Backstories for Characters

I was speaking with Lindsay the other day (which, in and of itself, is not newsworthy, but this time it's relevant to this blog, haha), and we were discussing the blog and some potential ideas for topics. She asked me if I had ever considered creating a backstory for my characters.

Initially, I was somewhat defensive. "Of course my characters have a backstory!", I thought. I've delved into it in promos. In the first Pier 6 Brawl, I talked about how BigDog had played football before he got into wrestling. In a couple of Farnswirth's promos, I've talked about how his parents had nothing and Richard built his fortune up from scratch. He's not a trust fund millionaire.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that they were both superficial at best.

Don't get me wrong, both characters are pretty well developed. After all these years, I think most people know "who" they are. But what they don't know is how they got to be like they are.

Why is BigDog such an unflagging hero? Who were the people who raised a man with such values? Why does he never quit when the odds are stacked against him?

On the other side, how did Farnswirth become such a dick? Given that his parents were ostensibly "normal" folks, how did he turn out the way he did? How did he make his millions? Where did he get his training? What about the monstrous ego? And most importantly (at least to Lindsay), what's up with that damn ring?

All of these are interesting questions. And right now, I don't have the answers.

The ring thing for Farnswirth was just started on a whim way back when as an interesting little quirk. I've never really given much thought to exactly why he does it. Occasionally, it's occurred to me that I might have to come up with something eventually, but I never really have. A couple people have talked to me about it, and Roger even thinks he knows why Farnswirth does it. I just let him have his little fun, hehe.

I've got an outline of an idea as to why he does it now. As I flesh it out, I'll keep my eyes open for an opportunity to use it in a match. If it never comes up (or more likely, if it just doesn't come up before I feel like sharing my little story with the world), I'll throw it out there as an out-of-match promo.

I really don't have much for BigDog though. I'm definitely going to give that some more thought though. He's essentially me, so I think the journey to figuring out why he's like he is would be a worthwhile exercise to figure out more about myself.

Nearly 37 years I've been walking around on this planet, and I've never really been philosophical about the kind of person I am. Leave it to efedding to have this profound an effect on me, hehe.