Background/character concept for Male Witch (PF)?

[randomhero00]

I can usually come up with tons of different ideas for each class...but for a male witch I am finding it quite difficult.

Only two types I can think:
Swampman- gross, disheveled, barely wears clothes, probably uneducated, little too brave
Medicine man/witch doctor- tribalistic, ummm stuff?

Neither of which, are the more librarian oriented, scholarly, types. Especially since I usually don't think of either of the above as super intelligent (not dumb, just not super intelligent...I think of the above as more wis related)... So playing a high int char I can't put it in my head right for roleplay.

So either is there a way to think of those two above concepts as more intellectually focused? Or another type you can think of? Basically any good tips for roleplaying a male (evil) witch.

[Psyren]

Witches don't have to be primitive. Play up the cursemancer aspect. You can even be a debuff-style necromancer, especially if you go with the Gravewalker archetype (which is pretty cool/potent on its own as well.)

[Slipperychicken]

A Harry Potter-style "wizard" could do it, considering Hermione as a template. You didn't just just get your powers like a Sorcerer, you had to study magic very hard, whether formally or independently, to acquire it. He might even be highly offended to hear someone call him a witch, considering the word's negative implications.

The character may have lived as an ordinary schoolboy for a while, then found a dusty forbidden tome (or perhaps it was given to him by a strange old man, or fate dropped it across his path), popped it open, and started learning magic much as one would learn to tinker from digging through old manuals as a hobby. Even with just Int 15, he's a pretty smart guy anyway, so it's pretty reasonable for him to be self-taught. Or maybe his familiar (or just the Patron acting through the familiar) instructed him in magic after he bonded to it. The extreme rush of possessing this power, combined with the influence of his Familiar and/or Patron, sadly corrupted him as he began using it for personal gain, often manipulating people to carry out his orders. He also carries out his dark master's will, as "payment" for the power he now wields. Although our character is no longer directly dependent on them, he may still feel a sense of obligation toward them, or just serve them out of habit.

In this sense magic serves more as an allegory for intellectual potential, and his abuse of his natural talents at the expense of others. If he's still young (20s or earlier), there remains a chance for redemption. Of course, it's never too late to come back to the "right" path, however hard it may become. Maybe his companions' devotion (or their villainy) might convince him to forsake the darkness and use his powers for good.

[_flint_]

My initial idea is that of a bogey man type fellow. Maybe he lives in the woods near a villiage and parents use his name to scare their kids into behaving.

"If you're naughty, Old Mister Scuttlebones will get you!"

[avr]

For a witch with the prehensile hair hex or a white-haired witch, it could be a dwarf who is really proud of his beard. He's also a scholar of obscure magic. With the same qualifier, a magical princess as in Rapunzel.

A court lady or gold-digger who uses dark magic to get ahead is the antagonist of a bunch of the stories which PF witch spells or hexes are inspired by. Easy enough to play as one of them. They can be smart but unwise easily enough.

[_flint_]

For a witch with the prehensile hair hex or a white-haired witch, it could be a dwarf who is really proud of his beard. He's also a scholar of obscure magic.

This is too funny, it has to happen

[TopCheese]

Make the Witch be the son of Handsom Jack and Marie Laveau (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpZzehuWdM4) ?

Make him from the bayou and you could act like 90's X-Men "Gambit".

Boom!