Need help with some character archetypes? Need a pointer in the right direction for a character concept suitable to East Africa? Take a look at some of these ideas.

Homid Character Concepts

Poacher

The Man has brought you down. You spent most of your mortal life learning how to track wild animals in the bush. It’s safer to hunt in groups and while the pay off may not be as grand the rewards are enough to feed you and maybe a few members of your family.

You’ve likely been fined, jailed and through the faulty legal system but you’re good at what you do and it’s the only way to make a decent living out here, or so you’ve convinced yourself. Your knowledge of the East African plain is great, you have some knowledge of weapons and which are efficient in killing the game of your choosing.

Your family may or may not know what you do for a living. Often times you rob people on the road who have spotted your hunting parties. Sometimes you kill them, other times you let them go but never without beating them senseless first. It’s not as if you enjoy it, but it’s the survival of the fittest out here. There could be better jobs waiting for you, but none of them pay as well as the black market on ivory, skins, teeth, and meat. Your education is likely limited to what you know about animals and hunting in the bush.

Missionary

You’ve been converted or lived your life in study of your faith. Your whole life is surrounded by helping others in need through the word of God. You’re a devoted person of the church and while you may not believe in God as much as your peers do, you believe that doing good deeds is more important than being faithful.

People in poor communities know you and call on you in their times of need. You often counsel people and act as a confidant. When the going gets rough, you remind them that God is giving them a test that they can accomplish. No matter how hard. You’re good at convincing them, but you often wonder if you are feeding them lies.

Regardless of your shaky faith, you believe in the system of ‘do unto others as you would have done unto you’. You believe your goal in life is to help people and you’ve seen many perils from corrupted government systems to diseased communities. You often preach to these people, praying that it will perhaps give them some hope for a better future.

Black Market Errand Boy/Girl

You’ve dealt with the system all of your life. Never at the top, always at the bottom and you like it there. The pay isn’t awful and you’ve managed to get by up until this point. You know the names of some of the local poachers, dealers and illegal traders. You support the ‘free trade’ system only because it has been grilled into you from a very young age.

You’re not into direct dealing. You deliver packages, messages, carrying things from point to point and you don’t make a habit of asking questions. Questions only lead to problems for you, your boss and his associates. You’re pretty good at skirting around the cops, as well.

Sure it’s illegal, but it’s not as if you feel bad about that. You’ve got to make a living, too, and this is the only place you’ve felt comfortable since your family life went to shit years ago. The dealers took you in, gave you a place to sleep (albeit horrible conditions), food to eat and money here and there when you’ve needed it. You’re a good liar, too. You’d have to be to keep feeding your boss the bullshit smile you come in with every morning ‘eager’ to do his or her bidding.

Fisherman

Your father was a fisherman, your mother is a fisherman’s daughter and both sides of your family have been continuing the tradition for years. You likely live in a small community that is focused completely on fishing as a lifestyle. Your father taught you how to fish, your mother taught you how to prepare fish. As a child you and your friends spent hours at the water’s edge trying to learn the tricks of the trade from the old men.

You know about boats, you know the tools necessary to do fishing and could make a fishing line out of just about anything that came your way. Your community is poor and the pay for fishing hasn’t been rewarding but now that you’re old enough you’ve considered taking up a job down at the docks where you hear the pay is better and the fish more plentiful with what they call ‘technology’.

Your family would scorn you for leaving the traditions of the family behind but in secret you and your friends have talked about it for years: getting out on the ocean with your own fishing boat and maybe starting something the city-folk call a ‘business’ where you make lots of money and own homes. Dreams are dreams, however, and you fear you’ll be stuck in the small native fishing village that has been your ancestors’ home for centuries.

Native Tribesman/woman

You’ve grown up within a native tribe. Whatever the tribe is, you’ve spent your life worshipping the earth and what the earth gods or god has given you. All that you know of wealth is livestock or beaded baskets, small bone jewelry trinkets and pottery that the local tourists often buy. Your father has taught you how to care for the cattle, or goats, while your mother has taught you of herbs and the seasons.

You have absolutely no recognition of technology or modern ordeals and you have no wish to. Your life is with your tribe and you hope to one day grow strong in the community and have a family of your own in which you can carry on the traditions of your people. You accept all that is important is what is in front of you and you’d never have to leave to feel truly happy.

You’ve heard distant tales of cities and jobs, towns and money but what care have you for such unworthy things? Life out here on the savanna is all you’ve ever known and all you’ll ever need. You have no formal education, you know all of your family’s livestock by name and your family is closely knit and exists in a delicate balance with nature. Your skills are feral and consist of making huts, trinkets, clothing and food.

Student

You must have a fairly wealthy family in order to be attending school. If you’ve received education you are either a single child of a Tribe, forced by the government to attend school through high school, or your family is rather well off and able to afford sending you to schools such as universities.

You live to study, it’s what you love to do. It clears your mind to have something new to learn in front of you and you often show more effort in school than you do anywhere else. You have high hopes of getting grants with which to go to university with, or even getting a good job some day. Your family may or may not approve of your schooling. If you’re a tribe’s child, your family looks down on your schooling heavily and is very much against it. They’d rather you be at home looking over the cattle.

Regardless it puts your mind at ease to be learning something new each day and you never forget how fortunate you are to be learning while so many children are unable to. What ever it is that you’ve chosen to study, whether general education or a specific subject, you’re more dedicated to it than you’d let on to your peers or even your family.

Safari Guide

You’ve taken up the job of a Safari Guide and you love it. You’ve often been hailed as an excellent tracker of Africa’s Big Five and your cooking skills while on the ‘hunt’ aren’t too bad either. Such a job is hailed as something to look forward to each day—sharing your beloved country with foreigners and watching the wonder in their eyes is something that excites you.

The pay isn’t great unless you’ve been with a company for more than a few years, but once you’ve got your feet wet there’s plenty of opportunities out there for you. You’ve heard of some Guides going on excursions with organizations like World Wildlife Foundation, Animal Planet and National Geographic. You would be lucky to speak with some of these people, as it could land you an even better job.

Sure you have to deal with the tourists, the weather and often the problematic photographic white folk from the States who are ever shouting out ‘what is that?’ but it pays your bills well enough to live in a 1 bedroom apartment that is shared with a few other guides. You have a love for nature and the open road that many of your seasoned guides do not. Regardless you’re there every morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to do it all over again.

Conservation Researcher

Working with the local and national wildlife foundations was a dream for you, it’s what you went to college for and it’s what you’ve studied hard for all of your life. You’ve spent hours pining over books to research for local politicians whom you have begged repeatedly to put bans and serious fines on poaching.

Your love of wildlife and the animals of Eastern Africa is obvious since you’ve made a career out of it but it doesn’t pay as well as one might expect. While you may get a few contract jobs here and there from the government, most of your work is funded by charity or non-profit organizations whose interests do not lie in your pockets or your financial situation. It may not be the greatest job, but you love it and you believe that some day your work will make a difference.

You strive to tell everyone you know about your studies and what you’ve found on your recent trips to this or that part of Africa. You share your information on the internet, at local cafés and write the government often to warn them of the decline in habitat and the rise of poaching. No matter what, your efforts are strong and will continue to be strong until you’ve been heard by someone who can help.

Park Ranger

You got into the Safari Guide business relatively young, and you had to run away from home to do it. A kid with no formal education and no where to go would be a burden for some companies but you held your own. You started at the very bottom, carrying peoples’ luggage behind the trucks on the bumpy safari roads and you made a name for yourself. Soon you were in the driver’s seat and then you were telling the world about Africa from your point of view.

A few years down the road, you have become so good at your job that the Park Societies have hired you to be a ranger. You’ve been trained in firearms and several other tactical skills in keeping the poachers off the land. Sometimes its hard and grueling work but working for your country is a great honor. Especially for a run-away kid who had no place to go. All the education you’ve learned has been from your co-workers. They taught you to read, write, the basics of what you needed to do your job and do it well. Your spelling isn’t stellar but you get by and your boss is appreciative of your work.

The pay isn’t great and it’s a dangerous job to be out in Africa’s most primitive wildlife. From the nightly poachers to the angry animals, you’ve learned quite a few tricks of the trade. You’ve learned to love working for your country and your government and every now and again you get a pat on the back from your boss. It’s honest work for an honest man or woman and it’s better than scrabbling for food in the gutter or resorting to poaching as a lifestyle.

Wildlife Photographer

You’re not the norm. You didn’t just go to college, you went to art school. Thousands of tourists flock each year to capture the perfect picture of the sun setting over Nairobi’s skyscrapers, or to flash a glimpse of the thrill of the lion’s hunt. You? You’ve got it made, you’ve lived here your whole life and you know the outdoors as well as you know your camera.

You’d be lucky to get a spread in National Geographic but you’re praying for the possibility that some day your photos will match up to them. You sell your photos to airlines, magazines and tourist companies for their pamphlets and news articles in hopes of getting ‘discovered’ by a big time nature magazine. Your parents found it quite weird, your interest in photography, but you believe its honest, exhilarating work.

The money you get from it is unsteady but you make enough to get by, just barely. You’ve been kicked out of 3 apartments in the past four years because you were unable to pay rent on time due to your publish dates and photo advances from the companies. Sometimes it’s discouraging, but you always remember that somewhere out there on the savanna lies the ‘perfect shot’ that’ll get you glory, fame and fortune.

Rebel

Your family was thrown from their native homes by the wars in your country. Now you’re displaced beings and you’re very, very angry. Your life as a rebel may have started very young or your people may have been displaced for years. The pain and suffering of your community made you numb, gave you nightmares and turned off your emotions to the outside world. But a few folks in the community knew what to do: fight back.

Never go down with out a fight, never trust the government, don’t sleep without your gun strapped to your stomach and never, ever forget what they did to you and your people. Those are the rules of the rebel. You look to leaders for guidance, or perhaps you are the leader of a rebel group. Whatever the case, the bloodshed is never enough, they could never repay your people; not in blood, not in bodies, not in money. No one can stop you from your purpose and you fully believe in the cause. You have little remorse for death and you do not fear it as long as you have lived (and died) for the cause.

You believe in teamwork, strong leadership and militant force whenever possible. You’ve spent your life raiding the homes of potentially innocent people, but they were people related to the cause of your family’s demise. You don’t question your authority and you always sleep with one eye open.

 

Feral and Metis Character Ideas

Simba- Feral

Your mother was a warm belly and a fine huntress but you can now barely remember the scent of her, or many other members of her pride. You were cast out when you became an adult as a rogue male. Your life hasn’t been grueling, you learned essential skills while still a part of the pride. Your time with them wasn’t cherished and your departure was expected.

You find life on the savanna to be to your liking, you don’t mind being along. While you may get into a brawl with a local pride here or there, fighting for mating rights during the season, you know your place. You aren’t ready to rule an entire pride on your own, anyways, but you vaguely miss the companionship of a family structure.

Your mass and mane make it hard for you to sneak up on prey, and you’re not the most light-footed gentleman with the bulk adult life has given you. A few other rogue males have tried to team up with you in the past, but your life is your own and you get by on stealing prey from other carnivores.

Garou- Feral

Your life is in the pack and the pack is in your life. You know family structure and loyalty are two of the most important aspects of a pack. But you also know that dominance rules and you are quite accustomed to submission when the occasion calls for it. You’re at the bottom of the pack structure, barely above cub status and though you’re trying to fight your way to the top, dominance always gets in the way.

Your pack taught you hunting skills, your place in the world and what’s important: providing for the group. You may not be the fastest, or the strongest but you get by in just participating as part of the family. Sooner or later, however, you’ll want something more- perhaps a pack of your own.

When push comes to shove the most important aspect of your life resides within pack structure, it is all you’ve ever known. The African plains are tough and the dry seasons tougher but you’ve learned to survive just as your ancestors did and your pack mates will help you along. They are, after all, all you’ve got.

Corax- Feral

Born with wings, with which to fly! Your mother pushed you out of the nest and it was sayonara family life and on to the big bad skies of Africa. You take everything in with an aerial view and your life as a bird hasn’t been anything but an excitement since the day your mother nudged you from your egg.

You’ve learned skills through watching other animals and you’ve even picked up some tricks of the trade through your own experiences. You rarely ‘hunt’ for your food, the savanna provides an impressive display of fresh meat on a daily basis. The question is whether or not you’re willing to fight the vultures, hyenas and jackals for it.

You’re quick-witted and easily startled by the bigger animals, but you’ve learned how to stay out of trouble by taking flight. You’re often pursued by many of the larger birds, but you don’t pay them any mind- they’re loathe to leave a meal behind and you’re quicker than lightning. When trouble finds you, you’re likely to find a loophole.

Mokole- Feral

Since the moment you pushed forth from your shell you’ve spent life learning; learning when to strike, learning when to lie in wait, learning the seasons. Your family life is based on tolerance and territory, but you’ve all been in the same waters since the day you were born. They’re not particularly important to you, and your affections for them never show through unless you count submission for a meal.

The Great Migration is the highlight of your year. Whether or not the animals are scared to cross the river, lake or Nile you’re wading in, they’ll cross it. The question is whether or not they will make it to the other side. You’re skilled in waiting for your prey and keeping a keen eye out for anyone who may be trying to get a piece of the meal you’ve picked up.

It’s fight or die in these murky waters and your skills are based in stealth, strength and willpower enough to wait for the perfect angle. You enjoy sunbathing as much as the next croc, but you don’t spend an excessive amount of time on land unless you’re desperate for a meal. Ambushing a straggling gemsbok or dik-dik foal from the bushes isn’t completely out of style if the going gets tough.

 

Garou- Metis

Your mother was on the run when you were born, all that you remember of her were the brief sobs you heard between your wailing and the scent of her fur when she bore you. You’re a bastard of Garou society, a mule and an outcast. You were born with a deformity that is either hindering in appearance or functionality and no Garou will ever let you forget it.

You didn’t understand what was so strange about you, growing up in the Caern with all the scorn-laced looks of passers-by. Your caretaker often reassured you that this is what life would be like for you, for the rest of your life. You got used to it and accepted your role as Omega in the pack structure, readily and without defeat.

It didn’t seem fair when it came time for your first change, that the other cubs were allowed to go on their Rite of Passage before you were. You knew more, studied harder and proved yourself worthy of that challenge. Truth was, however, your caretaker was right. No one would ever treat you normal. Eternally the outcast from the burden your mother and father put on you, you’re not sure if you can bring yourself to forgive them.

Bastet- Metis

Your caretaker called your parents ‘Ghats’ and cursed them for bearing you in such troubling times. Whether they liked it or not, it was their duty to take care of you and a duty it was considering your rampant outbursts. You were born with a deformity, either hindering in appearance or functionality and the Bastet or Kinfolk caretaker that pulled you in never let your parents forget the favor they were doing for them.

Your life wasn’t so bad growing up. Aside from having to hide from every one and everything you rather liked the alone time with your caretaker. But as you grew older you had questions that needed answering, questions that would be answered with the full, brunt force of reality: you were a metis, born of two were-cats. Metis became a bad word.

After your First Year it didn’t seem to matter much to your Teacher that you were metis, so long as you kept your deformity hidden from humanity you shouldn’t have any problems. Other were-cats may view you with a smirk or twisted muzzle here or there but it wasn’t –your- fault they were jealous of your upbringing. Whatever the case, your teacher taught you one thing you’ll never forget: just because you’re a metis doesn’t mean you’re any less a child of Seline.