Most of my characters have very detailed backgrounds (for my one 'came from outer space' character I have the whole society she came from worked out) but I tend to keep the in-game bios very short. Basically just a sketch summary of the character.
As for which comes first, most of the time it's the name. But I generally have their 'origin' trickling through my mind as I'm working on the character creator. On occasions where there is a particular power set combo I want to play, I'll still have a basic bio worked out before I start making the character.
I just can't spend hours playing a character that is just a blank.
However, it turned out that Smith was not a time-travelling Terminator
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The superhero genre is one big cheesey cliche
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Fixed - to emphasize where the fun comes form 
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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Do you think about the background before you design the character? Does the character background come after youve picked the AT or before?
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All of the above! Sometimes I'll get the idea for a character from a name I like the sound of (was in Tescos this afternoon with the missus and started talking about 80s American Soap stars - from that came "Big Hair Girl". She'll probably never materialise in game, but it's that kind of randomness that can often spawn toon concepts). Sometimes the whole concept comes from the backstory. Other times the name and story come from the powersets.
@SteelRat; @SteelRat2
"Angelina my love, I'm a genius!"
"Of course you are darling, that's why I married you. Physically, you're rather unattractive"
http://faces.cohtitan.com/profile/SteelRat
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Do you think about the background before you design the character? Does the character background come after youve picked the AT or before?
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Kinda both, Imoba's original story was that he was a stunt man, but I really doubted even a stuntman could do half the things I was doing with him (dodging rockets and machine guns seemed a tad much), but I reasoned that somebody who had trained to do just that for a very, very long time could, so I borrowed the Hansen's story from Stigra Isles
Most of my toons have at least a concept of a background before they are created. It might never come to fruition or might get changed by the time I actually write it into the biog, but it is there - even if it is just a silly name.
My Inv/SS tank is my token alien from another planet toon, but I don't think he'll get genericed any time soon!
UNION @Flitz 50, Lead Hose 50, Red Rag 50
DEFIANT Rose Bloodthorn 34
VIGILANCE Captain Caledonia 20 - Yeah, I made toons on the French server coz we only had 4 back then (might have to transfer/recreate them on one of the US servers)
..and many more!
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Do you think about the background before you design the character? Does the character background come after youve picked the AT or before?
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Both. Often, I come up with a suitable background based on a desire for a specific combination of AT and sets, but I also come up with a concept and then find the right At/sets for the concept. And sometimes neither.
War Crow was going to be a kat/regen Scrapper from the start and I came up with a weird background for him after building him.
Angelica was inspired by a song, and the choice of fire/fire Blaster went with it. Jason Caine also stemmed from a background and the choice of powers formed out of that background.
Velvet was actually a toon I made on Test when the morphology sliders were introduced and I just picked the AT and sets so I could get to the sliders. Once she was made and I played her for a little while, a character developed and so a background.
My backgrounds are never complete until I roleplay the character. I have a basic set of mindset rules and a rough idea of the character's history worked out, but I only really work out a full background through interaction with others.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
I don't need or want one myself, but I do like looking at what other players have come up with - silly, serious or just plain weird 
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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I don't need or want one myself, but I do like looking at what other players have come up with - silly, serious or just plain weird
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So there is no story behind GG? 
The M.A.D. Files - Me talking about games, films, games, life, games, internet and games
I'm not good at giving advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?
@Lyrik
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I don't need or want one myself, but I do like looking at what other players have come up with - silly, serious or just plain weird
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So there is no story behind GG?
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You're kidding right? There has to be some story as to why she trolls forums spamming to no end.
Contact Information!
Twitter: @TonyParkeze
Facebook: www.facebook.com/anthonyjp91
Email: anthonyjp91@gmail.com
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I don't need or want one myself, but I do like looking at what other players have come up with - silly, serious or just plain weird
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So there is no story behind GG?
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It's just me with superpowers
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
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I don't need or want one myself, but I do like looking at what other players have come up with - silly, serious or just plain weird
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So there is no story behind GG?
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It's just me with superpowers
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But how did you get those super powers?
The M.A.D. Files - Me talking about games, films, games, life, games, internet and games
I'm not good at giving advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?
@Lyrik
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I don't need or want one myself, but I do like looking at what other players have come up with - silly, serious or just plain weird
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So there is no story behind GG?
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It's just me with superpowers
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But how did you get those super powers?
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Supes... like the Trolls.
Contact Information!
Twitter: @TonyParkeze
Facebook: www.facebook.com/anthonyjp91
Email: anthonyjp91@gmail.com
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I don't need or want one myself, but I do like looking at what other players have come up with - silly, serious or just plain weird
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So there is no story behind GG?
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It's just me with superpowers
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But how did you get those super powers?
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I don't know - I've not given it much thought
@Golden Girl
City of Heroes comics and artwork
What Origin is she? 
Contact Information!
Twitter: @TonyParkeze
Facebook: www.facebook.com/anthonyjp91
Email: anthonyjp91@gmail.com
Alien! You're an alien! She's a Rikti! Attack her!
Contact Information!
Twitter: @TonyParkeze
Facebook: www.facebook.com/anthonyjp91
Email: anthonyjp91@gmail.com
Rikti are Science origin, however, she is obviously an alien. I'm going for Venusian, since Martians are green. And she's female, and we all know Men are from Mars, etc.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
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OTOH, in a roleplay character I want to see some physical detail not obvious from the avatar, and (since this is a modern world with mass media) a little bit about anything you could read about the character in the gossip columns and newspapers.
I do not want to read the entire character history. I do not need to be able to read that this person is actually a demigod from the planet Flarg. I'd prefer to discover that by talking to them (or, preferably, to discover that they are something entirely more reasonable. ).
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This is my approach to the bio as well. Just to write what a person could possibly determine by looking at (or mindprobing or in other way examining) the toon. However this means that a couple of my alts lacks a bio despite them having a background story. I just haven't thought out what details about the character that's not immediately apparant from the graphics.
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I just haven't thought out what details about the character that's not immediately apparant from the graphics.
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Well, my bios always have one thing in them:
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(( Roleplayer ))
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It can save so many dumb questions.
Disclaimer: The above may be humerous, or at least may be an attempt at humour. Try reading it that way.
Posts are OOC unless noted to be IC, or in an IC thread.
I don't RP or move in RP circles often, so the only time bios are read are when we're waiting for the team to turn up, waiting for next mish to be put up, etc.
There's only one thing I would say: use paragraphs. A monolithic block of text will rarely get read.
I love writing bios in CoX - like others have said they kind make the character complete and playable. Some I create the back story fit the concept I am making, others I make the concept fit the back story. Ive got one character, Rendraka, who is a consistent character i make in loads of RPGs but I haven't found a build or story that fits him yet so dont like playing him.
A lot of my bios are quite serious though, filled with personal tragedy. A bit dramatic but I like giving my characters a reason as to why they do what they do. For example Black Karhu was scientifically enhanced and then watched a lot of his friends/colleagues die. Tired Angel was banished from his divine home and now fights evil to stop the aching of his soul. Tristar is the merging between a peace loving human and veteren Kheldian so suffers from eternal guilt. Shadow Mercury is addicted to the dark magic from his tech suit so fights evil to fight the evil in him.
Most of my villains are just sociopaths so nothing exciting there.
A couple of my toons have funny backgrounds. My tank Baby Bam is a 16 year old girl who was given her powers by mistake when the ancient mystic got the wrong hospital delivery room. cAptia nTyop is a disgruntled english professor who went mad through marking essays with typos. Apocalypyic Jester is being from a chaos dimension with no rule and she somehow got banished for unspeakable crimes!
I like referencing my other characters in bios as well. For example my brute Atomic Demon was created when Dr Hooked (my mastermind) cloned Black Karhu (my tank).
Member of GGRRR, a SG on Defiant - check out our website - GGRRR
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I don't RP or move in RP circles often, so the only time bios are read are when we're waiting for the team to turn up, waiting for next mish to be put up, etc.
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Aye, I'm the same. My bios tend to be a backstory instead of just a roleplaying description of what you can see, for that reason (I find full bios more interesting). Only exception is the bio for Attila the Bum, mainly because it was more fun writing it in rambling deranged tramp gibberish.
I tend to prefer to plonk a bit of humour in them if appropriate. I've gotten a fair few compliments over Johnny Moronics.
Wytchs tend to be my favourite to read, especially the teenage girl who won a Crey competition from a packet of breakfast cereal, got various unpleasant proceedures carried out on her and is now under control of Marketing and the cereals new mascot.
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I like referencing my other characters in bios as well. For example my brute Atomic Demon was created when Dr Hooked (my mastermind) cloned Black Karhu (my tank).
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Oh yes, I love doing this with my characters. CyberDeath (Bots / Dark MM) is Sigma Suits (En / Fire Blaster) Uncle, and Agent Sky-Angels (En / Dev Blaster) Father .He thought she'd died during a test flight of one of his gizmos. The feed back from the monitoring equipment gave him his dark, soul manipulation abilities and sent him a bit doolally in the process.
In the short period of time after the accident while he still had an ounce of his sanity, he left his latest project the "Sigma Suit" to his nephew to help combat what he knew he was going to become.
Illuzi-One (Ill / Rad Trolly) is Ben Travis (Sigmas) college sweet heart who volunteers to be a test subject in one of his experiments, just so she can show him she's interested in him (hitherto expressions of her amour had failed due to his concentration on his work).. a pair of energy gauntlets capable of projecting holographic illusions.
Unfortunately a malfunction in the small fusion reactors that power them, result in her body absorbing large quantities of radiation. Remarkably, instead of killing her, her body is able to utilize this radiation to help her combat evil.
All suitably ridiculous story lines befitting of comic characters, I'm sure you'll agree 
@SteelRat; @SteelRat2
"Angelina my love, I'm a genius!"
"Of course you are darling, that's why I married you. Physically, you're rather unattractive"
http://faces.cohtitan.com/profile/SteelRat
The only real link my characters have are that they are all connected to Rush Inc. The company of my main character Malcolm Rush. They are either employees or family members(from the future )
The M.A.D. Files - Me talking about games, films, games, life, games, internet and games
I'm not good at giving advice, can I interest you in a sarcastic comment?
@Lyrik
I only play AT combos I've already got a viable background for, some have been later been dropped as they were found to be inpractical at the Costume creater stage.