It is often said that the superhero (or supervillain) origin story is the only story worth telling. I think that this comes from a universal desire to explain ourselves to the world. Other people only ever interact with the public face we show the world--our history, our passions, and our tragedies are mostly hidden and inaccessible. Revealing information about ourselves is a source of empowerment in terms of social interaction and cohesiveness, but also a source of potential vulnerability wn others exploit chinks in your "armor."

Added value

Creating your hero or villain has already taken some portion of your time and (CoV Infamy)creativity. After you have attained a certain level and are happy with the way your character looks and performs, your character becomes more than just a computer avatar--to some extent it becomes alive. According to academic research, the life online avatars lead may someday be a precursor to artificial intelligence. This intent of this guide, however, is simply to enrich your playing experience as well as the experience of other players.

In the world of comic books, where the origin of superheroes and supervillains first gained widespread popularity, character origins are of great importance. Characters with a past make the reader identify (or vilify) the character on a personal basis. Comic books with great storylines and plausible characters historically sell more issues for the publisher (and thus, for the writers and artists), as well as provide greater entertainment for the reader. Creating a good "reason for being," or raison d'etre, for comic book characters is of paramount importance.

Storytelling

Comic books bridge the gap between novels (or short stories) and film. In that respect, comic books could be considered 2.5D, or 2 1/2 dimensional, where written text is 2D and movies are 3D (in respect to our interpretation and visual understanding of them). Story is of prime importance when written, whereas it may take a backseat when paired with the visual effects and presentation of a movie. Comic books, where CoH and CoV(CoV Infamy) take their primary inspiration(s), are somewhere in the middle. If the story is weak, the book suffers; likewise, it will suffer if the visual component--the art--is not appealing.

For MMORPGs, players don't exactly have control over the story, but their characters are living within the game's world. Role-playing is fine, too, and there are numerous players who have created macros that allow their characters to speak and act appropriately, according to their characters' personalities and origins. While this guide is accessible to everyone, it is primarily