Now obviously I don't mean in real life, or do I? No I don't. What I do mean however is that when you are roleplaying with someone, you are no longer yourself. Especially a canon character. Am I Deadpool? Nooooo but I do know how he would respond, how he would react and think when a situation presents itself. Sometimes there are similarities to what he would do and what I would do, but that's only sometimes. You can't expect a comic book character to be exactly like you at all times now can you? Course not.
 

       But what you can do, is read. It's called research and if you want to bring yourself to a whole new level of immersion, of how to take on the characters mantle, you'll need a lot more than a wiki entry here and there to get you along. There are only so many ways for someone to describe your characters personality to you in words without you having to see it for yourself. Get what I'm saying? You NEED to read up on them, read comic book panels with them and the like to get an idea of how things are done. Do you want the Hulk suddenly bursting out into a song and dance number with a top hat, while eloquently giving a diatribe about the pitfalls of the stock market? I hope not cause you'd be weird. But the point I'm trying to make here, is that while you are your character in the sense that you control them, your emotions, your feelings, are not. So you have to take a step further into the rabbit hole, and bring them to life.

 

         Even small things, like HOW they speak is a good idea for you to bring to the table. Does your character use a phrase more often than normal? Take Deadpool, most people don't know that he says 'Rassum frassum' when he's angry and sulking about something, but I do, and I will use that when the opportunity presents itself. It's the small details that bring the immersion to life and one that you should focus on too. Syntax and speech are important as well, not just the words the person uses, but HOW they use them. What's the point behind them? You need to take a good look at what's going on in the context of the scene. This may sound a bit preachy, but c'mon, you wouldn't be reading this unless you wanted to get better, (at least I hope that).

 

       So now that you've got that part down, you really do need to get behind the thought processes of your character. Take Loki for example. I don't know him very well, but I know a person who plays him like he was a hidden personality, and it's quite amazing. Or Scarlet Witch, Thor, Sif, Carol Danvers, Hercules, etc. Each of the people that play them have devoted time and energy to reading up on them, to absorbing the facets of their personalities to memory and then showing those facets in their roleplays. It's exciting, it's awesome, it's just the bee's knee's!! But now comes the part where I tell you how to do all that, and I'll again be using Deadpool as an example.

 

       So let's say he's off on assignment somewhere and he gets attacked. OH NO! NOT AN ATTACK!! Yeah, that's what happened. Now for anyone that knows comics, it's never just an attack from a human, well not always. So how would Deadpool respond? By kicking ass of course! But while he's kicking ass, he will be jabbering away about how the scene reminds him of something he saw on television at one point, he'll be driving everyone insane with his talking, the way he does and he'll be doing back flips, or acrobatics, before the wholesale slaughter that takes place. Ok, that's a little predictable. What about a relationship scene? I have a wonderful report with Typhoid Mary in the room, and we flow well off of each other, but what can two dysfunctional, amoral, sociopath's accomplish with feelings? Quite a lot actually, if you do it correctly.

 

       Deadpool used to be afraid of people seeing his face, the scarred flesh underneath and would take every opportunity to keep it hidden away from everyone. He went so far as to cover it with garbage because of how ashamed he was, and with people being physically ill at the mere sight of him, that didn't help him. He has low self esteem, he becomes depressed, has abandonment issues, and engages in violence to help quell that sense of regret for the things he's done in the name of money. He's also a sucker for abusive relationships, as seen by being ignored by Siryn, by being seduced by Copycat five times in a week under different guises, by keeping Blind Al locked up in 'The Box', his constant bullying of his friends that are weaker or less skilled. Yes, it's funny to see on panel, but most people neglect to mention that fact that he is insecure. He abuses because that's what he knows and can't break out of that rut. It's sad really, and I feel for him, but thats the role you take on. He hides it all under a veneer of insanity and crazy, and he's hurting on the inside.

 

       So do you see all that? USE IT!! Don't be afraid to do so either, as I do it quite often. My Deadpool is insane, zany, whacky, and will do things because he does things... but he's also insecure, short tempered, easy to become depressed, emotionally turbulent at the best of times, and needs constant validation. EMBRACE THEIR FLAWS!! If you really want to do a character justice, you NEED to understand them, to think like them, and to take them in at a deeper value rather than just a pretty picture.