| Welcome to JTF Squaretable. We hope you enjoy your visit. You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| Character motivations; Figuring out issues & asking for input | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 11 2012, 01:12 PM (365 Views) | |
| Wookiee71 | Feb 11 2012, 01:12 PM Post #1 |
|
Sequential Art Jedi Master
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
I've been thinking a lot lately about what Hartt's motivations should be. There's been input given that there's a little too much aggression. I agree to a point, but I am thinking that while he should always be that level of goody-two-shoes, a little edge is good. But I also see that among the true and the pseudo-faces, Hartt's place is a little...muddled. I don't feel like there's a solid place he exists. So, it got me running through what his motivations really are. I've made him less driven for a title because I'm less driven for it. Maybe that's a wrong way to go, but there's more to it I won't go into here. If I go with the D&D concept, which is where I took it from, he's a knight of the Church. So, holding to a chivalrous code is a good start, but how relatable is that in a modern setting? I like the idea of trying to be a good man at all times and do what's right, as well as doing right by the fans of the show. Is that enough, though? What else should he be striving for to propel him as a character? Wins over heels, obviously. But he can't win all the time. I've been looking online for articles about a hero's motivations. I know there's the idea that a hero suffers for his successes and that big shining end where everything is neatly wrapped up is only for fairy tale heroes. There's also the idea that a hero is a walking tragedy. Anyone who gets close to him is subject to peril because of the hero's surroundings and situations. If you guys see anything I'm not addressing or even if you just want to say "STFU and write your guy better!", please leave me some input. It felt like a heavy enough subject that I hoped a board discussion would be ok. Thanks. |
![]() | |
![]() |
|
| Flouzemaker | Feb 11 2012, 01:34 PM Post #2 |
|
The Luther Burger
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
There are probably too many sub-questions there, so I'll try to dissect a little...
To me, the character motivation isn't trying to do what's right at all times. That's not the motivation, that's the result of the motivation. The character motivation is what drives him to be a good man at all times. A quick example... Talion is currently trying to be a good man at all times. His motivation is expunging himself of the bad person he was before he got a mask ang gave himself the new name of Talion. That's his motivation... and trying to be a good man is a result of that motivation. So what you're really looking for is... the reason that compels Chris Hartt to do what he does. He sees wrongs being committed, and he feels he must redress them. Find out why, and you've found your character motivation. |
![]() |
|
| RedRajah | Feb 11 2012, 02:35 PM Post #3 |
|
Shocked Woona is Shocked
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
"Isn't our job to fight Evil?!" "No, our job is to protect Good. There's a slight difference..." |
| And here's where I pretend to be a writer... | |
![]() |
|
| rcole | Feb 11 2012, 04:49 PM Post #4 |
|
Dr. Weird
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Good question. Flouze is pretty much spot on... once you find out why you're character wants to be a hero, the rest is fairly easy. It's usually something that inspires the character... For Rob Cole his motivation was to not be like his parents. To not be part of the happy-joy party scene, the gangs, the drugs, and the cycle of family violence he was brought up in. He was inspired by people like Ricky Steamboat, but he never felt "worthy" of ever achieving those goals. When he becomes a heel, he does so because of the frustration in not achieving his goals... something always triggers his turns. When he becomes a face, it's because something happens to remind him of what he wanted to be and he's ashamed of what he became. |
![]() |
|
| orklad | Feb 11 2012, 05:08 PM Post #5 |
|
The Luther Burger
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Yeah...the easiest thing to do is to use a motivation that makes sense...either something that you can work with, or something that you've seen in people around you. Even for crazy people. Rick Marley is/was motivated by the fact that he has a raging ego and a massive inferiority complex. He wants to prove he's the best, and will do anything to make that happen...which is why he flips so easily from face to heel (I've always looked at him as a tweener, since his level of cheating is pretty constant). Spectre's motivation defines what he is...he's dedicated to the idea that everyone has a Beast living inside of them...that core of negative emotions that (if harnessed) could be used to propel them to heights beyond their wildest dreams...that all of the polite, happy facades that people put up are just lies, and that he needs to tear them down in order to show everyone the truth. For Hartt, it seems like he'd be less of a babyface and more like an avenging angel...like a modern day Knight Templar (they weren't known for being nice guys). If you've seen Serenity: The Operative...a guy that does horrible, terrible things in the service of what he looks on as the greater good. That would be a bit of a darker turn for him, and may very well have been done before, so grain of salt and all that. |
|
Orklad or Don, Lord of Pudding | |
![]() |
|
| Pickyatwork | Feb 11 2012, 05:21 PM Post #6 |
|
Unregistered
|
I like to write down questions and figure out how a character would answer them. |
|
|
| TheotherJC | Feb 11 2012, 05:23 PM Post #7 |
![]()
Reducto
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Yeah, I pretty much just cheat. AsH is my general, every day self... Weaver is my super angry/depressed version. Drake is the fun of being naive about a lot of things. So really I just get into whatever mood necessary and react as I would react. |
![]() |
|
| dalbellorage | Feb 16 2012, 02:18 PM Post #8 |
|
Carl Brutananadilewski
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
Motivation + personality creates action which reveals character. You can start out with any archetype. It's the why and the how that creates the stories. I will tell you honestly the Prophets of Rage eventually failed in PVW because I didn't have a motivation for them. I didn't have anything for them other than just do your job and compete if I even knew they were competing. (Damn the length of PVW products! )But separated in two different promotions (IPW and TSWF) Derek and Shadoe have actual motivations. Call them desires. I think the first thing you may want to do is investigate the character's personality. What is he like? What gets him going. What is he afraid of? What does he want out of life? AJ Black used to complain to me in SPW that Shadoe Rage came off as, basically, Marissa's wife. Everything was about her. Well, honestly, everything was about her. He loved her absolutely and was willing to sacrifice himself for her well-being. His motivation was to be the good partner and supporter that he'd never been in the past. Well, that could have been accomplished by becoming a full-time homemaker, but that isn't Rage's personality. He's also dangerously unstable. So his motivation of being the best partner he could be and dangerously unstable manifested into actions of "I'll kill for you, please let me kill for you" and it made sense that this would manifest into feuds with opponents who either had the potential to show her up or actually did show her up. So with the Paladin there's something about him that says try to be a good man all the time. Great motivation. But why does he try to be a good man and what does a good man mean to him. Defend the fans? Cool. So who's attacking the fans? Or how does he interpret the fans being attacked? Then you have your action. Maybe he's really a sadist like the old Knights Templar ... maybe he's like Mel Gibson and obsessed with the idea of self-flagellation so he throws himself against the biggest villains to feel that pain. Maybe he's actually lying to himself and that's what he wants others to believe but he really just is an egomaniac. (Sowing the seeds for a heel turn.) |
![]() |
|
| Tracy | Feb 16 2012, 10:34 PM Post #9 |
|
Shillmasta T
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
STFU and write your guy better! I mean, what's all this whiny crap? Pshaw! I kid, I kid. ![]() You know what you said about Hartt being like the D&D Paladin archetype? I say go with that. Just make Hartt's religion wrestling! Seriously! You look at the character like that, and it makes for a character who is A: SUPREMELY motivated. This is a guy who LIVES the sport, and he LIVES his code. If Hartt wins a match, he can take comfort in that as proof of his righteousness. And if he should lose a few matches, he can come to something of a crisis of faith, where he wonders if perhaps he did something wrong to cause his loss. Then, when Hartt gets back on the right path, you can say it was because when things were tough, Hartt strengthed his spiritual resolve. Another good thing about looking at it like that is that should things feel too stale for you and you decide to take Hartt heel, all it takes is to show the readers that Hartt has become prideful and egocentric in his words and actions. |
![]() WWO: RELOADED! Yep...it's back! | |
![]() |
|
| rcole | Feb 17 2012, 08:59 PM Post #10 |
|
Dr. Weird
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
That is an excellent idea, Tracy. I may steal that. |
![]() |
|
| « Previous Topic · PVW · Next Topic » |





![]](http://z5.ifrm.com/static/1/pip_r.png)





)

7:21 PM Jul 10