitch she is. However, all the popular kids are vain and/or bitchy, so she fits right in with them. Her obvious career is going to be as a celebrity motivational speaker, which is the same she held in Frontier. If she was ever faced with The Real World she would quickly break down crying before becoming a better person and revealing that she actually has a tender underbelly, though it would toughen under stress. Jane and Lenina have a "too close for comfort" point with each other. Keep them apart just enough and Lenina's genuine qualities and Jane's fake qualities will even each other out, but put them too close and Bad Things happen.
How does she feel about her relationships? On the one hand, she's obviously aware of the fact that she is regarded as a vain bitch, but on the other hand she's popular and actually likes her boyfriend (remember Ranamon and Mercuremon working together during the series? I'm trying to model that.) Jane does what she does because she knows it's the best way to hold attention, but why does she desire attention and why does she tend to view people she doesn't care about as things whose purpose is to fulfill her desire for attention? Why doesn't she realize that if she'd be more genuine to everyone she'd have more real friends and a better sort of attention?
How will both of these people feel to find out they're actually digital monsters from another world, which will in time be confirmed their own memories? How do they feel power, social, political and Digimon should be used? How do they want to use it? How will the previous two answers interact?
Just writing all this out is helping me make inroads, but anyone with a keen suggestion is of course perfectly welcome to say so. There's a good chance I'll use it.
![[Image: AppealtoReason.jpg]](http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g100/baw01002/Album%20Covers/AppealtoReason.jpg)