Flaws, Fears, and Failures: Dal’s Guide to Imperfect Characters

Perfect characters are boring; this is something a beginning Roleplayer soon learns. The time between becoming aware of this fact and being able to create well made and fun to play imperfect characters can be hard, I understand. I’m here to help.
So, whether you are just starting out RPing or want to add some spice into your character, this guide is for you!


Flaws

A flaw in a character is simply a basic personality trait taken to extremes. Everyone is a little bit prideful, if they were not then they would take no pleasure from the tasks they complete and they would have no reason to do things well. However, when pride is a flaw it is blown up to huge proportions. A character whose flaw is pride might refuse to accept help from others or always think that his or her plan is the best. Remember that not all flaws have to make a character unpleasant to be around; perhaps a character is too self-effacing or can’t stay serious.

To build up a flaw in a character that currently has none without creating an entire new personality trait is a relatively simple procedure. Look through your character’s personality, what are they like. Lets take a look Bob the Fighter for a moment as our case study.

“Bob has focused on melee combat with blacksmithing as his life skill. He is a down to earth and down to business sort of person who does what he needs to do to get the job done.”

Bob does what he needs to do to get the job done. This means that he is stubborn and driven. Enlarge these personality traits and Bob, once he makes a plan, does not change it to adapt to new developments. Once he sees his goal and figures out how he is going to get there [with or without help] his vision becomes tunneled and he cannot change course [or at least has a hard time doing so].


Fears

No character is fearless. Even the most brave of characters are simply hiding their fears from others. A character’s fear gives us a chance to look into their past as well, as no fear comes out of nowhere. A fear is formed when the character has a bad experience [or many] with a specific thing. Perhaps a character with a fear of spiders was bitten by one as a kid and almost died. Or maybe they watched someone else get bitten and die. You don’t need to explain why they have a fear, but you should know it.

Although a character might not be open about his fears they should still affect the way they act. If Bob is afraid of spiders he is going to avoid going to Alby at all costs and, if he has no choice, he is going to be on edge the entire time he is inside the dungeon. Or perhaps he wants others to believe that he has no fears and therefore goes out of his way to go into Alby, even without telling others that he is afraid of spiders. Remember, people react to fear in different ways, but they always react.

Fears do not go away when they become inconvenient, this is a blunder many starting roleplayers make. A logical conversation will not convince someone to no longer be afraid. It may convince them that their fear is irrational, but it will not make it go away. This is not to say that fears cannot be vanquished, of course, but it takes time and effort. Feel free to use this to develop your character as much as you would the fear itself.


Failures

Every character has a past and, since we have established that no character is perfect, every character has made mistakes in his or her past. A failure can be something as simple as never being able to learn to use a bow, even when he tried or something as devastating as watching someone they cared about die in front of them because of what they did [or failed to do].

Past failures are very important to the way a character acts now. Someone who was given a duty to guard someone only to have her be killed in front of him might become overprotective of everyone, feeling devastatingly guilty when they receive even the slightest scratch. Or perhaps they only feel protective towards women or those who remind him of the person he had failed to guard.

How a character reacts to present failures also gives us a glimpse into their personality. Does the character slump into an unresponsive depression when he fails on a duty that was given to him by himself or others? On the other end of the spectrum he could, after failing something, pretend that he had never intended to do it in the first place. Bob, being very determined [and stubborn, we talked about this] will jump right up after failing and try it all over again, usually not stopping to revise his plan along the way.





~Dalvar’s Activity Book!~
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
Name one failure in your character’s past:
How did he or she respond to it?
How does he or she respond to failures now?

Knarex: I am perfect and I am not boring...

Xen: Dude you are insane.. and still boring.

Knarex: I am not Insane T_T I just think differently than others..

~Dalvar’s Activity Book!~ For Xeek =D
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
His failure to use Common sense.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
Falling, heart break, black ship rats(slowly over coming it)
Name one failure in your character’s past:
Almost anything that involves concentration. For the next question I will use Castle dungeon.
How did he or she respond to it?
He went "emo" for a certain period of time and trained.
How does he or she respond to failures now?
Train until he can do it. He is one of those "Man this annoying brat doesn't give up" people.

Rebecca:
Flaw: Rebecca is completely uncomprimising, which leads people to see her as forceful and abrasive
Fear: I think it has been established that Rebecca is heavily protective of Shade. Though she might trust him to go off on his own for a while, she'll never be far away if she can help it
Failure: So far, Rebecca has been able to protect Shade from everything, except himself

Shade:(when sane)
Flaw: Shade, when he encounters someone who he thinks has false pride, develops an extremely sadistic streak.
Fear: Shade has always feared that his sister would be killed by her efforts to protect him
Failure: Rebecca's always been the one to tackle challenges, so Shade himself has yet to fail

Eugeal:
Flaw: Eugeal's care for life in general is not quite as high as it should be.
Failure: At one point, she was a high-ranking figure in an evil orginisation
Fear: Eugeal is absolutely terrified of being corrupted again. As a result, she has forced herself to act more caring than she normally would.

I have three other characters, but I need to introduce them first

Kenelm
Main flaws: Determination, thoroughness.
Main fear: Getting back-stabbed by someone he trusts.
Response: Slow to trust others.
Past failure: Caught off guard
Response: He tries harder to keep aware of his surroundings.
Response to new failures: Accept the fact there was a shortcoming, and works (or trains) to prevent such from happening again.

Dalyn
Main flaws: Almost always entertained; causes "WTF" moments; questionable sanity
Main fear: The "party" ending.
Response to said fear: Usually out of sight, out of mind. Else, he'll be disappointed until he's pointed in a new direction.
Past failure: He's lost most of his sanity, and the memory of how he lost it.
Response: If he could remember, he'd be in a state of constant worry.
Response to new failures: He'll mostly "take it in stride," aside from some worry.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod, Ken responded to something I wrote without a correction.
*Happy dance*

Uh, I mean...
*Cough*
>_>
<_<

Cap
Main flaws: Memory like a bowl of cottage cheese with fruit cake crumbled in and someone keeps stirring the mess around. Determined to the point of self destruction. Understands Fear as a concept.
Main fear: Closest thing to fear is a deep concern that he may forget something REALLY impotant.
Response: Confusion.
Past failure: Forgot that he was married. Forgot that [censored]
Response: Mental shock resulting in memories being swirled around a bit again.
Response to new failures: Accepts that he failed but will either blindly keep pounding at whatever the obstacle is till its either worn down or he has grown in capability to overcome it like a normal person.

Chuck
Main flaws: Drunkard and party animal and fatal curiosity
Main fear: Having to pay the bill
Response to said fear: He will "disapear" at the first opprotunity.
Past failure: Broke his neck break dancing at a frat party.
Response: If he could do it over again he would .... oh dang but that was a great party.
Response to new failures: (insert bad word) .... Okay who is buying the drinks?

[ other to follow as my brain percolates ]

Xeek wrote:Knarex: I am perfect and I am not boring...

Xen: Dude you are insane.. and still boring.

Knarex: I am not Insane T_T I just think differently than others..

Gatemo: You're also dead. Get your soul-arse back in the dagger. >=O

Gatemo:
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes: Emotional detachment. Gatemo can put on a smile, but it's often an empty one. Beneath the mask he's a bit hollow.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: Being unable to accomplish what he sets out to do due to indecisiveness.
Name one failure in your character’s past: Gatemo would say falling in love. I'd say trying to give up on it. XD
For a major failure though, I'd say the war against humans which led to the Fomors' banishment. He was on the losing side, after all.
How did he respond to it? The love one, he tends to shut himself off from others if he feels he's getting too close. Or find ways to manipulate them emotionally. Incubus nature n' all. (DANCE, PUPPETS!) The fall from glory one, he's...working on it. >>;
How does he respond to failures now? The same way. He'll put on his mask and/or find ways to adapt and turn things back in his favor.

Silvreno:
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes: Reno feels obligated to make everything right somehow and goes to painful extremes sometimes to see to it.
Name one fear your character has and how he: Losing his wife. It's a fear he's always had even long before they were married and it's the reason he tries so hard now to make things better.
Name one failure in your character’s past: Controlling himself when he broke the seal placed on him. Reno thought he could handle it, but ended up snapping, attacking his foster sister, and getting imprisoned for it.
How did he respond to it? He honestly had little clue of what happened or how. Still doesn't, but just knows he did something wrong and tries to make up for it however he can.
How does he respond to failures now? He tries harder not to fail.

~Dalvar’s Activity Book!~

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:

Cheerful obliviousness... ness.. Or something. Jaeden has the remarkable ability to try to bounce back from almost anything she sees, and thus she is never truly upset or depressed about most things for longer than a few minutes. While some would consider this a good trait, it's affected her ability to make good decisions. Or take anything as seriously as it needs to be.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:

She has a fear of spiders, and of deep thick forests (Specifically Karu). She solves this problem by killing any spiders that she sees, and she almost never goes into Karu forest alone. When she does, she's usually on a mount with someone and keeping her eyes shut until they enter the Karu Dungeon.

Name one failure in your character’s past:

Good Lord, Jae fails every day. Jaeden is a very weak character, physically. Because of this there really isn't much she can do to save her friends when they're in trouble, unless they're particularly susceptible to arrows and keep their distance from her. Eg. Her inability to keep Angron from ripping her friends up.

How did he or she respond to it?

Currently she's trying -very- hard to forget about it, and push herself into being a stronger character. Other than that, her cheerful obliviousness is working double-time on the clock to keep her from feeling too upset about it.

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]: Wait . . . one? Umm yeah . . . Pride, being miserly, lecherousness, over protectiveness, eagerness to take on any challenge 'I want to hunt a dragon!' 'Why don't they let you solo Panecea?' aggressiveness.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: People he cares about being injured or taken from him. Note: So far these people are all also women so . . . fear of friendship with men? Response: Violence.

Name one failure in your character’s past: A near constant streak of getting himself horribly injured by embarrassingly easy monsters like skeletons.

How did he or she respond to it? Violence. And childish name calling.

How does he or she respond to failures now? Much more calmly now that it doesn't happen as much. And also violence.

Yeah, there's not a theme or anything there.

Zachary Dellinger::
-Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Zach's a bit overprotective of his friends, and quick to take offense from ignorance. He also has several triggers linked to his past that will set him off in a moment's notice.
-Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
He's afraid of everyone around him dying. It's something that's quite realistic, based on his past, so of course he's afraid of it. How he deals with it includes attempting to prevent his friends from dying. Quite lame in some cases but it works in others.
-Name one failure in your character’s past:
He allowed himself to get careless while fighting what is known as a 'Shoggath' in Corem, and almost got all of his friends killed for it.
-How did he or she respond to it?
The party didn't. They shot the bad guy attempting to control the Shoggath in the head, so the Shoggath went after that specific body. They quickly ran as the beast was distracted.
-How does he or she respond to failures now?
It really depends. Either he's fine or he's not. At the moment, however, he can't really respond at all.

To throw out a counter opinion: you can have an "imperfect" character, and not have explicate "flaws" per ce. Another, very good way, to build a character is to come up with a few keywords that define the character. These can be both flaws and character defining traits. Another thing to consider for developing characters is quirks. I think Quirks are by far superior to flaws in defining them, as Quirks can include both traits and flaws in one package. Then again, I tend to define characters, initially at least, by their quirks, not by their flaws (I don't like defining things by their negatives).

Kagaea- Well, yes, I expect any good character to have a plethora of positive aspects as well.
But that is not the subject of this piece.
I wrote this more for the people who have no negative parts to their characters at all.

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:

Jinnhin (Mabi): Basically Bipolar due to all the things happened to her and her friends. As evident to Caliandra and a few people, she does have her moments of desperation and became willing to get herself in harm's way to ensure the safety of those she cared about.

JAARouge (Mabi): Passively annoyed, so most of her intimidating appearances are mainly from things not going as she planned.

JackieAlice (PWI): She is too kind for her own good when dealing with another common-folk.

Jacquelyn (GW): Cold which may slimmed her chances of warming up with people, even her friends.

YinMajor (Megaten): Impulsive at worst, she can might as well wandered off while no one's looking.

Yin Naginata (GW): She is just dense and most often not pay attention to what she is doing or what happened around her.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:

Jinnhin (Mabi): Despite her necrotic background, she does have a fear of Mummy. She'll most likely freeze or just gets out of the room as quickly as she got in.

JAARouge (Mabi): Rouge is highly fearful of blood, mainly because she was unable to move when she was wounded or does nothing for the wounded. Also, in the past, she was called the bloodless bandit because she rather not kill anyone during her heists.

JackieAlice (PWI): She feared monsters that are considered big to her (about x5 of her size). She would definitely freak out and overdoes her job.

Jacquelyn (GW): She hates snakes. Simple as that. Either she keeps her distance or uses a high powered skill against it.

YinMajor (Megaten): Anything that comes at her at high speed will shake her up by much. She'll obviously resort to the Dodge skill and have 50-50 chance that she'll get hit by Rush or dodged a projectile.

Yin Naginata (GW): She is deathly afraid of Kurzicks because she thought of them as those who will kill her on sight. She'll obviously run away to seek safety of other Luxons or Non-Kurzick Canthans.

Name one failure in your character’s past:

Jinnhin (Mabi): She failed to raise her actual children correctly, so one would run away from her while one would just wander off.

JAARouge (Mabi): There was hardly any failures known, unless you can count her failing to avenge her father by trying to reclaim her throne and was defeated by her step father.

JackieAlice (PWI): She failed to keep her love a secret.

Jacquelyn (GW): She failed to press on her family's tradition of defending the great northern wall.

YinMajor (Megaten): She accidentally shot a war-buddy and failed to revive him in time.

Yin Naginata (GW): Failed her ritualist courses five times in a row.

How did he or she respond to it?

Jinnhin (Mabi): She regrets it deeply because they may end up causing trouble for her friends and they may scowl her and Capt for it.

JAARouge (Mabi): She agonized because her defeat costs her right eye.

JackieAlice: She was hurt when her father ordered an arrest on her lover.

Jacquelyn (GW): She was ashamed.

YinMajor (Megaten): She was emotionally numbed due to the process of losing her war-buddy and becoming a soldier.

Yin Naginata (GW): She is...somewhere else at the moment.

How does he or she respond to failures now?

Jinnhin (Mabi): She still regrets it.

JAARouge (Mabi): She puts her right hand on her right eye and show some deep animosity by the topic.

JackieAlice (PWI): She is still worried about losing her lover for good.

Jacquelyn (GW): She apologized coldly and calmly demanded that topic to be never mentioned again.

YinMajor (Megaten): She lowered her head and raised it up after a moment, then just wanders off again.

Yin Naginata (GW): She is too busy with communicating to a spirit.

1 personality taken to extreme
1 fear and response
1 failure and response

Jakelvin's major flaw was his gutsy nature of seeing danger and attempting to avoid it...while facing provoked danger at the same time. If you count his "Maniac State Aftereffect", stupidity is the correct word for it because he is either clueless or overall not the brightest bulb of the bunch, he may be dumber than Xeek if possible.

Jakelvin's greatest fear is facing his past family (except for Uknirvin and his adrilji son) like his late wife, Minh; his grandfathers, Kalinthire and Garrun and his father, Jaliji. His pre-response is trying to have a new family while he is in Erinn. If it comes to facing them, he'll most likely hesitate because of either awe or the older auras oppressing him.

Jakelvin's notable failure is repairing his friendship with Dalvar because at the start, Jakelvin was facing a harsh decision after saving Jaeden and a young boy from being struck by Ashley's attacks; either let Ashley get away and possibly return to kill Jaeden or pursue Ashley and lock away the memory so Ashley can restart her life without intending to murder Jaeden. Both have consequences that hardly affect his morals, but affect his relationships with others. He chose to risk some relationships to save a life by locking away Ashley's memory. Dalvar loathes him for that choice and Jakelvin did not expect his first ally to react that harshly. Jakelvin tried to convinced Dalvar that what he does is what must be done, but Dalvar refused to forgive him. Jakelvin was left with one choice, restoring Ashley's memories in exchange with repairing that gap between him and Dalvar. Unfortunately, Ashley somehow had her memories returned and Jakelvin was not the one responsible. Feeling that he missed that opportunity, he regrets still about locking Ashley's memories in the first place; even now, he still not know if Dalvar will ever accept him again as an ally.

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]: Holds grudges. She becomes cold and haughty when people get her mad, and often gets mad abotu very trivial things. When people don't seem repentant, she can completly cut them off.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: She fears being helpless, especially when other people are around. As a result, she became a bit of a loner, and trains by herself with great frequency so she isn't weak.

Name one failure in your character’s past: She blames herself for her mother's suicide.
How did he or she respond to it? She was very depressed and as a result, she is very slow to get into relationships. This feeds into her biggest fear. It also made her very protective of her friends.

How does he or she respond to failures now? She becomes very stubborn and never quits once she gets something in her head. She will work towards her goal until she succeeds.

Wolfe

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]: Grudge holding. If you do something to piss wolfe off, it will be a long time before he's willing to forgive you for it

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: The fear that those close to him will be hurt(Jaena, Nannao). He can't do much for Jaena, and that worries him. but Nannoa? He hired a small army of mercenaries (the Wolves) to protect her.

Name one failure in your character’s past: What he would consider a failure? his mercy. He had Gate trapped in a magic circle at his mercy(so he thinks, it may have been different) instead of killing him, he allowed him to walk away. As of Twilit tears arc, he is really regretting that decision.

How did he or she respond to it? As regent of Emain macha, he used the Wolves as the base of an army with which to oppose Fenrir, thus setting himself as what he considers Fenrir's(and therefore Gate's) only formidable opponent on the open field.

How does he or she respond to failures now?If he fails now, he will try to forget about it by doing something big successful. replace the bad memory with a good one, so to speak

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Peldari has a huge inferiority complex. He came from a world full of super-heroes while he was just a humble lawyer. Given that said super-heroes failed to prevent his untimely demise, upon arrival in Erinn he realized that even those with great power are fallible. Now that he has something like super powers (by his worlds definition) he knows that his are fallible as well. He also believes that since he is a relative newcomer to this world his usefulness is insignificant compared to more powerful inhabitants (such as Rem, Dalvar, Azarune, Teo and Dellinger). So while he constantly works to better himself he will automatically assume he is the weakest and least experienced in any group and thus defers to others far more than necessary.

Pel also comes from a world full of information and due to the internet he had access to large amounts of i9t. Now wanting to learn as much as possible he spends lots of time exploring Erinn alone--often in places where he is gravely outclassed.

Finally Peldari is very committed to his idea of justice and will therefore do everything he can to make sure justice wins out--often to a degree that makes him look foolish. He is slowly accepting that the laws of Erinn are not the law of his world but it is a long and painful process.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
Peldari fears that someday he will become to accustomed to the idea of "Might makes Right" instead of a logical legal system. He's seen too many super- villains try to conquer the world to enforce their own brand of justice and now that he has power he fears he will try to do the same. However he also knows that the super heroes of his world usually save the day and hope that if he becomes corrupted that his friends will realize this and take him down.

Name one failure in your character’s past: A close friend of Peldari was killed by a mob boss. Many years later the opportunity came along for Peldari to prosecute the very man who had killed his friend. He lost the case and the man walked free.

How did he or she respond to it? He felt he had not done right by his friend and as such pulled away from personal relationships and poured himself into his work. Peldari doesn't know this but he did this to such a degree that after he died only a few people showed up to his funeral and none of them stayed very long. Now that he has the power to try to protect his friends Peldari will do so at all cost, even if he knows that they will be revived fairly quickly. If he can find the person who hurt one of his friends he will go out of his way to hurt them back-no matter how outclassed he is.

How does he or she respond to failures now?
HE ius protective of the few friends he has but makes sure not to spend to much time around any one person in case he brings trouble on their heads. He is slowly getting used to the idea that people in Erinn can protect themselves and thus is more free with his friendship.

Thread necromancy:Not always a bad thing. I think I'll post something up to date here soon

I do this again because...honestly? I need to tell and remind myself of all this because I nearly forgot. Would help with fleshing out the character in the future as well.

Temo:
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes: "Workaholic". Temo's mind is set on jobs that would help to protect people's peace and happiness, even if it means the cost of his own.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: Becoming "human". Selfish would be the better word, but he was taught when young that humans are selfish beings that care for their own happiness even if it means killing another. It's something he often tries to prevent through mediation or making himself the punchbag.
Name one failure in your character’s past: Losing Katsuna.
How does he respond to failures now? Really? While he's gotten better psychologically (despite the broken speech and blank expression), I worry he's going to just end up repeating past mistakes.

let's see...new crowd

Yowa
Flaw: Apathy. Side effect of her extremely long life
Fear: Any fears that she might have had have come into fruition a long while back, so this one is not entirely applicable
Failure: Just one? Well, she jumped from long-lived to immortal without considering the consequences, I suppose that counts.

Hatia
Flaw: Her optimism best fits this category. Even when the flaws of what she has done are pointed out, she ignores it, feeling that things will work out. A second flaw would be how easily her attention can be drawn to a subject
Fear: Though she might not seem to have a care in the world, Hatia is worried that her sister is getting too into the mindset of a fighter. Since they don't have a home to return to, though, she doesn't say anything
Failure: Hatia tries a lot of things out, and though she as quite a few successes, the amount of times she has failed to develop a skill is greater. Of minor note is her complete lack of ability with archery.
Typically, she tends to just move on if she can't do something

Yuma
Flaw: Though she would normally be a rather balanced personality, Yuma outright forces herself to be more serious than necessary. In her words, "I can't afford to mess around"
Fear: Aside from family fear, Yuma does not really have a thing for spiders....
Failure: Pass on this for now

Yuurei(I need to stop making characters that begin with 'Y')
Flaw: Alcaholic. He also tends to avoid getting too close to people
Fear: Doing a job that deals almost exclusively in death makes Yuurei all to aware of the nature of mortality, and he fears having to perform it on his friends. The effective immortality of Soul Streamers just confuses him in this regard
Failure: What he views as a failure has literally haunted him to this day

I think that's everyone

Temo wrote:I do this again because...honestly? I need to tell and remind myself of all this because I nearly forgot. Would help with fleshing out the character in the future as well.

--- I couldn't have said this better, Temo.

Jaeden

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Being blonde. And codependency. The latter is one that has fleshed out during RP development. She -must- be attached to someone. She becomes upset if there is no one she can attach herself to. So how is this a flaw? Just wait until the person she's attached herself with starts trying to make friendly with others. The term Jae-lousy has been coined.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
RP Development has rid young Jaeden of her forestry fears. Spiders are still a problem. Since becoming stronger, Jaeden's true fears are of a social nature, and stems from her desire to be attached to one person in specific.Her fear is that she will lose their attention / affections. The response? Extreme jealousy toward others, and a drive to push herself to be worthy.
Name one failure in your character’s past:
In a word? Angron.
How did he or she respond to it?
Avoidance. The same tactic she uses for every failure. And then she goes seeking for comfort hugs / cuddles.

Lextacy

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Outspoken. A little too outspoken. With complete disregard toward social standards, morals, or inter personal relationships.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
She doesn't acknowledge fear on an inner, self-revelation level. So if it's there, for any type of topic, it's deeply hidden under layers of blatantly rude subconsciousness. How does she respond to it? Violence and cat-calls.
Name one failure in your character’s past:
Agreeing to make a weapon contract. Or not off'ing Jaeden. Or Liiam. Or Galin. Or Honeko. Or Justin. Or Darian. Or any other inferior personages that she can't remember the names of.
How did he or she respond to it?
More violence and cat-calls.

Sadrielle

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Sensitivity. Extremely sensitive. Criticism is met with scorn, if not a provoked attack.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
That she'll wake up, and Erinn will be a mere passing fantasy. She's decided to anchor herself in this world, through any means possible. Including just-in-case measures if she -does- awaken.
Name one failure in your character’s past:
Getting caught. Not killing every fool in sight who DARED to contain the sorceress Sadrielle. Having the momentary doubt that maybe it -was- something to be required to end the cycle of sorcery.
How did he or she respond to it?
Ensuring that such a situation never happens again. Ever. Death will be a last resort

Mariella:
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Short tempered/Dragon Rage. She becomes extremely violent and will attack anyone, including those she loves. It has led to her own husband having to physically restrain her.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
Losing those she loves due to her flaws. She doesn't really handle it. She becomes extremely emotional and desperate. All in a non threatening manner, of course.
Name one failure in your character’s past:
Maintaining a successful romantic relationship with Temo.
How did he or she respond to it?
She turned into a man (there's more to this story, naturally xD).
How does he or she respond to failures now?
She's pretty determined. Somewhat numb to failures or personal issues. If she fails, she feels she has no choice BUT to keep trying. The fail in itself is irrelevant.

Shinnichi:
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Holding back his urges as an Incubus. The more he holds back, the worse the outcome. He becomes blinded once he has snapped.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
His biggest weakness at the moment is undoubtedly Dalvar. Her being harmed in anyway would tear him apart.
Name one failure in your character’s past:
Holding every element of his life together. Trying to fix one thing, his marriage failed. Trying to correct another issue, he was imprisoned by his own kind and tortured. Trying to handle his most recently responsibility, a young child; he has no idea where he is
How did he or she respond to it?
He moved on from the marriage, he escaped imprisonment, and he's looking for the child. Basically, he takes a while, but he trudges on.
How does he or she respond to failures now?
He drinks. No longer concerned with appearing perfect to the outsider looking in, he also smokes quite a bit to relieve stress. (He's always smoked, but since people see it as a nasty habit, he's usually hid that fact from others.)

Momo:
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
He's incredibly shy. This make it difficult to communicate his needs. When he REALLY needs something, he uses ventriloquism. The only problem is his emotions can't always be accurately conveyed.
Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
People hating him or being attacked. He usually runs away screaming. He'll summon a puppet if he is struck, however.
Name one failure in your character’s past:
Defeating the guardians at Erinn's gates.
How did he or she respond to it?
He didn't have the chance before having his memory wiped. His true persona, however, knows to step more lightly in the future.
How does he or she respond to failures now?
A failure is a failure and the past cannot be changed. Simply do NOT fail again

Hyuponia

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
Hyuponia is extremely overbearing, using his own extensive life as a template for every decision and experience he encounters as well as how he judges people. This leads to misconceptions, sometimes very skewed, as the world he remembers is always changing and often times winds up being very different from the present. This causes humorous and sometimes VERY dangerous results.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
Hyuponia is terrified of becoming a 'monster,' or in some way creating one. His definition of a monster is someone or something who has forsaken morality and compassion for the sake of personal gain or selfish ends, or otherwise become wild and unreachable through reasoning. (Animal like.) Hyuponia attempts very hard to cling to his sense of personal justice and obligations as an immortal to help the world of Erinn.

Name one failure in your character’s past:
Hyuponia participated in warfare for Cichol in return for answers as to what he was, where in this new world, and why he was there. Cichol's answers only served to delude the Incubus however, who was a Fomor Millitean and therefore valuable to the Fomor King only if he were obedient.

How did he or she respond to it?
Realizing he had been tricked and was only serving as one of Cichol's weapons, Hyuponia fled and took up the art of Necromancy under the Arc Lich of Metus, who at the time had turned to the practice as a means to escape himself from Irinid's curse upon Iria. He has been missing in the direct chronology of RPS events until just recent dates.

How does he or she respond to failures now?
Hyuponia is very careful of any mistakes he makes, as he believes that since he is immortal, he will live to regret any of the repercussions of his actions. Mild failures serve to annoy him, and he is constantly searching for ways to avoid them. In DOING this however he tends to over complicate his problems.

Krystal Crusade
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]: Oh jeez...... I'm pretty certain many have pointed this out in RPs MANY times.... but Cru's simply too helpful or too nice at times. She helps anyone she considers a friend, and when the incident would've otherwise caused massive carnage with others, she may be too nice and give them a "talk", or otherwise just punch em and move on.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: Betrayal and... quite honestly, though not as apparent, being alone.. I'll say this very simply, but Cru's trust in others is sometimes misplaced. This leads to really bad hit later on when her "friends" turn on her. There are litterally MANY accounts that she considers herself to be betrayed (And 2 of the big ones were in RP... from pretty much the "same" person... another was background info). She doesn't really respond too well, but she's gotten better. It often results in a loss of friendship/avoidance, or just plain depression. But eventually she gets over it... somewhat.

Name one failure in your character’s past: Family and protecting that family. She's lost her family TWICE now... but the biggest was caused by a betrayal of some Black Knights she was really fond of (They had actually been nice... that's where her fear came from). She wasn't able to save or help her parents at all.

How did he or she respond to it? VERY poorly. The first time, she was blinded by rage and grief, and ended up binding Layris' soul to her with magic, who then went to massacre the Black Knights in a calm, crazy rage...

How does he or she respond to failures now? She moves on. Simply put, she's sad for a bit, but she confronts and gets over it quicker and quicker each time. (Way too many things knocked her down and they don't affect her as much now)

Layris
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]: While she does have a very high kindness and helpfulness belief, her true flaw is her curiosity. She's simply too curious. Try to have a private convo, and Layris will try and find a way to listen in, even going by spying or even running/flying up and going "What're you talking about?"

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: Like Krystal, she hates betrayal, but she also doesn't like being alone (Ironic because both Krystal and Layris often times.... are alone). She responds in the same way to depression... maybe a bit worse because she would have no trouble icing the person a bit to show her anger. As for being alone, Layris will try seeking friends and companions to have fun with when she sees them.

Name one failure in your character’s past: Family, again. She lost her dad, who she loved dearly... and who was killed.. by her BEST FRIEND. Her failure in this lies that she wasn't able to help her dad, and ran away from the Black Knights who had killed him.

How did he or she respond to it?She ran, hid in a town, and eventually sealed herself away in a book, only to later be bound to Krystal, and kill the same group that had killed her father. Avoidance would be the best explanation.

How does he or she respond to failures now? She still avoids the problem if she can. Often times she runs away from it, but has to confront it. She tries fixing it now, but she'll avoid it if she can't fix it.

Farin Kelset

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]: I'd have to say her attitude. If you RP with Kel, you'll find that she's more than likely to threaten you, ridicule you, and yell authority-based orders at someone. She speaks her mind, which can lead to problems, and she has no problem throwing quips back at people when they do it to her. She's argumentative, and often bold and rash. (-points at the Official Art Thread, first few pages on the 2nd set, where Kel and Dal's elf, Elaha (I think) basically went at it with crude remarks... Even though Elaha had remarks about Kel's choice of men... and posistion as a guard... Kel always found a way to counter it/ come back with something else.... in the end stating she was a better shot kinda ended that arguement.)

On the other hand, the moment you get on her good side (Be it you're a child, or somehow got past her remarks and made friends with her.), She becomes a lot nicer. She still throws in her remarks, but it's jokingly, and more sweet.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: Her fear... She doesn't truly have one yet, but at this point it would be losing her mind. Too many Cast wipes made her VERY wary of that. That and the whole Desert Ghost Disease thing.

Name one failure in your character’s past: This one... in her eyes, it is having EVER served under Castanea as a leader of the elven guards. She absolutely hates it now, because someone made her realize just how stupid her comments on leaving were.

How did he or she respond to it? Well, she performed one last "act" of guardship, by killing Koudy, her past/current lover, and then quiting and going to live with him when he came back.

How does he or she respond to failures now? She confronts it... Not always how people think. She'll go at it head on... maybe killing a person she had failed to apprehend or kill before, or she'll simply let it slide/take the simplest way out. (Quitting, or realizing it's stupid and ignoring it).

Jerle. Or Shannara... he really does go by either or.

Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]: His devotion to the truth. He is extremely honest, but also riddle-like and enigmatic. He sees and interprets the truth as he sees it and acts on it. He never lies, but he does bend the truth and leave things out, but only to protect others. The fact he never lies shows just how extreme he is in this. It really does drive everything... he never goes on anything he believes is a lie.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it: Being unable to help Krystal or her friends. He may be a sword, a spirit, and a jerkface at times (With his annoying "Knows all" comments, and holding back on things.), but he has a very deep caring (And love) for Krystal and Layris, and will do anything he can to protect them, even going so far as to materialize himself, and fight or even gather others for this purpose.

Name one failure in your character’s past: He doesn't really consider himself per se to have a failure. His failure, he believes, is withholding information when it would have been vital to others. He believes his failures are actually failures of others, and he has yet to truly "fail" in his duties to Krystal... The only thing he failed to do so, is when Krystal got kidnapped by Dark because she didn't take Shannara in the first place with her.

How did he or she respond to it? He yelled at Krystal... and eventually made sure he watched over her most of the time. He basically got help to stop Dark, and boy... was he TICKED.

How does he or she respond to failures now? He simply makes sure he doesn't fail again. He still withholds information that he deems unnecessary or unimportant, even more so if it would hurt the person(s) in question, or Krystal and Layris/ her friends.

~Dalvar’s Activity Book!~

Adhamh
Name one personality trait your character has that is taken to extremes [and therefore a flaw]:
-Definitely his love for animals. I mean, if it landed him in jail, I think it’s a flaw.

Name one fear your character has and how he or she responds to it:
-Losing those he loves. He enrages and turns into a yeti and goes all “ADHAMH SMASH!”

Name one failure in your character’s past:
-Inability to defend the wolves of Tir

How did he or she respond to it?
-Er….Faunus happened..

How does he or she respond to failures now?
-He just..takes it and lets it eat him up on the inside.