History Main / TheRealMan

This is probably the most common player archetype to appear in a MMORPG, next to the outright {{Munchkin}} types.

* Vriska from ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is one of these, playing a [[HerCodenameWasMarySue character]] who has 'gained all the levels. All of them.' This leads her to butt heads with her RP partner, who is TheRoleplayer and plays a class that's useless but fits his personality best.

* ''[[DungeonsAndDragons D&D's]]'' 4th edition seems to be built to easily accommodate this kind of player. Mechanics favor the "awesomeness" in moves present above, with very little squishy or loner character traits. Near to a middle ground between the other archetypes.

*** There are some classes and builds than can dish out so much pain in such a short time that even Boss enemies can fall or at least become serioulsy crippled within one turn. A two-weapon Ranger using Blade Cascade (even the errataed version) with a few build-ups beforehand can easily instagib most lieutenant level mobs, and with a bit of luck rolling the dice sometimes even bosses. The major disadvantage is that this only works once a day, so it'd best be saved for that one big enemy.

* In large part the appeal of ''{{Exalted}}'', an RPG that specializes in being over-the-top awesome, that will actually let you jump 100 feet in the air, while whirling two blades around you to parry a hail of incoming arrows, then land head-first on the bad guy to smash him literally into the ground.
** Exalted pioneered the Stunt Bonus concept ([[AwesomeButPractical cool actions work better when you describe them in detail]]) which ''{{Scion}}'' and ''TabletopGame/ChangelingTheLost'' later used.

* ''{{Scion}}'' actively encourages this kind of play with the Stunting mechanic that gives bonus dice and refreshes Legend based on how cool it is from a scale of 1, nifty and adds depth to the action, to 3, leaves everyone around the table speechless at the [[RuleOfCool sheer amount of awesome involved in the action]].

** The Monk class was basically made with TheRealMan in mind. For instance, one of his powers is punching so hard that his fist]] ''[[RocketPunch flies across the room with the rest of him still attached to it.]]''

* Gourry Gabriev from ''TheSlayers'', the only non-mage in the core cast, and something of a LeeroyJenkins, as his only available tactic when facing the assorted sorcerers, demon lords and {{humanoid abomination}}s that they're typically pitted against is a straightforward charge with his InfinityPlusOneSword.

* Khelgar Ironfist of NeverwinterNights2

* Bob and Dave of ''KnightsOfTheDinnerTable''.

* in {{Fallout 3}}:

* Possibly, Belkar from ''OrderOfTheStick''.

* [[{{Munchkin}} The Munchkin]]: Maligned as he is, the {{Munchkin}} may simply be a form of Real Man who stopped caring about the action alone and fixated on "winning" at any cost. This may be why most Real Men hate him so much; because of [[NotSoDifferent the fine line between them]] (some [[FanDumb especially extreme]] [[TheRoleplayer Roleplayers]] may see little difference between the two, equating any love of combat [[StopHavingFunGuys with munchkinism]]).

[[folder:Roleplaying Games]]

* ''{{Paranoia}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Toon}}'' also largely work on the RuleOfCool, in that awesome ideas, even if highly impractical, literally have a better chance of working than boring ideas. Of course, both are liable to get your character smashed into a pulp on a regular basis, but what isn't?

* Khelgar Ironfist of {{Neverwinter Nights 2}}

** The Monk class was basically made with TheRealMan in mind. [[BeyondTheImpossible For instance, one of his powers is punching so hard that his fist]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible flies across the room with the rest of him still attached to it.]]''

* Any RPG that uses Wuxia-type mechanics, such as FengShui or Wushu.

* Legolas from DMOfTheRings. When the players learn that the success of the entire campaign comes down to the die roll of a single NPC, Aragorn and Gimli are understandably upset, but Legolas thinks it's hardcore. He's also the player who comes up with all the crazy stunts and who never, ever grows tired of shooting orcs in the face.

* ''{{Paranoia}}'' and ''Game/{{Toon}}'' also largely work on the RuleOfCool, in that awesome ideas, even if highly impractical, literally have a better chance of working than boring ideas. Of course, both are liable to get your character smashed into a pulp on a regular basis, but what isn't?

* In {{Fallout}} 3, a Big Guns optimized character have little choice but to be this. Not only the stats required for Big Guns already provide the RequiredSecondaryPowers for Big Guns (damage resistance and carry weight for instance, due to them being, well, ''heavy''), as well as Big Guns penalizing Sneak. This makes Big Guns character a primarily a charging character that relies on tough defense (and a healthy dose of Stimpaks hotkeyed) and the guns doing the killing before the character gets killed.

** Though a Small Arms optimized one can be too if a player prefers [[BoomHeadshot blowing the enemies heads easily]], and not to mention [[CoolGun the Chinese Assault Rifle]] and [[ShotgunsAreJustBetter the Combat Shotgun]]

** Exalted pioneered the Stunt Bonus concept ([[AwesomeButPractical cool actions work better when you describe them in detail]]) which ''{{Scion}}'' and ''ChangelingTheLost'' later used.

* Similarly, ''ChangelingTheLost'' has Stunting in Dream-Fighting (similar to Scion's Stunting; +1 for cool idea, +2 for cool idea with lush description, +3 for idea that inspires applause and exultation from the table).

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* [[CityOfHeroes Scrappers]]. Behold the magic of [[UnstoppableRage Scrapperlock!]]

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* Jim of ''DarthsAndDroids''.

* Fighter from ''EightBitTheater'', though he's somewhat combined with TheLoonie (Swordchucks, anyone?).
** But thanks to the Rule of Cool they work very effectively.

* Vriska from ''{{Homestuck}}'' is one of these, playing a [[HerCodenameWasMarySue character]] who has 'gained all the levels. All of them.' This leads her to butt heads with her RP partner, who is TheRoleplayer and plays a class that's useless but fits his personality best.

* Vriska from ''{{Homestuck}}'' is one of these, playing a [[HerCodenameWasMarySue character]] who has 'gained all the levels. All of them.' This leads her to [[{{Understatement}} butt heads with]] her RP partner, who is TheRoleplayer and plays a class that's useless but fits his personality best.

** Exalted pioneered the Stunt Bonus concept (describe a cool action to [[AwesomeButPractical make it work better]]) which ''{{Scion}}'' and ''ChangelingTheLost'' later used.

** The Monk class was basically made with TheRealMan in mind. [[BeyondTheImpossible For instance, one of his powers is punching so hard he can fly.]]

*** The mechanics of 4E ensure that cool stunts have pretty much the same effect as non-cool stunts. You poke an enemy with a dagger? 20 damage. You sprint forward with a mighty battle cry and ''smash'' the orc with your two-handed hammer? 20 damage.

*** For some people, the mechanics of DnD 4e make it hard to enjoy oneself while "Real Manning". Instant gibs have been pretty much restricted to minions, and there's nothing awesome in killing a OneHitPointWonder in one hit. It would be much more fun if everyone was easier to kill.

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* ''{{Paranoia}}'' and ''{{Toon}}'' also largely work on the RuleOfCool, in that awesome ideas, even if highly impractical, literally have a better chance of working than boring ideas. Of course, both are liable to get your character smashed into a pulp on a regular basis, but what isn't?

* ''{{Paranoia}}'' and ''{{Toon}}'' also largely work on the RuleOfCool, in that awesome ideas, even if highly impractical, literally have a better chance of working than boring ideas. Of course, both are liable to get your character smashed into a pulp on a a regular basis.