Why do you play your character(s)?

[Avalikia]

I find that this question is kind of a good ice-breaker/getting-to-know-you question in a forum like this. You can format your answer however you want, but if you like how I've presented mine then feel free to steal that.

So I'll get us started:

Poison Ivy
Why I started playing her:
I originally played her because when I was first invited to join a Batman forum my first instinct was to want to play Catwoman but the person who invited me wanted to play Catwoman so I decided that Poison Ivy was my second choice. Not my first because being that sexy is so outside of my RL norm that I was worried that I couldn't make her sexy enough, but I think I've gotten better with practice. But definitely my second because when I was a little girl I liked all the women in the animated series and she was so strong and confident.

Why I still play her:
I played her for so long and got so much practice with her that she's really easy for me now, and my friends give me compliments and I like compliments! Also, I'm actually a very anxious person IRL so I connect with her on a surprisingly deep level - she's actually a very paranoid person, way more paranoid than I am, but she acts very confident because she's really arrogant about her abilities. She thinks that the whole world is horrible and out to get her, but that she's smart enough and strong enough to overcome it anyway. I think that playing her actually helps me get into the right mindset to feel smart enough and strong enough to handle the things I worry about in my own life - though I definitely hope that I don't overdo it like she does.

Mr. Freeze
Why I started playing him:
I've always been a sucker for tragic romance, so I've always really liked him. Not necessarily more than a lot of other characters, but he's not a lot of people's first pick as a character to play so it makes me sad to see him go unclaimed.

Why I still play him:
He's never been very hard for me to write, because my take on him is actually very simple, though I enjoy seeing what happens when he interacts with others. He's a very flexible character when it comes to who he teams up with or makes enemies with or helps out, so he's prone to having interesting interactions that I like.

Heather Glass
Why I started playing her:
At the time I created her that forum could have really used some more media people, and also the male/female gender ratio on any Batman forum tends to lean male because a lot of the most prominent canons are male, so a female OC tends to help with that. Female OCs also tend to end up getting boyfriends, which is fun.

Why I still play her:
While I certainly didn't expect her to get kidnapped by the Scarecrow and get Stockholm syndrome in that forum, I actually really enjoyed where that ended up taking her as a character - to the point where even beyond the relationship with him I like all the character developments that happened as a result of that and see them as a natural part of her now. Not that the relationship has nothing to do with my continued desire to play her... And with her multiple personalities, it gives me the opportunity to write as certain personalities that I enjoy writing but not enough that I want a character who is that way all the time. Not that I literally gave her every personality that I would like a chance to write - if I had then she'd have way more of them. No, just the ones that fit her psyche.

Carmen Hernández
Why I started playing her:
This is a new board so I wanted to have a character who was new too instead of having only characters I'd played before. And especially with OCs, I like characters who have a lot of potential to go many different directions and then see what happens to them to figure out which direction they're going to go. And I think she has a fun personality - kind of different from my other characters, so I like the variety.

Why I still play her:
I've not played her long enough to get sick of her, I guess? We'll see if that ever happens - it could, but then again it might not.

[Edward Nygma]

My introduction to role playing occurred on Gotham City RPG. At the time, I was a Batman fan girl writing and reading far too much fanfiction. I wanted to play the Joker, and I danced between the sites trying to find one available. Each site, the Joker was taken, as well as a ton of other characters, (which surprises me now because I feel like the Joker is one of the hardest characters to stick around). Eventually, I stumbled across GCRPG. Again, the Joker was taken, but it was new enough that there were ACTUALLY characters available. Literally, I began looking through the characters, weighing each one. Eventually, I decided to take the Riddler because he was kind of like the Joker (my Eddie muse is outright disturbed by that statement now lmao). Thus, began my journey role playing as Eddie.

I began to deep dive into the Riddler, reading nearly every comic he appears in, watching all media he pops up in. I fell in love with all of his crazy narcissism ocd attention seeking nonsense. He also gave me the opportunity to explore really dramatic and large plotlines because as he says in the Harley Quinn TV show, “I’m an A-lister! I’m too smart!” Now, I have roleplayed with Eddie for over a decade, knowing his weird quirks and oddities. He makes me laugh, and I love the fact that even though he possesses no super power or great strength, he can still compete with any other villain. It is oddly fun to play someone so ridiculously smart. I also generally love playing a character in the rogue gallery. I never feel like the comics fully dive into the interactions between rogues. They focus on the hero stopping the villain, and we occasionally get a glance of rogue interaction. But to be honest, my favorite parts of comics are when we get to see the Joker speak with the Penguin, or the Riddler talk to Catwoman. I love that we get to explore those relationships incredibly deep on this site. Because even though they are trying to defeat the Batman, each has their own friendship, respect, or fear of one another. It’s why GCRPG was so successful without a long-standing Batman. He wasn’t needed. It’s actually the reason I’m so obsessed with the Harley Quinn TV show right now because for the first time, there is a show that focuses on the rogues and not the heroes.

Even when I’m not roleplaying, he seems to have a space in my head, especially when I’m pushing myself to do better. For example, if I am debating about procrastinating, he usually makes a snide remark along the lines of, “Seriously? You prefer wasting both of our time rather than completing a ridiculously simple task?” Which leads to me to sigh, and be like, fine, I’ll do it now. Admittedly, I relate to Eddie. Though not nearly as narcissistic, I certainly fall under the Type 3 enneagram personality chart. I constantly seek out approval through my achievements and strive on positive feedback. I struggle painfully with failure, as does Eddie, but roleplaying Eddie has provided me just the right amount of personal reflection to realize…oaf, I don’t want to be a total bitch like Eddie would be in the same situation. To put simply, not only has roleplaying Eddie become a great hobby for me, but Eddie has helped me grow in real life as a person. Totally crazy, but true. For that reason, I could never give him up, and while I role play him with varying activity levels, he is always parading about my head telling me one thing after another.


Favorite Comics with the Riddler

Batman: The War of Jokes and Riddles


Batman: Zero Year


Catwoman: When in Rome


Gotham City Sirens


Batman #23.2 — renamed Riddler #1


Joker's Asylum: The Riddler


Batman: Battle for the Cowl - The Underground


Detective Comics 797-799



Driving me insane because I can't remember the exact name - Basically, the storyline where everyone is pissed off at Eddie and Hush beats him up