Avengers assemble! Check out these 10 character writing prompts focusing on nerds, geeks and dweebs. One of my favorite developments of the last decade or so is that nerds, geeks and dweebs have gone from social outcasts to cool in one generation. There are several examples you can point to, but one of the best is the success of the show "The Big Bang Theory" which is one of the top-rated shows on television despite it's nerdy tone. These types of character tend to take on some stereotypes such as living in their mom's basement and going to comic conventions, but nerds, geeks and dweebs are positively ruling the digital world which gives you a lot more room to work with.
Free Character Writing Prompts #18: Nerds, Geeks and Dweebs
1. Online, he was a warrior like no other in one of the world's most highly populated massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG) and the game developers had a difficult time keeping up with his quickly leveling character. What the players in the game didn't realize was that he had devised method to exercise furiously while playing online. His desktop was attached to a contraption of his own making that incorporated cardiovascular exercise and weight training. Nobody on the streets would ever be able to tell by his six-pack and massive biceps that he used the computer nearly 15 hours a day. What was he like before his gaming/exercise combination and how has his physique changed his life?
2. As one of the original Star Wars geeks, he was first in line to see the new trilogy when it was released in the late 1990s. He remembered back to his childhood of how much the first movie had affected him and how he'd seen it over 20 times in theaters. He even considered naming his first child Luke, until his wife rightly denied him. After watching The Phantom Menace, however, he changed his tune. No matter how he spun it, he felt that George Lucas had ruined the series he loved like a member of the family and he decided he would never trust the Star Wars creator again. Was he able to keep himself from seeing the next two movies and how does this change his opinions of the original trilogy?
3. She was a blond, tan cheerleader who was extremely popular and could be found dating the quarterback of the football team. She was also an avid Magic The Gathering player and on her free weekends she would play in a tournament at the local gaming store. She had two older brothers who were both geeks and she grew up playing the card game. As her brothers were both away at college or grad school, playing the game as often as she could brought her a special joy. Her friends made fun of her for it and were never able to quite understand the game, but she continued on because she wasn't about to let other people tell her what to do. Will she continue to play the game when she herself goes away to college and why or why not?
4. She had the calendar marked nearly eight months ago for her favorite week of the year: San Diego Comic Con. She had been preparing her cosplay costumes for months and was just putting the finishing touches on the sais of an Electra outfit for her first day. She had a different dorky uniform for each day of the festival and she already had her tickets to her favorite television shows and the most promising upcoming movies. She and her friends went a little crazy last year and hooked up with some out of town MIT guys. While she considered toning it down this year, she always believed that what happened at the Con stayed at the Con. Why is she such a big fan of the convention scene and what adventures will this year bring?
5. People never interested him as much as numbers did. When he needed to succeed in a required communications class, he actually created a formula that would allow him to devise a successful speech to pass the class as opposed to learning the skills needed to communicate, and it got him an A. He was at the top of his class through his undergraduate work and his PhD in applied mathematics. Whenever he went to parties, he talked about math, made math jokes and frequently changed more interesting conversation topics into math-related discussions. He did hope to find love someday, but he calculated the probability as low. What will the future hold for this lover of numbers and will he ever find the square root of true love?
6. While most gamers look up and marvel at the top players on the multiplayer online versions of games like Halo, he's always looking down the list. Because he's almost always #1. He's been one of the best online players at first-person shooting games ever since Quake in the mid-1990s and he's actually learned to make a living from his skills. By coming in first place in international gaming tournaments, he's been able to supplement his salary as, you guessed it, a game tester. He'd considered going into development, but he worried it would take away from his considerable amount of practice time. Will he ever meet his match and how well does he interact with people in the real world?
7. The real world never held much interest for her and when she was asked to be a beta tester for the virtual world of Second Life, she jumped on the opportunity. She always had an acute mind for business strategy and it didn't take her long to realize how to make a living buying and selling virtual real estate in the game. She also developed a group of friends and even found a partner to marry in the game (and later in real life). Since she was making a decent income and experiencing an exciting social life in Second Life, she found little time for anything else. Via her doctor's wishes, she would go to the gym three times a week, but that was one of her few trips outside on most weeks. Why was she so interested in a virtual world and what would a day be like for her when the Second Life server went down?
8. You knew that she was well-versed in all things nerdy, but you never expected that she would be able to quote you the movie The Princess Bride from beginning to end. She knew the script perfectly as if she was reading it from your eyes and she even did different voices for each of the characters. Throughout her recitation as you watched the actual movie out of the corner of your eye, her smile was wide, creating dimples on her freckly cheeks. Her blond hair glistened from the glow of the television screen and you smiled back. You were already smitten, but being able to quote one of your favorite nerdy movies verbatim was the icing on the cake. What other nerdy or normal qualities did she possess and what practice did she take part in to accurately quote the movie?
9. He had watched all 500 plus episodes of "The Simpsons" and though the quality had dipped, he made sure to keep up with the show so that his library of quotes could continue to increase. He and his friends used to get together for each new episode in middle and high school and they would go back and forth quoting the show endlessly. While some of his friends had moved on, they would still have quote-fests from time to time. It was rare that he would go an entire paragraph without inserting at least one Simpsons quote or voice. What do his friends and family members think about their never ending Simpsons dictionary of a loved one?
10. She had a recurring dream that she was a warrior princess who had been pitted against a large group of orcs and a golden dragon. These dreams stemmed from the huge amount of fantasy books she had read during her lifetime and that she would continue to read as long as she lived. She was always one of the first in line at midnight to attend large releases like Game of Thrones but she also read the books from less well-known series. She loved the fantastical worlds created between the pages and she frequently pictured herself in the place of some of the main female characters. What are some of her main goals in life and when did she get so into reading this genre?
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