Hi all,
Archetypes and even NPCs in Shadowrun often lack some originality (or totaly lack in fact.).
As a GM, i hate having characters being "just another sam" or "just another decker", so i always encourage players to make interesting character profiles.
While most profiles will only be interesting in regards to their background, some are interesting technicaly speaking.
Here are a few exemples, and i hope some of you will give a few

- Security/Military Mage :
This is clearly a "support" character.
His spells are mainly barriers and detection spells, he stays behind and directs the team through mind net spell (cant be tapped). He has a good base of technical skill to deal basic electronic warfare, control a few surveillance drones backed up by spirits and watchers.
From a background point of view, this suits perfectly to a former corp security mage, or former military/mercenary mage/officer.

- Homeless Street Shaman :
While the "street or squatter lifestyle" might be often used, this concept is in a lot of ways based on this lifestyle. The shaman lives in its paper boxes on the street, with a small community of homeless peoples. With his trolley he hits the streets, begging for a few newyens to executives. What a great cover of a runner ? While you might suspect a beggar to steal your walet, would you suspect him of being a top runner ?
Its not his disguise : it is his lifestyle, because his totem has guided him that way (Rat or Coyote would be the best).
Great fun with this type of character
Skills include hight stealth and urban survival, and can be more than usefull. Contacts play a big role, and you can expect very exotic ones (like a ghoul for exemple)

- Disgraced Elven Artist :
This is a perfect background for a Social Adept. Formerly evolving into elven nation's highest circles, he was cast out for some insignificant faux pas, ripped of his name and rights in the Tir, becomming a runner was his only alternative.
While he'll lack contacts with the underworld, have a lot of social problems with the low lifestyle origin characters, it can add a lot of flavor to a face.
That favor comes with high placed friends and ennemies.
Skills are classical for a social adept, but contacts are more Jet Set and political than corporate or underworld.
While these are contacts that often come into play, they are rarely earned by money, and so are more difficult to obtain even in the long run, contrary to the inderworld or corporate sectors.

Awakened Defender:
Specializes in Counterspelling and Banishing. Another "support" character, but with his built-in astral projection, makes a very good scout. When it comes to magic defense though, only the most powerful of mages/summoners can penetrate this archtype's strength.

This is one of my favorite concepts, but as a GM, I don't have chances to play. I think with a minimal pistol skill and possibly a few "buff" spells, this support character could be a really fun and useful one to play!

Ghoul Spook:
Back in the good ol' days of working for The Company, everything was hunky-dory. After that one mission, though, everything changed. You had a choice: go to a real hospital and risk compromising your identity, or go to a back-alley clinic to get the slugs out of your body. You chose to protect the mission.
They got the slugs out, but their blood supply hadn't been checked. You caught Krieger strain HMHVV, and didn't catch on until it was too late. The company disowned you, leaving you in a hostile area without backup, without a plan, and without an identity.
So you opted to go freelance. You used your old contacts, your skills, and the phantom names you lived by to build a reputation: the scariest ghost of a man there ever was. Strong enough to be a ghoul and still yourself, wily enough to survive, and crazy enough to go freelance.
Note: Works best as an adept, or as a bioware-only character.

The Dickless Samurai:

The dickless samurai wasn't always so. But he crossed the wrong people, and they caught up to him, cutting off his dick, laughing at him. The samurai then managed to crawl to his street doc and get himself patched up so he wouldn't die, but he refused the Doc's offer to reattach a new penis. 'No', he said. 'I won't be a man again until I take my revenge'. Since then, the Dickless Samurai seeks revenge, annihilating those that had left him for dead. Only when he has killed all of them will he have a dick reattached. Until then, he is one relentless, determined son-of-a-bitch.

Tunnel Rat:
An ork who was sickly in his childhood, he is smaller than a typical ork. He worked for Power & Water, until the crash and his SIN was reset. While he was sorting through the red tape, his SIN was re-issued to someone else, and he wound up losing his job.
He has some basic combat skills, from having to fight in the tunnels, and he has some cyberware from his time with the utility company. Specializes in close/short range combat, stealth, and basic engineering skills, including demolition (small shaped charges) and some build/repair skills.
Grimm (thanks Squinky!)

I'm liking my latest Adept build
Burgler Adept:

He and his family were destroyed in the Crash 2.0 Now to find those resposible and extract vengence he runs the shadows. Moderate Cyber providing benifits that Adept powers can't or don't. Great Leap and Traceless Walk to get to all those hard to reach places, lots of Infiltration and Stealth skills. Tons of B&E gear. Mostly a scout or backup assasin

...Street Kid Con Artist Adept:

She appears to be just another annoying homeless brat, but looks are deceiving as is she. She can sweet talk her way into or out of just about anything. If that don't work, there's always her signature sucker punch or kick (with a surprising DV) that will leave you gasping for breath as she hightails it away. She is devious, a credit to her Trickster mentor spirit who can easily blend into the shadows or a crowd, palm the keycard to the installation the team needs to break into, or fleece a mark out of a few hundred nuyen for some extra operating cash.

....this kid is full of surprises, just take care next time you shake her hand.

From my current game

Gap Year Warrior

Effectively a Street Sam with mostly Bioware. A normal rich girl who went from gap year tourist to serious world traveller backpacker, her SIN got erased during the crash and she's never looked back. Now she handle close up work for the team as well as having excellent skill Outdoors and she's good with a rifle, turning her skills from the wild to criminal gain, she also has an international network of odd ball friends.

Cat Wiccan Model

A ex model and society babe who got involved in anti Goverment work, almost killed because of this, she's rebuilt herself as a face and mage. No combat spells, running purely on illusions, manipulations and spirits.

Farm Girl hacker

A farmer's daughter, and long term Mod on Chat Sites. Back during the crash she realised some friend s where locked on-line and tried to rescue them. She almost succeeded but an encounter with the Crash Virus left her comatose. When she came out she ahd become a technomancer. Mostly a justification of for a Techno with some Outdoors group, and the street name Bo-Peep (Its a looking for her flock thing).

The AR Illusionist

Basically a hacker with some artistic skill. He hacks AR devices (or the commlinks attached to them), and things to show up that aren't there. I'm not sure of the level of graphics that is possible in 2070, but I'm assuming it's good enough that the illusions could potentially look very real.

Cupid
Basically a delusional social adept. Basically looks at a large group and starts match making impulsively. Great way to compromise people into letting you have information/access on a run.