sigh
Those were just examples of characters I’ve played in the past. Two of them, out of dozens. I didn’t want to list every character I’ve ever made because that would take a really long time.
A lot of the time (in fact most of the time) I do like to switch the standard. In the paraphrased words of Nick Valentine as he was in the process of being rescued by one of my characters “I can certainly appreciate the irony of the reverse damsel in distress routine.”
For another example: What’s more badass than a knight? A female knight
The point I was trying to make was that I just go off of what I feel at the time makes the story more interesting. That goes for more than just the gender and race, it goes all the way down to their philosophies. Recently I’ve been playing a character who was an actual sociopath, because it was an interesting contrast to the Power Rangers world he was in.
Another time I played as a person who was just completely done with life and is going through the motions, because that felt like an appropriate response to the prologue.
Another time I played a heroic hero of heroism, because that was an interesting clash against the grimdark world he was in.
Another example, Choice of Broadsides, I read the description and thought 'hmm, a historical piece set in a war, and I can play female. So would it be I would pretend to be a male? Would I be fighting prejudice alongside the enemy. Well that would make an interesting story!" So I chose female and learned that it just switched everyone’s genders and decided “nevermind, not as interesting as I thought. I guess I’ll play male instead, because that’s obviously what the story is built around.” And aside from the disappointment, I felt no different about it.
That’s the framework with which I base all character creation. Not ‘What gives the best representation?’ or ‘What do I relate most with?’ Only question I ever ask is ‘What will make this story interesting?’