ysabetwordsmith | Aspecting Characters Exercise

I've talked occasionally about "aspecting" characters. It's a way of taking a core idea and altering it in meaningful ways. You can start with a character and shift aspects of their personality stronger or weaker within the same canon. You can move the character into a different world and imagine how that would change them. You can take an archetypal trope you enjoy and imagine how it would manifest in different settings.

So here is a fun exercise for a group of creative folks. You can do this with artists or writers.

1) Pick some famous characters whose defining traits everybody in the group will reasonably know.

2) Make a list of key traits for each character. The list can be as short or as long as you want, but basically aim for a set that would let you recognize that character from those points. These might include name, sex, race/species, profession, dress mode, favorite tool/weapon, defining moment, best skill, etc.

3) Pass the characters around the group. Each person should cross off ONE canonical trait and replace it with a new trait. There are two ways to make this interesting: either change something that makes a big dramatic difference (like sex) or shift to something with a different detail but similar story function (like preferred weapon).

4) Discuss how much can be changed and still leave the character recognizable. You might enjoy trying this exercise several times, changing 1/3 of traits, 1/2, or 2/3 and compare results. In a large group, such as a class, you can split into multiple subgroups and then trade results to see if people who didn't see the original names can still recognize any of the characters.

Here's an example ...

Name: Robin Hood
Sex: Male
Location: England
Timeframe: Medieval
Signature color: Lincoln green
Preferred weapon: ~~Bow & arrow~~ Bola
Companions: Merry Men
Nemesis: Sheriff of Nottingham
Profession: Outlaw
Motivation: Rob from the rich, give to the poor.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Okay, but what about traits that have to be changed two at once? For instance, if Robin Hood is hiding out in the Sahara, he's not going to be using Lincoln green for camouflage or fighting the Sheriff of Nottingham. Or if he's prehistoric instead of Medieval, maybe that requires a different weapon because longbows don't exist yet.

I also disagree with the list of traits; important unlisted traits could be changed (disability!), and you haven't been specific enough (Robin Hood with a crossbow or a shorter bow would be different). Also, you're partly just flat-out wrong: all Robin Hood versions I know of also use quarterstaff, sword and buckler, and bare hands if needed.

That said, this is a very interesting idea and an interesting exercise, and Robin Hood is a good character for it, because everyone will recognise several different versions (or at least understand that there are a lot of them). I mean, there's a Robin Hood who's literally a fox (from the Disney version). There's a Robin Hood who's a poor shot and a cynical realist (from Outlaws of Sherwood). I even have a Robin Hood version or two on the back-burner (very far back, not immediately likely to be written or posted anywhere) and one of them is blind and uses a fire-breathing guide dragon that the sheriff's cook helped him train.

>> Okay, but what about traits that have to be changed two at once? For instance, if Robin Hood is hiding out in the Sahara, he's not going to be using Lincoln green for camouflage or fighting the Sheriff of Nottingham. <<

Some traits are easier to change two at a time. But he could be wearing green in the desert -- there are people who do -- and there's no reason the Sheriff couldn't chase him all the way there. It's just an exercise in creativity.

>> I also disagree with the list of traits; important unlisted traits could be changed (disability!), <<

You're free to make whatever list you want. I just aimed for something that would be as iconic as possible.

>> and you haven't been specific enough (Robin Hood with a crossbow or a shorter bow would be different). <<

Because they vary.

>> Also, you're partly just flat-out wrong: all Robin Hood versions I know of also use quarterstaff, sword and buckler, and bare hands if needed. <<

Sure, but if you ask people "What is Robin Hood's weapon?" they're going to say a bow. That's the one he is known for. Doesn't matter what his backup armament is. He's famous for being an archer.

Which was hilarious in one story I read where Robin was mediocre and Maid Marian was the crack shot.

I 'know' the quarterstaff from the Loony Tunes riff.

Well, there's another trait ...

Heroic cry: "Yoiks and awaaaaaay!"

You're free to make whatever list you want.

But what if a list is never going to be right, because it's a list? You can't list everything about a character that could be changed in an AU. People are way too complicated for that.

And I'd argue that CND is implicit in the iconic image of Robin Hood you're trying to invoke. People would parse disabled!Robin as an AU Robin Hood, and the image is even more consistently abled than the average character.

He's famous for being an archer.

Fair point.

Which was hilarious in one story I read where Robin was mediocre and Maid Marian was the crack shot.

Outlaws of Sherwood? The one where the entire Saxon race can be romantically and symbolically hanged by the neck until dead?

Aspecting Characters Exercise

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