Maybe it needs a change of approach. I see him as such as a goody two shoes that something resembling adversity could be interesting to write about. Try a different perspective.
A different perspective as in writing from someone else's point of view for a round, or did you mean something else? It's worth a shot depending on what it is.
Just an opinion. Try to fight Theron between the fantasy world that he lives in and the real world. He doesn't need to go out of his character but a NPC constantly trying to bring him to the real world which Theron neglects. The fighting spirit of it would give him a new stuff to work with. I would also suggest some changes in the moveset.
This would lead to eliminating the Theronisms entirely. If people don't want the Theronisms anymore then I have something I could write about that.
You said Theron was a Singles wrestler.
Maybe Tagging with someone like a Luke Manson on a more permanent basis and have him mentor Luke on his way out of the dark and back into the light would breath some new life into Theron.
I have turned this down twice before. Tag teaming left a really bad taste in my mouth. If I write a solid RP but my partner's sucked or he no-shows then I suffer. I get the vision behind that rule, but it isn't fair at times. Also I would get sick of facing the same opponents over and over. The division's a bit lacking. If Rated R brought back Lexi or if Spidey made Batti his full time character, then maybe. Even then it's still a maybe.
I think ultimately a high concept character has a shelf life, so maybe Theron is coming to the end and you need to re-invent him. The way you need to do that is probably to have him told that his world is a lie and come to terms with that.
I'd wait until you have another proper actual feud before you make any hasty decisions - this cycle was without direction for you.
I agree. I have material for almost a full cycle on that off the top of my head, but I'm not wasting it on another pre-show match. Another problem is though, I would be unsure of what to do after that revelation. Theron without D&D is pretty boring.
If a change is necessary then a heel turn would get the most attention. Betray everyone around him, attack popular faces in WZCW and whatnot.
Thank you for trying to help, but please read my full post next time before responding. The only way we will ever see a heel D&D gamer is if I bring him/her in as a completely separate character. Theron would be taking a break for a cycle or two in this scenario.
There's plenty of things you can do.You could switch to a different kind of world. I know you're also a big JRPG fan. You can always go on real world adventures where Theron feels out of place. You can always have a minimal D&D part in the end. You can always go a more lighthearted route. Perhaps sprinkle some comedy or lampshading.
At the end of the day, it's you that has to experiment. I could drop these ideas, but they do depend on you being able to incorporate them.
There are worlds from other games I could try, my big concern with that is that nobody would understand the RP. D&D is close enough to Final Fantasy or Lord of the Rings that most people have a grasp of what the realm and races are like. If I throw Theron into the Star Ocean universe and he meets a Fellpool from Nede then nobody knows what that is. As for Theron in a "real world" I fear your entire team would find it dreadfully boring.
I am not sure how familiar you are with Joseph Campbell's "The Hero With A Thousand Faces", but I think it would be well worth it if you took a look at it. From my personal readings, I regard Theron as this pure, heroic being that never questions his resolve and always does the right thing. This is good, but for a lengthy story can get very repetitive. To shake it up, you can have him question said resolve. Is he truly doing the right thing? What factors are there in what he does that he never stopped to think about? Maybe he helps a village retrieve an artifact, but once he does he actually helped a village steal that artifact that was never there's to begin with. It is good to have your hero slip up at times. It makes your hero relatable. It makes your character sympathetic.
Your artifact idea could be a fun write. One big problem. How does that relate to my matches? No offense to anybody on Creative or to how this section works, but relating back to my matches sometimes feels like it hinders the story. Epic quest suddenly interrupted by "oh by the way i have a match against this other guy tomorrow!".... But I knew what I signed up for. Your video helped. I may have stumbled onto a way back into that cycle.
I added some things in my RP feedback to you on this but I think a lot of it is how you see your opponents. All have strengths, all have weaknesses. Make any into the biggest match possible, that's what I'm doing and I'm enjoying it.
Though bringing him back to humble beginnings (like Spidey said) is a good one. Think Link going back in OOT or Majora's Mask. He knows he's this huge hero but the world doesn't.
This was one of the ideas suggested that I liked the most. More of Young Theron/Shawn in a Zelda-like setting may be enjoyable both for me to write and for the fed to read.
Not much I can say that Killjoy, Spidey, or Lee haven't already said. Theron's gimmick is incredibly unique, and there's no need to strip it entirely, but seeing a bit of Shawn Dagger would be an interesting change.
Shawn Dagger without D&D is like asking Undertaker to go do a promo on Raw as Mark Calaway. Expanding more on why Theron picked up a sword may be a route, such as my response to Lee stated.
Take Theron to a new world and make him interact there. New world doesn't have to be specialised, it can be as a simple as the real world. Hell, that's probably the most effective.
You can easily get away with Theron Daggershield going grocery shopping, or paying bills. Have Theron be his own character and showing the disconnect between two worlds. The potential for comedy is insane, and it's a tried and true technique in story-telling. Also works for serious story-telling. It'll be a bit difficult to write, trying to describe a real world place like a grocery store through the eyes of Theron, whilst still remaining in the real world and not be in Theron's world... but I think you can do it.
Don't fall into the trap of going balls to the walls on a new method, neither. If you take this suggestion, make sure to keep Theron having thoughts and whatnot. Don't write a comedy scene and only a comedy scene. Keep talking about matches and character development, just use the scene to set everything up. Why put Theron in a grocery store getting confused when he doesn't acknowledge his opponent?
I didn't really understand this idea. Plus, you were on Creative when I first started. Everybody hated my "real world" RP's. I am surprised as to why anybody would ever want to read that again. My talent is as a fantasy writer. Theron being confused at the grocery store runs the risk of him looking like an idiot, I would essentially be burying myself.
With that being said, thank you to everyone who posted or PM'ed me a response. I have stumbled onto an idea of what to do this cycle with or without a feud. Whether it works or not will remain to be seen until it plays out.
