How Did Your Doll Get its Personality?

I know that feeling.I planned how my boy would be.Like,what he would like,his personality,and such things...but when he came home,i just didnt know.Nothing fit him well.I changed his look a lot,make him wigs,try with other colour of eyes...I sew clothes from different styles...But one day,maybe 1 or 2 years after he came,i bought a black wig,just to try again.And suddenly there was He.Now he has clothes that fit,and I see the real "he" in the photos.Back then,I didnt feel it.I cant explain really,but it has happened again with other doll (no bjd).I planned her life,but she has thrown my plans away hehe ^_^.

 

Okay so I ad a massive throwback with this thread... I passed it by a few times thinking "naw, this has never happened to me..." because I always shell characters in dolls as opposed to letting them grow personalities. Lies and slander I tell you, it has... Twice it was in the pseudoform of a name not fitting that stunted the doll's development and gave a sort of "artist's block" with them if you will. Once I had their names sorted out though everything just fell into place. For Hyorin, my minifee Shushu, it was me not realizing she was Korean and trying names from different cultures, for Nyasuke, who happens to be my grail doll, SC-doll Kaka... well I was trying to name him something cool while forgetting he was just a tabby after all.

Now that one time this "really" really happened though I had technically "erased" it from my memory, and I'll tell you what, if that doll hadn't ended back in my hands I'd never have remembered in a sense, so going back to when I first started the hobby I received my Hujoo Dana as a gift from my mom and brother. I was in love with her face, I really was... at first... until I realized nothing fit as well as I wanted. Her clothes, her wigs, her eyes, her posing... she had zero personality, I really didn't "feel" her at all, I couldn't bond with her the same way I did with Eien and Nowe and I was practically pulling at my hair trying to decide "what" to do with her because I was drawing a blank... So I gave up and since it didn't feel right to sell her gave her away to a friend who was at the time mildly interested in the hobby but didn't want to spend enough to get in it. And for the best part of two and a half years the doll stayed with her... untouched since my friend didn't do much with her at which point I had our other friend who would be going by to ask her if she would mind giving her back if she didn't want her, and sure enough she gave the doll back, so I got her back on my hands.

And almost three years after I first got her in my hands she finally has a name and a definite character and place to belong in the story, she has a style of clothes that I believe would fit her, I am ready to tackle possibly changing her faceup once I go back home, make her a new wig out of alpaca fiber, order her some eyes after I decide what size I like best and just love her...

How you ask... I'm not exactly sure, I think it's because I've matured quite a bit in the hobby. This almost three year span since I first had her home has had me develop a lot of skills I didn't have before. I'm better at sewing, photographing, doing faceups and mods as well as in styling my own dolls, so I felt more confident tackling her mold. The story my dolls are involved in hadn't grown as much either, so at the time she didn't really have a place where she could slot in and fit perfectly. Perhaps I was just trying to make her into something she wasn't. I had a very modern girl in mind, interested in gyaru fashion and she ended up being part of a rag-tag group of pack-ratty scavengers in her current incarnation (also a potion brewer and perhaps mildly crazy, but who isn't?). You can bet I couldn't be more happy that I finally figured her out though.

 

I usually have characters in mind when looking at sculpts, but there are a few on my wish list that I like just for their expressions. I even have one that wasn't planned, and her character and personality surfaced when I did her faceup.

 

It sort of depends for me. I have a lot of characters in my head, but very few of them are ones that I want to get a physical version of. My doll characters aren't preexisting ones - I generally start planning out characters a little before I place an order. When I have received the doll, I add to their personality depending on how expressive they are, what kind of wigs and clothing they look good in, etc. My first doll I spent ages on planning out, and then in the end he didn't really fit the character all that well - so now, when making a personality for a doll that hasn't come home yet, I just sort of think up something milder and then fill it more in later.

I only have two dolls that I feel that I know well. They were actually both bought on impulse, but are still the ones that I have gotten to bond the most with, and thus are the most loved dolls that I own.

 

I can't do face ups just yet so most of the times it comes from seeing the company pictures and the doll is telling me it's story. Usually as the story then develops on my head the personality grows. For example with my Zuzu self Bichon I saw her gentle face which seemed to magical and whimsical she seemed like a far off princess and things kind of went off from there.

 

I got my first doll not too long ago. In the car ride home for some reason I decided to call her Miu, that was her name I just knew it. Turns out it actually was her name! Her old owner had called her Miu before me. But I changed her name to Robin the more time I spent with her and the more time I spent with her the more I would find myself talking to her while at my computer, catching myself, and then staring at her like 'what in the world am I doing talking to a doll'. Then a personality just came forward. I see Robin as an artist from France. I see her cycling around the countryside. This whole backstory just 'popped' into my head. Sometimes it feels like she's telling me these things...It's weird. I don't keep her in a box anymore either. My mom pointed out how horrible it must of been for her previously to of been in a box for a year and it struck me. It was like Jessie from Toy Story! So she has her own little corner now, free from her dark box....IDK maybe I'm just a crazy doll lady....

 

^ Omg my name is Miu and its not a common name at all so I lol'd when I saw that.

I'd have to say, all my dolls have been shells for existing characters but Souji does seem more mischivious since I got him...

 

They usually tell me…I see a sculpt and it inspires me to create a character or fill a concept I have in mind. I'm always on the hunt for little items that belong to each doll and define it's personality and intrests. So I usually just see "who wants it" when I bring it home and it molds their character.

 

Before my doll arrived home, I was shopping for materials and fabrics to make her some clothes. Over just 9 days, I found that I had gathered orange, brown, mint, red-violet, sky blue and light purple. A color scheme emerged which was definitely different from my own usual tastes! And yet I liked it! Her sculpt name means "Silver Bell" and the artist says her backstory is that she is a princess and that like a silver bell, her personality is clear, bright and happy. I can't disagree with any of that, but there's a lot more to discover about her too!

So far, she was really well behaved when she first arrived, but has since become rather kicky and sends me thoughts of her when she thinks she has been forgotten too long ^_^; So I think she's a little needy or fussy about what I'm doing for /with her, but quite sweet and well-mannered. Definitely patient, because I think she understands she's my first and only of her kind!

I look forward to her wig's arrival and the supplies to give her a first faceup so that I can get to know her personality even more!
Thanks to the stories in this thread I have a bit of hope that those things will bring out more clues!

 

How did you decide on your doll's personality?

For all of my dolls, their character's are inspired by their sculpts and face-ups. Usually it starts very basic ("this girl looks quite and nervous" or "this boy looks haughty and cunning"). Then I think about where a character like that might fit in my world ("she would work well as a state mother who has a secret she's afraid will be found out" or "he looks like he would be someone who quietly rebels against the state, making himself too useful to them to become a target"). Then from there I think about which of my other characters they might interact with, and how those relationships would work. And through that, I develop all my characters personalities organically together!

 

All of my dolls have decidedly different personalities, as generally expressed through their face-ups. Sometimes, their character comes more alive when they don different outfits. I've sold a few dolls because once their face-up was completed, their personalities clashed too much with my other dolls and/or I just couldn't bond with them. Sometimes, I buy a doll to fit into a specific character I have in mind for my collection. So, the face-up is important.

 

Sharnofshade, I agree with you completely!

 

My dolls usually have characters decided for them before their arrival, so rarely do their sculpts and/or faceups influence them. However, there have been a few cases where I didn't figure them out until after they came home! For those dolls, the following are what dictate their personality for me:

Sculpt - Round and chubby? Sleepy-eyed? pointy chin? Button nose? All these things paint images of widely different characters. If a doll reminds me of someone, that often influences the kind of character she'll become, too.
Faceup - a lot of the time, I do my own faceups. But the times I don't, the faceup definitely helps define the new doll in my collection. The colors used and the eyebrow shape do a lot, as well as the mouth -- is he smiling? Is he thoughtful?
Clothes - I try to vary the kinds of clothes my dolls wear so no one gets jealous. For example, I have a tan pukifee Luna and a NS tiny Delf Alice, and my Luna wears candy pastel colors while Milk is all about the fluff and frills. I try to go with clothes I feel will help define the doll's personality. often times, the outfit I pick pushes it!
Size - their size acts as a measurement to how complex their personalities become. The tiny ones are generally very simple: Shy and Sweet, Loud and Optimistic, etc. My bigger ones have more to them. For example, my CH Hani took the longest out of all my dolls to develop a personality - she is eager, confident, quick to judge others but quicker to learn from her mistakes, and stubborn in her ways. When I had a mini, she was sugary sweet - a day dreamer, someone who thought about doing a lot of things but never really did them, and never got mad at herself for not doing them.


Sometimes, a doll's personality simplifies or grows more complex over time, and they need to be reshelled. I find this is part of the natural "growing" process all dolls have. For me, the doll becomes the personality, always... their resin shells are simply temporary growing chambers. The resulting personality is more important to me than the resin shell, and I'd rather not change the character or stifle who she becomes just to keep a sculpt. (But, sometimes the doll and the personality are so fused together, I can't possibly reshell! Which is the case for my CH Hani, Amelie.)

 

I agree with those who said that it usually comes when choosing the sculpt Parts of my boy's character was determined through it and the rest was part of his back story. But what's magical is that you'll get to know your dolls more and more, sometimes even going beyond the predetermined personality as you spend time with them.

 

I tend to dream about my dolls (and dolls on my wishlist) and that's where their personality comes from. How they act in my dreams reflects in the doll and it just clicks perfectly. My Blue is very quiet and smart, my companion and my friend. He's a silent supporter, and he's shown all these traits in my dreams and my daydreams. Personality is actually very important to me because without it I probably wouldn't bond with my doll.

 

My dolls usually show their personality after I've started faceuping them. Most of my dolls were not planned and developed on their own. My girl, Indigo, started out with a company faceup, she had no personality of her own and was dressed in Lolita. I got tired of seeing her company faceup and did my own. Now she's a gunslinging biker chick and I'm bonding so much better with her now

 

I usually start developing the character when I purchase the doll. Hardly any of my dolls have pre-designated characters, so most of the dolls I purchase because I like how they look. They also have their own individual storylines, mainly because I can't really picture them in the same universe. Once I see the doll in person with a faceup, I alter their personality if needed to fit the dolls' appearance as well.

 

I knew what my first doll was going to be like the moment I set eyes on his face. That smirk just cemented a core "type" for him in my head. All the other little details are still coming. So I learn about him everytime we interact!

 

I never know who's arrived until I open their box. ^_^

I learned with my very first doll that they have a mind of their own when it comes to just who, and sometimes what, they are.
The same applies to their personalities and life stories as well.

Some of them practically come out of the box talking, I'll get their name, age, even their relationship to other dolls. Peregrine and Merlin were like that. They were two of the four dolls who are all technically my second doll. You see after my disappointment with my first doll, Kestrel, who refused to be anything other than a very little four year old girl, I'd decided to try again.

This time I'd order a doll the next size up, MSD sized, who would definitely be a boy and would definitely not be a toddler. Well, I ended up purchasing three MSD boys and one SDC boy, as they say "In for a penny, in for a pound.". All four ended up arriving around the same time.

As I'm getting everyone unpacked from their boxes, and I'm thinking "Wow!...now this is more like I was expecting! What gorgeous dolls!", I get this very distinct impression in my mind of a very polite, very mature thirteen year old boy, standing next to a more typical if somewhat guarded twelve year old boy. The thirteen year old very formally introduces himself as Perigrine Fox, and proceeds to introduce the twelve year old as his brother, Merlin Fox. He then explains that the third boy is Merlin's classmate, and their friend, Autumn Grey. At which point Autumn, who didn't even have any eyes yet, shyly informs me that I can call him Audie, because that's what everyone calls him.

I remember thinking something along the lines of, "Now that I've got all these perfect boy dolls, I can sell that little girl doll...", only to mentally find myself immediately being confronted by three very upset boys. Perigrine and Merlin were both going on at once about how I can't sell Kestrel because she's their little sister, and I can't split them up, they have to stay together, etc. I had to promise them that I wouldn't get rid of her, in order to calm them down. I even went and got Kestrel and brought her in so they could all be together.

Finally, I turned my attention to the last box, thinking, "So, who is this?", and expecting to hear Perigrine say something like that's So and so, he's our friend too... or maybe, that he was Audie's brother, or a cousin...
I certainly wasn't expecting to hear, "We don't know him.", and the way they said it was kind of strange too, almost like they didn't really want to know him. I thought, "Okay...that's a little odd..." That was when I Found myself looking into two of the most baleful, neon yellow eyes I'd ever seen! This fourth boy doll was so different from the other three, I was a bit taken aback. I think I may have even told him out loud, "Boy! You sure are different looking!" He looked a little better once I'd gotten his wig on, although he was still glaring with those yellow eyes. I wasn't hearing anything from him, but I could feel a kind of defensive anger. When he did finally start talking, his responses were less then helpful. When I asked who he was, his response was, "Who do you think I am!". I asked, "What should I call you?". He said, "What do you think you should call me?" Finally, half joking, I said, "With that silver hair and those yellow eyes, maybe I should just call you Lucifer.", to which he promptly replied, "I like that name! That's what my name will be, Lucifer!" Now I find myself trying to reason with a doll as to why Lucifer wouldn't be a good choice, but to no avail. Grasping at straws, I point out that he can't just call himself Lucifer, that he needs to have a last name. Just when I'm thinking I've got him now, as there isn't any last name associated with Lucifer, he promptly tells me, "Jones."

 

I wanted a BJD for a long time and got my first. She came with dark wigs and Luts had her as very dark and a totally different look than I now think of her. I have wanted to do someone as Elsa from Frozen and nobody else was working. I got her a blond wig and now she is Elsa. I am gathering things to make her a winter wardrobe.