Non Human Characters

[Daisylira]

Hello, I'm most comfortable playing female humans (thats just what I know lol) but I'm really wanting to branch out of that.
Does anyone have any tips for playing as a non human character? I find it hard to play as something I've never experienced and would really love some help with that.
Am I just overthinking it or are there tips and tricks to mastering it?

 

[Sync]

The tricky part with playing a non-human is that you, as the player, only have one perspective: human.

When you look through all of sci-fi and fantasy, all non-humans have, ultimately, characteristics that are expressed in human terms, or are shaped with human views. Additionally, all non-human races tend to fall within a particular ideology, where humans can do/be anything (so to speak). We can't escape that: it's all we know.

A couple of examples (provided in simplistic terms):
- The Vulcans in the Star Trek universe all tend to follow the path of logic. They greatly prefer facts and reason, generally do not lie, and exercise control of emotions. So if you're going to play a Vulcan, you need to bear those things in mind when providing a response from your character: they tend to be emotionally cold; they nearly always speak in a calm, measured manner; they tell the truth (at least as they perceive it); they have difficulty understanding (and don't usually accept) emotional responses.
- Elves (in almost any fantasy setting, but I'll go with Tolkien's version) tend to be cool and aloof, consider themselves to be superior to humans, are skilled in magic (among many other things), are wise and knowledgeable, and have an exceptional life span. So when playing a Tolkien-Elf, your character should be slightly haughty, be generally cool towards others (they're inferior), be patient (they don't have your wisdom and life experience).

What does this mean for you?

When deciding on a non-human race (either an established one, or making your own), you first need to become at least a little familiar with the race's characteristics - physical, mental, social. They're all going to be different from the human norm in some way (if they're not at least a little different, why play a non-human?). Once you've got the race's characteristics sorted out (and your playing partner(s) are in agreement), all of your character's responses and actions should be filtered through the lens of those characteristics (again, if you don't - why bother?). While a human wouldn't think anything of slapping a tabletop in an effort to swat a fly, a Kryptonian would have to be very careful unless he wants to also destroy the table; a human might pack loads of equipment to go exploring caves, but a Dwarf would call it home and would only pack food.

Hope this helps!

 

[Chippairaptor]

Xenofiction can be an extremely entertaining genre to read and write. In some ways it can be easy to write as species that are intelligent and have languages. To some degree societies like elves, dwarves, hobbits/halflings are very much like humans', so I writing those types of characters isn't too difficult, in my opinion.

My favorite genre of xenofiction is dealing with species that aren't human and may not have a language of their own, such as animals. You can't write them like humanoids. They can't think like humans, so you need to explore the world around them with their senses. What's the scent on the wind? Another creature calls from nearby. Is it friend, foe, or food? What are the creature's immediate needs, and how do you, as the writer, address them?

 

[Daisylira]

The tricky part with playing a non-human is that you, as the player, only have one perspective: human.

When you look through all of sci-fi and fantasy, all non-humans have, ultimately, characteristics that are expressed in human terms, or are shaped with human views. Additionally, all non-human races tend to fall within a particular ideology, where humans can do/be anything (so to speak). We can't escape that: it's all we know.

A couple of examples (provided in simplistic terms):
- The Vulcans in the Star Trek universe all tend to follow the path of logic. They greatly prefer facts and reason, generally do not lie, and exercise control of emotions. So if you're going to play a Vulcan, you need to bear those things in mind when providing a response from your character: they tend to be emotionally cold; they nearly always speak in a calm, measured manner; they tell the truth (at least as they perceive it); they have difficulty understanding (and don't usually accept) emotional responses.
- Elves (in almost any fantasy setting, but I'll go with Tolkien's version) tend to be cool and aloof, consider themselves to be superior to humans, are skilled in magic (among many other things), are wise and knowledgeable, and have an exceptional life span. So when playing a Tolkien-Elf, your character should be slightly haughty, be generally cool towards others (they're inferior), be patient (they don't have your wisdom and life experience).

What does this mean for you?

When deciding on a non-human race (either an established one, or making your own), you first need to become at least a little familiar with the race's characteristics - physical, mental, social. They're all going to be different from the human norm in some way (if they're not at least a little different, why play a non-human?). Once you've got the race's characteristics sorted out (and your playing partner(s) are in agreement), all of your character's responses and actions should be filtered through the lens of those characteristics (again, if you don't - why bother?). While a human wouldn't think anything of slapping a tabletop in an effort to swat a fly, a Kryptonian would have to be very careful unless he wants to also destroy the table; a human might pack loads of equipment to go exploring caves, but a Dwarf would call it home and would only pack food.

Hope this helps!

That makes a lot of sense!! Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and help me out. I'm going to look into all the species and see which ones I would enjoy playing as for sure lol

 

[Daisylira]

Xenofiction can be an extremely entertaining genre to read and write. In some ways it can be easy to write as species that are intelligent and have languages. To some degree societies like elves, dwarves, hobbits/halflings are very much like humans', so I writing those types of characters isn't too difficult, in my opinion.

My favorite genre of xenofiction is dealing with species that aren't human and may not have a language of their own, such as animals. You can't write them like humanoids. They can't think like humans, so you need to explore the world around them with their senses. What's the scent on the wind? Another creature calls from nearby. Is it friend, foe, or food? What are the creature's immediate needs, and how do you, as the writer, address them?

Oh my gosh.. playing a charachter that doesn't have any human qualities would be incredibly hard! At least for me lol
That does sound super fun though and I'm sure finding a partner that is patient with me learning would be a good idea too. Thank you so much for replying!

 

[Siph]

Am I just overthinking it or are there tips and tricks to mastering it?

I wouldn't think of it as something you should try to "master" before you get into it, but rather something you explore and experiment with as you go. One starting point is to consider how non-human you would want your character to be; you could go for something human-adjacent like an elf or humanoid alien, which still allows you to use expressions, or at least the human interpretations thereof. Playing something far less human could indeed be much harder, but at the same time, you're unlikely to accidentally make your character feel "too human" because they don't have any human qualities to begin with -- it gives you more freedom, so to say.

I've played a robot for at least a year, and had an absolute blast writing writing his thought patterns, inner monologue and mannerisms. I've also played an alien that was very humanoid physically, but came from an esoteric warrior culture and wore a helmet almost religiously (before the Mandalorian made it cool); it made for very interesting interactions with human characters.

The aspect I enjoyed most is setting something out-there, unreasonable and distinctly non-human as a baseline, and contrive a culture, background and other traits that would justify what would be nonsensical from a human perspective. The aforementioned robot was solely motivated by the principle of preserving life, even if that required taking lives in the process, regardless of notions of innocence and justice; all his reasoning was the product of a formula that didn't take human morals into account. I've also played a military officer that, although human, was born from a long-term eugenics programme and was so evil it was almost comical -- but if if you consider her upbringing in an equally comically evil empire, her world view starts to at least make some sense.

In any case, I'd start off by figuring out how non-human you'd like your character to be, and in order to answer that, perhaps consider why you're curious to play something non-human to begin with. And of course, as I said, don't think of it as something you should work towards, but as an experiment whose outcome is for you to judge.

 

[raison detre]

To add onto a bit of what others have already said, I think it's also fine to break off from the cultural stereotypes of certain races. It's impossible for every single member of a certain race, be it fantasy or sci-fi, to conform to said culture.

There's rebels, pariahs, outcasts in just about any culture, so it's fine to break a few of the rules of certain established race. Like a reckless and foolish elf, or a dwarf that doesn't like drinking.

It depends on what you want to write and how you want to write it. It could also be the case that your character starts out as a stereotypical member of the race they're a part of, but as the story progresses and their character develops, they begin to adopt traits from other people they're exposed to, or they have experiences that change their way of thinking.

 

[Chippairaptor]

To add onto a bit of what others have already said, I think it's also fine to break off from the cultural stereotypes of certain races. It's impossible for every single member of a certain race, be it fantasy or sci-fi, to conform to said culture.

There's rebels, pariahs, outcasts in just about any culture, so it's fine to break a few of the rules of certain established race. Like a reckless and foolish elf, or a dwarf that doesn't like drinking.

It depends on what you want to write and how you want to write it. It could also be the case that your character starts out as a stereotypical member of the race they're a part of, but as the story progresses and their character develops, they begin to adopt traits from other people they're exposed to, or they have experiences that change their way of thinking.

Completely agree with this. As much as tried and true tropes stick around, it can be really fun to subvert or play around with them in some way. To build off of the idea of a dwarf that doesn't like drinking, there could be some legitimate reason for it tied to a past trauma or life-changing mistake. Or, going the other direction, a dwarf that's become an alcoholic due to circumstances like the death of a loved one or a past shame.

 

[Deante]

Am I just overthinking it?

I bet that you've RP'd a lot of things you've never experienced. I've never casted magic, or been on a space ship, been arrested, or had a threesome, or... you get the idea. I mean, how do you roleplay someone else when you're only You? You use your imagination. You don't have to be perfect at it, just have fun! Try new things.

I prefer non-humans, both as and opposite; I'm a human every day, give me a vacation from that normal. So I guess I'm a xenophile, that non-humanness is aesthetically hot, and the idea of having a different physiology, new appendages etc, to be cool. My main experience and preference is for anthros. Besides the aesthetics/the fact they "feel" different, I find it useful in that it expands my writing toolkit. Ears/tails make for emotional expression. Different species stereotypes help with personality--the bratty, teasing cat, the quiet and careful mouse, etc. Smell can be played with, along with heightened senses (better hearing, night vision, etc), different physical elements (knotted cocks for instance, alsoo going inot heat). Does it impact behavior--do the cats still kiss or do they instead nuzzle faces, etc. Predator/prey is something that can be easily tossed into anything for that nice fear=arousal instinct, also things like sexy biting is more natural. There's practical applications--cars have to accommodate antlers/horns--as well as cultural, since dogs and cats can't interbreed that's going to have a big impact culturally.

All of that are tools that can be used but doesn't have to be; as said earlier, it's a matter of how far non-human you want to go. But also, if you find yourself backsliding into writing them as human in a funny costume--well, that's okay. You don't need that non-humanness in your face all the time. Explore and play with the parts you like, and don't worry about doing it "wrong"".

Lastly, this is purely a technical thing, but I like the fact that "The species" is a useful way to refer to a character in a paragraph. If you have humans it's usually "Character name" and "he/she". When y ou're writing same sex scenes, that can make being clear who you're talking about really difficult. By saying "the fox" it helps clariy who is doing what to who..

 

[DarkThemes]

I always have a lot of fun playing a Xenomorph.