Original Characters? (OC)

How do you already have twenty posts?!

Ahem. I prefer to not have too many OCs in my fanfiction, unless I need them for plot purposes. I tend to write characters who don't have much canon characterization anyway, so it's almost as if I'm writing OCs just by default. Even if the characters I'm writing do have a characterization, I always have reverse engineer a character before I can writer them. I have to think about how and why they talk in a particular way, what they did in the past, what their current character is like... coming up with OCs on top of all of that gets draining for me.

When i do have OCs they are usually either a type, or part of an original fiction story and not a fanfic.

 

I'm not saying I can't do this, I can easily when it's an original fiction. But in a fanfiction I'm already doing this with every single canon character I've included, and that's almost always enough.

 

A major thing I keep in mind if an OC is to be used, is how it is developed. OCs are good if you wish to explore new aspects of the Pokémon world and develop a deeper understanding of the different types of Pokémon. However, what always concerns me is how certain characters come off. I want to use my OC Rowan Ginkgo and his Mate a Gardevoir known as Aria, as well as their friend Amelia as examples.

Each have their own distinct personalities. Rowan is a person who is curious, but inoculated against a number of the concerns of the world he lives in. Since he spent most of his time in labs or in the field doing work, initially he is not very empathic in nature. He has a sense of detachment and an almost facistic understanding of the world. He begins by believing the entire world can be understood using pure objective logic. However, as he interacts with OC #2 Aria, this all changes.

Aria stands at the complete opposite of him. Where he is cool and logical, she is open and emotional. Where he thinks in absolutes, she sees the world as a great spectrum, and she learns by understanding where the various things in her life falls in that spectrum. As they interact, Rowan begins loosing his objectivity in a way. He begins to realize the flaws in such a perception. He begins to become more empathic in nature, falling in love with Aria, and learning that in order to understand someone, you have to try and see things from their point of view. His awareness of emotions grows but the childlike curiosity remains. He is flawed as his attempts to navigate the world end up with him making basic mistakes that find him suspended. He is flawed enough that if the flaw is exploited, it could make him fall. However, he acknowledges this flaw and tries to right it a little at a time.

Thus, using that as a leverage point for plot motion, the story is about the characters and how they change. The important thing is to have OCs who are well written enough to be balanced in their flaws and strengths. I find it a point of annoyance when I read about OCs who are this weird superior kind of person. It's like the traits they have such as "Being part Pokémon part human" are the only things that give them definition. I actually like that kind of idea better when it is just part of who they are and they learn how to be their own person despite not fitting in to either category. The dynamics which can arise from that as a function of the plot tends to make for a better character.

I could go on for a while. I love when I can look at an OC and find myself concerned about not being able to identify the tropes they fulfill. Avoiding your character being defined only by tropes can be tough. However, the challenge is something that sparks creative innovation within us. So I like it when I see someone pushing to avoid those pitfalls.

 

I love using OC's. They make it more real for me. I know that May and Drew are not real , so using OC's make stories more real for me.

 

I'm a die-hard Franticshipper (Pokespecial Manga: RubyxSapphire). But I'm also comfortable in making OCs.
I guess it all goes on your preference for characters. If you are familiar with a certain character and know his/her personality, I guess using them is your forte. Using OCs just give others options of how this story should be tackled with this kind of character.
OCs are very flexible, but there is the trouble of really keeping them in character, because I too have trouble at times when my mind goes astray. XD

 

I looked over my previous post and realized that an addendum also needs to be added:
Pokémon, the game, is pretty much fit for using OC. See, the characters you make in the game are blank slates. Granted you can only really go one direction. However, with the advent of Pokémon amie and other features. You can in fact determine what kind of trainer you will be. So while the character itself has no defining features, that allows for you, the gamer, to breathe your own life into the character and make them more real.

You see it a lot in visual novels. The main character isn't especially noteworthy. Usually his eyes or face is vague or almost missing. That allows you the person playing the game, to have an empathetic moment and see yourself as the main character. When making OCs for fiction purpose, you are free to add as much of yourself, or as little as yourself. In my previous post, I mentioned this concept but I would like to note that you can in fact add elements of yourself into all major characters. In Pokémon, all your Pokémon get the distinction of being OCs. You can read yourself into one of them, or an aspect of yourself. My three big characters in my fiction, for instance: Amelia, Aria, Rowan. All represent different aspects of myself. Amelia is the selfish one. She looks out for herself because reasons (I've yet to elaborate on this) Rowan is very studious but found himself detached from emotion (Me at various points) Aria lives fully in the realm of emotions and occupies the present. She represents then, my wonder at the simple things of this world but also a sense of attachment to others.

In the end, that is what is most important: If the OCs have something to them.
That's why I say: Rock on with the OCs, but beware of Mary sue Mary sue hurts not only you, but your story too.

 

I typically use the same set of OCs when writing Fanfiction. Though these OCs have developed and evolved over time, and most of the same OCs are different depending on which fandom I choose to post them in. It's fun to see them change and grow as you write about them

 

I typically mix the canon characters (only they're not quite the same canon characters you know and love), and OCs

 

I would always have an OC-based story because I like making Pokémon stories, but when it comes to ponies and such, I need to mix so the Elements of Harmony exist.

 

I like creating new characters of any kind for any fandom, but if I actually put them in a story I try to make sure they only or mostly interact with each other. Canon characters can appear, after all they're important figures in the universe I'm writing about, but I'm generally against meddling with them too much in order to avoid changing what's canon.

Same goes for when I write about canon characters.... I have no problem with re-interpreting them to some degree (if such interpretation feels justified enough), but mixing them in with too much OC stuff is a big nono for me.
I just try to keep canon with canon and original with original.

 

I prefer to use OCs whenever possible.

For me, a story based in someone else's setting should adhere to the original design as much as possible - it bugs me to write something I feel doesn't fit in the setting. For this reason, I prefer to avoid canon characters whenever possible, simply because it's hard to accurately portray them. I'd rather write new characters who I can completely control than use existing ones.

However, some of my best writing comes from imagining a canon character's reactions to a new situation. When I do write someone canon, I make sure to research their dialogue and actions extensively to make sure they speak and act in the same manner.

 

I typically use OCs, mostly because I don't want to end up with really OoC canon characters... and OCs are really flexible with back stories, personalities and designs. Usually, I create a character with a certain backstory, personality and their own veiws on the world, and then create another character with entirely different views, personality and backstory. The different characters interacting and reacting to one another is where the story and plot comes from~

I have nothing against stories that have OCs and the canon cast of whatever fandom... but there's one thing that pissses me of... (Here comes an epic rant...)

Don't ever, EVER, write a fic with an OC that's: "Oh, they were there the whole time, and everybody knows them~" NO! Grr, so annoying! It doesn't matter if the author and characters know them, the READER is the one that has to know them!

When making an OC (in my opinion), you have to say WHO they are, WHERE they're from, WHY they're there, and HOW they met the canon characters!!! It doesn't have to be their whole life story either! You could just start with the OC meeting the canon cast and introduce them that way. Or reveal their story via flashbacks and so on. Even if just spending a couple of short paragraphs with a character reminiscing on how they met and befriended the OC and visa versa...

I guess this can also be grouped together with the whole "Mary sue" thing... Personally I can never tell if my characters are Mary sue or not, and I can't really pick them out. I either like a character, have no opinion of them or the just annoy me. I figure the ones that annoy me are probably Mary sue... (yep, gonna rant some more...)

It's all fine and well to give your character special powers or abilities and whatnot, and have them go off on a quest and discover their worldly destiny along the way... but don't make them unbeatable, or all powerful god-types! Besides, this kind of junk has been done a million times before... Cliches make for bad story telling...

I'm a firm believer in character development; I like to watch my OCs grow and change over time. If an OC remains exactly the same from the beginning of the story to the end, then they're just plain boring. A character that wins all the time is boring too; they have to at least struggle to win every now and then, or have lost in the past.

There's a lot more to rant about, but I'll stop here before I get too boring

 

I pretty much agree with all posts here on this thread.

Character development is a top priority when it comes to original characters. The reader must be able to understand the actions that a character has done either in the past or the present.
Look for originality when creating an OC, it makes the story much better (perhaps?).

If you, or anyone as a matter of fact, indeed look to incorporating OCs in a story, make sure they're well thought out properly, to avoid any conflicting thoughts later on.
That does not mean to always use the same personalities. Leave your comfort zone from time to time when creating new characters. You might be surprised by the results.

 

I tend to avoid OCs in fanfiction. Especially OC regions. *shudders* What I like to do is take canon characters (mostly background characters/NPC) and develop them. Like what I did in A Shade of Grey; I took TP grunts and really developed them.

 

When writing fanfiction, I avoid any sort of canon characters. It allows a lot more room for creativity and development for my OCs. I think the main reason why I avoid canon characters is that I have a hard writing as someone else's character.

 

I like the idea of OCs because they help make your story more personalized and unique.

 

I like to have one OC in an insert, at a time. There's already enough charecters in a story to deal with, so it is harder to add 2 or more without forgetting about it sooner or later.

I love OC's, because it makes something easily personalized. I currently have one, which is Azure, (Who is currently too OP), and I'm designing the next two.

 

I love making OCs. These are my current three that I use:

http://pokeballztheseries.deviantart.com/gallery/53721884/Trainer-Cards

OCs gives you more control on the character themselves, as for regular characters, it's your duty to portray them accurately.