Unique Characters

Having read some KMC members' attempts at creating their own characters -- and a common response from other members being something like, "It's been done" -- I was curious about the following...

1. Which established (DC, Marvel, etc) character do you find truly (or at least, relatively) unique/original?
2. Why?
3. Is it a good thing or a bad thing (in other words, does the character's uniqueness work, or is it too contrived)?

Originally posted by Mindship
1. Which established (DC, Marvel, etc) character do you find truly (or at least, relatively) unique/original?
2. Why?
3. Is it a good thing or a bad thing (in other words, does the character's uniqueness work, or is it too contrived)?

Sarda the Sage (8-bit Theater)

Because despite holding the position of being the omnipotent "god" of his universe he sees no reason to take the position seriously or even be responsible. In fact he goes so far as to distort a large section of history just to make coffee and completely ignores huge holes in the time stream.

Basicly unlike omnipotents in most series Sarda has no "do not interfere" or "I am an aspect of the universe" or "reality must be protected" clause in his job description. As BM puts it, he's just an omnipotent a$$hole.

The uniqueness works quite well IMO.

Isn't that the little troublemaker in your sig?

I think personality can contribute to a characters uniqueness, not just abilities.

Absolutely. Even if nearly everything else about the character is cliche, a well depicted personality can make the character seem virtually brand new.

Originally posted by Mindship
Absolutely. Even if nearly everything else about the character is cliche, a well depicted personality can make the character seem virtually brand new.

Like Catman ?

Originally posted by grey fox
Like Catman ?

Deadpool and Mr. Immortal are very unique characters imo...

Kindly explain why.

Deadpool is almost an exact copy of Deathstroke, and even has the same creator. Slade ----> Wade. Besides, he's not the first to break the 4th wall.

🙄

Well Deadpool mainly for his personality/crude sense of humor. Also because he has breached the "4th wall", and knows he's in a comic... [I know he's not the first to do this, but it's still unique imo].

Mr. Immortal because he is funny as hell when he fights, and also due to the fact that he is quite possibly the only "truly" immortal character in Marvel.

The Joker.

He's got everything:

Cool design that works perfectly for him and isn't "too busy"
(ie, they didn't decide to just give him an arsenal on his person or something)

Interesting method of killing
(They die poisoned, smiling, and in fear at the same time. Anytime they have an image of someone smiling wider than they possibly can whilst begging for help, that's just awesomely freaky)

You love to hate him
(I think everyone that likes this character laughs at his antics, but at the same time, registers that they probably shouldn't find it funny.)

He's the perfect foil for Batman
(Batman is a strict, dark, hardass that instills fear in others despite protecting people. The Joker is a fun, bright, playful guy who...despite hurting people, in a subtle way instills happiness.)

He's an IMPORTANT foil for Batman
(As Joker's stated numerous times, he'll never flat out kill Batman and Batman will never flat out kill him, cause its way too fun. Without the Joker, the Batman isn't as much of a protector, and without the Batman, the Joker isn't challenged much. They need each other and are at a bit of a sibling rivalry.)

He's sympathetic, though you have no reason to sympathize cause he's so evil
(If you look at him deeply, you can see that he's essentially wanting to make people laugh but since he has a twisted sense of humor, nobody seems to "get the joke". Also, he's like a little kid with ADHD. Any attention is good attention. The Joker wants respect and he gets it through being Batman's #1 foe.)

He has such a clear cut identity, but has no set backstory or even real name
(Everybody knows at least the basics about The Joker, but not even people that have read every single story he's mentioned in know what his real name is. How many villains have been there for decades and haven't been given this treatment? Some of them have even been revised to give them more than one. Look at Luthor lol. Mad scientist, now he's a businessman, now he's a businessman that once was friends with Clark, etc)

There's a lot of unique characters (and even more characters that try to copy from them) but I think The Joker takes the cake here. He's unique in the way that he's absolutely essential and perfectly sculpted. Nothing is forced at all. Its just a natural flow.

The Joker isn't unique, but he is original. What I mean is many characters are based off of him but they came afterwards.

Originally posted by Mindship
Isn't that the little troublemaker in your sig?

Indeed.

I like the characterization of Sarda because it diverges so far from the norm of what omnipotent characters are like.

Originally posted by Symmetric Chaos
Indeed.

I like the characterization of Sarda because it diverges so far from the norm of what omnipotent characters are like.

He's a realistic interpretation. If I had Omnipotence i'd certainly dick around with it ...

Gambit: His powers are unique, his back-story is unique, and he's the only one in comics with that crappy, unrealistic accent.

Originally posted by Darth Macabre
Gambit: His powers are unique, his back-story is unique, and he's the only one in comics with that crappy, unrealistic accent.

And everyone hates him.

Originally posted by grey fox
And everyone hates him.

Originally posted by Darth Macabre
Not everyone. 😖hifty:

Just those who aren't dead before Gambit was created or those in a coma, hate him 🙂

........and I reckon there are one or two coma patients who hate him as well ✅

EDIT : As for Original characters I think a good choice would be Batman and Spider-man and it's partly what attributes to their success. Batman feels like he should be a bad guy for using fear and intimidation and Spidey was a hero who was interesting not just for the fight scenes but his day to day life ✅

Yeah, Spidey's a good one. So's Ben Grimm. He's kind of like the movie/show M*A*S*H*: comedy in the face of tragedy. The guy does have a lot of heart.