Character Process Deep-Dive: Oskar Nivelheim
What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?
I don't entirely remember, but I knew I wanted to have vampires in the story. In the modern stories this story is a prequel to, there were no vampires left except Vlad due to one particular family wiping almost all of them out (a guest character from a friend's story who had a history with vampires in her own universe). Whilst the Strong family are mentioned in the story as background characters, and historically Oskar has had runnings with them, they don't actually appear (they were originally going to but were scrapped due to overcomplicating the plot). I wanted to have the story also have other occults in it who suffered similar fates to the witches, and so whose plights were tied to theirs. So as well as the story of witches, we also have the story of the vampires and werewolves as well.How long was the process before the character reached its final version? (or a version that would be clearly recognizable as the character?)
Hard to say, because the idea behind Oskar was initally quite different. His daughter, Ilse, who is canonically dead years ago, was going to still be alive. He was going to have turned her as a child to prevent her death from terminal illness, and she would be incredibly bitter to him because she was stuck as a child forever. I ended up not doing this to prevent complicating the plot or having too many subplots and also because I think it was maybe a bit much even for Divided, so instead we ended up with Oskar being the one saved from terminal illness by Violeta, and this being his own choice. Oskar was always going to be the more 'typically-moral' of the two, but also far from moral in terms of modern sensibilities or sometimes even the other characters.
I wanted to subvert general expectation a bit, so I decided to make him aromantic and asexual, as a change from vampires being very sexual and romantic beings as well as for the sake of diversity since I didn't have any aro/ace characters I don't think before Oskar.
What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?
- Name- Personality
- Role in the story
- Appearance
Which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?
None. Oskar was a strangely complete character idea for the most part.
How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are their reasons behind their name different in and out of universe?
Picked a German name that I liked for his first name. His second name is actually a reference to Final Fantasy, the (seemingly if going by some of the file name for the old maps) prototype name of the city of Nibelheim - closely associated with the character he is based on appearance-wise, Sephiroth. (Thankfully they are nothing alike in personality, the only other element of his story being that both of them were soldiers at one point). Funnily enough, and this was not intentional - the town where Oskar lives, Nebelstadt, means 'fog town'. Change one letter of the FF7 town name and you get 'Nebelheim', 'which if I recall correctly means fog home'.
What was the thought process behind their appearance? Did you go mostly for the aesthetic or are there other reasons they look the way they do?
Design-wise, he's based on Sephiroth, as is evident by the black wings in his dark form as well as the long white hair and the black coat in some of his outfits. He wears a lot of black to match the usual dark and fanciful look of vampires in fiction. Oskar is quite gaunt-faced, and a lot of his deathly look owes to the fact he nearly died due to illness. His eyes being white and his hair was meant to be lore that vampirism turned the hair and eyes white...then I remembered the dark-haired Violeta and changed it to my usual ass-pull of 'sometimes this doesn't happen'. He also has something of an androgynous design.
What is an aspect of their appearance that you like the most?
His later hairstyle, the wispier, messier one, by meghewlett. One of my favourites!
What is the origin of their personality? And let's be honest - how much of it is projecting?
Oskar's plotline with terminal illness was my way of coping with my mother's cancer - which she thankfully is cancer-free now after two bouts of it, and it being lucky she caught the second one so early... but there is more to Oskar then that. Oskar has a lot going for him in terms of things he represents and themes that it's rough to know where to start.
Whereas immortality can make some bitter (like his friend Violeta) Oskar is grateful of all the extra time given to him, and he is sure to enjoy and the make the most of every second of it. Oskar is rarely bored, very curious, and generally quite a fun and friendly sort of character...that is, until you piss him off. Second chances are a huge theme in the whole story, and Oskar is more than thankful for his.
He's also a look at two different things that aren't considered common knowledge in the era the story is written in and how it might be received or understood (or not). One of those things is a spoiler, but the other is not mentioned in-story outright due to historical reasons in the story - Oskar is autistic. However, I do not buy the idea many other people have that every single person that came before us was an unaccepting, evil person who didn't care about anyone who was different - and there are various characters who do their best to try and understand him.
Most people in his life have been fine with him. He's mostly just referred to as 'eccentric' by other characters, and most people aren't bothered by it at all, especially not his parents who were thankful that his special interest happened to be their family business. There's a sense of how you navigate these things when nobody actually knows what it is, or at least most people don't. There's a kind of alienation there somewhere. But it's not a story that completely focuses on that, Oskar is his own person and isn't reduced solely to his neurodivergence. It's more a background thing.
Probably the biggest thing is his position as protector. He's done it for everyone for countless years, children, townspeople, passers-by, the lot. Oskar is very duty-bound and will do whatever he can to look after other people. He's now much more intimidating and powerful than he was a human, and so he's going to use it to try and keep others safe.
How big is their role in the story? Do they make a frequent appearance or are they a character with little "screentime" but big influence? Or are they just a favourite background guy?
Huge. Absolutely huge. He was meant to be a side character. A SIDE CHARACTER!
What is their main character arc in the story? Where do they start and how do they develop?
Oskar's arc involves a bit of him trying to step out of his comfort zone at first, which Violeta helps him with. He then has to find a healthy way to deal with his issues with control over intrusive thoughts about drinking others' blood to kill them which he gets when his bloodthirst gets bad (which present somewhat similarly to OCD), and there's some other stuff which is way too spoilery to mention in detail - but his past comes back to haunt him in various ways.
Is there any existing character from other media that your character resembles? Was the resemblance intentional or was it a coincidence?
Already mentioned in previous questions.
Do you have a playlist for the character? What songs do you associate with them and why?
The only one I specifically used for some of the more dramatic Oskar scenes was this one and this one.
Do you have a voice claim for the character? What do you imagine the character sounds like?
I can't find an accurate matchup on the Speech Accent archive, but Oskar speaks with quite a thick and 'harsh' accent and that is the closest way I can describe it. His tone sounds a bit strange sometimes, either too flat or him putting too much emotion into his voice. This is in part because of his autism and in part because of his diminished emotions as a vampire, so he has to try and force the sound of emotion into his voice.Is there any memes or running jokes associated with the character, both in- and out of universe?
Loads, but to keep it simple - one being about how much an old friend is romantically attracted to him (he isn't in canon) and one being his obsession with boiling the perfect egg (in reference to a Tumblr post about the amount of different utensils Germany has for making the perfect boiled egg and one German autistic Tumblr user saying their whole country had 'the egg autism' for a laugh).
Are there any motifs or symbols associated with the character? How are they represented, in their design, personality or in some other way?
Not that I can think of. Even bats don't come up that much in the story.Does the character have other characters connected to them? Do you have a family tree and "offscreen" connections made up for them or do they exist in a vacuum purely for the purpose of the story?
His parents died years ago, Johann and Lorelei, and he used to have old vampire friends.
What is your general favourite thing about the character? What is your least favourite?
Least favourite? Pfft? I have too many favourite things to list about Oskar - his protectiveness, his overall cheeriness, the way he tries to be everyone's dad, and such. Least favourite if I had to pick, is that it is difficult for readers to see him in the same light when they see how sadistic he was towards witchfinders in the days of the Bloodmoon resistance.