The Expy Discussion Thread: A Request for Help Understanding Expies

So I had writers block, so I do what I always do, put away my outlines and notes (I'm a prolific outliner), and just let my mind wander. This time, it decided to make a new character and tell that character's story for a while in The Dumping Ground. The Dumping Ground is where I write all the ideas that pop into my head that sound good, but don't really fit into what I writing at the moment, but I want to record and save for latter reference.

Currently, its a Urban Fantasy / Film Noir / Spy Thriller / Police Procedural / Batman-esque kitchen sink of a city, with a character referred to as "The Fez Guy". Not so much as a power player or a threat to anyone, but more of a kind of last chance: he's the guy you go to if you're desperate for help, or "in need of a favor", as he calls it. He's got friends in all sorts of places, and has enough favors owed to him by nearly everyone in the Dumping Ground, mostly because if you come to him for a favor, he'll expect three in return, and no one says no to him when he collects (He's actually nice enough about it, but he has slightly off friends who will object to anyone "taking advantage of him"). He's been around for a while in what I've written there, but never "seen". He's just where some side characters get nice things, or the reason they're doing whatever it is their doing.

Anyway, I let my mind wander, and it decided that I should write from his perspective for a while. So I thought about who he is, what he wants, and what he looks like. Obviously, I thought, he should be wearing a fez, when he's "working", and then it followed the following train of thought: Fez-> Turk-> the Turks(FFVII)-> Shinra(FFVII)-> Shinra(Durarara). Once it got to the latter, I couldn't get my mind to move off of him, and so now I'm stuck with an expy of Shinra of Durarara, in a fez(Could be worse).

This got me thinking:

-Assuming that Tropes Are Not Bad, there exists a purpose to Expies. What is it?

-What is the difference between a "good" expy and a "bad" expy?

-How does one write the former?

-What to avoid to avoid the latter?

-What, exactly, are the differences between Expy, Captain Erstaz, and Alternate Company Equivalent?

I also want to try and keep this open-ended, so that this thread can help anyone else with understanding Expies. So...any thoughts?

edited 3rd Mar '14 12:19:25 AM by Sharur

One consideration behind expies is that sometimes, you just don't have all the details of what your character is going to look like. In this case, falling back on other already existing characters can fill the hole.

A Captain Ersatz is a near-complete overlap, save for name or a token difference.

While you shouldn't rely on Expies, they can be a very useful tool. The character is allowed to have a similar general personality, don't worry about that. But maybe put other things together in other areas. Like maybe he could have a fighting style similar to someone completely unrelated, personal habits similar to someone else completely unrelated, and a reputation among the populace like someone else completely unrelated. Look at the tropes you have laid out and swap them out like a beautiful, mixed-up puzzle. It all melds together into one beautiful picture that no longer looks like an Expy.

Take one of my characters, Besca. To start off with, I used Vegeta as a base and I looked at what I had; serious strength, a love of fighting, a high-ranking position, and a shitload of arrogance because of those. But Vegeta also was a Hero Killer, a general Jerkass, and someone who ended fights quickly. Tropes I didn't want for this character.

I looked at the motivations. Vegeta wanted to get back on top, but Besca still was on top, so I couldn't do that. I looked at the rest of her faction's motivation, other characters in the same situation as her — they wanted revenge against past general treatment. I decided to put it Up To Eleven on her and turned her into a Well-Intentioned Extremist.

I looked at how far the characters were willing to go — Vegeta would just vaporize you. I wanted the audience to be horrified of her when she first appeared, and since my characters don't have Ki Attacks, what way to do that? Look at her other traits, of course. I cranked Blood Knight up to the extreme, and now despite being on the good guy's side, she kills like a sadist instead of someone who wants to win. I looked at the implications of that, and I thought of another base character from the same series who was similar in that regard, Super Saiyan 2 Gohan. Bam — I now had a crippling Achilles' Heel, letting her Roaring Rampage of Revenge leave her vulnerable like it did him.

As for the Jerkass part? Well, she does mean well, so I couldn't have that. So I looked into the archetype of other Blood Knights, and I came to the conclusion of giving her honor-bound gladiator traits.

I started with girl!bird-alien!Vegeta. So what did I have at the end? I had Besca, a prideful, arrogant general who loves her country and is bound by duty but also loves to fight, and while following the rules, she'll stretch them as extreme as she possibly can even if it means costing herself the fight. I now had a unique character where I used an Expy as a springboard.

edited 3rd Mar '14 5:02:01 AM by BaffleBlend

Thanks, both of you. One final question: if you use an expy as a "springboard" is the result still an expy?

Not if the character goes off in directions that differ from the springboard.