Puzzlebox is a place of patterns, some ordinary and some exotic! One can especially see some curious patterns running through the inhabitants around...
Avatars/Projections
With them, the individuals you see are directly a part of some other entity or megaentity (larger/older/whatever). A common role for such characters is 'observer', but they aren't limited to this. A common path seems to be beginning as an observer and slowly changing into an enthusiastic participant, especially for those who are a player's first character in Puzzlebox.
Examples: Far-Spire, Hydra's Beta and Gamma? among others, Twin, System, Besax, Sebkha and the Erminetic Manifold, Mel and the Museum...
Twin's player mentioned in the entry for Far-Spire that this might be related to the player-character relationship, or expressions of layers within the players themselves.
Also quite relevant is the Gestalt page.
Once Dangerous...
Characters with quite dangerous or nasty pasts who've mainly laid down their tools of violence/left behind the terrible things they were. Examples:
Twin,
Grace,
Flyte,
Frostbyte to some degrees.
Related: "With great power comes great restraint..." Any denizen of the Mess is close to a goddess, from an early 21st-century view. Some are well into that level even by the standards of the Mess. Yet this great power is used only with great reluctance, if ever. Doing by not-doing? Could there be a class of caretaker-beings who repair things in the case of huge assaults on reality?
Made Anew
Characters that have, willingly, unwillingly, or incidentally, completely abandoned their former existences, and become something profoundly different. This metamorphosis may have occured as a character's background, or within the Puzzlebox timeline. Examples:
Grace,
Twin (who will probably fit into a lot more archetypes too),
Robin,
Kelil,
10FC04,
Charlotte-Sophia,
Echo and
Kurrel among others.
(This is just a quick scratch-page intended to start up discussions on all manners of archetypes, inspired by Twin's comments on Far-Spire's entry. Please edit and format the hell out of this, hee.)
It may not be immediate or even soon, but some may come to realize that Phys-FM actually falls somewhat into this category as well. This might come with some potentially disasterous results as well, depending on how the person in question reacts to the knowledge of what Phys-FM once was.
Other unorganized thoughts
How many of these are archetypes found on any fantasy/sf RP environment? The war-weary soldier, the diety walking among the mortals, the red-haired orphan with magic and a Mysterious Past, the Fuck-Toy... go on your favorite mu* and look around; how many fall into one or more of those categories, and how obviously? How are they specific to Puzzlebox; how does the strong awareness of these levels affect them? Anyone savvy enough to make it through the application filters is probably aware of the character cliches, and uses most of them knowingly, finding a personal spin on them.
Just a few fragments. - Twin