Breaking character

Act out of character is a phrase that comes from the theater. It is used for a sudden unexpected behavior, which often amounts to a loss of discipline. Either is a performer who falls out of character, overwhelmed with the " role expectations " ( as if he has forgotten his lines ), or he feels these expectations as an imposition from which he wants to break.

The theater role and social role will be set often parallel. The sociologist Erving Goffman has studied this as a social behavior: An actor or teacher can act out of character when he is disturbed by the public or by the students. Women " misbehave " when they take a job that is considered to be male (emancipation) and vice versa. Some people " act out of character " when they feel unobserved.

The out-of - role - traps is intended in many scenic contexts and controlled as setting aside talk in the popular theater or the " Epic Theater" with alienation effects of Bertolt Brecht, in which the actor will always stand next to the role.

Out of Character ( OOC )

In computer and role-playing games, the term Out of Character is used for a similar situation.

In the area of ​​fan fiction, the term of the out of character usually used pejoratively and is the name given to characters who do not behave in a mostly by author unexplained reason or for no reason at all, as the reader would expect from him. For example, an otherwise introverted and quiet person in itself is suddenly short-tempered and extrovert.

This type of writing is rejected by most other fan fiction writers and fans and such stories are avoided, since the well-known personality of the character is often destroyed and he thereby acting credibility. Can the author represent the reason for the behavior of the character believable, but is accepted in most cases, the Out of Character.