The Ugly Mug Character Writing Contest

[Runa]

- Lemon Tart
(isn’t this bagel from thwd? maybe this can be his brother)
Name: Guiomar
Class: Wyvern Rider -> Wyvern Knight
Story: Once a nomad of the (place) Plains, Guiomar was taken in by (Empire) and had his mounted skills “civilized”. He now resentfully rides for (Empire), until the day that a life similar to his past can arise once more. Would support with Yonniak probably.
Traits: Loves to reminisce and tell stories from his youth, loyal only to the plains, hates the idea of civility
Likes: long grass, burnt food
Dislikes: fletching, bagels
Age: 33
Height: 5’11"/179cm

- BatimaTheBat
Name: Nene
Class: F!Mage -> F!Sage
Story: A peculiar apprentice of a mountain hermit, raised by them, she speaks in a sphinxlike manner. Eventually left her solitude to seek out the wisdom of the world herself. She would totally support with Aeougriad.
Traits: Speaks in riddles and questions, doesn’t like to take off her helmet, doesn’t really know what she wants in life
Likes: introspection, face coverings
Dislikes: hot weather, stagnant ideas
Age: 22
Height: 4’10"/146cm

And introducing the final boss of the hack…

- Ganzap
Name: (The dark god, I suggest Nephilim, Abaddon or Apollyon)
Class: Manakete
Story: He wandered the earth before humans dared tarnish his soil. He enslaved, he conquered, he destroyed. He was betrayed, and sealed, and hidden from the world for millennia.

Now he inhabits the body of (Empire)'s princess, a depraved act of the dark cult’s leader to usher in the darkest era once more. He hungers, not only for destruction, not only for annihilation, but for revenge.

… He would definitely have a battle quote with Azara, if there’s a light god and a disciple them too, and if there’s royalty of (Empire) in the party? That’s gonna be one fucked up battle quote.
Traits: Speaks in inverted speech bubbles, talks only in absolutes, still some semblance of the princess in there
Likes: decay, entropy
Dislikes: humanity, existence
Age: ???
Height: 12’7"/384cm

[serif]

Wait, which ones are mine? I’m confused by the numbering system.

[XVI]

I think it goes like this:
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10…
that means

are yours @serif

[serif]

Thank you. I’ll get to work on them later.

[SirNicee]

- @Author_Pendragon
Name: Cade
Class: Great Knight
Backstory: Barry Cade is a former knight of (Empire), now a member of (Resistance). He was raised by loyalists to be a good soldier, and that’s exactly what he was for a while. Soon, he realized that (Empire) was up to no good when they started making trouble in his neighborhood where his family lived. No longer willing to let bygones be bygones, he abandoned his post to join (Resistance), becoming the leader’s loyal lieutenant.
Traits: Exceedingly loyal, has self-esteem issues.
Likes: Facial hair, freedom
Dislikes: Oppression, strong emotions
Age: 30
Height: 6’4”/195 cm

- @Wdimta
Name: Henrietta
Class: Cleric
Backstory: Henrietta was born to a pair of bandits, who both died at the hands of a blue-haired prince when she was an infant. She was one day found by a missionary from (Church), who took her in and raised her as his own daughter. She was trained in the staff from toddlerhood and is something of a semi-professional now. She now works at a church in (Kingdom), always ready to jump to the aid of the sick and weary in the name of her deity.
Traits: Benevolent, often grumpy
Likes: Puppies, rainbows
Dislikes: Bandits, thieves
Age: 11
Height: 4’0”/123 cm

- @SageMatthis
Name: Gena
Class: Lord (Sword, Mounted)
Backstory: Once the daughter of (Empire)’s leaders, Gena was disowned and abandoned due to being cursed by (Cult) as an infant. Said curse isn’t fatal and just gave her a permanent beard, but the stigma of having a bearded child was enough for them. Raised by peasants, Gena learned of a prophecy that the Empire would one day lose its leaders and see an age of prosperity as a result. Seeking to rush this prophecy, Gena assembled (Resistance) to become a real hero, while keeping her true identity a secret from the wider public.
Additional Lord Info: Gena is the disowned, other imperial princess of the Feomor Empire. The Empire is a land where military strength and ambition are invaluable; if you aren’t useful, you aren’t wanted. Currently however, she leads the Feomor Freeswords, a Totally Original resistance group dedicated entirely to annoying the Empire into submission.
Traits: Irreverent, resentful of her curse
Likes: Horses, no no words
Dislikes: Her parents, facial hair
Age: 21
Height: 5’0”/153 cm

[Its_Just_Jay]

Here’s my first one…
@Azendus

Name: Henddyn

Class: Mercenary

Backstory: Hendynn became a Mercenary in (Kingdom)'s service for the sole purpose of expressing his resentment towards the young soldiers. He saw all the modern amenities available to them and became somewhat peeved by how easy the Armies of today seem to have, Rally, Trading, Reclassing!? Back in his day you were the class you were and you liked it dagnabbit! He is constantly working to become stronger to show all the youngin’s that he’s still got it, and works out on the daily. However, at his core, past all the grumpiness and resentment he’s a family man, and has a wife, four children, and eleven grandchildren waiting for him at home, who he wishes to protect.

Traits: Loud and boisterous, but very forgetful, grumpy and temperamental.

Likes: “The good ol’ days”, Training

Dislikes: Playable Axe Users, most children.

Age: 80

Height: 6’2"/187cm

[Its_Just_Jay]

And I have the market on Trainee Units now, a more serious character to.
@SirNicee

Name: Bratz

Class: Journeyman (but it’s Fighter vs Brigand)

Backstory: A young man who, without his knowledge, is the heir to family of power Imperial Merchants. His parents were slain by Bandits when he was just a toddler, finding some semblance of humanity and took him in, raising him as their own. Despite this the Bandits, being Bandits, were rather cruel to the kind hearted young man growing up, leading to him being timid and withdrawn. He longs for a chance to escape from his vile clan and see the better side of humanity.

Traits: Soft-spoken, jumpy, kind-hearted

Likes: Small animals, walks in the mountains

Dislikes: Banditry, Large muscular people

Age: 15

Height: 5’6"/170cm

[Smokeyguy77]

I’ll probably take a bit longer, I mixed up some mugs and did a whole backstory for that mug instead before realizing I got the wrong mug

[Rivian]

Boy I hope I counted correctly.

Name: Eye Man

Class: Ranger

Backstory: Legends from centuries speak of a terrifying entity who dwells in this expanse of forest, with a human like figure but a monstrous appearance. Yet almost all of these legends have this being helping travellers or explorers in need, guiding them through the green labyrinth and fending of the beasts which plague this location. His real name is unknown, he is simply dubbed ‘The Eye Man’, who sees much yet rarely speaks. The Eye Man wanders the forest, with little ambition, yet a desire to become something more than what he is now hides in the bottom of his heart.

Traits: Keeps to himself, but kind to a fault

Likes: His steed John and beautiful flowers

Dislikes: Fog of War and crowds

Age: Undefined

Height: 6’11 / 211cm

Name: Ufens

Class: Sage (or ideally even Necromancer)

Backstory: Ufens is one of the rising stars among the mages of the kingdom. A renowned child genius and the person fathers tend to compare their kids to, he was making leaps in magic theory by age 10 and by 14 he was a leading researcher in the whole kingdom. With a prodigious talent and considerable reputation, Ufens had a bright future ahead of him until a sabotaged ritual created a vicious backlash that distorted his form into what is seen today. Ufens now travels the lands searching for some scrap of evidence for which may lead to a cure for his twisted condition, as well as who may have caused this to happen.

Traits: Desires for like-minded companions yet is quite condescendng

Likes: Overly complex language and romance novels

Dislikes: Disorganization and poor grammar

Age: 21

Height: 5’6 / 168cm

[CM9]

Name: Ratmus
Class: Thief

Backstory: Growing up a very ugly child in the poorest of the poorest slums, Ratmus never had any friends. Because of this, he made friends with the rats that would always scurry around the same alleyways he lived in. Over time, he learned to scurry and sneak in the same way as the rats, making him a very proficient thief.

Character Traits: dishonest, cowardly, a little creepy.
Likes: Rats, Money
Dislikes: Owls, Bright Lights
Age: 35
Height: 5’2"/157cm

Name: Nibbles
Class: Lord (Dark Magic, not mounted)

Backstory: Nibbles, properly addressed as Nibbles the Dark King of Ishoban and Destroyer of Empires, is the king of the tiny kingdom known as Ishoban. Originally, the kingdom was ruled by a benevolent and peaceful king, and Nibbles was simply a lowly janitor. However Nibbles had been teaching himself dark magic in his spare time, and eventually became fairly proficient. He wanted to show his skills to his liege, whom he loved very much, so he arranged a show for the royal family. But, during the show, Nibbles made a mistake and accidentally burned the entire royal family to death! Nibbles was horrified by his own actions, but instead of apologizing, he used this opportunity to declare himself as the Dark King of Ishoban.

Nibbles got his name, “Nibbles”, because as a child he would nibble on his food like a rabbit and has buck teeth. Since becoming the Dark King of Ishoban and Destroyer of Empires, Ishoban has become extremely poor and corrupt, but Nibbles is too incompetent a ruler to do anything about it. Nibbles also hates other royalty because when he tries to make diplomacy with other kingdoms, he is always laughed at and called a false king. Because of his many failures as a ruler, he has set out on a journey to attain ultimate dark knowledge so that he may become the greatest Dark King and Destroyer of Empires to ever exist.

Character Traits: cowardly, self-centered, obnoxious
Likes: To brag about himself, snacks
Dislikes: disrespect, royalty
Age: 39
Height: 5’6”/167cm

[Rivian]

Unfortunately, while I didn’t count wrong, I counted using the rows of the collection of images in the original post and not the updated one, which means I did the wrong mugs.
Following this realization I then counted incorrectly and did another set of the incorrect mugs.
All I can say is thank heck I didn’t get 3 mugs instead of 2.

Name: Bob

Class: Priest

Backstory: Commonly known as ‘Good man Bob’ around town, Bob prides is both a teacher and spiritual leader in his community. Little do the townspeople know that Bob is struggling to keep his façade of a cheerful exterior, Bob is struck by a sense of purposelessness, finding little satisfaction in his current duties, yet he is both unwilling to commit to change and fears that he is abandoning his duties to the town by doing so.

Traits: Over the top cheerful and optimistic

Likes: Honeyed cakes and cute chickens

Dislikes: Pain and bloodshed

Age: 29

Height: 5’5 / 165cm

Name: Huemann

Class: Archer

Backstory: Huemann is a fairly unremarkable individual. Huemann seems to have so little that stands out about him, and there is nothing for which he seems to show serious interest towards or some semblance of great emotion. A common rank and file militia member, Huemann has no outstanding ability except for his ability to take a hit. All this was for good reason of course, as Huemann has remained undetected thus far.

Traits: Exists

Likes: None

Dislikes: None

Age: 20?

Height: 5’7 / 170cm

[BorsDeep]

Name: Phoigen - PkMnBro1
Class: Bishop/preiest (whatever the game balance desires)

Backstory: A former member of the (Church) who was excommunicated for spending donation money on personal hair loss and hair growth experiments. He lives out his days in a forest cabin far from the reaches of the church, alone with only his research. While normal being a very kind and benevolent man, his fixation on his own hair leaves him vain and often spiteful of those who interfere in his passions. In his forest abode, he often spends his days attempting to find a way to restore and potentially enhance hair growth and prevent his own natural hair loss.

Traits: Excentric, Anti-Social

Likes: Lucious Locks, and Hair Research.

Dislikes: Hair Loss and His Mortality.

Age: 78

Height: 5′ 9″ 165cm

Name: Zeard - BladerDj
Class: Armor Knight

Backstory: An armored knight from the (bad-guy), due to his easy-going and sadly, lethargic nature, he often fails to make it to the frontlines on time. As a result, he is often seen falling behind the (bad-guy) forces, and humorously often ends up in line with the enemy. Though this carelessness is often due to daydreaming about his homeland where he was free to roam about at his own pace before the war. Zead, being a bit tired of marching at the (bad-guy’s) pace falls in with the (good-guy) army.

Traits: easy-going, good-natured, lethargic.

Likes: Day-dreaming, wandering

Dislikes: Going above and beyond

Age: 34

Height: 6’6" 198 cm

(hopefully these are the right guys)

[Knight_Moris]

- @SpenyEX
Name: Wilder Doyle Sr.
Class: Pirate
Backstory: Wilder was once part of an infamous pirate crew. However, after he met the love of his life, he vowed to put that life behind him for his new wife and child. While he is proud of the family he has found himself a part of, he often longs for the adventurous and wild days of his past and can be seen frequently fishing and listening to the “alluring call of the sea”.
Traits: Foul-mouthed, loyal, not the sharpest tool in the shed
Likes: His family, the sea
Dislikes: Authority, peace & quiet
Age: 40
Height: 6’1/185cm
- @MeatOfJustice
Name: Stroodel Strauss
Class: Shaman
Backstory: Stroodel is the illegitimate child of a wealthy merchant father and a poor farmhand mother. After he inherited a large sum of money from his father despite never meeting the man once, Stroodel left behind his mother to become a loan shark at the capital of (Empire), preying off the desperation of the many poor people who reside there. Those who know him often refer to him as “The Parasite of (Capital)”
Traits: Greedy, apathetic, arrogant
Likes: Money, desperate poor people
Dislikes: Rich people, poor but not desperate people
Age: 48
Height: 5’2/157cm
- @RandomWizard
Name: Gifløgh
Class: Bishop
Backstory: Gifløgh was a warrior of the country that later became the country that later became (Empire), during his time as a warrior, he believed himself to be the greatest there ever was, boasting his large stature, good looks, and combat prowess. One day while Gifløgh was wandering through a forest in search of anyone or anything who would challenge him to battle, he stumbled upon what resembled a ghostly woman. This woman warned Gifløgh that his pride and arrogance would one day get the better of him. Of course, Gifløgh was insulted by this and drew his axe on the woman, prompting her to curse Gifløgh, disfiguring and shrinking his body, sapping him of his strength, and making him immune to a natural death. This humbled Gifløgh and he now seeks to protect the beautiful forest he now resides in, offering his hospitality and wisdom to any visitors who happen to meet him.
Traits: Humble, welcoming, wise
Likes: Nature, contemplating existence
Dislikes: War, arrogance
Age: ??
Height: 4’0/122cm

[GratedShtick]

I don’t quite get the system, so I’m confused.

[RandomWizard]

You’re doing these three:


I hope you’re ready to work with nightmarish abominations! Rivian already posted about the latter two, but we can safely ignore him being bad at math.

[MeatOfJustice]

- @Smokeyguy77

Name: Thanos (not a Marvel reference)
Class: Warrior
Backstory: Thanos was born and raised in Ishoban (supports with Nibbles?) and joined their small army, where he met his best friend. They loved doing bets on their free time, one of which resulted on him dressing as her. The next day they had a big battle against [Kingdom], swinging his axe recklessly resulting in fatally wounding a third of the enemy army… and his friend. Drowned in guilt, he decided to don her looks for the rest of his life, not knowing it was all a ruse by his friend, who faked her death and defected to [Empire]. Nowadays he’s part of the army of the very same [Kingdom] he fought against… But never lost his old ways.

Traits: Reckless, headstrong, a man of his word

Likes: Risk, poultry
Dislikes: Thieves, hail
Age: 25
Height: 199 [cm] / 6’ 6"

Give him a Devil Axe.

- @Smokeyguy77 again

Name: Diber
Class: Bard w/Anima (there’s an unused Bard slot in FE8, so it counts)
Backstory: A young dwarf from [Remote Village]. He loves playing the musical instruments his parents own from their travelling band days, abandoned but not because of him. Unluckily for Diber, the village elder saw his magic potential so he was forced into the local magic school, where, while successful, was also infamous for his pranks. Now he has to move to an advanced school in [Kingdom], but [Assassins] are on the way to take his life and saving him is up to [The Party].
Traits: Naughty, naïve, optimistic.

Likes: Intense music, violence
Dislikes: Birds, lentils
Age: 10
Height: 51 cm / 1’ 8"

[RandomWizard]

Hmm. With the character descriptions we have so far, something of a setting is taking shape. Judging by how there are multiple “good” kingdoms (Rory’s fallen homeland, Ishoban, Henddyn’s employers, etc.), I’m envisioning a coalition of fairly small nations, all under threat of conquest by the Empire? The political landscape probably looks a good deal like FE6 early-game, with Feomor winning fairly easily against the divided kingdoms’ league, and Nibbles and Gena struggling to get them to work together long enough to stop the invasion.

As the religious/supernatural side of things goes, it seems like there are broadly two major religious groups, too. The good church is mostly on the side of the kingdoms’ league, judging by characters like Bob and Henrietta (maybe they’d be the first healers Gena and Nibbles get respectively?) The evil cult, however, doesn’t seem to have any allegiance in particular; judging by the fate of the Feomorite princess, they’re trying to get something out of the whole war situation, and are at odds with both parties.

If this ever becomes an actual hack (it probably won’t), figuring out this stuff is useful; and even if it isn’t, worldbuilding is fun. What do y’all think could be going on here?

[Mycahel]

NO. 26:
Name: Owan
Class: Shaman
Backstory: Owan is a shaman who joins [Rebellion] simply claiming that [Empire] implanted him false memories and not much else. He much later reveals he is an artificial human created by [Cult with permission of the Empire] using dragon blood. After 30 failed attempts, the first sucessful experiment was called Subject 01 (Which he misheard as his name being Owan) and was implanted fake memories. Not long before his creation he started decaying, so he had several limbs replaced by mechanical substitutes. He escaped from [Cult] and joined [Party] in hopes of putting the other [Cult]'s living experiments out of their misery before he, too, dies from his decay.
Traits: Mysterious, manipulative, sorrowful.
Likes: Freedom, Identity.
Dislikes: Suffering, Fates worse than death.
Age: ??? (9 months.)
Height: 2m

NO. 29:
Name: Miyamoto
Class: Sword Ranger (Prepromote, possibly Oifey/Jagen?)
Backstory: One of the most respected generals of [Ally rebellion that isn’t ours], Miyamoto has trained with sword and bow ever since he was a child. When he was older, he visited a [Good religion] monastery, where he trained more and awakened his third eye. In the monastery, he learned how much he could do for the people and departed in good terms. He joined [Rebellion that isn’t us] in hopes of changing the world for the better. He is also deliberately holding his strength back so that [Protagonist] learns to be a leader with his strength one day.
Traits: Stoic, reasonable, mentoring.
Likes: Personal growth, Efforts paying off.
Dislikes: The state of the world, Those who refuse to improve.
Age: 57
Height: 1.78 m

[GratedShtick]

No. 28

Name: Gianluigi
Class: Druid
Backstory: Having been betrayed all his life by people he cared about from his family to his ex-wife, Gianluigi decided to just live on his lonesome. He speculates that his face is the reason many people don’t want to associate with him. The only reason he even joined up with [Lord]'s army is because he got paid as a mercenary.
Traits: Cold, selfish
Likes: Nature, animals
Dislikes: Communal Living, people in general
Age: 41
Height: 1.97 Yards

No. 33

Name: Kronos
Class: Berserker
Backstory: Came from the unforgiving sands of [Desert Country], where many had to turn to banditry to survive. His motive to join [Lord]'s army was to abandon the sorry way of live he was uncomfortably used to.
Traits: Stoic, Patient
Likes: Hot weather, family life
Dislikes: Banditry, Ice Magic
Age: 34
Height: 2.11 Yards

No. 34

Name: Hüsnü
Class: Swordmaster
Backstory: Despite his gray hairs and balding head, this is not the result of aging; he was an unfortunate victim of [Empire]'s experimentation to create super soldiers. As a result, joining [Lord]'s army was a convenient excuse to get back at the nation that wronged him so badly, even if his wife and newborn son are now at risk of their own lives.
Traits: Kind, Hasty
Likes: His family, nature
Dislikes: [Empire], playing [Deity of land]
Age: 26
Height: 2 Yards

[Mycahel]

Here are some suggestions for plot dynamics I spotted in case this ever becomes a hack:

• The female lord (Gena) is the sister of the little girl who is the current host of the [Dark Lord]. They are also both princesses of the empire. This could introduce moral conflict in the early stages of the game and culminate in the Dark Lord’s awakening once you inevitably kill her parents and this little girl succumbs to her own lust for revenge.

• The male lord (Nibbles) is kickstarting a war on the Empire and directly benefitting the [Dark Lord] and therefore the [Evil cult]. Maybe a plot twist could be introduced late in the game where it was in fact the [Evil cult] who did the thing where the royal family died, then framed him and since he convinced himself it was his fault and conveniently rose to the position of king, the evil cult infiltrated his court and manipulate him so that he’s doing the cult’s bidding without even knowing. Cue “Oh my god what have I done”.

• There is a sacred forest nation that is home to many of the player characters. Also noteworthy is the fact that everyone who inhabits it has only one eye, whether because they lost an eye or because they only had one to begin with. Potential plot point here.

• The evil cult has performed a lot of experiments with artificial humans. Several of the characters are either completely artificial life forms or enhanced/mutated by said cult. This implies that they have a genuine mastery over life and death and are not to be fucked around with. Maybe the reason they seek to release [Dark Lord] is that they want to learn from him how to completely master life and death so that they, too, can become gods and create a new version of humanity? And everyone is ugly as f*ck because [Cult] has stolen pieces of the soul of every inhabitant of the continent to make that vision a reality?

• There is a kingdom-aligned prepromote (Ufens) and an empire/rebellion aligned prepromote (Miyamoto). Maybe Ufens could be a Jagen/Oifey for Nibbles and Miyamoto a Jagen/Oifey for Gena?