How to make a Romani character
(a ruska roma is writing this)
In order to do this and not disrespect the Romani community, a few things to keep in mind: ONE, you can’t please everyone. TWO, You MUST do your research about the Romani community through well-recommended research sources. A five minute Google search WILL NOT cut it. I recommend “We are the Romani People” by Ian Hancock as a first starting point. I’ve seen this book anywhere from $5-25, depending on where you buy it from online. It’s a good basic summary of the Romani history, culture, community, celebrities who are Romani, etc.
These bullets are a good starting point but by no means an “endpoint”. These bullet points are merely meant to get the creative juices flowing. Personality first, Romani later.
Are they introverted? Extroverted? A mix of both?
What’s important to them?
What are their religious/spiritual views?
How do they feel about having biological children?
How have they been educated?
What are their views on the afterlife?
Do they have hobbies? What disgusts them?
What was their favorite thing to learn about academic wise? Least favorite thing?
Any siblings? How did they all treat each other?
Relationship with their parents?
Are they adopted? If they are, keep in mind that adoption comes with its own host of mental health problems (those adopted are much more likely to exhibit signs/symptoms of mood disorders, anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation/intention, and addiction problems)
What’s their favorite color?
What’s their favorite food?
What kind of music do they like?
How do they feel about the science of whatever timeframe they are in?
What’s their favorite animal?
What kind of job/career aspirations do they have?
What’s their sexual orientation? Keep in mind how “out” they are will depend dramatically on the time frame in history and where they are in the world.
Are they LGBTQ in anyway? Again, keep in mind this part of an identity (if it’s apart of it) will dramatically be influenced by those they hang around with, the period of history the story is set in, and where they are exactly in the world
If it’s an action based setting - what are they? More of a healer or fighter?
Do they have a strong sense of values/ethics/morals?
How would you put them on a scale of “good vs neutral vs evil”? Think of their motivations on that scale - don’t make someone evil “for the sake of being evil”. What makes their moral compass tick in this regard? Did they take their views a step too far? What motivates them to save people if they’re on the good side of the spectrum?
Any kind of chronic illnesses (physical, invisible, or mental health issues)? If so, make sure to do a VERY in-depth research on these conditions if you don’t live with them yourself.
How influential is money to them?
Do they dress more modestly or do they dress with more skin showing?
Are they a jerk? These kinds of characters can be fun to play with depending on how you write them
Were they the bully growing up? Did they get bullied growing up? What kind of crowd of people did they hang around with growing up?
You could write an entire book on how to develop a 3-D character personality, these bullet points are meant just to be a starting point!
Okay, awesome, you got a good idea of your character’s personality, likes, dislikes, preferences, etc. Now, let’s move onto the Romani aspect. A few notes:
There’s well over a million Romani on this earth. Because of that, views naturally vary wildly. We are also all over the globe, though most of us are in Europe.
Eastern Europeans tend to see “gypsy” as a huge slur. The UK, not as much. Again, how this word is viewed in the Romani community greatly depends on their geographic location
Many Romani were FORCED to be nomadic because the locals kept chasing them out of their towns
It’s estimated that the Romani lost anywhere from 65-85% of their standing population in WW2 because of the Holocaust (Hitler saw them as “dirty gypsies” that needed to be eradicated off of the Earth, he did or almost completely exterminated the Bohemian Romani tribe)
Many Romani are uncomfortable being depicted as a “witch / magic user” or “fortune teller” because of how often it’s been used to contribute to a negative stereotype of the Romani community
Many Romani have a very strong sense of “family”. If children are given up for adoption, it’s due to extreme circumstances (coercion by government, child out of wedlock, etc.)
A Romani’s religious views depend heavily on wherever they’ve settled. Some are Hindu, some are some denomination of Christanity, some are Atheists, some are Agnostics, some are Jewish, etc.
Romani are much more likely to have their children kidnapped/taken away from them rather than kidnap children
To be frank, I can’t really speak much on this part because views vary so wildly. The Dikhlo is a cloth that Romani use (women) to cover their hair. Some do it to keep in “clean” and “pure” while others will wear it as a point to show their Romani pride.
Research the time period and location you want to place your character in. Understand that it’s been genetically proven that the Romani immigrated outside of India and moved towards Eastern Europe. After that, they migrated across all of the worlds. We can be found on every continent now that has human settlements.
