User blog:DearlySkies/Writing a Backstory

Backstories are the thing you use for your character. It can help give your character, well... Character [insert sparkles here]! To say the least, it builds up the personality and may give details pertaining to why your character acts the way they do. If you've read my fan fiction, Sisters of Country to Business, you'll find why Hada is always smiling ''(hint: it's all forced!). ''Not all of your details have to be on the character page. Let's begin.

Note: I copied this directly from my RWBYFanon blog on how to write a character backstory so it may reference RWBY a lot.

"I'm not perfect!"
Your backstory should reflect some sort of hardship in the character's life as they cannot be perfect. One person's perfection is another's downfall. Remember Weiss for a moment. Got a picture in your head? In the first volume, she shouts at Ruby, "I'm. Not. Perfect! Not yet... But I'm still leagues better than you" (The Emerald Forest Pt. 2). Later, it is hinted at that Weiss was abused in some fashion (The Stray). It is also known that Weiss is the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and is supposed to be perfect and we know why she wears her hair to the side since almost her entire outfit is symmetrical.

This is a good example of a backstory that is tragic (see also: Batman). Use something like a Weiss backstory for your character but don't copy it. To go along these lines, see example I below.

Rags to Riches
Now for Yang. We know her story. Same as for Blake. Once a member of the White Fang but bailed when things grew grimm (pun intended). Yang ran away with Ruby to find answers when Qrow saved them. We know this. It is the reason why Yang wants to be a huntress; answers. Blake, it seems, fights for equality but does it peacefully instead of doing all out raids upon the Schnee Dust Company.

Say your character was like one of these two. Again, don't copy exactly and see example II below. They could be an ex-gang member or trying to be in a gang and glorious. Again, factor in hardships and victories.

Ruby Rose Complex
Once in a while, there is that character who excelled into Beacon. We know her as Ruby Rose. I haven't seen many characters follow this story to a T but you need to understand that something like this isn't common and so not every other character (1:20 characters?) should excelled an entire two years. Possibly one year since that is more common and also because of the confusing "When does my child go into school?" birthday thing with America's education system.*'''

Follow example III for a similar story.

Hack
Not like the story .//hack but the Jaune Arc hack with faked/ stolen transcripts and being accepted into Beacon. Same thing with Ruby Rose, this doesn't happen often and should be a very limited thing.* ''I have nothing else to say on the topic. We seem to have one person like this.''

Stoicism
Yatsuhashi we have only seen for a few minutes, possibly about 10 minutes total(?) but he seems to be a pretty stoic character, right? Well you see, there are a few causes of characters like this: No, I do not mean PTSD kind of things. That's just terrible. No. I mean, emotions are a burden and only hold me back and so I need to fight for what is right. That seems to be just about what Blake and Yatsuhashi reflect, right? While this seems to make the character cool, don't over do it with the "I eat nothing, I like nothing, I dislike everything". That's how you make a villain.
 * I wanna be cool
 * I have a bad history
 * I came out of war
 * I wanna be a badass
 * Emotions are a burden

Follow example IV.

REVENGE
Now, for something not obviously seen in RWBY. The "Eren Jaeger Cliche" (ten points to Delta-06 for bringing this up). We know the story; A family member dies by the hands of one and now the person must bring down upon all their wrath. In the case of RWBY, Pyrrha is the perfect combatant and now Cardin must make a fool of her or seriously injure her. Ew. Ew. While I like Attack on Titan, Eren's motives are well... [Armin noises]. Don't over do it.

Follow Example V.

Examples
''Please note that these are rough ideas and do not go into detail as they should on an actual character page. Feel free to use for your own character even though my writing is dumb.''

Example I
_____ was born to a man who had a child with one woman but ran away from the responsibility he had and thus met another woman of whom bore ______. Throughout (his/her) years of training and education, _______ was verbally abused by (his/her) father and tried to please both (his/her) father and mother by excelling to be the best they could train (him/her).

Once ______ was accepted into the first combat school, (his/her) father often wrote of how their other child is a better vessel of courage over (him/her). A few letters later, ______ decided to train harder and took time after classes to train 1-on-1 with a (teacher/friend).

Example II
______ came into the world from a poor couple who lived in the most barren land of (Vale/ Vacuo/ Mistral/ Atlas/ some other place). They scoured the land for food but ended up eating the grass which thrived and few times killed other animals. After living many years in such a style, ______ swore to become a great person and help their parents out of poverty.

Years later, _______ forged their own weapon out of ____________________ and trained in a nearby town with a former Huntsman up to the level which the first combat school would take. Entire weeks went by in the (gym/ dojo), the whole day dedicated to a single attack.

When ______ was accepted into the first school, (he/ she) was sent off by their trainer with a specialized weapon, (his/ her) current weapon, ________________.

Example III
______ was always fascinated by weapons and battling other people. This was often reflected in their primary education when (she/ he) was asked by the teacher what they wanted to be when they grew up, replying with enthusiasm, "I want to be a (Huntress/ Huntsman)!"

After graduating from primary school, _______ asked their father to train them in combat, meanwhile pleading their mother to allow them to go to a combat school like Signal or Sanctum or some other school of interest. While both complied, _______ had a hard time sticking to this new schedule and was often begged to become a doctor or a historian instead.

Finally, _______ prevailed and made their way to the first school.

Example IV
______ lived many of their years surrounded by girls who were popular and guys who were with them. They were bullied and it became brutal quickly. Many days of coming home with bruises left ______ in an emotional void and would try to get away from the others' beatings by not saying much and not showing any emotion.

Upon arriving at the first combat school they would attend, _______ made an oath to keep all people safe, regardless of race and species. They would show no weakness and bear no burden, only moving forward for equality.

Example V
______ was always applauded as a young student, being a star in the eyes of their classmates. They were showered in compliments but no one would dare challenge them. That was until a new student arrived and took the title of "Best in Class". Swearing to overcome the other, ______ trained harder and harder.

It wasn't until a late summer afternoon that _______ saw their flaw. How could they try to take the throne of another. They knew how disappointed they were when that person stole their thunder but it's been years and there's no reason to push upon another such pain. Instead, _______ made a vow to themself to use their skills in some other form; a defense against crime and Grimm of Remnant.