Mistic Pets

Welcome to Issue 13
Created by The Mistic Pets Team

Character Creation
Written By Caustic

Creating or adopting a new pet is always a fun and exciting experience. Once you get this new family member, however…what do you do with them? A lot of Misticans are roleplayers, writers and artists, and many of our pets have characters and stories behind them. The creation of a good character takes a lot of thought, effort and time, however, so where do you start? There are many different places to derive your inspiration from.

The Name:
Sometimes a beautiful name opens up and you snatch it - but then what? You’re sometimes left staring at the digital equivalent of a lawn ornament. However, a name is a wonderful place to start for character creation.

Look up the name in the dictionary and thesaurus. Maybe it has an obvious meaning already, but look deeper - did the word mean something else fifty or so years ago? Is there a way you could twist it into something more unique and interesting? Analyzing your pet’s name will give you many ideas.

My pet, Gladiolus, is an example of this. He’s named after a flower, and the gladiolus flower stands for strength of character, sincerity, and generosity. The name itself means “little sword” - so I made him a soldier with a strong sense of right and wrong, and skilled with a sword.

The Species:
Not all of the pets available have complete facts, but trust me - the writers are working on it! If the species you’ve chosen has facts, check them out (they are posted on the official help site; link is located on the bottom of every page). A lot of the facts written are extremely in depth and give each pet a unique background. They’re an amazing source for inspiration!

Take Anyai, for example. They are either scoundrels or highly secretive and religious. You could come up with a wealth of information for a good character from that alone - maybe your character was a fated sacrifice but escaped, or rebelled from their religion and is now a con man or a heartless mercenary (like a certain beach dwelling anya that we all, unfortunately, know too well!).

Colors and Themes:
Your pet’s color or theme will probably give you more insight into their personality than their entire character. An inferno pet will probably not be terribly shy or even tempered, for example - though you don’t always have to go with the obvious. Maybe they could be stoic and cold, seemingly heartless, but are truly harboring a roaring temper that will explode with the right triggers.

Your pet’s color and theme could also inspire their magical powers or origins. A zodiac pet could be affiliated with fortune telling or even weather and the guidance of people.

There are other ways to inspire yourself, of course - music, other stories and characters, even real life people. You can go the obvious route and make your character, name and theme all fit perfectly, or give your pet an ironic twist and give them a name or theme that is completely at odds with the rest of their character. The most important thing in character creation is logic and good development, not necessarily creating the most convoluted and “unique” one around.

Comments

Written By Cotton

This guide actually helps me a lot. Thanks Caustic!

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