Do half-giants have personalities?

[Angela Christine]

Do half-giants have individual personalities?  

They often seem kind and curious, but those are racial traits not individual personality traits.  Does their penchant for mimicry and low intellect override any innate individuality?  

Does a half-giant have dreams and ambitions?  Are there half-giants that aspire to be captains of armies and masters of industry?  Can a half-giant maintain her focus on a goal for years, like a dwarf or human, or will it simply fade from her mind over time as new distractions are introduced?

Can a half-giant hold a grudge?  Will the death of his child, mother or a dear friend create a lingering sadness in his mind that will last for the rest of his life, or will he simply forget after a few months?  Can he get angry, frightened or angsty and run away from home?  Not merely wander off following something shiny, but make a concious decision to leave on his own.  Can he abandon his home, his family, or his friends on his own initiative, without having someone else leading him away?

Can a half-giant live alone?  Are half-giant hermits possible?  If he lives alone, with no one around to mimic, does have a personality and a will of his own?


Mimicry can make him superficially resemble those he admires as he adopts their mannerisms.  Does the mimicry change what is inside him as well, or do his mannerisms have very little connection to his inner self?  Are half-giants _really_ as shallow and superficial as they often seem to other races?


Angela Christine

[RunningMountain]

Taken from the documentation of Athas.org


Half-Giant
Mind of a child, strength of three grown men. I've seen a half-giant tear the walls out of a building because he wanted a better look at the tattoos on
a mul inside.
-- Daro, human trader

Personality:
Because of their artificial origins, there is no half-giant culture, tradition or homeland. Half-giants readily imitate the customs and
cultures of their neighbors. Half-giants often display curiosity, a willingness to learn, and a general tendency towards kindness.

Roleplaying Suggestions:
Always remember how much bigger and heavier you are than everyone else. Take advantage of your height in combat, but remember the
disadvantages. Between your size and your lesser wits (even if you are a relatively intelligent half-giant people will assume you to be dull), you find
yourself an object of comic relief. You are used to being teased and will endure more witty remarks than most people, but when you have been
pushed too far your personality can suddenly shift, and you can unleash astonishing violence on your tormentors and any who stand in your way. Less
frequently, these shifts can happen to you without provocation - you just wake up with a different ethos and altered disposition.
Remember you are influenced by powerful personalities, and can shift your personality and ethics. You tend to imitate the tactics, clothes and
demeanor of your "little master."

I reccomend athas.org to anyone who has questions about Darksun roleplaying.  Even though Armageddon isn't necessarily based off the Darksun storyline, a lot of the content comes from Darksun, wonderful reading in the DS3 documentation.

-RM

[Tamarin]

In a word, yes.

[Larrath]

Do half-giants have individual personalities?

Yes, I believe they do.  Half-giants are more intelligent than domesticated dogs (who also don't have such a huge cultural thing going on), and everyone knows dogs have personalities.

They often seem kind and curious, but those are racial traits not individual personality traits.  Does their penchant for mimicry and low intellect override any innate individuality?

There is also individuality in the manner they mimic by, or their reasons to mimic (some half-giants might only mimic people who are mean to them, for instance).  In general, though, no - a half-giant who has a massive dislike to ale will still drink that ale and smile and say how delicious it is, he'll just feel different internally.

Does a half-giant have dreams and ambitions?  Are there half-giants that aspire to be captains of armies and masters of industry?  Can a half-giant maintain her focus on a goal for years, like a dwarf or human, or will it simply fade from her mind over time as new distractions are introduced?

I don't think a half-giant can truly have a tangible and original dream of their own, but it's very possible for them to copy someone else's dream and have it ingrained a little more deeply inside them.  Without more fuel to keep this dream in their head, though, I think they will eventually forget about it.

Can a half-giant hold a grudge?  Will the death of his child, mother or a dear friend create a lingering sadness in his mind that will last for the rest of his life, or will he simply forget after a few months?  Can he get angry, frightened or angsty and run away from home?  Not merely wander off following something shiny, but make a concious decision to leave on his own.  Can he abandon his home, his family, or his friends on his own initiative, without having someone else leading him away?

I don't think half-giants can truly hold a grudge, no.  I think they are very immediate when it comes to their feelings, massive bearhugs and spine-rippings both included.  With this said, however, there is no reason for them to be unaffected by trauma.
I don't think half-giants can abandon anything on their own, unless they were somehow showered with unbearable amounts of frustration at being unable to truly fit in line with the rest.  Without that very pointed and heavy pressure, though, I don't see them doing this on their own, unless they listen to voices in their heads or something like that.

Can a half-giant live alone?  Are half-giant hermits possible?  If he lives alone, with no one around to mimic, does have a personality and a will of his own?

If you're thinking a half-giant without anyone to copy, I'd go with a giant gorilla for this example.  Can a giant gorilla survive on its own?  Probably so, if it has convenient sources of food and water.
I believe that all half-giants have personalities, but people not privy to what goes on in their heads would probably have a hard time figuring them out, since I view them as a much more introverted thing.

Mimicry can make him superficially resemble those he admires as he adopts their mannerisms.  Does the mimicry change what is inside him as well, or do his mannerisms have very little connection to his inner self?  Are half-giants _really_ as shallow and superficial as they often seem to other races?

Half-giants are beings that more or less operate with the following in blinking red lettering: "I have no idea what they're doing, but I'll be fine if I just do what they do.".  I don't believe this mimicry can change anything internal unless it's a very extreme example (like a Templarate half-giant starting to work for an anti-Tektolnes 'rinthi faction), and even then this will be rare.


This is my take.

[Angela Christine]

Do half-giants have individual personalities?

Yes, I believe they do.  Half-giants are more intelligent than domesticated dogs (who also don't have such a huge cultural thing going on), and everyone knows dogs have personalities.  

Everyone except extreme behavior psychologists, I hate those guys.  

Good stuff.  

I guess I'm wondering how you make a half-giant _not_ become a one dimensional character.  If his history has very little affect on his current behavior, how do you create character depth an nuance?


AC

[EvilRoeSlade]

People often portray half-giants as having very bad or no long-term memory.  Poor long-term memory is a trait of human stupidity.  It has nothing to do with half-giants.

A half-giant's urge to mimic other creatures in no way precludes her individuality.  Rather, it serves as the basis for it.  Just like a human, a half-giants individuality is largely determined by her environment, upbringing, and personality.  Unlike a human, a half-giant will not express her individuality by simply acting as she feels inclined.  Rather, she will seek leaders whom she can emulate in a manner she finds satisfactory.  Therefore, a half-giant who was physically abused by her parents, and who thus grows up predisposed to violent behavior, will naturally seek out a group of thugs and bullies whose violent behavior she can happily mimic.  She will not be loyal to this group, but even when she leaves it, she will seek out groups that are similar to it.  If her ever-capricious loyalty places her in a group that goes against her natural inclinations, she will not stay with that group for very long.

A half-giants low intelligence doesn't negate their personality either.  Rather, it will cause her to interpret her life's experience in ways that would never occur to a human.  This area is largely for the player to figure out, and thus, I leave you to it.

A half-giant has no ambition.  She is unable to see beyond her current position in life.  If she is pleased with her state of being in the way it currently resides, she will do nothing to change it.  If she is displeased, they will seek to change their position in life until they become pleased.  Due to their intellect, and the manner in which they naturally solve problems, this may lead to various poor decisions that won't necessarily improve their situation in life.  A member of another race who finds herself in the position of a half-giant's "handler" would do well to make sure that her half-giant never becomes displeased, or else she will quickly lose control of her ward.

At this point I might qualify my statement that a half-giant has no ambition.  She has no ambition as long as she is satisfied.  As soon as she becomes dissatisfied, she will develop an ambition to become satisfied once more, and the actions she will take to become satisfied will depend on what is ultimately required for that individual half-giant to become satisfied.  

If a half-giant who exists in a small tribe or a group of wastelanders finds that being a subordinate to a human conflicts with her satisfaction, she may very well brutishly force her way to the top of such an institution.  In such an instance, being in such a position would conflict with many of a half-giants racial inclinations.  She will never be comfortable making decisions unless she receives cues that those she trusts would also make the same decision in a similar situation.  If she is a leader who is expected to make decisions on her own initiative, she will generally compel those she trusts to make decisions for her, so that she is assured that her decisions are the correct course of action.  She will deliberately, though perhaps unknowingly, put people in the position of "the power behind the throne," and turn herself into a figurehead.

A half-giant is again, unable to think beyond her present situation, and this is true when she is placed in a position in which a human might hold a grudge.  If a family member, lover, or dear friend is killed, she will become unhappy and become inclined to regain her happiness.  This will mean replacing the void that the death has caused.  After doing so, she will give little thought to the significant other she lost.  She will hold a grudge only if vengeance is necessary for her to become satisfied with her life.

A half-giant is capable of living alone provided she knows how, but she will never seek to do so.  She requires the companionship of others to assure her that her behavior is acceptable (acceptability being judged by whether or not her significant others are displaying the same behavior).  If a half-giant is somehow forced to live alone, she will draw upon her past experiences to a fault when faced with day-to-day life, refusing to do anything that she hasn't previously confirmed to be acceptable behavior.  When confronted with a new situation which her mind has no precedent for, she will grasp at the vaguest similarities of situations she has experienced in order to proceed, which may lead to bizarre, destructive, and fatal behavior.

When confronted with a problem, a half-giant will draw upon her memory to decide on an approach to it.  Her decision is likely to be based on the actions of another individual (who could very well have been a half-giant) and how that individual approached an identical problem.  If she can't recall the behavior of an individual when faced with an identical problem, she will recall a situation involving a problem that is similar in her mind.  This can lead to some extremely bizarre behavior, as a similarity that she has concluded in her mind may have very little connection with reality.

It's worth repeating that the stupidity of a half-giant is very different from the stupidity of a human.  A half-giant talks and acts just like a human, and a casual conversation with one is unlikely to reveal that they are stupid.  An ordinary human is likely to be only partially aware of the stupidity of a half-giant.  However, those who observe the actions of a half-giant for any length of time will discover that they consistently make poor and bizarre decisions.  They are unlikely to alter their behavior no matter how many times it gives them bad results.  After witnessing this behavior, a human may conceive of a way to trick a half-giant.  However, most humans will be wary of doing such, for even if they have never seen a half-giant engage in violence, they can't help but be aware that a half-giant is capable of slaying them without great difficulty.