Your Commander Shepard may be a red-eyed hottie. Your Dragon Age dwarf may be a thickly-bearded freak of nature. But no matter how you customize an in-game character, your snowflake just isn't as special as you may think. We've broken down the ways players create their characters into five distinct categories. Not only have we labeled and defined these types, but with hours of research, we've determined the deeper, psychological meaning behind your sexy night elves, cat-eared Second Life avatars and Hitler Miis.
Above: So many choices!
Disclaimer: The views expressed are neither GR’s own or anybody else's. They are completely made-up and have little to no connection with either how you design your in-game characters or actual psychology.
1. The Clone
Description: When creating the Clone, you are attempting to recreate yourself as accurately as possible. You'll always choose your own gender and race, if possible. Aliens, the Horde and anything vaguely un-human is not for you. If you're vertically challenged, your avatar represents that. Waistline's too thick? Present and accounted for. You might go so far as to pull out a mirror or photograph to get the height of your eyes just right.
Above: This is me!
Psychoanalysis: Surprisingly, recreating your physical attributes (assuming you can) does not make you a narcissistic pig. Leave that to the Dream type – the players that need to feel pretty no matter the genre. A well-adjusted childhood has led you to believe that you do not always need to look the best. You, with your incalculable number of flaws, are fine just as you are. Your uncanny desire to recreate yourself from head to toe should be an inspiration to us all.
All this said, be prepared to utterly fail at recreating yourself exactly if you happen to be particularly tall, short, thick, thin, or otherwise not-quite-average looking. Most developers take the “you can look like anyone you want as long as you could still pass for a catalog model” approach to character customization.
2. The Dream
Description: Like the Clone, you strive to recreate a number of your physical attributes. But accuracy is not your goal. You prefer to highlight your best features while you faithfully ignore the ones you don't particularly like. Your Wii fit model is a little less pudgy, your Guild Wars warrior a tad more gallant. That wide gap between your eyes and your abnormally large chin just aren't necessary when constructing the game's protagonist. If you wanted real, you wouldn't be playing video games.
Above: This is me if I were a super model!
Psychoanalysis: To you, life is unsatisfactory, and you have little to no control over it. Whether this stems from constant female rejection, a mother who never said you're special, or that fateful day in gym class, you feel quite helpless. However, with video games, you have a godlike sense of control over not only yourself but the course of events to which you are subjected. To accommodate for this in real life, you might tend to exaggerate certain facts while neglecting to mention others. Some may call you a pathological liar. You prefer the term “imaginative story-teller.” Because of your wild stories, you are a god among men to your acquaintances. To your close friends... well, let's not fool ourselves. You probably don't have close friends.
