Doll Personality/Identity Problems

Yep. Happens to a lot of people. Mind you, dolls don't have to have characters or personalities at all! I anthropomorphize mine shamelessly though...which is what leads to the problems. Just like real people, mine have their own opinions of themselves and what they should wear.

 

I have to agree with you! I'll buy something for Lance and I'll put it on him and he just... does not seem to like it, hahaha. Try as I might, they seem to all have a mind of their own.

 

Oh yes, this definitely happens. I bought my first doll just because the sculpt was cute, had no idea what to do with her.
But you should take your dollies out of their boxes, have them breathe some fresh air. Let them find themselves.

 

I bought a boy doll with a relatively androgynous body, thinking I could throw girl clothes on him and it would look fine (at the time I had no girls). The head sculpt was even a girl to begin with. So I got him home, tossed on a dress and... nope. Not having it. I make up characters for my dolls because I make up characters for everything, but I never really credited them with having any "real" personality. I mean they're just dolls, right? But the second I put that dress on, I knew it wouldn't work. It was just wrong somehow, and it wasn't the dress (it looks fine on a girl doll I now have). I mean I assume it's just me subconsciously, but it is very strange.

I'm not entirely certain what to do with that doll now, and at this point he's kind of a catch-all for clothing nobody else can fit into.

 

My Aidan - Volks Garnet - was going to be my supermodel with Irish roots, so I got a red wig and green eyes for her. As for character, didn't really figure one out for her, I thought I'd just see what happens and go with it. Well, turns out that, rather than being Irish or an original character, Aidan prefers to channel Francine Desmond, my favourite character from "Scarecrow and Mrs. King". So now she's got a blond wig (took me a bit to find one with a sufficient "80s perm" kind of look) and blue eyes and a really diva attitude.

 

*waves* My daydream Sally has no personality or name. She's changed named dozens of times in an attempt for me to create or use her as a shell for characters, but I've pretty much given up and accepted the fact she's just a pretty thing that gives me an excuse to buy and (eventually) make cute 1960s inspired outfits I'd never wear in real life.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Like redfaery said, dolls don't need to have characters or personalities and there are definitely doll owners who don't bother with that.

And I totally understand the frustration of wanting to use your dolls as a physical shell/concrete inspiration for a character you've created but just not succeeding at it.

 

Every doll I've ever bought has decided not to go along with the character/personality I thought up before their arrival. My new Leekeworld Mini who I've had since November still has no name or personality. It will happen. I had one doll for a year before I figured out who he was but like everyone else has said, there's nothing wrong with just having a doll.

 

The first dolls I got were simply because they were pretty & I wanted to dress them. But, the more I dressed them & looked at them, the more it dawned on me what their characters were. And, once those characters started coming thru, then new dolls coming in have been chosen to join them with a planned purpose. Or, when a new doll has caught my fancy & arrived they've let me know how they fit in! At this point, most of my dolls fit together as specific groups which then limits how I want to dress them. So, when a doll arrives without a set position it is a relief to get to dress them in some of the clothes laying around here that all the other dolls ignore!
Like folks keep saying, start by playing with those boxed up kids & see if you really like them & discover how they work for you...and how they often refuse to turn into who you expected but become someone much more interesting!

 

Have you tried to change their face-ups?
One of my dolls came into her own the day I added freckles to her little face.

 

Because every doll is better with freckles!

 

It certainly happened to me.
Not all doll owners give their dolls a character, but for me it's necessary before I bought a doll. So when a doll doesn't want to be what it was supposed to be... it can be hard or even irritating.
Bought my first boy doll and I had imagined him as a very formal guy, serious, with a great sense of responsibility, not the talkative type and I had his physical appearance too. But when he came home, he looked like out of place in looks and he wouldn't want to be that way towards my other dolls. I had a really hard time figuring out again who he was and I even thought about selling but one day he simply showed himself as a very funny guy, who loves to mess with his little sister and is always on for fun and adventure.

 

Well, just for reference my ten year old Luts KD Bomi hasn't a set story but he's been through a lot with me.

Actually about half my dolls aren't set in stone or have changed over the years!

I do second the face up thing. Don't worry about being good. Good comes with time and practice. My third doll had an acrylic paint faceup. I was very proud of it at the time but comparing now with watercolor pencils and chalk pastels I'm so embarrassed! XD

If faceup a aren't your thing, try sewing or crocheting, or even drawing! Also, sometimes just taking pictures will help you feel them out.

But just like everyone else said, you don't need a story or a name so long as they make you happy! :3

 

Personally, I didn't come up with a personality or a unique name for my doll. I guess I wanted her to be flexible. She could be Miku one day, or an RPG princess the next day. Depends on my sewing skills, lol.

 

I usually write out characters and roleplay them long before even considering shelling them in doll form, so if I buy a doll and it ends up not fitting the character, I usually sell it and start searching again.

However, my most recent doll has no set character yet. I wanted a Minifee, and what body, sculpt and color she'd be just depended on what I could afford secondhand. I ended up with a tan M-line Celine. I've had her for about a month and bought cute clothes for her, but I still haven't given her a full personality and backstory. I know her name is Jazmyn, she's 18, in college, has a brother and cousin....that's...about it. As I'm finding cute clothes and accessories, I sort of work it into her personality a bit, like I found some cute galaxy print leggings, so maybe she's into astronomy. My mom said her hands look like ballet dancers' poses, so maybe she's into dance. I think she's really cute and fun, so even if I don't 'know' her yet as a character, I'm still letting her sit around with me and letting bits and pieces come to me as we go.

 

I have three dolls I had all thought up but when they arrived it was a total different ball game. I'm still not done figuring them out. Only one of my dolls sort of sticks with the idea I made for her but I meant for her style to be dark colors and right now she's rocking pink and yellow. By the third doll I gave up. I learn them when they get here.

 

I've had issues with a few dolls and most of the time if I can't figure out something to do with them or how I want them to be, they move on. Though sometimes I wish I just let them be even more "blank" than they are. My dolls aren't original characters and don't have extended storylines or anything, but there have been times where I wanted to just do a bizarre photo shoot, but then I think, oh no, Remedy cannot possibly do that, she would hate fish! and so then I don't do it. There's no reason I can't, except for the rules I decided had to be followed.

(And no, it isn't a really big hang-up for me or anything, it is just funny to me how the mind works at times.)

 

It wasn't so much I didn't have a character for them it was more of a I had a character for them but when I put on the clothes I thought would suit that character I looked at him and went '...oh nooo this won't do at all!!' It stressed me out a lot! But I found that playing with him helped and trying the other clothes helped me decide what would be best. I realize it's been a little bit since the thread has been started have you had any luck with those minifees?

 

I do usually do the "character thing" with my gang. Many of them are resin avatars for favorite tabletop RPG or MMO characters, and most of the rest were purchased with at least a vague idea of who they might be already in mind. But... there are *also* a few dolls here who were added to the crew simply because I liked their sculpts. I had no role in mind for them and they weren't purchased with the idea of turning them into anyone in particular.

Those dolls do have names of their own, and general styles that I've settled on for them... but they don't have the extensive backstories or fictional personalities that the rest of the crew have. They're treated exactly the same way as the rest and I'm equally fond of them... I just never felt the need to pin down exactly who they are. Their only responsibility in the Turtle House world is to be a cute doll. ^_^