How do you create/come up with your doll characters?

My one doll, Vesper, who has a more developed character than the others... started as a joke between me and my friends, about Vesper being a huge flirt and a tramp because most of the pictures I have from doll meets are Vesper+different guy every time. 2 of my friends even have guy dolls that are Vesper's "boyfriends."

It started out all cutesy, but has evolved into a more negative character trait (narcissism and self-involvement), since Vesper will also be "dating" her doppelganger - another doll of similar sculpt.

 

Its a great big mix of all kinds of things. lol

Starting out, Amir and Loki were my firsts. I pretty much split my own personality straight down the middle, gave Amir my "good" half, gave Loki my "bad" half and let them run with it as develop from there. It's actually pretty funny since Amir developed into this snarky, egotistical, powerful Pharaoh and Loki is the badass punk skater with a heart of gold. haha

The rest come from all sorts of influences. Friends, family, movie, tv or book characters and my own imagination. Several have come into being as direct results of my bff's characters. All of my dolls get roleplayed and most have been characters before becoming dolls, so instead of just buying a doll and figuring him out, he already existed and just needed a shell. Though some have been surprises and I ended up developing a character around them.

I don't think it's weird that you like characters based on people you know, nor do I think it's weird that your friend chooses not to be involved with the stories. I was once confronted by a friend/coworker and told "It's weird that you draw pictures of Andy (different coworker)".....I told him it was Amir not Andy....his reply? "It's weird that you have a doll based on Andy"....ummmm....ok, maybe I can see that it would be...except that I had Amir for 2 years before I met Andy. LOL But to people not in the hobby, it might seem strange.

I wouldn't want a friend playing my doll's character. I would feel like I bought the doll for them and not me. You can base your doll on your friend without them needing to be there and tell you what it should do. Pick little traits or quirks your friend has and give them to your doll's character. They don't need to be an exact replica to be inspired by him.

 

Mine are a mix of OCs and non-OCs. Rika and Priss are from anime (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Bubblegum Crisis, respectively), and my other girls are OCs from my BGC fanfics :3

 

I'm not a writer but I like to imagine stuff hehehe!

I see a doll and if the sculpt grabs my attention, I try to see and imagine the potential of certain sculpt and what character it could become. Once I have a certain idea in my head I buy the doll and most of the time, the dolls turn out how I want them or they come already with their own character, I let them develop themselves^^

Only 2 dolls of mine stayed with the eyes and hair color I originally planned for them, the rest didn't like the stuff I got them >_> so I kept on trying until I got the right look and after the style is completed, the personality follows or vice-versa....and that's how I create my characters

 

I'll "collect" people and bank them in my "library" for when I need someone with a trait or appearance. They'll get chopped up, mixed, and reassembled to fit a need. Right now a character that started as Marty, got renamed and worked in to Tam who got mostly written out of a story he was created for is now coming back with a touch of Jeff and Tom. They might meld in to one or split off again back in to Tam and something else.

I always leave room to grow as I might wake up one morning and discover one of them likes ice-cream cones.

Or I want a doll of Alexander Siddig and have to go searching for tan.

 

My dolls' characters aren't based on real characters. They are sometimes influenced by fictitious characters I like but are mostly a mixture of what their looks give me and own 'character parts' of me (for example what clothes they like to wear or what food they'd like). Also after I got more dolls, I find it easier to make characters, because it's easier to find a spot for a new character now than before. ^^

 

I'm an author and all my dolls are characters from the various stories I write. Some characters demand to be shelled, but thankfully for my wallet, most do not. I have purchased a few (3) impulse dolls because something about them just drew me so strongly I needed to bring them home. I was confident I'd figure out who they were in short order.

While they were in transit, their characters just happened full blown in my head so that by the time they arrived home, I knew exactly who they were and in one instance, started to write their story. My most recent purchase was pure good fortune in the MP and I hadn't even paid for him yet (I'd only asked the seller if he was still available) when I suddenly knew his name, where he fit into a certain storyline, why he was the way he was and that he was the cause in costing another character his arm. Now I can't hardly wait to not only have this boy home, but write the story of how he came to be who he is.

 

Mine are based on situations I'm in at the time, they are borne of emotion.

My latest two dolls are split parts of me and my recent emotional states over the past year; one is flashy, passionate, boisterous, histrionic and prone to (sometimes illegal or dangerous) mischief, and the other is sad to the core, prone to escapism in drugs and alcohol, and feels half dead both emotionally and in how physically frail she is left after everything she and the other split half has done to themselves.

Another one of my dolls stems from the fact I'm good at hiding my overly high and low emotional states with a big strong doesn't take shit attitude. She's a melanistic deer woman with a serious face and horns she's fine with sticking in your gut to serve her purpose.

I like to link my dolls in with fairy tales and ballets, in their older incarnations, drawing inspiration from fairy tales and stories I feel are relatable with real life situations I've experienced. Swan Lake, Ugly Ducking, The Little Mermaid etc.

To me, they are little humanoid diaries, and eventually tell stories of their own as they develop and age.

 

All of my dolls are based on characters I have developed role playing. They have detailed backgrounds and distinct features. When I look for a doll I already know who they are, just need to find the one that fits the best.

 

I just love creating characters. I have stories and rpg characters and other characters I like--but I don't try and shell them in dolls. I prefer to find dolls that really speak to me and then create new characters for them. It doesn't always come easily... I usually start with them as a visual/physical presence and then think of a name that suits them... then just let things evolve... I'm patient. I don't have to know everything at once. Because I have so many characters, I can always work on another character that is currently inspiring me and just wait until the doll/character inspires me to develop their character and story more. That way there is always something to create and to think about...

 

I had based a new story of mine on an old one I had written, but abandoned it as a story, although I liked the names and themes that I had created so kept it in a folder hidden away. When I got my doll, I realised how well it fit. I made some changes to her character, but the best thing about my girl's character is she is rather limited in the way I can pose her. She won't splay about or anything - perhaps she is too tightly strung, but I like that because she is a Lady, and can only be posed in such a way, so it suits her and keeps with her character

 

As a writer and roleplayer who likes to imagine fantastical/futuristic characters and worlds, all my characters are their own unique people -- they aren't based directly off me or someone else. But since I created them, they have some little bit of me inside them too. You just can't escape putting a bit of yourself into the imaginary chars you make.

I'm also a world-builder (on top of RPer), so while imagining my dolls' characters, I wanted to create their own imaginary world/reality. However, the chars have doll shells, and since dolls are physically in my world too, there has to be a reason why they're here. It may sound strange, but that's a question that I have to answer, and it has to make sense to me! Otherwise those chars just don't jive with their dolly shells.

So that got me wondering: What would bring these chars from their world into mine? Past dolls were various kinds of interplanar/interdimensional travellers that somehow ended up with me, but lately I've been phasing those chars out (and selling the dolls) and focusing on my angelic doll family, who are angels in exile, who for some reason can't get back to heaven, so they're living with me. So far, this "imaginary reality" has been the strongest and most consistent one, so I'm sticking with it for my doll family.

I should say I didn't quite create the chars and world beforehand: I bought the dolls first, and slowly shaped their personalities and backstories around them. It's fun to be gradually discovering more of my dolls' chars with time!

 

I write novels, and have been doing that for years, and my dolls are characters from those books, all original, and most created long before I was even aware of the existance of these dolls. Although, I suppose many of these characters are based loosely on me or my friends or just people I randomly see on the street, but usually, as they develop, it turns out they're nothing like me/them

 

I base my characters on pre-existing characters from Dungeons and Dragons Games.

The first three dolls are
-My own character, Lucy
-Lucy's husband Zehelico, who is an NPC
-And my boyfriend's character Dayreth from another D&D game then the other charracters

My second two are
-Corellon, the god of the elves as presented in the D&D setting, I wasn't actually planning on getting a doll of him, but when I saw the sculpt I said to myself "that's Corellon and I need to have him" and I bought him two days later, so to now he is my only doll based on an established character
-The last doll I got for free due to an event, she doesn't have a name or character yet, she is a tiny doll, so I figured I might give her to Lucy and Zehelico to be an adoptive child or something.

So for me the character comes long before the doll (except for the last doll that caught me off guard), as a rule I don't want to get a doll before I have an established character for it, that way I'll know the character, their common facial expression, looks and clothing, then I just go from there.

 

Candie is based on Candice Accola who plays Caroline in The Vampire Diaries. I really fell in love with her character, and the actress, and decided to make her as a tribute of sorts, although she really has her own separate personality from the original character or actress! ^_^

 

Most of my character ideas come from mythology or stories I used to make up when I was younger. It's funny because when I'm looking for new dolls the ones I like are usually fantasy based or represent characters from my stories.

 

I like to base in part on my favorite fictional characters, but I'm moving past that and making stuff up from scratch for the most part.

 

One of my dolls is based off a real person: Clairvius Narcisse, the last documented modern zombie. My version of the character is very different from the reality, but that's where he has his roots. My other dolls' personalities come from new takes on established characters from Gothic literature/movies/music.

 

I don't create characters for my dolls, either my brain does without my permission and all of a sudden there's a character for the doll, OR the doll tells me who they are. I don't get very much of a say in the matter. -shrug-