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How To: Senshi
Lately, I’ve been receiving some requests to read through character profiles. I, of course, do not mind doing this, but I found that the same issues were occurring in each one. So, while I’ve been avoiding it for some time now, I realized that something had to be done. This is why I present How To: Making a Senshi.
Now, the first thing to understand about creating a sailor senshi, or any fictional character, is to realize that it’s a lot of work. You can’t just jot down a couple of facts and expect to have a believable character. It requires a good deal of research and an equal amount of effort. You need to be willing to put in the time. This shouldn’t stop your ambitions by any means, creating characters is actually a lot of fun. If you come up with a good one, you can use it over and over again.
Okay, so a great way to start out is to come up with a name. If you’re about to write a character profile, then you probably already have a pretty good idea about what your character’s name is. Throughout this tutorial, I’ll be using a character that I made up several years ago. Her name was Stara or Sailor Sea.
Having a template can often help get the creative juices flowing. Just looking at one of the character bios in our own pnp galleries can help give you an idea of information that you should include. Here is a great example:
Name: Stara Nekio
Senshi Name: Sailor Sea
Nicknames: Sea-chan, The Evil One
Birthday: January 12th
Age: 16
Astrological Sign: Capricorn
Height: 5’ 7”
Blood Type: O
Hobbies: Playing jokes on people, laughing at others’ misery, planning to conquer the world
Favorite Color: Teal
Favorite Food: Spinach
Least Favorite Food: Peas
Favorite Subjects: English/Foreign Language/History
Least Favorite Subjects: Math/Science
Weakness: Nightmares from her past
Dislikes: Incompetence
Dream: To get revenge
Of course, you can add or subtract as much as you want, that’s the beauty of creating your own character. However, there’s a lot more to it than just a simple list of characteristics.
The Past
One of the things that really defines Sailor Moon is her past as the moon princess. Essentially, all of the senshi led past lives before they were transported to Earth. It is up to you to decide what has happened to you character up until this point. Obviously, your senshi might not necessarily have an entire past life to deal with, but it will have a past. The events that have already occurred in your character’s life will help define your senshi as a person in the present.
Let’s use Sea-chan as an example. In her past life, she was a princess in a far away galaxy. Princess Stara, as she was known, was an orphan who ruled the planet Nekio (which she later takes on to be the last name of her alias). She fell in love with a commoner and, being young, they decided to run away together. Stara left her planet defenseless, as she needed to be in the castle to activate her home’s defenses, and watched in horror as it was invaded and destroyed by Nekio’s long-time neighbor Sirius. Angered at her betrayal, the gods granted her immortality and the curse of eternal guilt. She watched her love die, just as she had watched her people, and eventually was left to float in space for thousands of years. Unable to handle her remorse any longer, she ripped out her own heart, leaving her only with hatred towards the gods who had cursed her and the need for revenge on the treacherous people of Sirius.
See? Now we have a past that clearly explains Sailor Sea’s current state of mind and pre-determines her actions in the present. Obviously, we can deduce from this back-story that she is not going to be the nicest person in the world, and that she constantly wants revenge. This is an interesting dynamic that gives her a clear personality instead of leaving her very generic.
The Present
Now that we know about your senshi’s past, it’s time to get into the present. Where does your senshi live? Does your senshi have a job? Where does your senshi go to school? Who are his/her friends? Does he/she have a crush on someone? Does he/she have any enemies? What about family? Where does he/she like to hang out after school or on the weekends? Is he/she rich, poor, or middle class? Is he/she famous?
These are just a few really important questions that you need to ask yourself when making up a senshi, because all of them will effect your character’s every day life. It’s not going to be difficult to sneak off and save the world if you have six brothers and sisters or if you have to be home for dinner every night at 6pm. If your senshi can drive it’ll be a lot easier to get around quickly, but then are they always low on cash because they’re paying for gas?
I almost want to say that you can’t be too detailed when making up an original character because no one but you knows anything about him/her. Make sure that you explain things thoroughly without leaving any large holes in the story. Having someone else, who you’ve never explained this to, read it will help.
The Clothes
Clothes are very important when it comes to describing a character, because it also shows what kind of person your senshi is. Of course, we must determine between every day wear and battle wear.
Everyday Wear
Does your person wear an abnormal amount of jewelry? Is he/she always in a school uniform? Is your character very chic or a total slob when it comes to dressing? Make sure that their clothes match their wealth and personality. You wouldn’t have a poor person who cares nothing about appearances walking around in Armani all the times. Consistency is important!
Battle Wear
Take some time to really think this out. I would suggest drawing a picture and uploading it with your senshi profile for us to see! Your battle wear design can be anything you like: from traditional senshi all the way to space agey, that’s the great thing about creating something new. While Naoko Takeuchi didn’t always take practicality into consideration (How does Rei run so fast in high heels?) it might be a good idea to start with practicality if you don’t already have a clear idea in mind. Try and make the costume harmonious with whatever powers you choose your character to have, but it’s not a requirement.
Weaponry
Sailor Moon has several important pieces of hardware (Moon Tiara, Moon Wand, Moon Scepter, Moon Crystal, Moon Grail) all of which seem to tie into the “theme” of her being a princess at one point. Making things connect like this is always a good idea, because there should be a reason why you have a specific weapon. Maybe you stole the sword from the man who killed your father, or maybe you watched Tuxedo Mask drop a steel-tipped rose and decided to dip it in poison, I don’t know, tell me!
Powers
All the senshi have unique powers (Mercury Bubbles Blast! Mars Fire Ignite!), so what are your senshi’s powers? Make sure that you not only give the power a name and describe its effect, but that you also describe how a senshi conjures this power. (Think about the odd position of the different senshis’ bodies when they use their powers). Here a good description:
Mars throws out her arms and twirls around in a circle, drawing a circle of fire around her body. She then brings her fingers together in front of her face, focusing the power, and then thrusts it outwards by pushing her fingers forward.
Even more detail than that would be nice, I just haven’t seen this done in awhile, and I can’t remember the entire process. Anyway, you get the idea. Your senshi should have several powers, not just one, that focus around his/her particular element.
The Familiar
Not all of the senshi have a familiar, but Minako and Usagi certainly do (as does Rei if ravens counts). If you would like to have a familiar (a pet essentially), describe it. Does it have a name? What does it look like? Does it have a past? Does it have any powers? How did you meet it? How long have you had it? Essentially, you will be writing a mini profile for your familiar.
So, there you are, a basic how-to on writing a senshi profile. I can’t wait to see your creations and pictures!
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