User blog:Njalm2/Character Templates

Alright, I've noticed that me and several other users have some noteworthy troubles in constructing new, decent characters. The primarily problem seems to be what the character is going to specialize in; in short, the most basic stuff. I'm gonna create a few "Character Templates" based off of the abilities of a few noteworthy canon characters. While these are primarily geared towards newer users, older users could probably also benefit from them, especially when making characters for their own stories.

Keep in mind that none of these Character Types are more powerful than others; and I only chose them based on the difference in their abilities. Keep in mind that its not nessecary for a character to possess very similiar abilities and powers to the type they're based of; the character types form a basic outline, which you can use to form a the "skeleton" of the characters abilities.

Character Class
Shuhei Class Overview

A character of this class more or less excels at everything he/she does, they're veterans among their peers and they seem to be pretty well-versed in all ways of combat native to their species or race. Hisagi Shuhei for instance, is alot like this, when we see him fight, we quickly see how well-rounded and attentive he is and in-fact most things he does, he does pretty great - however, it quickly becomes apparent that since he's so balanced, he doesn't have a set speciality and thus can't utilize his maximum potential, and sometimes - merely being "good" at something ain't enough.

Limitations

Characters of the Shuhei Class tend to suffer from a gradual deficiency, they're pretty good at what they do but when confronted with a foe whose level of skill is higher than them, they will constantly fall short; sure, they're highly flexible but you can only do so-so much before it becomes ineffective. Also, the growth rate of characters like these, is pretty slow - as to grow, they typically need to refine their techniques in multiple areas.

Strengths

Their strengths however, is pretty noticeable, characters like these are noted above all else for their versatility, you can set them to accomplish almost any task imagineable and chances are, that they'll do a pretty good job. In battle, they're also prone to make use of several different abilities from different disciplines, greatly increasing their fighting chance by efficiently scouting out the enemies weaknesses. In short, they're very resourceful.

Stats

As suggested in the overview, stats of these characters tend to be pretty even in all areas, with no big leap or large difference; most of them tend to have only slightly higher values in one or two fields, but this difference is rarely more than 15 points.

Rukia Class Overview

Characters like these are distinquished from their kin by the fact that their style is different than most others, characters of this class rely almost entirely on their abilities and their intelligence, they often have above-average talent in one or two areas, but otherwise possess very little skill. They're not where they are because of prodigeous abilities, they're where they are due to honest hard work. Rukia Kuchiki, the namesake of this class is of course a prime example, possessing very little actual skill but still managing to get by very nicely.

Limitations

As most would expect, the limitation of the Rukia Class is that their overreliance on abilities, spells or their general intelligence and knowledge, when exposed with a threat where these approaches would be insufficient or downright foolish. As at that point, their entire attack plan is left in shambles. They're also more focused at a single point than others.

Strengths

One of the prime advantages to characters like these, is that they're very concious about the limits of their own abilities, and quite often, also the limits of their opponent. This enables them to work around these aspects in battle, and actually take on opponents whom would normally be more powerful than them with relative ease. They keep a cool head in battle and are thus capable of fight evenly in the face of overwhelming odds. Due to their resolve, they also astoundingly high growth rates within their specialization.

<p style="text-align: center;">Stats

<p style="text-align: center;">The stats of Rukia Class characters are often quite imbalanced, in that they tend to be rather hard workers, this creates a few areas where they've got alot of ability, whereas other areas are hardly trained at all, having stats close to zero.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Nemu Class <p style="text-align: center;">Overview

<p style="text-align: center;">Whereas the two previous classes are more skill-based, the Nemu class has almost nothing to do with skill, in fact, they possess almost no ability on their own. A Nemu, is a character who relies on external means to fight, whether this be body modification like the original Nemu, science or even the by-effects of magic is irrelevant, the truth is that without this source they possess almost no abilities.

<p style="text-align: center;">Limitations

<p style="text-align: center;">The Nemu class possesses very little actual ability on their own, to an even lesser degree than the Rukia class. Their abilities in their race-specific abilities are pretty much non-existant, if they possess any at all; and they're highly dependant on their weapons, modifications or magical enhancements to fight, which renders them almost useless in situations where this is disatisfactionary.

<p style="text-align: center;">Strengths

<p style="text-align: center;">The Nemu class is powerful for the same reason its got limitations, its lack of reliance on contemporary means of combat makes them well-suited to fight enemies whom are unaware of their condition. Since these characters use completely separate means of combat in comparison to their allies, they can easily continue fighting even while most of their friends are either incapacitated or helpless; basically. The Nemu class is excellent for its ability to balance out a fighting-force.

<p style="text-align: center;">Stats

<p style="text-align: center;">Due to their separate skill-sets and unique capabilities, the Nemu Class have extremely low stats on average, as they've almost got no ties to the usual way of combat. This doesn't make them weak, if anything it makes them unique; and even though a Nemu character could have a stat total of 100 - he or she might possess great abilities still.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Ichigo Class <p style="text-align: center;">Overview

<p style="text-align: center;">The first thing that springs to mind when mentioning Ichigo Class, is imbalance - not in how their powers are constructed but rather how little balance there is to their abilities. Primarily, they pool almost all effort into a few select talents and takes them to the extreme while the rest of their abilities suffer. Does this make them weak? Yes, absolutely - in almost all cases, Ichigo Class characters are pretty weak cause they take too much from Ichigo Kurosaki, without making use of the authors originality.

<p style="text-align: center;">Limitations

<p style="text-align: center;">The greatest issue of the Ichigo Class is that they're incredibly overspecialized; and this overspecialization, while making them very good within their chosen field leaves them practically defenseless if the situation would ever warrant something else.

<p style="text-align: center;">Strengths

<p style="text-align: center;">In their chosen fields, these men and women are incredibly proficient, to the degree that its downright ridicolous; they squeeze every last drop out of their talents and forego almost all other skills just to pursue that one interest. For this reason, their growth rates are pretty large within their specialized fields; much higher than most other characters. Also, Ichigo Classes typically have a powerful Zanpakuto meant to enhance their unique and selective preferences greatly.

<p style="text-align: center;">Stats

<p style="text-align: center;">As expected, these characters typically have very low stat totals, completely eschewing most forms of combat just to pursue that one skill. Kenpachi is a good example of this, despite having the lowest stat total of all the Captains, he's still a very powerful character.

<h3 style="text-align: center;">Hachigen Class <p style="text-align: center;">Overview

<p style="text-align: center;">This class represents pure, undiluted mastery in a single field, to the degree that they rely almost entirely on a single skill to do batle, this can be Kido, Zanjutsu, Hakuda or Hoho - or even something else entirely. But what defines them is that they possess almost no other abilities; with their favored skill usually being so convuluted as to allow them to rely on it alone. The difference between the Hachigen Class and the Ichigo Class is skill - the latter has alot of talent and can ultimately flourish in more than one area, but the Hachigen Class won't. They'll continue advancing their craft as long as they live.

<p style="text-align: center;">Limitations

<p style="text-align: center;">Due to their extensive knowledge in their specialized field; these people don't suffer from the same overspecialisation that members of the Ichigo Class do. Because they've worked with and refined their skill so much that they've managed to turn it to a variety of different uses, to attribute to alot of different situations. Their limitations comes elsewhere, for Shinigami, its common for these people to not have achieved their Zanpakuto's Shikai State - being far too busy advancing their craft to bother communicating with their Zanpakuto. Furthermore, they're usually quite poor at just about any other racial ability or talent.

<p style="text-align: center;">Strengths

<p style="text-align: center;">Obviously, when confronted in a situation where they can use their specialized abilites to their full potential, the Hachigen Class are incredibly efficient combatants, as their extensive skill and experience with their specialized skill grants them powers and abilities few others share. Each and every one of them bring something unique and special to a battle; and that is why they're among the most dangerous of adversaries to those whom are unaware of their exceptional talents and the wide scope of their powers.

<p style="text-align: center;">Stats

<p style="text-align: center;">Hachigen Classes have extremely low stat totals overall, much like the Ichigo Class - unlike the previous though, these manage to have even lower ratings for the most part, as they rarely give a damn about their other abilities, pouring all effort into that single talent. For this reason, their stat totals are often abysmally low.

Examples
I'll list examples here, some of them will be Canon Characters, but most of them will be actual Fanon characters I've stumbled over and whom already fit nicely into one of the classes.

Shuhei Class

 * Shuuhei Hisagi
 * Byakuya Kuchiki
 * Gin Ichimaru
 * Kenji Hiroshi
 * Sozen Shihouin
 * Dyan Arashi

Rukia Class

 * Rukia Kuchiki
 * Uryu Ishida
 * Sousuke Aizen
 * Ryuichi Ishida

Nemu Class

 * Nemu Kurotsuchi
 * Mayuri Kurotsuchi
 * Orihime Inoue
 * Kaname Tousen
 * Rushifa Sureiya
 * Van Satonaka
 * Shiroko Sorei

Ichigo Class

 * Ichigo Kurosaki
 * Kazuya Kuchiki
 * Gai Nagareboshi

Hachigen Class

 * Hachigen Ushoda
 * Shigenaga Arma
 * Yagami no Kenshin
 * Hiroya Ginkarei