Inspiration for a Character?

Try writing a short story about your doll? What does he look like in comparison to his personality? All my dolls are characters I RP as or am trying to use as protag/antagonists in a novel. Try playing with him?

 

well, i don't have one yet :<

I have original characters, but I don't love them nearly as much as I love already made characters...My first doll, (who I'm currently looking for) is going house the character of a certain anime character that i've been in love with since i was 12~

I'm having the hardest time finding a mold for him though...He needs a certain cockyness that i haven't been able to find yet...but i know when i see "THE ONE", I'll know!

 

I had this same problem until recently, but I found that really analyzing the face of a doll can help, as well as doing their faceup yourself. Etoile, for instance, was just 'the doll' until recently, but now she really feels like her. A lot of her character is derived from that adorable Nina smile, which provided a good base to go off of. I talked about her with a friend for a few days and eventually settled on her name, background, etc. Now I roleplay with her, and the conversations really help.
I thought it was hopeless, but it usually works out!

 

This is how I do it. I have to have a name first before I do anything. A name and a face. If I know that I like a doll, I'll try to find a name for it. My most recent experience with this (last night) I saw Souldoll Kanguk for the very first time. I'd already had a name stuck in my head and immediately thought that it would fit. I liked the appearance of the doll in the photos on the website, and if I ever get him, he'll probably look similar to that. So I had a name, a face, and appearance. Next came his story. This was harder for me, but I ended up creating a sort of backstory and figuring out where he comes from. So from here, I'll go on to develop his personality and stuff!! It was a lot of fun though. I really like making characters.

With my girl it happened differently. She had already been home for a short while, but then I had laid eyes on that Dia boy and knew immediately that he would be my girl's love interest. I knew that they were meant to be together (yeah, I want him really badly!!!). So I came up with some ideas that centered around their relationship, and actually, that's sort of how I came up with my other characters as well. But her personality had developed through the pictures I took of her. She just sort of came alive and told me who she was in the way I posed her.

Anyway, the name for me is the most important part just about. If they don't have a name, I can't really figure out who they're supposed to be. I also like giving them birthdays because I tend to use the horoscopes to figure out what their personalities are like.

 

I found my way to bjd-dom by way of looking for images on which to pin some of the characters from my books. And the one on order (SD Tae) will represent Otori Takeo, the main character from Lian Hearn's five-book series "Tales of Otori". So for me the character problem did not arise: the characters where already there and fully formed.

 

Long story time!
My doll (and those coming in the future) came from pre-existing characters from a story I'm perpetually drawing/writing. Mani was sort of a supporting character, since I didn't have too solid a grounding on his personality. He was just confused and pretty.
I hunted for a doll that would go with the image I'd been drawing for the last 3 years. This was prior to me actually having confidence in my own drawing abilities (and I'm an animator!), so even that was a bit vague. I just knew I wanted a sharp nose. I found Els. So Mani became an El.
His character's personality got a jump-restart after the doll got here. When I'd look at Doll!Mani, he'd fluctuate between being extremely serene, to seeming shocked, or (In classic El fashion) looking undenyabley snarky.
So Mani the character became more clever, and very calm, but extremely easy to startle. And he gained an undercurrent of snark. I started writing him with more importance in the story and the character grew some more and is now one of the main trio.
Meanwhile, my art improved a lot too. I finally got the hang of drawing that sharp nose I'd hunted for. And then the rounder face shape no longer fit, so I started giving him a longer face. He looked less girly, but still pretty if I drew him next to the more masculine cast members. xD
Doll-Mani's faceup finally matched what I wanted, but the sculpt itself no longer did.
So, doll-hunting started up again and now he's being transferred to a Yue. I still have the El head though, because It's so pretty. I hope I can get a character out of it who's not prexisting. For that, I think I'll try more unrealistic facups, maybe see if I pull a character from there.

 

Inspiration for my characters comes from everywhere. I'll be watching a movie and I'll think 'oh, that name/talent/profession/etc would be really cool for a character...' and so I'll add it to an existing character or an in-progress character. ^^' With names it just sort of... happens. I'll think of a name and really like it, so I'll stick it to a nameless character and hold onto it until I've started creating a new character. With Gage (my Hewitt), the specific wig and eyes he ended up with helped shape his character too. So I suppose I just go for a mish-mash of inspirations.

 

I get inspired by whatever surrounding I am in, and when I got Emma, I was at a convention.
I had a lot to pull from~the cosplayers, the other wig-less dolls, the animes and music.
I suppose I pulled a lot of her personality from myself too, she enjoys the same music and tv shows as me (spare ER, a love my mum and her share). And she dresses much like I wish I could (If I could afford it! I make her clothing, now).
And when I see a bald, young girl, I usually end up thinking of Cancer, so I gave her a child-hood cancer story that stunted her hairgrowth to basically nothing~ O.O
She also attends an Art Magnet (same as me), but is in for Music.
Mmm, like I said, my environment helped me a lot, and my own personal history :3

 

Well, I don't have my doll yet, but I already have a character for her. Mostly it came from looking at the pictures of the doll and analyzing the possible personality in the face. My doll looks very innocent and dreamy with a hint of sadness about her. I also looked for other dolls that it would be fun for her to interact with, which helps come up with a storyline, and thus helps to further the character developement.

 

I already have Ideas for my future dolls (as I do not have one at the moment).

The tiny i plan on getting as my first is based somewhat off my two baby sisters. My sister Amelia loves being out side and she's just adorable, so the dolls appearance resembles her and her character is a fairy that lives in a patch of woods just outside of civilization.

The other character i had in mind before I even started looking into BJD (he's a character in a comic I've started illustrating) and I think his persona would just fit perfectly into a BJD's resin body.

I just look for dolls that fit my ideas.

 

I have always drawn inspiration from books, movies, music, games, history and my friends. I usually have at least a couple of stories or full blown worlds floating around in my head. I would rarely write any of it down, and most has been lost to the ether of my mind. But when my friend got me into the hobby and I started choosing dolls I wanted, stories about them started gelling in my head. At her urging, I've started to write down those stories, creating biographies of sorts for them. So in the end, the dolls were just the natural targets for my creative mind.

 

I rp all my characters. I rped Kaet for over a year before I got her in resin form, so I had a better grasp of what she looked like and what her clothing interests and such would be. The only character I have not rped with is Lizzie, my puki pukisha. I've always wanted a puki pukisha, so when I saw someone was selling her for a good price, I jumped on it and then created her story. Of course she's connected to Kaet in that she's her kitty.

I notice it's been about two years since you first posted this thread. I hope you have figured out what his character is now. :3

 

So far, nearly every doll I plan to order is based on a character I roleplay. :'3 Shun has been my brainchild the longest, and I've been playing him online and at LARP events (lololol, I know. Dorktastic~) for close to seven years, now. x3 Kouseki hasn't been around quite as long as Shun, but he's a close second, followed by (Ha)Ruka, my harlequin bunneh!boy. I have molds picked out for all three, as well--Shun is a DoT Sha, Kouseki a DZ Chen, and Ruka a Kid Delf Ani boy. ;3 I basically just poured over every BJD maker's site I could until I found a mold that would suit each one of them, and now I'm scrimping and saving~~.

 

Sometimes comes from a mold, sometime it personifies a friend, a lover or an imaginary enemy. Oftentimes it just tells me what it wants to be and it becomes it.

 

I think it's best if you look up some character development sheets online. But as for me personally. I made a vague story (Boy takes care of younger sister, eventually meets older man and stuff happens) then I look at the dolls that I like and work around their looks, see what kinds of expressions I like, which wigs or other things speak to me, ya know?

 

For me with my first doll, Zayn, I sat down with him a while after i got him and thought about what he was like. I have gone through several different forms of personality, as you can see from some of my posts for him on this site, but all of them are close. I have added and deleted some things about him but all together he is quiet and a person of reason. lol

 

I'm so sorry if this has already been posted (feel free to delete) but I searched and couldn't find much in terms of personalities or more specifically, a lack of one.

I know some people come up with these elaborate back stories for their dolls and you see it all the time in the data bases and posts about doll families: "personality" "likes" "dislikes".

But is hard to see if/come up with/etc. your doll has a personality? Do they have little quirks and habits? Is it easy or hard?

I know for me, I've had my boy since October and I love him to bits and pieces but I cannot for the life of me figure out his personality. I don't know what kind of person he is/could be and at times I get a little envious of those who have.
Is it hard for anyone else?

 

I don't generally run into this problem, as ussually, I will only buy dolls for pre-made characters, because it is way easier for me to attach myself to them that way, I already feel bonded with them the moment I pull them out of thier packing box. Like greeting an old friend.

I have had two dolls who I did not have pre-made characters for, and I can say I do understand your problem and have experienced it first hand. In 2006, I bought a DoD Too from a friend, and had the most horrible time bonding with him. I tried to give him a personality, an interesting story to match what the original owner had already done to him, but to no avail. I held onto him and traded him just this year. I did not have an overall pleasant experience with the doll, which is a shame.

My other mini, a MNF Shushu, came to me in a simillar way, but figuring it would be easier to make a character for a right-from-scratch brand new doll, I ordered her off of a website, custom face up, no previous owner. She was beautiful when she came to me (2007), but, as I've also held onto her for a long time, I don't play with her (she's only been out a handful of times) and I don't enjoy her company nearly as much as my large boys. The story I made for her remains interesting, but not her, herself, unfortunately. But this time, at least, it's not like we don't get along. I've just come to realize I don't care much for her, and I find her personality way more flat than the ones my two bigger boys have (and one isn't even put together yet.).

So yeah, I guess, the answer to your question is, it's hard for me to come up with a personality for a doll if the doll is already there. But it's not hard for me to come up with a personality for a doll who I haven't ordered/picked out yet. ^^.

 

I've not had this problem. Usually the dolls come to me with their personalities already in place and if not, they've usually found their niche when I've put them with the other dolls in my house and I see how they look all sitting together.

When I have box openings and introductions, it's usually my first doll, Gwenllian, who does them. She's quietly confident and positive and I find that she's the one who takes care of the new dolls as they arrive These are things I've found about her as time has passed. I guess it's how my brain relates to her being officially the oldest doll in the house and how she would be the one in charge of them all.

For me, a personality is very different from arbitrary quirks an owner gives to their doll. A quirk might be that the character bites his nails when nervous, but an actual doll can't do that. My dolls get their proper personality when they wear their 'real' eyes for the first time. My Volks Kurenai, Meli, looked sad, shocked and distressed in all the eyes I tried with her, but when I found her 'real' eyes she looked happy and she had a sense of humour. Her eyes bring out that sort of personality in her. Likewise, my Souldoll Hye, Thia, can look moody and angry in different eyes, but in her 'real' eyes she looks calm and happy. I can even get her to 'smile' in pictures now!

Try different eyes and eye positionings. I always used random acrylic eyes for my dolls because they were easy to obtain, but my dolls started coming 'alive' after I used high quality acrylics and glass eyes for them. I'm not sure why, but it might be that good glass eyes look amazing photographed and that adds to the realism of the doll. It's easy to ascribe a personality something that looks alive!

 

Actually, the bit with the eyes does ring true, at least in part, for myself, as well. When I found the right eyes for my Kohya, boom! That was it. They went to enhance his personality, and the way a doll holds his or her eyes can also speak volumes about thier personality, if you want to psycho analyze them. A shy doll will look downwards, or to the side downwards, a doll with his/her eyes posistioned to the lower left of thier eyes always looks like they're having self doubts, as a doll who looks up and to the right looks like they're remembering something. If they're looking straight up and at you, they look mischevious and/or very confident.

But that still didn't save me with my Too, or even my new girl. I've also changed her wigs (as sometimes that helps) and her face up is genuinely flwaless and exactly what I'd like in a girl doll. Who knows, then, why she's not working out, other than the fact her personality was not pre-planned.

That doesn't go to say that dolls who arrive 'blank' can't become good and well loved in thier homes. Some people work better that way, and enjoy the creative, discovery process with thier dolls. I'm just not that way, I guess.