Fanfic Writers Interpretations-Backstories

[prettywitchiusaka]

All characters start off from somewhere, and all character have a back story. Backstories either tell a significant event in a person's lives that explains why they have a ceratin trait, or it explains how a characters full personality came to be as they grew up. Unfortunately, we sometimes never get to know character backstories, especially in cartoons that are meant for more entertainment purposes. But as a result, character backstories have become a common staple that fanfic writers explore. That said, the question is this.

What kind of backstories do you think certain characters in KND have?

For this, I'll start off with Rachel. Now I should note that I stand by Synaptic Firefly on the fact that Rachel's strong and mature personality was shaped as a result of her family life. But of course, mine varies from hers significantly.

Rachel was born into the life of luxury and wealth. Unfortunately, her parents never really paid much attention to her. They were always consumed by work and late night partying, her mother was a constant flirt( she never slept with any of the men she flirted with), and her father was constantly busy with gambling and working overtime with his friends.

By the age of three, Rachel was very aware that her parents were constantly neglecting her. She asked them many times to play with her, but they always said they were too busy to play. Upset and defeated, she would always retreat to her room where she played alone. Once she got bored of playing with her toys, she would retreat to the giant library where she would read both easy and advanced book sfor hours, causing her to become quite intelligent for her age.

Around this time, Harvey was conceived. At first, Rachel grew resentful of her borther because of all the attention he got, but never jealous. This all changed when her motehr hired a maid to look after them named Helga. Instead of acting like a true nanny however, Helga took it upon herself to educate the two children and treat them as if they were her own children. It was through Helga that Rachel learned to be mature and love others through Helga's authoratitive style of parenting. As a result, she came to love her little brotehr very much, even though by this time Harvey was so spoiled that he couldn't be tamed.

One day while they were at the park, Rachel noticed a little girl gettign picked on by some teenagers. Angered that they were treating her so terribly, she went over to them and told them off. They tried to to fight her but teh fight was immediately broken off by Helga. A KND recrution scout however, noticed this, and asked Rachel if she wanted to join. At first, she wasn't quite sure. But after taking a few days to sort out her feelings and realize that she did have an urge to protect innocent people, she found teh recrution scout and asked if she could join. Rachel then was put into the Cadets Next Door, where she became a high ranking cadet due to her potential as a strategist and fighter, and formed lasting friendships with Fanny and Patton.

On the day of her seven birthday/ graduation though, Rachel got a surprise. her parents had come home early, but only to tell their children that they were getting a divorce. Upset by this, Rachel yells at them, telling them how selfish they're being to her this on her birthday, to which her mother replies 'Today's your birthday?'. Upon feeling like someone had taken a knife to her heart hearing tjose words, Rachel finally realized just how they really felt. They didn't love her, or Harvey for that matter.

After the divorce was filed, a huge battle ensued for custody of the children, until Helga finally won. Unfortunately though, Rachel was left with a few mental scares as a result. One was the fact that she couldn't picture her parents without feeling sick, and cut her hair to shoulder length as a result, so as not to associate herself with them. The other was the feeling that she was unloveable, and that no matter what she did, one day everyone she loved( incliduing her significant other) would leave her behind.

What kind of pasts have you created for certain characters?

[risanf]

Backstories are a bit hard, since a lot of the characters already have an extensive history. I did, however, make a Skunky Scout troop for Laura Limpin.

Scout Troop 177

Mrs. Dixon: Den mother of Scout Troop 177, she runs the show with bubbly enthusiasm...when she's not being chased down by the KND for her supervillainy.

Agatha: Blond with a somewhat horsey face. Agatha is passionate about enforcing the rules of the Skunky Scout troop. She also has somewhat of a relationship with a member of the Boy Scouts, but her rivalry with his troop complicates things, and she feels conflicted about her professional and personal life.

Mary Bell: Red-head with pudgy cheeks. Mary Bell is blessed with an endless supply of good cheer. She likes to tease people, especially when it comes to their romantic affairs.

Janet: Chinese American with short hair and glasses. Though shy and timid, she sometimes treats problems like they are the end of the world and can really spaz out. She is close to Laura, admiring her outgoing attitude and her strong-arm tactics of making the sale. She has Asthma, and is also a good cook.

Clarice: Dark-skinned girl with fierce eyes. She goes about her duties in the Skunky Scouts like a samurai devoted to the sword. She respects Laura as her rival and is always striving to make more sales then her.

These four plus Laura make up for an all-girl team that's probably on the lines of a particularly hyperactive anime. The Scouts are used to Laura's transformations, though they are equipped with tranquilizer darts in case she gets too wild.

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On another note, Laura has a mother named Lorraine Limpin. She shares the same condition as Laura, but usually operates as a devoted mother...unless it comes time for some tough discipline.

[prettywitchiusaka]

It's never really hard for me coming up with ideas for backstories, as I am always interested in characeters and why they behave the way they do.

Your Scout Troop sounds very interesting, especially the idea of them accepting Laura's transformations, but are equiped to tranquilizer her if necessary.

[risanf]

What I mean is that since so many backstories are already filled out, there's less you can do in that regard. For instance, if I had my way, I'd make Hoagie's father turn out to be Porco Rosso from the Miyazaki film of the same name, since is Porco is everything Hoagie aspires to be, from his fancy 1930s seaplane to his droll Noir persona. Since Mr. Gilligan has since then appeared in KND, trying to write something like that is more difficult. I'd still like to have Hoagie meet Porco as some point.

Also, you have to consider whether your backstory has the same mood as the other KND backstories, which is usually something absurd that nevertheless takes itself completely seriously. Like if you're coming up with something like "So and so character is the way he or she is because they were abused and beaten when they were six" you might want to rethink that. *You might want to instead try something like "So and so character is the way he or she is because the adults canceled his or her favorite television show when they were six" or something like that. I don't know if it's something I want to attempt unless I'm sufficiently inspired.

(* I'm referring to "you" in the general sense)

[prettywitchiusaka]

So, you have Porco Rosso as Hoagie's dad huh? I've never actually seen that movie, but based on what I know about the character, I can see what angle you're coming from.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I don't have everyone have a tragic past, it's just more so that I see Rachel as more fo a tragic figure than a happy one in my book. But Kuki would defenitely not have atragic past, nor would Nigel, Hoagie, or Wally in my opinion. Abby maybe, but only in terms iof what happened with Cree.

[risanf]

There's also the Kuki fics to think about, the ones that are like "Kuki is the way she is because she's hiding everything behind a smile and is actually really emo and listens to Linkin Park all the time." It gets to the point where Kuki doesn't even resemble the real character anymore, and you just wish someone would take some of her traits at face value.

Anyway, I'm thinking Porco Rosso=Mr. Gilligan is gonna be a no-go, although Hoagie should at least idolize Porco. As it is, I'm going to have to fudge a lot of plot points to make it work, like for instance how Hoagie can meet Porco in the modern KND world when he actually lives on the Adrianic Islands during the 1930s. Turning the Sugar Pirates into Air Pirates should be easy, though.

[prettywitchiusaka]

Oh, I know, I HATE IT when people do that! I mean yes it's their own decision, but Kuki is not a character that hides behind a facade, she's just naturally cheerful! I mean yes, you go into darker areas with Kuki, but I don't think you need to give her a tragic past when she clearly doesn't have one.

Well, that would probably be a little bit difficult now that you mention it. But hey, if the Kids Next Door can make vehichles that have the ability to move around in space, I'm sure they can make a time machine (maybe even a time traveling delorian (I kid, I kid))!