Fighter Creation Strategies
Master the art of writing winning 300-character descriptions.
The 300-Character Constraint
Every TextFight fighter description has a maximum of 300 characters. This is not a limitation to work around; it is a core design feature that levels the playing field and rewards concise, creative writing. In 300 characters, you cannot write a novel, but you can absolutely craft a fighter concept that is memorable, funny, and competitive.
The constraint forces you to prioritize. You cannot describe everything about your fighter, so you need to choose the most impactful details. Think of it like writing a tweet that needs to capture an entire personality. Every word should earn its place in the description. Cut filler words, combine concepts, and make every character count.
As you progress through TextFight's tier system, your character limit can increase. New players in the Haiku tier start with 150 characters, and the limit grows as you advance through tiers, eventually reaching 400 characters at the Canon and Apocrypha tiers. This progression rewards dedicated players with more creative space.
Fighter Archetypes That Win
Certain fighter archetypes tend to perform well in TextFight because they naturally align with the AI's judging criteria. Absurd fighters, such as a sentient toaster with existential dread or a librarian who weaponizes overdue fines, score highly because they are inherently funny and creative. The juxtaposition between something mundane and something extraordinary creates instant narrative potential.
Anti-heroes and flawed fighters also perform well. A fighter who is technically a villain but keeps accidentally helping people, or a retired superhero who now works in customer service, gives the AI rich material to work with. Flaws and contradictions make fighters interesting, and the AI recognizes this when generating battle narratives.
Pure power fantasy fighters, on the other hand, tend to underperform. Descriptions like "an all-powerful deity who destroys everything" give the AI nothing specific to work with. There are no interesting hooks, no humor, and no specificity. The judging criteria explicitly reward comedy and specificity over raw power, so these fighters are at a structural disadvantage.
Name Strategies
Your fighter's name is the first thing the AI and other players see, so make it count. You have up to 30 characters for a name, which is enough to be creative without being excessive. Great names often hint at the fighter's personality or concept. "Gerald the Reluctant Dragon" tells you something about the fighter before you even read the description.
Puns and wordplay work well in fighter names because they set a humorous tone from the start. Names like "Ctrl+Alt+Defeat" or "Broccoli Ironthighs" are memorable and signal that your fighter is going to bring some comedy to the fight. The AI judges value humor, and a clever name primes the narrative in your favor.
Avoid overly long or complex names that are hard to read or remember. Also avoid generic fantasy names that blend together. "Xarathion the Destroyer" sounds impressive but is forgettable. A name should be distinctive enough that you would remember it after seeing it on a leaderboard. Keep it punchy, keep it original, and let it complement your fighter description.
What Makes Descriptions Strong
The strongest fighter descriptions in TextFight share a few key qualities. First, they are specific. Instead of saying a fighter is "strong," they explain how the fighter is strong and in what unusual way. A baker whose sourdough starter gained sentience and now helps her fight by launching bread projectiles is specific. "A strong warrior" is not.
Second, strong descriptions include personality or emotional depth. A fighter who is afraid of their own powers, or who fights reluctantly because they would rather be gardening, is more interesting than a fighter who simply wants to destroy everything. The AI generates better narratives when it has emotional hooks to work with.
Third, the best descriptions suggest how the fighter would interact with an opponent. This does not mean describing attack moves; it means giving the AI material for an interesting confrontation. A fighter whose power is "extreme passive-aggressiveness" immediately suggests funny battle scenarios, which is exactly what the judging criteria reward.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
The most common mistake new players make is writing power fantasy descriptions. Statements like "can destroy entire galaxies" or "is immune to all damage" sound intimidating but perform poorly. The AI judging system explicitly deprioritizes raw power in favor of creativity and humor. A fighter described as omnipotent gives the AI nothing interesting to write about.
Another frequent mistake is being too vague. Descriptions like "a mysterious warrior from a dark land" provide no specific details for the AI to latch onto. Specificity is worth 25% of the judging criteria, so vague descriptions are leaving a quarter of the evaluation on the table. Replace "mysterious warrior" with "a knight who communicates only through aggressive interpretive dance."
Finally, avoid copying or closely imitating well-known fictional characters. While the AI will recognize references, it tends to reward original concepts more highly than derivatives. Creating "basically Superman but stronger" is less effective than creating an entirely new fighter concept that happens to be inspired by superhero tropes.
Advanced Techniques
Experienced TextFight players use several advanced techniques to maximize their fighter descriptions within the 300-character limit. One technique is the "absurd specificity" approach: pick one very specific and unusual detail and build the entire fighter around it. "A tax auditor whose calculator runs on the tears of billionaires" is more effective than trying to describe multiple abilities.
Another advanced technique is creating fighters that naturally generate conflict or comedy when they interact with any opponent. Fighters with built-in contradictions, like a pacifist gladiator or a claustrophobic cave troll, create interesting dynamics regardless of who they fight. The AI produces better narratives when both fighters have interesting hooks.
Some players also use the trait system strategically when crafting descriptions. Since traits are discovered through battle and evolve over time, writing descriptions that align with desirable trait categories can give your fighter a long-term advantage. As traits influence future battles, a fighter with well-evolved traits becomes increasingly competitive over time.