The title could be reversed too, "Your character does not fit your personality". Ever find that someone creates a character that they just don't manage right because they have a personality that makes it hard for them to role-play? Take for instance a happy kind person creating an evil thief that seems to be too kind, more like a Robin Hood. Have you [seen] that? Ever tried suggesting to create a certain kind of character? .
I don't know if this is going off topic but I'd say that their personality came out too much in their character whether for good or bad it was more like running an avatar than a character if you know what I mean.
That's a fascinating question: Why would a good person pretend to be evil? My off-the-cuff answer is that They're using roleplay to experiment with behaviors that are unacceptable their real life.
Then there's the flip side of the question: Why would you pretend to be someone similar to your real life personality? That's like pretending to be yourself. Then again, according to personality theory, that's what we do all the time.
Ken! You answered with more questions. Its true what you said about them experimenting but someone choosing to have a character that's evil may not necessarily be about their real life or their alter motives it might simply be that they're wanting to be different.
I have one character persona that I love player - Diarmadhim. If you see it in a game, chances are it's me playing him. I've used it since '96, although I've had a few people steal the name and use it for things [..]. Anyways, he's actually me and is a loveable [annoyance]. I feel like I'm constantly checking myself in real life and when I get to play him, my real personality comes out. He is perfectly nice but with an intolerance of idiots. If you cross him, he's done with you until you make things right. Sometimes he does things that while unethical are perfectly legal, just to prove a point. If there's no specific law against something - he'll do it if it benefits him.
One of the other players in my RL group recently handed the Dungeon Master a character and the Dungeon Master asked him to make something he would actually enjoy. I didn't look at the character, but apparently it was something our buddy thought the other player would be incapable of playing effectively.
What Fairmaiden brought up is true, it does happen, but I'm personally fine with it simply because not everyone will know how to role-play for everyone's expectations. I rather someone consistently giving their input into the game rather than showing up every blue moon as if they got Abrams to write the script.
Hmm, older topic but one I feel is worth bringing back.
I find that playing a character dramatically opposed to who I am is quite difficult. If I'm attached enough to what they're doing, it is almost painful to keep up, and if I'm not attached, I'm not really involved in the game. Aspects of my personality tend to slip in whether I had intended them to or not.
On the other hand, Ken is correct, I am not all that interested in playing myself.
In the interest of maintaining a balance atwixt the twain, and controlling how far things slip from the original concept, I've taken to certain patterns with characters. None may be exactly like me, but all have some shard of who I am. The cynical analytic aspect of Lukas, the helpful counselor in Kresnik, etc.