Designing Your Character & Other Handy Things

Tropes of Motivation

Because Destiny Says So:Characters want to fullfill a prophecy.

Because You Were Nice to Me: One character is loyal to another due to a single kind act.

Career Building Blunder: When an early mistake provides the motivation for a character.

Chronic Hero Syndrome: Character is compelled to help everyone, all the time.

Community-Threatening Construction: When a planned construction site motivates residents to defend their home which is subject for demolition.

Concepts Are Cheap: Characters have vague one word motivations that could really mean anything.

Darwinist Desire: A character wants to reproduce with the fittest mate possible.

Debt Detester: Character repays debts as soon as possible so as to not owe others.

Declaration of Protection: A person has their entire motivation built around protecting a vulnerable person. (usually a girl).

Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: A character on a journey to find a meaningful place in the world.

Despotism Justifies the Means: Bad guys who want only power will do anything to acheive it.

Dismotivation: Characters try hard to achieve nothing.

Driven by Envy: A character wants something someone else has, and resents them for it.

Dystopia Justifies the Means: Bad guys whose goal is to create a nightmarish crapsack world.

Embodiment of Virtue: A character is driven by the desire to achieve perfection in a certain moral virtue.

Enemies Equals Greatness: Opposition or mistreatment from others is what gets a character highly motivated to do great things.

Everyone's Baby Sister: Threats on a character that everyone cares about gets characters to act against the threat.

Failure Knight: A character failed to protect someone once, and is determined not to fail again.

Family Honor:  A character wants to live up to their family name, and bring credit to their family.

Fighting for a Homeland:

Food as Bribe: Some people will do anything for food.

For Great Justice: Good guys fight so that Justice will prevail.

For Happiness: A character wants to spread joy and cheer.

For Science!: A character wants to make scientific discoveries with no real practical purposes.

For the Evulz: Bad guys do evil because they love evil.

For the Funnyz: A character makes a joke, usually against their own self-interest, because they love jokes.

The Four Loves: A character searches for love, in any form.

Freudian Excuse: Something in a villain's past causes them to act the way they do, often parental abuse.

Glory Seeker: A character wants other people to consider him/her to be a Badass.

Goal in Life: A character's main motivation through life.

Gotta Catch Them All: A character wants to pursue a collection.

Hidden Agenda Villain: They have a motive, but we're not sure what it is.