Quotes you can build a character off of

[Mono Vertigo]

So, it's been established that Team Fortress 2 is a goldmine for such quotes. (Although I mostly imagine characters that are on the Chaotic or Evil axes, or both. )
There's something to be said about Discworld too (all Death this time):

You haven’t heard of the Bay of Mante, have you? he said.
“No, sir,” said Mort.
Famous shipwreck there.
“Was there?”
There will be, said Death, if I can find the damn place.

He shook his head. “There’s no justice.”
Death sighed. No, he said,... there’s just me.

Death is whoever does Death’s job.

[Sudain]

"The problem with your Utopia is the peace it creates itself. With everyone happy and lazy it only takes one visionary genocidal evil prick with something to prove to set back civilization hundreds of years. True, eventually heroes will rise and will stand against him and and bring peace - until the next evil prick comes along and ruins it again because everyone got complacent. I am a patriot. I proudly rape, pillage, murder, poison, defile, and nastiness that don't yet have words to describe them. I do it so there is never a shortage of heroes, so there will never be a time when you people forget the need for them. What really pisses you off isn't, that I like my job - it's that I am right."

Edits for grammer.

[GPuzzle]

"I am Andrew Ryan, and I am here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?

'No,' says the man in Washington, 'it belongs to the poor.'
'No,' says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.'
'No,' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.'

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose...

Rapture.

A city where the artist would not fear the censor,
where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality,
where the great would not be constrained by the small.

And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city, as well."

Modify as needed.

[Icewraith]

"I am Andrew Ryan, and I am here to ask you a question. Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?

'No,' says the man in Washington, 'it belongs to the poor.'
'No,' says the man in the Vatican, 'it belongs to God.'
'No,' says the man in Moscow, 'it belongs to everyone.'

I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose...

Rapture.

A city where the artist would not fear the censor,
where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality,
where the great would not be constrained by the small.

And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city, as well."

Modify as needed.

"No, for my name is Randy Newdra, and I enslaved the population of my city, and soon all the world's cities, to fuel my new invention. It extracts the sweat of men's brows and converts it directly into energy! In the city where the scientist is not constrained by petty morality, the great does not fear the small, the artists are too blitzed on drugs to care, and I have an unstoppable superweapon and mind-bending pharmaceuticals, the sweat of your brow- and soon, all the world's massively genetically enhanced constantly sweating brows, belongs to ME!"

"(Muah-hahahahahahahaaaa!)"

[Jeff the Green]

I believe every lie that I ever told/Paid for every heart that I ever stole
I played my cards and I didn't fold
Well it ain't that hard when you got soul (this is my world)

Somewhere I heard that life is a test
I been through the worst but I still give my best
God made my mold different from the rest
Then he broke that mold so I know I'm blessed (this is my world)

I'm thinking a bard. No one can do conceited like a bard.

Scully: Mulder, I know what you did wasn't by the book.
Mulder: Tells you a lot about the book, doesn't it?

Definitely a paladin in a non-good society

And some David and Leigh Eddings ones.

Garion: Why me?

Silk: The money's just a way of keeping score. It's the game that's important.

Silk: I've regretted many things in my life. I doubt that one more will make all that much difference.

Silk: It's what I do. Every time there's something so dangerous that no rational human would ever attempt it, they send for me.

Silk: As long as I know that my motives are good, I'm seldom very concerned with the opinions of others.

[Sudain]

"Child, I've seen the monster in your closet. Stay in bed, or he will see you, like he saw your older brother. He didn't listen and so the monster ate him. Don't make me, I mean him get you too."

[Loth17]

I came here to protect my family; and just as my blow was about to connect I realized that you too have a family; a father, mother, brothers and sisters. I did not wish to bring your parents sadness by taking their son away from them.

[Jay R]

"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."

[Esprit15]

"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
I used it for a fallen amnesiac archangel in a MM game (left malleable should the GM have other ideas), but it works well for any necromantic character, too.

[Madcrafter]

"I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
I used it for a fallen amnesiac archangel in a MM game (left malleable should the GM have other ideas), but it works well for any necromantic character, too.

Not just necromancy, could be anyone who suddenly finds themselves with world-shattering power.

One I always thought would make a neat character:

"I screamed to the stars and they answered..."

I just love the Lovecraftian overtones.

[GPuzzle]

"Gloria Fortis Miles!
The *insert enemy army's name here* is closing in!
Adversor et Admorsus!
The Boar against the Eagle!"

I can picture nearly anything, really. From Barbarians to soldiers to Warhammer 40k.

[rlc]

Guy1: "Do you see this knife?"
Guy2: "No?"
Guy1: "Exactly."

[Slipperychicken]

"I screamed to the stars and they answered..."

I just love the Lovecraftian overtones.

Lovecraftian would be more like: " At that very moment, in my present delirium, or perhaps by some forgotten primordial instinct, my head jerked itself skyward and let forth an unholy, ghoulish shriek into the heavens, my throat straining, and my voice growing almost inhumanly high-pitched. After some echoing, I found myself subject to a terrible sensation. It wasn't quite a sound, but more like a pulsing feeling at the same time surrounding me and seeming to strike some vestigial nerve or bundle of cells once meant to receive such dread omens. The pulsations came in dreadful patterns not like anything to be found on this earth. As they repeated themselves and grew ever louder, I began to realize they seemed almost to form syllables or words, the like of which are not to be found in any sane or wholesome language. It was certainly utter nonsense conceived in a moment of total desolation and madness, but I have written it out as best as my recollection will permit...".

[Madcrafter]

Lovecraftian would be more like: " At that very moment, in my present delirium, or perhaps by some forgotten primordial instinct, my head jerked itself skyward and let forth an unholy, ghoulish shriek into the heavens, my throat straining, and my voice growing almost inhumanly high-pitched. After some echoing, I found myself subject to a terrible sensation. It wasn't quite a sound, but more like a pulsing feeling at the same time surrounding me and seeming to strike some vestigial nerve or bundle of cells once meant to receive such dread omens. The pulsations came in dreadful patterns not like anything to be found on this earth. As they repeated themselves and grew ever louder, I began to realize they seemed almost to form syllables or words, the like of which are not to be found in any sane or wholesome language. It was certainly utter nonsense conceived in a moment of total desolation and madness, but I have written it out as best as my recollection will permit...".

Maybe, but it also makes it a lot harder to sing.

[VeliciaL]

If we're doing movie quotes:

"I don't believe in the no-win scenario."

[Svata]

Here's a couple cool ones from magic:

Spoiler

Show

"I run the maze alone, but I fight with the full might of the legion"-Tajic, Blade of the Legion

Spoiler

Show

"I would fear this fight, bloodsucker, were I alone"-Hamlet Captain

Spoiler

Show

"I stand for every tanner, cobbler, and fool in this town. And they stand for me."-Champion of the Parish.

You use Magic, and you don't include Black Knight? For shame

"Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight."

[Doorhandle]

I have one and it's a doozy.

Silly old bear.

If the harbinger of spring is the sound of a bat on a ball, then I am the harbinger of winter: a barren and desolate spot, where your bat will never hit.

As my ball strikes the padded glove, Disgruntling the thirty thousand fans stretching out the arena, watching as you throw down you bat in disgust and mourn what can never be; know this.

You will never defeat me pooh bear. Not as long as you or I will live. They will never tell stories of your greatness, or herald you as the second coming of pitch hitters.

There are a hundred and eight stitches on every ball pooh bear. How many do you think I can get on your face?

Silly old bear. Silly old bear...

Edit: few more:

"If I'm really as evil as you say I am, then let God strike me down where I stand."*KZZZZZZAP*

"....Ha! Nice try, jackass! Next time, give it your A-game!"

"If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you entirely at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you're going to die. So they'll talk. They'll gloat. They'll watch you squirm. They'll put off the moment of murder like another man will put off a good cigar. So hope like hell your captor is an evil man."


"A good man will kill you with hardly a word."

[ChaosArchon]

Hey Door whats the last one from? I know I've heard it somewhere but I can't remember where?

[Doorhandle]

Hey Door whats the last one from? I know I've heard it somewhere but I can't remember where?

Terry Pratchett, Men at arms.

[ChaosArchon]

Thanks door! Now my contribution to the thread

"All the tasks at hand have been cleared."

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't lie. I don't need to."

“Fear is freedom! Subjugation is liberation! Contradiction is truth! Those are the facts of this world! And you will all surrender to them, you pigs in human clothing!”

If the 2nd one seems out of place, it's said by Lucifer in Supernatural

[Zejety]

Lovecraftian would be more like: " At that very moment, in my present delirium, or perhaps by some forgotten primordial instinct, my head jerked itself skyward and let forth an unholy, ghoulish shriek into the heavens, my throat straining, and my voice growing almost inhumanly high-pitched. After some echoing, I found myself subject to a terrible sensation. It wasn't quite a sound, but more like a pulsing feeling at the same time surrounding me and seeming to strike some vestigial nerve or bundle of cells once meant to receive such dread omens. The pulsations came in dreadful patterns not like anything to be found on this earth. As they repeated themselves and grew ever louder, I began to realize they seemed almost to form syllables or words, the like of which are not to be found in any sane or wholesome language. It was certainly utter nonsense conceived in a moment of total desolation and madness, but I have written it out as best as my recollection will permit...".

Sorry for posting here with nothing to contribute to the thread but I have to commend Slipperychicken for this Lovecraft imitation. Spot on! :D

[Sudain]

Some LOL quotes - guess the champion. :)

"A broken sword is more than enough for the likes of you!"

"I AM evil.... stop laughing!"

"Cheater's just a fancy word for winner."

"Did I mention it's mating season?"

"Wait, I'm thinking! Urgh... how do people do this?"
"I'm trying to care but I just can't!"

"Punch first. Ask questions while punching."

"If you've come to kill me, i hope you brought friends"

And Vel'Koz for the truly evil.
"Creature's mewling increases during dissection."
"Are no organs safely removable?"
"Their skins appear non-transferable."
"Creature appears to seek its maternal unit."

[Frozen_Feet]

"Gloria Fortis Miles!
The *insert enemy army's name here* is closing in!
Adversor et Admorsus!
The Boar against the Eagle!"

I can picture nearly anything, really. From Barbarians to soldiers to Warhammer 40k.

If we're going with Heavy Metal lyrics...

"Today I feel I wish to disappear, leave without a trace. Wish to become a transparent one, a ghost under the sun."

"We saw the solar system shutdown sequence, all stars concealed and gone."

"Blinded by empty promises, charmed by hollow words. No truth nor answers could be found, nothing but years numbered in me."

"Gods are great, but the mind, the mind is greater. In our wounds they dwell, from our sadness they grow. Gods are great, but the heart is greater. In our scars they dwell, but in our hears they burn."

"I've waited for too long, and now you're leaving. Please don't take it all away."

[Dasgovernator]

Some LOL quotes - guess the champion. :)

"A broken sword is more than enough for the likes of you!"

"I AM evil.... stop laughing!"

"Cheater's just a fancy word for winner."

"Did I mention it's mating season?"

"Wait, I'm thinking! Urgh... how do people do this?"
"I'm trying to care but I just can't!"

"Punch first. Ask questions while punching."

"If you've come to kill me, i hope you brought friends"

And Vel'Koz for the truly evil.
"Creature's mewling increases during dissection."
"Are no organs safely removable?"
"Their skins appear non-transferable."
"Creature appears to seek its maternal unit."

Some more:

"Violence solves everything"

"Lying is like, 95% of what I do"

"Only time I have a drinking problem is when I spill it"

"Are you my nightmare, or am I yours?"

[Fibinachi]

"Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness."
Terry Pratchett, Men At Arms.

"You do not ask people like that what they are thinking about in case they turn around very slowly and say 'You.'"
Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

"Every ounce of my cynicism is supported by historical precedent."
Glen Cook, Shadow Games

"Conspiracies. Plots. Murder. All the fun of decadence"
Glen Cook - Possibly the very first black company book?

"The entire priesthood was sitting around it and watching it carefully, in case it did anything amusing or religious."
Terry Pratchett, Eric.

"'Chapter Fifteen, Elementary Necromancy', she read out loud. 'Lesson One: Correct Use of Shovel…"
Terry Pratchett, Jingo.

Let's see if I can think up a few that aren't Terry Pratchett related. And also worthwhile.
-----

"I wonder what it was I said that made Death reject me"
-
"A thousand deaths, and you recover from each. Not so the mind, the mind is much more fragile. Its scars run deep and do not heal. The brain is encased in a hard bone shell, difficult to breach, but with no defense against that which eats at it from within"
-
"Mercy is for the weak. Punishment breaks souls and makes them worthy of service to their superiors. When the number of martyrs is great enough, rebellion crumbles"
(These are all from Planescape: Torment)
----

"The wind blew out from Bergen to the dawning of the day,
They ride and run with fifty spears to break and bar my way,
I shall not die alone, alone, but kin to all the powers,
As merry as the ancient sun and fighting like the flowers.

How white their steel, how bright their eyes! I love each laughing knave,
Cry high and bid him welcome to the banquet of the brave.
Yea, I will bless them as they bend and love them where they lie,
When on their skulls the sword I swing falls shattering from the sky.

The hour when death is like a light and blood is like a rose, --
You never loved your friends, my friends, as I shall love my foes."
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, The Last Hero

Since we've already had the old "Lamentation of their women"; how's this for an older barbarian?

"When I was a fighting man, the kettle-drums they beat.
The people scattered gold dust before my horse's feet.
But now I am a great king; the people hound my track,
With poison in my wine cup, and daggers at my back."
Robert E. Howard, The Road of Kings (About Conan, later in life. All three stanzas make for neat characters really).

[Teapot Salty]

"Sometimes it's better to light a flamethrower than curse the darkness."
Terry Pratchett, Men At Arms.

"You do not ask people like that what they are thinking about in case they turn around very slowly and say 'You.'"
Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

"Every ounce of my cynicism is supported by historical precedent."
Glen Cook, Shadow Games

"Conspiracies. Plots. Murder. All the fun of decadence"
Glen Cook - Possibly the very first black company book?

"The entire priesthood was sitting around it and watching it carefully, in case it did anything amusing or religious."
Terry Pratchett, Eric.

"'Chapter Fifteen, Elementary Necromancy', she read out loud. 'Lesson One: Correct Use of Shovel…"
Terry Pratchett, Jingo.

Let's see if I can think up a few that aren't Terry Pratchett related. And also worthwhile.
-----

"I wonder what it was I said that made Death reject me"
-
"A thousand deaths, and you recover from each. Not so the mind, the mind is much more fragile. Its scars run deep and do not heal. The brain is encased in a hard bone shell, difficult to breach, but with no defense against that which eats at it from within"
-
"Mercy is for the weak. Punishment breaks souls and makes them worthy of service to their superiors. When the number of martyrs is great enough, rebellion crumbles"
(These are all from Planescape: Torment)
----

"The wind blew out from Bergen to the dawning of the day,
They ride and run with fifty spears to break and bar my way,
I shall not die alone, alone, but kin to all the powers,
As merry as the ancient sun and fighting like the flowers.

How white their steel, how bright their eyes! I love each laughing knave,
Cry high and bid him welcome to the banquet of the brave.
Yea, I will bless them as they bend and love them where they lie,
When on their skulls the sword I swing falls shattering from the sky.

The hour when death is like a light and blood is like a rose, --
You never loved your friends, my friends, as I shall love my foes."
Gilbert Keith Chesterton, The Last Hero

Since we've already had the old "Lamentation of their women"; how's this for an older barbarian?

"When I was a fighting man, the kettle-drums they beat.
The people scattered gold dust before my horse's feet.
But now I am a great king; the people hound my track,
With poison in my wine cup, and daggers at my back."
Robert E. Howard, The Road of Kings (About Conan, later in life. All three stanzas make for neat characters really).

I used the great king one for a poem when we had to memorize one for school.

[Samuel Sturm]

A knight is sworn to valor, his heart knows only virtue, his blade defends the helpless, his might upholds the weak, his word speaks only truth, his wrath undoes the wicked.

Life is a dance. Some dance quickly, some dance slowly, but we all dance. Some dance well, some dance poorly, but we all dance.

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!

The man says he won't go on wearing a sword because it is no longer any good against a gun. Then he throws away all the guns as relics of barbarism; and then he is surprised when a barbarian sticks him through with a sword. You say that pikes and halberds are not weapons against modern conditions. I say pikes are excellent weapons against no pikes.
G. K. Chesterton, The Return of Don Quixote

It is not my place to judge you. That would be hubris, the sin of pride. My duty is to humbly send you to the One who shall.

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
Robert A. Heinlein

Spoiler: Long, but several Good quotes, and it deserves to be posted in entirety.

Show

Reporter: This is a question for Cinnabar. But I'd also like to throw it open to any and all the other new Avengers to hear their take on the matter. Cinnabar, your father's death was a terrible blow — not just to you personally, but to the other heroes around the country, and to the nation as a whole. But his death brought home an important (and often overlooked) truth about superheroic activities — that sometimes the good guys don't win. Can you share with us your feelings on this dangerous, potentially deadly job you're about to take on? "

Kolbandr: Unseemly sir. Unseemly. I do not speak of so overly grim and wounding a question on a day of revels, but rather, thy implication on valour. On sacrifice. "sometimes the good guys don't win"? I say thee nay, nay a thousand times! Every moment of the Vision's life and death was triumph, was victory. Hast thou not taken notice that for every hero, there rampages a whole gallery of villains? That in the history of the champions of Midgard, it is often the appearance of such vileness that brings forth warriors to oppose it, despite the treacherous words of the virtueless that imply the opposite?

It is the burden all men bear that there is as much baseness in their souls as there is sterling nobility, and all too many are lured in by the easy temptations of their darker selves. And yet the Vision, though made in darkness, with the mind and soul of a man he embraced virtue. And yet the Vision stood with his fellows as exemplar shining, proclaiming to the world that we can be that better part of ourselves. That we can stand against evil, though it seem about us as the endless sea.

And thou dares't.. thou dares't to say that his death had greater power to hurt us, than his life had to teach us? To enoble us? Little wonder that Cinnabar should not respond to thy words, to hear them is to be enraged at the apparent failure on thy part to have let his heroism reach thee.

To judge the measure of a man by tragedy, is easy. Evil, is easy. To rise to the good in us, to be the people we should be, is so hard that it should be seen as the peerless miracle and true wonder of this earth that we so rise. It can be so fragile a grace that without those to show us it can be done, we would be lost.

From his life to his death, the Vision spent nearly every moment so showing. There are heroes now because of it. There are heroes standing before you because of it. The Vision did his part to ensure that good would not pass from this world to let evil stand unchallenged. The blow his death dealt? To the very last, he has given us strength that helps us stand unbowed! Is that not a worthy life? Is that not a worthy death? How can any man dare to rob him of that legacy in how he is remembered? The true dolorous stroke would be to forget that. The true dolorous stroke would be to let his memory stand not for strength, but sorrow.

It is the doom of the valiant to so rarely leave this world peacefully. But it is their greatest gift to leave it inspired to greater bravery and virtue of spirit still. From the most mortal of local constables to the most cosmic of titans, that is the best of what their heroism gives us. In ever continuing that legacy, in ever rising to the challenge of nobility, in the spite of pain, of trauma, of tragedy, or even at times the world itself, the.. good guys.. always win. The fight itself, is victory.

It is that, as Avengers, that is the most worthy of the tasks before us that we swear ourselves to. To be the heroes of today. To inspire the heroes of tomorrow. To show always, in life or death, sadness or glory, that we will e'er battle to keep goodness in this world, that so long as we have ensured that there are souls about us fired to embrace their own virtue, it will not matter if or when we pass from this world. We will have won. Let that be what thou commemorate. Let that pledge be what drives us to celebrate this day. Let us as one roar challenge into the fetid sea of evil and send it blasted back, tremulous and craven. So says the son of Balder!"

[Alex12]

"Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us into something better. And on my soul, I swear that until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice are the reality we all share, I'll never stop fighting. Ever."
-Superman

[TeChameleon]

Hah. Let's see if I can't come up with a few...

T'dr'duzk b'hazg t't!- Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant

Or, more comprehensibly, "Today is a good day for someone else to die!" Works well for just about any character on the more aggressive end of the scale, although you might have to be a deep gnome or something for the untranslated version

Morituri nolumus mori- Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

]
Translated from that odd Discworld dog-latin, "We who are about to die don't want to." Rincewind's rather cowardly motto for the Disc's first space mission could actually be rather badass with a little recontextualizing- a final heroic stand against the darkess, for example. Still funny either way, though.

Maxim 6: If violence wasn't your last resort, you failed to resort to enough of it.
Maxim 12: A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head.
Maxim 34: If you're leaving scorch-marks, you need a bigger gun.
Maxim 35: That which does not kill you has made a tactical error.- Schlock Mercenary, Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries

Maxim 34 is pretty much the one that my Pyromancer blaster Wizard lives by Schlock Mercenary is really something of a goldmine for these, though.

Now watch closely, everyone. I'm going to show you how to kill a god. Princess Mononoke

(Epic) Invoker for this one, I think. Although any adventurer running around where Orcus and the like are a possibility could get some mileage out of it.

[Mono Vertigo]

... the exercise would be better if I tried to build one character or two off my own quotes - that aren't already the characters speaking them - I think.

You haven’t heard of the Bay of Mante, have you? he said.
“No, sir,” said Mort.
Famous shipwreck there.
“Was there?”
There will be, said Death, if I can find the damn place.

For this one, I have two:
- The savvy veteran adventurer who's entirely aware that his/his party's presence causes huge catastrophe, through direct intervention or not. Right now, he's trying to get to that bay for whatever reason, and predicts there's going to be a memorable tragedy there.
- Mass destroyer kind of guy who's tasked with killing some guy who's going to be at that bay, but finds it's easier destroying the whole ship. (He probably also finds it easier exploding the whole castle rather than waste time trying to individually assassinate the corrupt king occupying it.) Problem is, he's got a terrible sense of direction.

He shook his head. “There’s no justice.”
Death sighed. No, he said,... there’s just me.

- An assassin who works not because he enjoys killing or believes the victims deserve it, but because he's certain he's doing the necessary thing.
- A tyrannic kind of character who cares not for fairness, yet occasionally seems painfully aware of how evil he acts. Perhaps he desires redemption, but believes it's out of his reach, since he does not believe in fairness.

[QUOTE]Death is whoever does Death’s job.
- A megalomaniac wizard who wants to ascend to godhood, and thinks it can be done by taking over a god's domain. Right now, he's settled over death, but he could as easily have chosen life, or war, or the sea.
- A mercenary whose role is very different from what would expect from his actual class, and in fact, argues he's more competent at it than the class he could be mistaken for. (Remember the thread about the Barbarian pretending he's a Wizard? Could be that guy.)