Character Tropes

[kdufour]

In all media, there is a certain reliance on overdone character tropes. Recycled characteristics that have simply been copy, pasted and altered to fit the world. For example: the hard headed female, clingy sidekick or the obvious character foils.

The one I see easily jumping into TLD is the grizzly elder survivor who has lived in the woods even before it all went down. This type of character can easily be the mentor for the player, before tragically dying and leaving the player to fend for themselves using the limited basic principles taught early on.

Hinterlanders: Do you feel these character tropes serve a purpose? Or have story tellers fallen into a comfort zone when developing their characters?

Hinterland Team: What steps were taken during the writing process to steer away from these prefabricated character tropes in order to develop different, more compelling characters that still have a definitive place in the world?

[Bill Tarling]

The one I see easily jumping into TLD is the grizzly elder survivor who has lived in the woods even before it all went down.

It doesn't always have to be a male either...

On a farm far outside of Montreal where I grew up as a kid, there was an old 92 year old lady who lived way deep in the woods [the farm owner gave her the land to use, and helped her build her house -- she built most of it years earlier herself].

She had no electricity [the land was miles from any roads], no running water (just a well), and she grew all her own food. She hated being dependent on people, but loved looking after the horses that roamed the area.

Winters back then often meant 5 to 6 feet of snow [and that was during mild winters], and we mainly had to use horse drawn sleighs to get through the paths and brush -- they always gave me the farthest trees to dig my way to in order to gather the sap for maple syrup.

Anyhow, that old lady was the kindest and most knowledgeable person I had known back then. More importantly, she was also one of the happiest person I've known...

She would have thrived in TLD, and loved the whole experience and challenge in real life.

[TattooedMac]

Anyhow, that old lady was the kindest and most knowledgeable person I had known back then. More importantly, she was also one of the happiest person I've known...

She would have thrived in TLD, and loved the whole experience and challenge in real life.

And she probably lived to 110+ yrs of age. I know one of those folk, and I envy them so very much. I always thought i was born in the wrong generation . . .