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YinDragon — Nuzlocke Guide: Part 2 - Creating Characters
Published: 2014-01-03 22:02:12 +0000 UTC; Views: 22530; Favourites: 608; Downloads: 291
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Okay, so I kinda lied. This part was supposed to include both character creation and story writing, but as I was putting it together, I kept thinking up more crap to add and it got too long, so I had to split it up. That means that there will now be 4 parts total. XD
Once again, I hope you find this helpful!
If you have any questions or concerns, or if you have any additional advice you think I should have included, then please let me know!
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Comments: 83
simple: take your best qualities
and now take your worst flaws
and now adds more flaws (like insecurity, or the reverse)
now give it a look that suits the personality
here you go
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What about a fanfic-canon character. Like Princess Sofia?
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Omg. I've read through this guide several times, and only now I realize how funny "Badass McSqeenix"'s name is. I was just like.
"Yeah. Yin is right. Designs like those are WAY too complex. Yeesh. Look at all those belts! He almost seems like something that could be designed by Nomu-HOLY CRAP THAT NAME!"
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This page is probably the best and most important page of all the pages.
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Then make him a Jerkass. Everyone hates a jerkass.
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Of course a jerkass can be lovingly hated. If that makes any sense. But for all I know htats what your going for. XD
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Nah, I'm going for the kind of hatred when you want the person to die a horrible, painful death. It's going to be extremely fun for me.
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Ahh in that case you can cast him as an abusive uncaring kinda jerkass who aint funny at all.
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Mmhmm~! Or, at least, I think so. I'm gonna write it all out first, and that'll take a while.
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Um, alright...? But why do you want your protagonist as an unlovable jerkass? Wouldn't that just detract from the experience?
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Ah, well, it's actually part of her past that makes her an unlovable jerkass. Her pokemon are going to be set up to balance out her character. Plus, she's only one of four protagonists planned so far for the story, which takes place over seven games. She's meant to be the complete opposite of one of the other protagonists and to not get along with another. Besides, it's a nice change from regular protagonists. Instead of following the 'hero', you're following the 'villain' (though that's not really what I'd call her. She's more like an 'anti-hero'. She still does the things a hero would do, but in a much more villainous way.) It'll be tough, but I think I can manage it without detracting from the experience
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Hm... But what about the unlovable part? Sure, everyone in the story may hate them, but the viewer should be able to find some parts of the story enjoyable because of her, yet still have moments where the viewer hated her because of how she acted after her Pokemon was killed, her Pokemon commenting on how much of a terrible person she is.
But, what about the other main characters? Try to make them similarly but in a different way, the main character should be able to make a good team with their pokemon, regardless of personality. Thus, I believe they should be able to easily adapt to new pokemon.
Your starter should be similar in that way
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Mmhmm. I've got my plans, and I think it'll turn out great. It's really difficult to explain without giving away the story. But trust me, I've got it all planned out so that the story is enjoyable. No worries!!
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Alright! Could you give me a link to it once you get it done? It sounds like a very interesting story to me, being really unique too.
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Yeah, sure! I've got the sketch done for page one, but I'm visiting my dad and I don't have the save with me right now. If we only stay for the planned week, I should be able to finish it by the end of the week after that, probably. (I draw on my brother's computer, so I can only do work when he's not using it.)
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About developing the characters of pokemon, what if the pokemon you are portraying are basically animals? How would you go about keeping them important to the plot? Or is that just a bad idea?
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When you mean basically animals, I assume you mean one's that don't talk and don't seem to have any kind of connectioncdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/… "> with anyone else. I would suggest maybe at a night while all the others are asleep, you would see said pokemon smiling down on all of them (possibly add some kind of flashback?) If you want one of these you would probably want to
cdncache-a.akamaihd.net/items/… "> make them one of the ones that don't need much support from the others or the trainer, and be a decent battler (examples that might portray this well are Quagsire (who can easily be imagined as the Quiet one), Roserade, or maybe Zebstrika, or pretty much basically whatever you want. You may make it have some sort of emotional bond with another pokemon, and end up sacrificing themselves maybe? Just pouring out all my ideas for this kind of character, hope it helps
Meeplocke
(Gosh I feel formal)
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Thank you for advice! Those are all good ideas that I will definitely take into account, if I ever get around to starting my nuzlocke... LOL I also laughed a bit when you mentioned quaqsire... After all, if you've seen my page... XD
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Saw it lol. Still on page 1 of Nuzlocke as well. only reason I thought of Quagsire was probably Nuzrooke
Google it then READ IT!!!!! Not enough people do and it's hands-down one of the best nuzlockes I've read among kick@$$ mode and Myths of Unova.
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I'll check it out!
Both of my favorite nuzlockes were discontinued ;v; In Black and White and Alexial's Emerald Nuzlocke Challenge....
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Woah! what is that!? I only typed the stuff in black.
Sorry
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...Hmm...Now that I think about that, yes...this IS true!!
I am a Fan Fiction Writer, and I LOVE to write about characters who over come stuff. Because of this, I stress on Characterization quite a lot.
I ask myself when I am thinking on what a Character would do: "How will this help/hurt the character?" "Does this seem REASONABLE? Would someone like this do that?" "Does this amount to anything or is it just filler?" (That is a bit more with the story. 
This DOES help. Thank-you again. Onto part 3.
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Ummm...what if I wanted to import a certin character from a certin deppressing video game with a decent explenation on how said character got there?
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I think if you're going to use a character who is dark and depressing or just really depressed, the character origin maybe can be hinted at with a prolouge, that's what i am doing with one nuzlocke who had lost his first starter his first attempt being a trainer and the concept would be a good team with cold hearted trainer.
its more of the tone of your story and the supporting cast. I have read some stories and a few nuzlocke were the trainer it focused on actually was very dark and normally you wouldn't enjoy them BUT their supporting cast mainly their pokemon was used in the right way that will make both the pokemon and the trainer better.
I may not have done well with getting nuzlockes out more of an artistic issue then the story issue, But i was pretty good at my creative writing class.
Hope this helped
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Pearl: Lucas from Mother 3 (backstory combines Mother 3 eith SSB, and adds a few more stuff)
Heartgold: The "protagonist" (not revealed yet, but his backstory in it's entirety is in Pearl)
Thanks for the tips.
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Holy crap; I suddenly feel like everything makes sense! Thank you so much for this!
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This is phenomonal advice. As a writer myself and one who is a sucker for good Character Development the part about character flaws is great. When thinking up a character it's a good idea to give them flaws but not flaws that make no sense.
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Thanks this is great!
I was thinking of doing a nuzlocke but you're making me rethink it. NOT a bad thing!
i procrastinate a lot, so this is a good dose of reality for me and everyone thinking of this. You should be proud!
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This is also extremely helpful. I like to rush into things (That's my ADHD thurr,) but when i do that, I never give a story enough time to run its course, or have the characters become fully fleshed out. This guide really helps with the character development stage.
For example, in a personal Ruby run that I was gonna make a comic but didn't cuz I didn't take notes and was planning on making a different run once I got a DS, my Dustox, the first Pokemon I ever caught in the run, died in Victory Road against a- big surprise here- critical hit. Obviously, I didn't learn from the mistake as a gamer and decided to rush into the E4 with a team of level 47s. That type of stuff makes it hard to have your character grow. "Oh, man, Elsa died. I'm so sad. I won't have this happen again. WELP TEAM GIT YER SEVERELY UNDERLEVELED ASSES IN THERE AND WIN THIS FOR HER."
The natures/personalities section helps, too. I was cursed with the Bashful Gyarados every single time I played a Hoenn game, so not having to follow the listed natures and instead going with what flows would've helped. In my current run, 4 out of my 6 Pokemon have Attack-Boosting natures (2 of them are the same one,) so I think I should differentiate between them a bit.
Another thing-
Your Pokemon, like your protagonist, should develop throughout the course of the comic, too, correct? (SO. MANY. COMMAS.) For example, a Pokemon with, say, a Timid nature shouldn't stay shy the whole time, right? They should begin to come out and deal with things themselves. Another example. Say a Docile Natured Pokemon is great friends with another teammate. That "other teammate" dies. Would this be a good time to have the Docile Pokemon assert itself and become peaceful no more? I don't have either of those natures on my team, soyeah I'm not asking for the sake of my comic.)
Once again, thanks, this is helpful, keep it up.
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Wow, this is amazing advice. Your first guide actually convinced me to start the nuzlocke I had been wanting to write for a long time. I've all ready started playing the game, and I'm taking great notes.
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What a nice collection of advices! This is well-thought and a helpful tackle on character building. But I can't stop thinking about something: the target audience, being high school and college students. Is there a study on the subject? Does it come from personal experience? Does this keep in account DA or the nuzlocke forums, too? Tumblr? Other sites, like marriland or such, which usually provide a section in their forums for nuzlockes? I'm honestly interested, because on one hand it looks like an obvious target group, but on the other the Pokémon franchise has been going on enough for it to gather and keep older fans, while still being appealing to a younger spectrum, both falling off from that high-school/college range. That, and comics are a medium surprisingly accessible, geographically and all-age wise...
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There's no official study, but I did have a poll about a year ago, and about 82% were in the 15-24 age range.
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I see! Thanks for the reply
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A Mary Sue, simply put, is a character that is absolutely perfect. They have no flaws, they never lose/always win and are loved by all with no enemies whatsoever.
(Taken from "the mary sue website since I couldnt come up with good examples
Some examples of a Mary Sue that you might be familiar with would include Bella Swan, the perfectly ordinary (and yet somehow special) heroine of the Twilight Saga; Mary, from There’s Something About Mary; Dorothy, from The Wizard of Oz; and a good number of the Disney princesses.
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I hope I explain this correctly...
A Mary Sue is a perfect character, something no real human is. As in they can't die and are over powered.
I hope this is helpful and understanding.
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Once again, great job. So many great tips! ^^
I really didn't think of just giving personalities instead of going along with what personality they have.
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This is SO helpful!
YinDragon, you are a genius, I worship you.
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Thank you. Seriously, this is awesomely nice of you to provide tips for future nuzlockers. When pokebank comes out I plan on wiping my copy of Y starting my own thanks to this. I'll see what comes out of it.
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not being able to talk is kinda a nuzlocke mot point..
otherwise yup moar.
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*bows to the nuzlocke god*
This is sooo useful. I'm always especially worried about turning a character into a Mary Sue, but this gives some good tips. ^^
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Great tutorial 
Personally this is is my favorite part: creating characters, defining each relationships, imagining their background, their development etc
This is also the hardest part. I noticed that in many nuzlockes, many main characters have always pretty much the same personality. It's not really a problem since I like this kind of characters (cynical, sassy, hate being ordered around etc)and they are pretty endearing (which is probably why most are written this way) but after 15 stories, it can feel a bit repetitive.
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