Since the beginning of most acts of entertainment, people have seen characters that are clearly insane. There are many different incarnations from Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, Norman Bates from Psycho and The Joker from the Batman Series. In this guide I will point out some of the finer points to playing these characters and since I've been playing the character of Seth Draclau for a great deal of time, I thought I would impart some tips to the dear members about how to play a character that is clearly out of his mind but definitely has good points to their character. With that said, enjoy.
Step 1: The Origin Story
Every character has a beginning, and with characters that have a form of mental instability, this beginning is usually horrible. It is important that you as a player come up with an Origin for your character that will effect him/her for most of their life and be either partly or mostly responsible for their behavior. Pick something unique, usually the more horrible it is, the more sympathetic it makes the character if it ever gets out. An important note to make is that your character should feel like the victim. If you want a murdering psychopath without a method to the madness, then this guide probably won't help you.
Examples Include:
1.) On Descension, Seth Draclau's mother died and his father abandoned him, living on his own during his young life, he was picked on constantly because of his appearance until one day he snapped.
2.) In the movie Psycho, Norman Bates' mother is emotionally abusive to the young Norman and caused him to develop multiple personalities.
3.) In most versions of the Batman series, the Joker starts as a failed comedian and turns to perform a crime to support his family, during the incident he falls in a tank of chemicals and his normal appearance is transformed into The Joker.
Step 2: The Mental Illness
Now that you have an origin story for your character, it is important to discover just what is wrong with your character. Knowing the specifics of whats wrong with a character's mind will make it that much more interesting to write them, this list should help come up with ideas but I find it more fun to experiment and use multiple disorders depending on the situation. Know your illness, that is the most important aspect in dealing with a character that is insane.
Examples Include:
1.) Patrick Bateman of the movie American Psycho, shows narcissistic tendencies as well Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and many others.
2.) Norman Bates of the movie Psycho shows dissociative identity disorder, acting as both himself and his abusive mother.
3.) Harvey "Two Face" Dent has a split personality and is obsessed with duality.
Step 3: The Character's Behavior
Depending on your character's origin and illness is how they react to people around them. A character must behave as their illness allows them to, since the illness itself sometimes dictates just what an unstable person will do. As we get into an in character perspective now, this step is very important because how your character acts determines how you write them and how others react around them. It is always interesting to shake things up and keep other character's guessing. If they can predict what your character does, then the character doesn't remain as interesting as before. Throw in a curveball every now and then to keep them guessing.
Examples Include:
1.) Bruce Banner, of the Incredible Hulk comics is a shy, introverted individual, but when angered and transformed into the Hulk he becomes impulsive and destructive.
2.) Patrick Bateman from American Psycho is obsessed with how he looks and is very meticulous about preparing his look, as well as his displeasure at people touching him.
3.) Norman Bates of Psycho tends to be a nice, kind man. But when his mother's personality comes out, he goes into a cold murderous state.
Step 4: Act on Impulse
Characters with mental disabilities tend to be very quirky individuals. Some are very predictable and others you never know what they will do next. I mentioned earlier that getting too predictable is not really a good thing and one should throw in a few curveballs to keep people guessing. This is crucial because it could mean the difference between a boring character and an exciting one. Generally as a rule of thumb if my character is faced with a situation he has to think his way out of, I personally think up the first thing in my head that can be both funny and insane at the same time, and roll with it. Your character is insane, they are going to do funny and erratic things without care of repercussion.
Examples Include:
1.) Seth Draclau from Star Wars: Descension has many quirks he does on impulse, random displays of affection, violence mark his path. Most notably is his habit of jumping off buildings without a single thought of harm.
2.) The Joker of the Batman movies is generally uncontrollable, but if something is suitable to his plans you can see a massive change to his personality to suit his current needs.
Step 5: The People Around The Character
Another important aspect of any character is the people that are involved in your character's life. From parents, to siblings, to friends, it is important you work out just how your character treats those around them. Chances are this will drastically alter how your character decides to act and decides on what a person might find more important. Its always interesting to find out just how your character will differ if he or she has someone around that loves them, or in many cases hate them, be warned that this takes a good deal of balance not to alienate your character from others, so be careful with how you make the character react to others.
Examples Include:
1.) Seth Draclau of Descension is married to TiCira Hawk who became something of a moral balance to his psychopathic tendencies.
2.) The Joker of the Batman series is shown dating Harley Quinn, though The Joker can sometimes be rather cruel to Harley, it shows that the character is not just a manic clown with an appetite for destruction.
Step 6: "Insanity is Super Sanity, It's The Normal That's Psychotic"
For this final step to playing an insane character I give you a quote. "Insanity is Super Sanity, It's the Normal That's Psychotic." Put plainly, to someone deemed insane, he/she will believe what they do is actually the right way, and that the people that are normal are actually the crazy ones. When writing a character like this, always remember that to them what they do is normal and should feel natural within the context of what you are doing.
Conclusion:
There you have it folks, my 6 step guide on how to play a character with mental disorders and how to make them both exciting and interesting characters. I hope it was informative and leads you along to create a great character with even greater roleplays.
Psychopaths For Dummies
A Roleplaying Guide to the Legally Insane
By: Seth Draclau
A Roleplaying Guide to the Legally Insane
By: Seth Draclau
Step 1: The Origin Story
Every character has a beginning, and with characters that have a form of mental instability, this beginning is usually horrible. It is important that you as a player come up with an Origin for your character that will effect him/her for most of their life and be either partly or mostly responsible for their behavior. Pick something unique, usually the more horrible it is, the more sympathetic it makes the character if it ever gets out. An important note to make is that your character should feel like the victim. If you want a murdering psychopath without a method to the madness, then this guide probably won't help you.
Examples Include:
1.) On Descension, Seth Draclau's mother died and his father abandoned him, living on his own during his young life, he was picked on constantly because of his appearance until one day he snapped.
2.) In the movie Psycho, Norman Bates' mother is emotionally abusive to the young Norman and caused him to develop multiple personalities.
3.) In most versions of the Batman series, the Joker starts as a failed comedian and turns to perform a crime to support his family, during the incident he falls in a tank of chemicals and his normal appearance is transformed into The Joker.
Step 2: The Mental Illness
Now that you have an origin story for your character, it is important to discover just what is wrong with your character. Knowing the specifics of whats wrong with a character's mind will make it that much more interesting to write them, this list should help come up with ideas but I find it more fun to experiment and use multiple disorders depending on the situation. Know your illness, that is the most important aspect in dealing with a character that is insane.
Examples Include:
1.) Patrick Bateman of the movie American Psycho, shows narcissistic tendencies as well Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and many others.
2.) Norman Bates of the movie Psycho shows dissociative identity disorder, acting as both himself and his abusive mother.
3.) Harvey "Two Face" Dent has a split personality and is obsessed with duality.
Step 3: The Character's Behavior
Depending on your character's origin and illness is how they react to people around them. A character must behave as their illness allows them to, since the illness itself sometimes dictates just what an unstable person will do. As we get into an in character perspective now, this step is very important because how your character acts determines how you write them and how others react around them. It is always interesting to shake things up and keep other character's guessing. If they can predict what your character does, then the character doesn't remain as interesting as before. Throw in a curveball every now and then to keep them guessing.
Examples Include:
1.) Bruce Banner, of the Incredible Hulk comics is a shy, introverted individual, but when angered and transformed into the Hulk he becomes impulsive and destructive.
2.) Patrick Bateman from American Psycho is obsessed with how he looks and is very meticulous about preparing his look, as well as his displeasure at people touching him.
3.) Norman Bates of Psycho tends to be a nice, kind man. But when his mother's personality comes out, he goes into a cold murderous state.
Step 4: Act on Impulse
Characters with mental disabilities tend to be very quirky individuals. Some are very predictable and others you never know what they will do next. I mentioned earlier that getting too predictable is not really a good thing and one should throw in a few curveballs to keep people guessing. This is crucial because it could mean the difference between a boring character and an exciting one. Generally as a rule of thumb if my character is faced with a situation he has to think his way out of, I personally think up the first thing in my head that can be both funny and insane at the same time, and roll with it. Your character is insane, they are going to do funny and erratic things without care of repercussion.
Examples Include:
1.) Seth Draclau from Star Wars: Descension has many quirks he does on impulse, random displays of affection, violence mark his path. Most notably is his habit of jumping off buildings without a single thought of harm.
2.) The Joker of the Batman movies is generally uncontrollable, but if something is suitable to his plans you can see a massive change to his personality to suit his current needs.
Step 5: The People Around The Character
Another important aspect of any character is the people that are involved in your character's life. From parents, to siblings, to friends, it is important you work out just how your character treats those around them. Chances are this will drastically alter how your character decides to act and decides on what a person might find more important. Its always interesting to find out just how your character will differ if he or she has someone around that loves them, or in many cases hate them, be warned that this takes a good deal of balance not to alienate your character from others, so be careful with how you make the character react to others.
Examples Include:
1.) Seth Draclau of Descension is married to TiCira Hawk who became something of a moral balance to his psychopathic tendencies.
2.) The Joker of the Batman series is shown dating Harley Quinn, though The Joker can sometimes be rather cruel to Harley, it shows that the character is not just a manic clown with an appetite for destruction.
Step 6: "Insanity is Super Sanity, It's The Normal That's Psychotic"
For this final step to playing an insane character I give you a quote. "Insanity is Super Sanity, It's the Normal That's Psychotic." Put plainly, to someone deemed insane, he/she will believe what they do is actually the right way, and that the people that are normal are actually the crazy ones. When writing a character like this, always remember that to them what they do is normal and should feel natural within the context of what you are doing.
Conclusion:
There you have it folks, my 6 step guide on how to play a character with mental disorders and how to make them both exciting and interesting characters. I hope it was informative and leads you along to create a great character with even greater roleplays.
