Character dolls vs. Companion dolls vs. Art dolls vs. ???

Most of my dolls have names and personalities... some of them only have one or the other. :\ But my poor Lati White Lily is just that, a Lati White Lily. Don't get me wrong she's adorable and I love her but I've never taken the time to sit down with her and figure out who she is and what she's all about.

My Bobobie sprite is kinda the same what. She has a name but thats about it. I don't really have any story for her other than she clings close to her teddy bear. ^^;

 

I don't stress too much about name or backstory, though I usually have a nebulous sort of character/personality/appearance sketch in mind when I'm planning them. Having or not having a name/backstory/etc doesn't really seem to affect how long a doll stays or anything, it's simply whether the doll has a sufficient amount of amazing/worth having around-ness for the price they cost. Sounds cold, perhaps, but I have to keep a lid on it somehow!

Raven

 

I only have one doll and a floating head, but here's my two cents for what it's worth. My shushu, Mina, has a name and a personality that I'm still figuring out. It's not a matter of my doll 'telling' me her personality, as I'm in the camp that think they are just dolls, but rather a matter of me figuring out who I want her to be. When I was waiting for Mina, I originally planned on her being a different character of mine, Eleanor "Nora" Archer. When she got home I realized that the sculpt didn't quite fit, and I'm planning on a different one for Nora.

On the other hand, my MNF juri head is just that, a head. No idea on personality or name yet.

 

My dolls have names, but no personality. I don't feel the needs for them to have one. I don't think I'm not attached to them because of it, it just make them more versatile, I can change their hair without worrying about their feelings or stuff like that ^.^ I still find it a bit strange that so many people feels the need to have character for their doll. Not as in "it's a strange things to do" but more "THAT much people have characters they need dolls for?"

you know. I feel that for some people it could be more because they feel the BJD hobby wants them to have character for they doll otherwise they can't be part of it. like a fad? or maybe it can be a useful justification to buy more dolls?

I hope I don't offend anyone

 

My Tania Trapeze has no story or character, and goes simply by her mold name.

I like her best that way.

My Volks Rose has a name, but still no back story.

 

It's nice to see that not everyone here has a character in mind when buying a doll. I'm trying to develop a personality for my dolls just because I think it would make planning a theme, outfit, or photoshoot easier and the result would be more interesting than just a picture of a doll. My girl has a name that I barely use and I'm trying to make a personality. My boy, though...I have no idea. His face exudes personality but I have no idea what it might be. Also no name. I think he might just be a cool looking guy.

Before I read all the posts on DoA about dolls being a character, though, the thought had never even crossed my mind. They were just dolls to me.

 

i can see where youre coming from but its pretty natural to give them personalities, i think. id find them kinda boring otherwise - i cant write stories or shoot photostories without personalities, and my dolls are versions of pre-exisiting characters of mine. i think its like that for alot of people. plus they look human and their faces have expressions, when i look at them, it makes me think and feel things, thus = personality

i find it hard to imagine them without personalities @_@ hehe

 

Mine all have names, personalities, backstories--I couldn't have a doll without that, since that is how I know and bond with them. While they would still be very pretty dolls, a lot of the specialness would be gone for me. Personally, I think creative endevours are always worthwhile and that includes having fun with dolly characters.

Well, I can't speak for everyone else, but I find it enjoyable. I like story telling and creating characters--it's fun for me, in fact that is the most enjoyable part the hobby for me. Coming up with stories for them is primarily how I play with my dolls. I don't think it's at all strange that so many do this (not that everyone has to or should, or course), because there's something about them, this spark that they have that makes it very easy to do. Plus there's a lot of folks who use dolls to embody their pre-existing characters as well. Anyway, I really don't think it's a fad or justification, but rather something that comes very naturally with the territory.

 

none of my dolls have names or characters

i dunno why but for me having names and character make them seem too "real"

i prefer to keep the "doll" image ^^

i like it that way

 

If I see a doll and it either inspire a name and character, or fit one I already have, I don't buy it. I don't know what I'd even do with a doll that doesn't have a character or personality. I can find things that are just as beautiful that AREN'T this expensive or sensitive to yellowing, etc., if I just want to decorate a shelf, you know?

I totally understand just buying the dolls because they're pretty dolls, and being a collector and all that, it's just not right for me personally at all. The storytelling and characters are the important part of the hobby for me.

I find it interesting how everyone collects a little differently!

 

My dolls have names and personalities but they weren't pre-existing characters from a story or anything. Actually my first doll was a normal human doll and my second an elf, if they'd both been human I would have just considered them sisters but instead it kind of bugged me and I had to come up with a little story about why they would be together... and then I worked in another doll I'm planning to buy...

I do have stories I'm working on but somehow those characters just don't seem the type I'd want in doll form? Maybe if I ever get one published I'd buy a doll of the main character(s) but in the meantime I'll just keep going as I am- having characters for my dolls but creating the character to suit the doll, rather than buying the doll to suit a pre-existing character.

 

I find that I dont have personalities for my dolls and I dont expect them to but they slowly get them. I own inanimate objects that sort of gain names and a sort of 'character' (think of your washing machine or some tempermental appliance, you end up refering to its 'personality' after a while). They tend to get personalities from how I interact with them (such as 'Eris likes wearing this' because I like her wearing it, 'Tula wants to sit with Ezra' because I want to put her away so Ill put her with my other doll).
I do give my dolls their own names but I dont actually tend to use them, I usually refer to them by their model name (for instance 'I got a new wig for Dia today').
When I have thought up a personality for a doll I tend to go off the doll because I have got the doll to fit the personality and not because I like the look of the doll. Now I just go for dolls I like the look of and they have lasted longer with me.
I like hearing about dolls backstories and personalities personally, but its not something Im really into. I enjoy using my doll for making clothes and drawing, and see them more as a beautiful art object to inspire me to do more

 

Yeah, all of my dolls have names, personality, and backstories. Some of them are active in roleplaying, so their story is continuing, others are based on a book I wrote, and two of them, IO and Topaz, seem lively enough with their stock story from SOOM, and those are birthday dolls, so they kinda don't count. The ONLY doll I have that has no personality is Dead Gary...because he's a dead guy. But he still has a name!

 

In a word, yes.

I have a bunch of dolls without names and a larger bunch without backstories. The lack of name bugs me, but I really don't care whether they have a story or not. If it becomes important, they'll let me know.

ETA: This is actually one of those issues I found absolutely beyond my ability to understand when I first got into the hobby. Because... I don't write stories! They're my dolls. My companions in office space. I couldn't quite fathom why it was necessary to have a story for a doll or why it was important for a doll to fit a "family" or a "character."

As time has gone on, I've grown to understand this. It really IS important for people who like to do photoshoots and/or who enjoy sharing the development of their dolls with others that way (otherwise it makes no sense!). I've found myself more and more often wanting them to have meaning for me beyond their obvious enjoyment factor. But I obviously don't obsess over this or I wouldn't have so many ?? in my list.

As usual my reaction is: enjoy your dolls the way you ENJOY your dolls and don't worry about what everyone else is doing. (yes, I know. Easier said than done).

 

I've had my doll for years and still haven't been able to decide on a name for her I felt it too odd to give her a character name because she doesn't look anything like any characters I've made or know of and regular names just haven't stuck.

She was Alice for a short while, but then my smaller doll in the making kind of claimed the name, so my big girl goes without a name again.

I think when I get her second half (AKA, a boy) it'll become easier to identify her. The idea of the 'lion and gazelle' has been bouncing around in my head since before I even got her and I've wanted to name her Tabitha (greek for gazelle) and the boy Leander (greek for lion-man), but until I see them together, I won't know if it fits.

They don't have a backstory persay, but she's at least indicated to me that when he gets here, it won't be long before they.. *cough* umm, need my assistance to bring their 'little girl' home too Apparently they've met before..

I'm sort of waiting in the wings to see how their story unfolds, but until then, my girl is just my model n__n

 

I tried as hard as I could to give my first doll a character, but she rejected anything I tried to impose on her to the point that it became part of her personality. So I gave up on trying to make my dolls into certain characters. I just gave them names and tried to discover ther personalities as I went along.

 

Taco and Datsuki, thanks for responding to my message I feel a bit more understanding of the whole character process now, how they are kind of like a muse (is that the same in english) that inspire your story. I'm more into sewing and photography so I guess that would be why I don't have personality for them.

 

I only have a head at the moment, he's got no eyes, no wig, no body. So at the moment he's name less and without a backstory. Yeah when I feel he's ready I'll personalize him and give him a story and everything else, but right now I'm totally at a loss of names and stories...

 

All my dolls have names & personalities, some more defined than others. But this is just standard behavior for me. I've been collecting various dolls for 23 years & always gave my dolls names & some had storylines. In fact I've been known to look at another person's doll & tell them a whole story about who their doll is & what it's thinking. Just weird, I know...

 

I don't have a story for my dolls but they do have names which always took a long time to figure out what name suits them.I bring home a doll because I love how they look and they will have their own personalities after they arrive.I would like to give them a story but I am totally lack of creative ideas.