Where do you get ideas for creation of toon chars.?

ZOMBIE USER 3098 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 3098** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 6:46 am

Yes yes, the eternal question asked once again by our least favourite cartoonist of all:

Where do you get ideas for the creation of your cartoon characters?

For me, I think I based my main guys on people I know which is basically my closest friend and me. I think I sorta based Shane on a mix of a few weirdo classmates I know in school and Nils is just made up. Penny is also based on a friend and Steve... well, let's just say he was just an idea as well.

So, what's the scoop w/ the rest of you here? (forgive me if my written stuff is bad, I just came back from a really hard trekking trip)

-R. Kwan
http://ntnation.keenspace.com

Sortelli · Post by **Sortelli** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 7:29 am

All the characters in EOI are based off of the bizarre archetypes that most every roleplaying character online seems to fall into, and if there's one I haven't covered yet you can be assured I'm getting to it.

Except for the new character being introduced tomorrow, Lord Woot. He's actually one of MY own RP characters, albeit an insane one made to make fun of people.

I love Lord Woot. Taking a nod from Ghastly, all aspects of life need more crazy tentacle monsters.

ZOMBIE USER 8296 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 8296** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 8:07 am

I got three examples: previously created characters from something else, make a good name to draw someone to, actual people

Quan Tee: based off of a created character in WWF Attitudewho was then modified for Pro Skater III, hence the skateboard... so it's actually possible for me to go online and have people get their asses kicked by Quan Tee

Captain Padding: he's a case where I was trying to think of new heroes, thought of a name I liked, and then drew a character based on the name, which happens a lot

Standard Ninja: One of the few non-evil people based on an actual person, namely Al Leong, who pops up in countless movies as a ninja and, to our knowledge, always dies (ex Big Troubel in Little China). In any case, we get extremely excited whenever we see him, and have dubbed him Standard Ninja because, well, he is

<IMG SRC="http://pod42.homestead.com/files/leong_al.jpg"> <- Standard Ninja

James Thorpe · Post by **James Thorpe** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 8:43 am

Saw a picture of some magnified swirly shapes in a science textbook in the 9th grade, looked like speed lines. It was riboflavin. So I drew a capsule with eyes, zooming across the page with ribo-speedlines behind him. And so we have Riboflavin.

KODAMA · Post by **KODAMA** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 10:32 am

:O... (my subconscious)
X3.. after seeing so many cartoons.. uhh.. I am not really sure. mmhmm.

Netrek · Post by **Netrek** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 11:02 am

Sijei: Me, but with petter personality and hair.

Kara: A mix of my friends Diana, Danielle, and Trisha.

7|20|\|1: Giih . . . who knows?

VanaRo: I thought it would be cool to have an evi witch with a consciense.

Feronani: My mom in a bad mood.

Bumble: He's just a ball of pure CUTE!

--Sij

Nd · Post by Nd » Sat Oct 26, 2002 11:07 am

I look at things around my house and add a personality to them.

Saganaki · Post by **Saganaki** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 12:21 pm

Kari & Doug themselves are two roleplaying characters that I felt would probably complement each other fairly well. Most everyone else came to me out of the ether.

ZOMBIE USER 10963 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 10963** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 2:53 pm

nd wrote:I look at things around my house and add a personality to them.

Yes, but can you add a personality to this:

Nd · Post by Nd » Sat Oct 26, 2002 3:12 pm

Yes, espescially if I had enough of it laying around my house.

KODAMA · Post by **KODAMA** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 3:52 pm

I swear... that eagle in the quarter looks like it's trying to flip me off Xd.

ZOMBIE USER 10963 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 10963** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 5:37 pm

nd wrote:Yes, espescially if I had enough of it laying around my house.

Damn... you win this tme, but the day is young.

Oh wait, it's 9:36 PM. Shit, nevermind.

Jamie! · Post by **Jamie!** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 5:43 pm

From the bowles of my mind!

KedaDibandion · Post by **KedaDibandion** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 6:00 pm

Yog: cylinder
Bog: rectangular prism
Snag: cone
Soy: *shrug* she's a stickfigure

Kevin Wolf · Post by **Kevin Wolf** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 6:38 pm

I do this crazy thing where I come up with a new character, then sit down and draw what I think he should look like, and then I name him. Sometimes, I name him first, and then draw him. Other times, I just draw something, then figure out what sort of character is is, and then name it.

So, that secret combination is:

1. Conceive a character
2. Draw the character
3. Name the character
4. Any combination of the above

To the best of my knowledge, none of my characters are based on video game characters. The only external sources of inspiration I use are for names, since many of my characters have names drawn from literature or conspiracy theory.

KedaDibandion · Post by **KedaDibandion** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 6:42 pm

I do this crazy thing where I come up with a new character, then sit down and draw what I think he should look like, and then I name him. Sometimes, I name him first, and then draw him. Other times, I just draw something, then figure out what sort of character is is, and then name it.

So, that secret combination is:

1. Conceive a character
2. Draw the character
3. Name the character
4. Any combination of the above

Crap, I gotta try that sometime...

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 7:56 pm

When I think of a situation where I can't fit any of existing characters, that's when I pull out a newe one, according to a future situation.

ZOMBIE USER 8124 · Post by **ZOMBIE USER 8124** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 9:04 pm

Kevin Wolf wrote:So, that secret combination is:

1. Conceive a character
2. Draw the character
3. Name the character
4. Any combination of the above

Heeey...that's how I do it too....
Wierd! ^.^

Wiebe · Post by **Wiebe** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 11:13 pm

I just started drawing and the rest is drunken history!

KedaDibandion · Post by **KedaDibandion** » Sat Oct 26, 2002 11:37 pm

I just started drawing and the rest is drunken history!

WHOO YEAH!

But seriously, if you guys could see the pages and pages I've filled up with character bios and psychological profiles...you'd be seeing stuff you made up in your own imagination...

The main set of chars in my storyline came from a basic plot need, a desire on my part for hilarious banter (oh how they do go on so! ha ha!), and my own concepts of what it takes to create a balanced story with enough points of view to really screw up what should be a simple situation. I almost never get an idea for one character without getting an idea for another character... but where those ideas come from? Drawing them. I come up with their appearance first, and if they look goofy, they're goofy. If they look depressed, they're depressed. That's kinda how it's got to be when the medium's so visual. (IMHO)