I started this blog to provide some pointers for beginning roleplayers, and now it's time I added some insightful content.
Today's topic is Loldemort, in all his varying incarnations.*
I'm sure everyone's familiar with ol' Tom Riddle from the Harry Potter series by now. (Oh, God, that I weren't...) I'm not talking about him, though he's really a very hackneyed character; I'm talking about the player characters in World of Warcraft who just absolutely have to be evil, just like him.
And not just evil. I mean, bottomlessly, soul-suckingly, kitten-torturingly evil. So evil that people cringe from you when you walk by--yet you look so good in that tuxedo.
In other words, Loldemort is the guy who's trying so hard to be irredeemably bad that everyone just winds up laughing at him. He usually manifests as a warlock or a rogue or an evil paladin who's on his way to becoming a Death Knight. (No, Daemien, I'm not talking about you. Your guy isn't laughably evil. He's just obnoxious. And it's fun.)
Sometimes Loldemort is secretly a lich, a vampire, or a werewolf--or a half-Blood Elf who's spying on the Alliance!!! Well, I hate to pull the plug on you, but your guy would be decomposing rapidly if he were a lich; there are no vampires in Warcraft canon; and if you were a werewolf, you'd live in Pyrewood all the time and never venture out. (Oh, and the half-belf wannabes: You're not. Half-elves look like elves. Get used to it.)
Remember: Gothic horror is not cruise-control for RP. Sometimes, your average Joe is more fun and effective than Doctor Baron von Evil-Satan.** I'll explain in the next post, using my own dear Jeremias as an example.
UPDATE! It is very difficult to maintain a reasonable level of evilness in a character. We have now witnessed that with the aforementioned Daemien. His story went completely off the deep end, with a doppleganger and summoned demons that resulted in serious and unwanted repercussions to other characters. We're now having to patch that up as fast as we can, trying to tie off all the loose ends, without being as ridiculous ourselves.
I promise that Bayer is making a lot of money from the Knights of Dusk right now.
This is why I strongly recommend you not play the eeeeeevil bad guy. It's just too easy to screw up.
* I can't take credit for "Loldemort." That name was, as far as I know, coined by one "Tarquin" of the Feathermoon US server.
** I can't take credit for "Doctor Baron von Evil-Satan", either. That one was concocted by Burnie Burns of RoosterTeeth Productions (makers of "Red vs. Blue," among others).
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6 comments:
Awwww you're making me want to make an insanely evil guy,perhaps with great hair! >.> Oh and does this site have a counter for how many people have come to it?
I wish, I truly wish I were half the nerd Jere is. Then maybe I could figure out how to put one in here...maybe make the text sparkle or something.
And what is with you and the hair, anyway? *grin*
Go to blogpatrol.com you can get one there.
Awesome assessment on evil characters in World of Warcraft. It's difficult to play an evil character in such a way that:
1. People actually want to roleplay with you, and
2. The character doesn't come across as horrifically cheesy.
I found that the best evil characters are the ones who follow the adage, "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions." These are inherently good people who choose bad means to accomplish what was originally positive and helpful goals. In time, their efforts consume them and they appear to be evil people in truth.
I've got screenshots that I took months ago when I was roleplaying with a kal'dorei. He kept dropping very specific hints about his demonic heritage and then broke down in whispers that he had this huge story planned for the character where he'd be hunted by the people he encountered and so on, but no one ever took him seriously. Y'think?
I planned on using that conversation one day on my site for a similar discussion!
And regarding half elves? There's some question of their appearance. While half elf Arator the Redeemer looks like a sin'dorei in the game, Kalec's half elf form is actually a human model with blue hair. In the comics, Kalec looked like a somewhat bulky human male. According to the roleplaying game guide, they tend to carry characteristics of both parents. Mind you, the roleplaying game just adapted common table-top roleplaying conventions to the Warcraft universe, but it's still a somewhat viable guide.
Also, half elves -- especially of quel'dorei stock, which is what the sin'dorei originally were before splitting off and consuming magic -- are very common within the Warcraft universe. I think that the vast majority of them can be found in Theramore, where the new Alliance has placed its roots under Jaina Proudmoore. Not too surprising, since I think Jaina supposedly has a half elf sibling!
Damned half breed, eh? They run rampant in both the universe and roleplayers' minds. Sometimes you have to wonder what happened to all of the full breed characters!
An honor indeed to have you visit, Cynra! Your thoughts are always welcome.
Now, these things I did not know about half-elves. Apparently WoWWiki needs some updating. Thanks for the correction.
People, listen to the lady; she knows what she's talking about!
When you say people you mean me, right.............??
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