@MrSleep If it were my game I would limit you to very small creatures nothing bigger than a fish or rat other than that I'm not sure I don't know the damage system well enough to figure it out yet.

So as promised my next post here is two of my own character ideas that I have been working on. Name: David Allan Ward Jr.
High Concept: Cop & Reluctant Hydromancer  (may be reworked as a fireman since we have cop)
Trouble: Sins of the Father
Quote: Never call me David! Its Allan....or Officer Ward to you!

Event one: Grew up the son of a wizard  (David Sr.) who he idolized. Until he was convicted by the White Council of killing his wife (Officer Cathy Ward) and her lover (Detective Gary Paterson) in a jealous rage by burning down the house. David Jr. (16) barely escaped and was badly burned.
Aspect: Fire Bad!
Event Two: After being fostered by Rev. John Hay and his wife Linda David Jr, now Allan, swore off magic and devoted himself to school and church for the next two years.  After graduation he followed in his foster father footsteps and joined the Marine Corps. After four years service including action in Afghanistan he returned to Spokane and joined the police force.   
Aspect: To Protect and Serve
First Adventure: Trial By fire
As the son of a cop killer Allan Ward knew he would never rise in the ranks  but he did not join the force for glory or promotions. He joined the force to protect regular people from criminals like his father who magic or no was nothing more than another perp.  but he never expected politics to force him in to Special investigations home of the loonies and the losers. But when a string of petty vandalism turns to deadly arson Alan Ward will face his trial by fire.
Aspect: Hang in there! I'm coming!

another less developed idea

Name: Adam Summerset Duke of Undertown
High Concept:  Homeless wizard
Trouble: Raised by Winter
Quote:  "I'd rather stand in the gutter than kneel in your palace!"

I have not fleshed out events for this guy yet but he uses the Spirited Away and Magical MacGyver aspects from the aspect forum. He was stolen as a child and raised at the Winter Court upon his escape he was cursed to always live in squalor and madness in the mortal world. He willingly contends with poverty and voices to keep his freedom.   As a well trained wizard he has become a leader and protector to the homeless community .

Both of them have issues and I think fit well into the noir world but I hope avoid the types I was talking about. Feel free to critique or offer advise or ideas.

@Cajun Guy read Campbell 8 years ago as part of my philosophy degree he has some interesting things to say and his influence on Lucas reinterpretation of the Christ myth with Star Wars is interesting. I have been meaning to see The Hidden Fortress as well. I am aware that there are a limited number of stories but you must be aware that there are more than three. Again my tone may have been cutting (I apologize) but my intent was to encourage creativity beyond the three most common stories that we see in RPG characters. I have gamed weekly for the last 10 years with a great guy who always plays the lone wolf character and we all rib him about it but he plays it well so its cool. I am not saying never play these characters just that it is better if we all stretch a little once in a while.

So here is what I have so far. to quote you Cajun Guy "instead of being the critic on the sideline try making your own character and have fun. It is a little harder than standing in the peanut gallery throwing stones but the rewards are much greater." Show us what you've got too.

Wow looks like I hit a nerve here I want to quote my own original post so you can all read it again. My intention was never to try to create a prohibition for the whole game or even the forums what I posted was a challenge to our collective creativity.

I have been looking at the character ideas that are being posed and seeing a trend. It is a trend that flows from one game to the next and its getting a bit old I wan to see if we can break the cycle and come up with something that breaks the stereotype of gamers. I understand the attraction of these types but isn't it getting a bit old.

Post character ideas that do not fall into the following categories
1) "I'm evil but not really" examples include Kincaid, Thomas Raith, Angel, Spike, and drizzt do'urden.

2) "Law Breaker" any character that is a dodge on the 7 laws.

3) "Lone Wolf with something to prove" examples any character played by Tom Cruise, Dirty Harry, and I hate to say it Harry Dresden

Also post any other archetypes you feel are over done.

In this post I was asking for more not less. I was trying to break a pattern in increase the variety of inspiration that we have available to us. What annoyed me is that the majority of the response was to defend the pattern instead of taking up the challenge. Since There have been a few good examples. My next post will be one or two examples of my own. 

As to "I'm evil but not really" side of things: I think the other posters have got it right. There are very few examples of unalloyed goodness in the Dresdenverse. So that's not an escapable paradigm.  We can't all be Michael -- nor should we.  If Michael Carpenters were frequent, they wouldn't stand out as such an important, vital part of the mortal struggle against the supernatural.

I'm not say we should all be Michael, far from it this is a noir world and there should be lots of gray area PC's I was just commenting on the almost total lack of any strongly good characters on this board. where are the repentant lawbreakers like Molly, the Father Forthhill's, the good wardens like Ramirez, or the wizards who do good while respecting the importance of the laws instead of finding ways to get away with breaking them.

Your example sounds like a good fit very noir but still a team player.

"Drizzt and Angel are two VERY different characters."
Again I am not talking about backstory here what I am talking about is the psycology of the player the reason we are attracted to the dark hero with the tortured past who has all the powers of an evil being with out that pesky evil alignment. To me they seem like a dodge if they were rarely played they would be interesting, even refreshing, but they make up an absurd percentage of RPG PC's.

"One problem with trying to avoid all those stereotypes is that they are examples of people with flaws."
 I know this. they are examples of people 3 or 4 specific flaws. What I am saying is that I wish people would pick different flaws. I also think it speaks to our psychology as a group that you are only the 3rd person to post on this thread an example of what I was looking for and the rest are defending the need to play Thomas and Kincaid.

That said I love your idea way to go!
I love

@Fred, Harry is improving and you are right about the character creation. It is one of many things I love about the game, its  ready made party unity and no more of this so you meet in an inn crap.

@Jaroslav: As far as Thomas goes his motivation is an excuse for him to be likable. He is exactly like spike its just that his monster period is not covered much by the books. He was no virgin when he met Harry in "Grave Peril". Do you think he wasn't eating before that? And now he has reverted to what he was. Just ask anyone who has been through AA or NarcAnon just because you stop drinking does not mean you aren't an alcoholic. I understand the attraction. Most of us gamers were unpopular growing up and never got the girl so we all wish we had some dark secret power that we could unleash on our tormentors but hold barley in check around the girls. It lets us be the bad boy they all seem to want while maintaining the kindness that we are all sure makes us better people than the jocks they snubbed us for.  I don't want to go all pop psychology on this but look at what sells and who we all dress up as at cons Boba Fetts always out number Lukes even-though Luke was the star and Fett had like 2 lines just like Kincaid who's popularity vastly out weighs his face time in the books. We even have a guy on here who is obsessed with Cowl a faceless 2nd banana villain who is in 3 chapters of one book and then dies.  Wolverine, Batman, The Punisher,  Edward, The Comedian, Rorschach even Han Solo was a reformed drug smuggler the list goes on forever. The only really virtuous heroes that really get any love are Harry Potter and Spiderman and even Spiderman had to put on the black suit for a while so he too could be dark and conflicted. I am not saying that they are not good characters I would just like to see us branch out a bit.

Thank you Fred So many gamers are so predictable. Give them a rule and its "not hmm how do I work within these rules to accomplish my goals" its "hmm how can I have these rules not apply to me" This takes a huge chunk of the challenge out of the game.

Theme Ideas

The New Invading A Lasting Old Ok I don't want to nit pick you to death here but I have to say your time scale is a bit off. Spokane was Incorperated in 1881 as cities go that is brand spanking new even by American  standards. That means this was not even a official city when telephone and light bulbs were invented. It wasn't much more than a trading post at the time of the civil war and Ebenezar McCoy was pushing 200 by then. This book deals in the supernatural with beings that are immortal to them Cairo, which has been a metropolis since more than 2000 years before Christ was born might qualify as old.
Of course things still look the same as they did in 1991 thats not even 20 years yet. I was in high school here then. buildings that are well built last for centuries not decades roads almost never move. Boston has bad traffic because its streets were designed for horse and buggy not cars. I have a friend in France who grew up in a castle that belonged to her family as the last holders of the local barony.
The rest of the ideas are good but you should find another reason. Spokane is not remarkable in the way you describe. Sorry if that sounded snarky but I'm 34 and have lived here all my life I went to Laser Quest the week it opened so calling it old is a bit of a stretch. I do like the bit about Expo my parents moved here in '74 2 years before I was born and my dad is a photographer so I have seen pics of what it looked like before when it was a dirty train yard.


Center of The Maelstrom-

I like this idea but I would leave out Mt. St. Helens it is on the other side of the state between Tacoma and Portland. Not that the sky did not go black in the middle of my 4th birthday party but "in the shadow" is stretching it.

If you look at the geography I think it might be fair to say that this area is a bastion of Summer caught between two strongholds of Winter ( the Rocks and the Cascades) Clashes between these two forces could well explain the weather which is a bit on the strange side in my life time you can add 2 tornadoes to the list. Riverfront Park Created with the help of the Summer Court in a deal that creates prosperity for the town by attracting EXPO 74 and increase the power of summer by allowing access to the ley line that that surfaces on the island. The clock tower structure focuses the power of the ley line while the Pavilion helps to ground out excess power into the river.

White Court & Mormons Why? a bunch of people who strive to suppress and repress their lust would be a poor place to feed. I think our discussions about Dempsey's and the davenport are a bit more on track for the WC.


Ok here is my attempt feel free to criticize

Capital of the Inland Empire

Spokane is the largest City between Seattle, WA  and Minneapolis, MN this makes it the center of activity for both Mortal and Supernatural politics for the region. In the mortal realm this goes as far as an attempt to create a 51 st state from E. Wa, N ID, and W MT with Spokane as the capital. In the Supernatural realm Spokane is the place where the powerful fey of a sparsely populated region come in contact with mortals. 

Striving to Grow

Spokane is a city on the brink of greatness constantly striving and competing for the attention of the more densely populated western half of the state. Spokane is the forgotten little brother that want to join the bigger kids in there games. This means that both mortal and supernatural powers here are driven and motivated to increase their power and reach. Some are willing to go to any lengths to achieve these goals.

Threats

The Curse For nearly 30 years the city of Spokane has been operating under a Gypsy curse that has caused many problems rising unemployment and homelessness, freak weather, serial killers and  increased monster activity.

These are just from some quick notes I took and need to be developed but here they are.