Original Characters in Fanfiction

[Rei Uchikino]

So I've recently started reading fanfiction again, and I've been noticing more people writing original characters into their stories. I was a bit surprised since I didn't think that many people liked using original characters in fanfiction. (My assumption was probably wrong. Or I was away from ff.net for too long.)

I was wondering, WF, what do you think of OC's in fanfiction? If you write fanfiction, do you use OC's in your stories? If you read fanfic then what do you think when someone uses an original character in their work? Do you like it? Dislike it? Or are you indifferent?

[Anna_Spence]

I think people like writing OC's, they just don't like reading them. I'm indifferent since I hate fanfiction in general.

[Clare_N]

I don't mind OCs in fanfic, so long as they serve a purpose in the story and blend in seamlessly with the canon characters. But Mary Sues whose sole purpose is to hog the spotlight and outclass the canon characters are a different matter altogether.

By the way, I wonder if anyone can come up with an argument against OCs in fanfiction without resorting to the old:

Quote:

When I read fanfics, I want to read about the characters I know.

line.

[DarknessofHeavenandDreams]

The story shouldn't be about them and they should help move the story. That's what I think.

[Ludera]

Clare_N

I don't mind OCs in fanfic, so long as they serve a purpose in the story and blend in seamlessly with the canon characters. But Mary Sues whose sole purpose is to hog the spotlight and outclass the canon characters are a different matter altogether.

By the way, I wonder if anyone can come up with an argument against OCs in fanfiction without resorting to the old:

Quote:

When I read fanfics, I want to read about the characters I know.

line.

Why shouldn't that argument come up? It's perfectly valid. The purpose of fanfiction is to expand on the canon characters, their world and events in their story. If you aren't focusing on any of those, why write fanfiction at all?

I don't mind original characters, but if it's about your character and her trials and tribulations and it doesn't say anything special about the show or whatever, you're doing it wrong. An original character can be the main character in good fanfiction, but shouldn't be the centerpiece, because yeah, we want to read about the characters we know.

bad--this plot would be better if the canon was cut out and made into an original story

The setting is 50 years after the end of the canon. The main character's granddaughter, who inherited all his powers, goes to high school and falls in love and eventually has to fight the same cosmic horror as he did when he was 17, only now it's more powerful. There is a bit more technology now, and her grandfather is revered as a hero, but fundamentally, the world remains unchanged. The original hero himself doesn't make any appearances, and even though his actions have made him famous, he's rarely talked about unless it's in relation to his granddaughter ("oh, that's Olivia Carter, she's the granddaughter of the greatest hero of all time." ). This story is primarily about how the original character juggles her love life, her schoolwork, and saving the world.

better

The setting is 50 years after the end of the canon. The main character's granddaughter, who inherited all his powers, goes to high school and falls in love and eventually has to fight the same cosmic horror as he did when he was 17, only now it's more powerful. Thanks to the hero, technology has been allowed to grow in ways that it never has been able to before, and this has ushered in a new era of prosperity. He and his motley crew have made their way into the history books and are now part of boring lessons everyone needs to suffer through all the way through their school career; there's even a special holiday for the final battle, to honour the people who lost their lives trying to fight the monster and to remember the reason why this happened in the first place. Of course, there have also been negative effects, and some scholars maintain that the old evil is still alive and will come back someday--that the hero just made it angry by trying to fight it, so humanity's inevitable demise will be even worse than it would have been if they'd just accepted their fate the first time. This story is primarily about how the world and his own granddaughter has been affected by his actions, how his granddaughter deals with the fame and notoriety, the contrasts between the two personalities and how she can ever hope to step up to the plate as the hero did 50 years ago.

[Heironymous Jericho]

Rei Uchikino

So I've recently started reading fanfiction again, and I've been noticing more people writing original characters into their stories. I was a bit surprised since I didn't think that many people liked using original characters in fanfiction. (My assumption was probably wrong. Or I was away from ff.net for too long.)

I was wondering, WF, what do you think of OC's in fanfiction? If you write fanfiction, do you use OC's in your stories? If you read fanfic then what do you think when someone uses an original character in their work? Do you like it? Dislike it? Or are you indifferent?

While writing a fan fiction with characters who already exist can be fun and interesting in its own right, I prefer to use characters of my own creation—and occasionally those of close friends. With original characters, I find that there are less constraints to worry about, since I know them better than anyone and can portray them exactly the way they're supposed to be. I hold an intimate bond with my creations, which gives me great enjoyment when I write about them.

As for other authors using original characters, I can pretty much go one way or the other. I can't tell them how to write a story since it's theirs to build. Besides, I've seen plenty of creative writers out there on both sides. ^_^

[Nightmare1]

Ludera pretty much hit the nail on the head. Personally, one of my joys of reading (and writing) fanfiction is to see how well an author works within canon restraints. I do not want to read a story that only seems to revolve around the author's OC---I want to see how well they stretched the limits with the canon and its characters, and see how they expanded on it.

OC's in and of themselves are not bad. Sometimes, you need to make up a character to serve your needs (for example, for a Batman fic, I needed to make up a store clerk. She was a minor character who basically served to distribute a lot of [unknown to her] tainted toys for the villain's scheme). A lot of times, minor characters like that are technically original characters, especially if canon has a lot of random unnamed police officers, shopkeepers, random innocent bystanders, etc. And sometimes, a story works to make an OC the main character (for a one-shot Nightmare Before Christmas fic, I had this cranky old woman as the main character, but the story was set up to allow Lock, Shock, and Barrel to prank her in the end to, hopefully, the satisfaction of the audience).

The usual trick is to not make the OC overpower the canon characters---and if you do, tread with care. Not saying that this has never been done well, but in my experience, when the OC is better at something than a canon, or rivals them for a position where canon states only one character can have (i.e., having someone other than Neo or Harry Potter being "The One," having a character steal a Batman villain's gimmick and do it better, having someone scarier than Jack Skellington), is when it gets into wall-banger territory, and where readers tend to get frustrated.

Just to be clear, you can have powerful characters. One good rule of thumb is to find something that is either ignored or uncommon in canon, and have them master that. Maybe your character is not The One, but maybe they have a skill that no one on the canon team has that is vital to saving the day. Or maybe your OC is the Big Bad, which will allow them a lot of screen time, yes, but also help the story focus on canon characters too.

The other irritation factor for me is romance, and having an OC only exist to bang the author's favorite character. Or to be picked on by all the canons and be right in the end. Or having their very existence throw the canon out of whack, because canon rules do not seem to apply to them (i.e., having a CD player work in Hogwarts, a ghost who still stays on Earth despite finishing their unfinished business is a Casper fic, etc.). Or pretty much tells the same canon story all over again, but with different character (i.e., one of Jack's kids discovers Valentine's Day, and the same events in the film happen all over again. The only difference is the change in holiday).

Overall, no matter who the OC is or how they are used, no matter how big or small their role in the story is, I want them to be believable. I think this is the other problem with OC's, especially ones written with bigger roles: a lot of them tend to be written poorly and riddled with cliches. There is a reason the Mary Sue Litmus Test exists (though, for the record, I consider it a list of traits that is useful as a guide only while keeping the canon of choice in mind as it is taken). A lot of the things that appear on it tend to appear in badly written characters in various fanfiction.

I guess in conclusion, the best OC's are ones that:

-Actually add something to the story
-Do not overpower canon characters, compete for a single canon position, or if they are powerful, bring something new to the table
-Do not overshadow canon characters, especially if they have a big role in the story
-Are not just there to fulfill the author's fantasies
-Do not give me a re-hash of the canon
-Follow the canon rules
-Are written well

Pretty much, follow those guidelines, and your OC is generally good to go.

[The Phoenix Rises Again]

Nightmare1

-Actually add something to the story
-Do not overpower canon characters, compete for a single canon position, or if they are powerful, bring something new to the table
-Do not overshadow canon characters, especially if they have a big role in the story
-Are not just there to fulfill the author's fantasies
-Do not give me a re-hash of the canon
-Follow the canon rules
-Are written well

This

[Todd186]

I put OC's in my fanfictions because it helps move the story along. One story I have has an OC for the main character, the story is about her interacting with the canon characters and how she effects everything. I basically write the entire story again but put her in the middle and for some things that you don't know why it happened orginally, she's behind it. That's what I do, and I have no problem with people putting OC's in fanfictions. But having only one canon and a bunch of OC's is not good.

[Trai man2]

Bump

[marshmallowcreampie]

DarknessofHeavenandDreams

The story shouldn't be about them and they should help move the story. That's what I think.

Agreed. As long as the characters aren't hogging the spotlight, and it's written well, it can be pulled off. I agree with Nightmare1. As long as they follow the "canon rules" and have a purpose, it's cool...

Personally, though, if I wanted to read a fanfic, I'd be doing it to read about the characters from the actual story. If the author of the fanfic writes it to where it's mostly revolving around the OC, it can be a turn-off. Although, when I liked Maximum Ride I was reading one fanfic for a while. It was about two original characters, but it took place in the MR universe (I'm not even sure the MR characters even showed up. My computer went out for three months so I couldn't get through it). Something like that can work, I suppose, if it's written well.

[SauerkrautScones]

I like well written OCs in fanfiction because if done right they can add a little something special to the story. They are an interesting way to explore more of the universe and concepts not covered in the canon story line. They also can bounce their personalities and quirks of the surrounding characters to flesh the canon characters out as well. If the character is written well enough I don't mind having them center around the OC and truthfully most fanfiction of the OC variety that I read centers around the OC. However I will also admit that poorly written OCs can ruin a fanfiction whether they are the main character or not. Some of the poorly written OCs that I have run across in Naruto are only bad because they don't fit canon. I have had a friend read over the bio for angel type OC in the series and admit that it would make a splendid D.N. Angel OC.

When writing some fanfictions, usually those that I plan to be of the longer variety, use OCs. One of the reasons I prefer to use OCs is that they come without any viewer attachment and as such they aren't expected to be a certain way that fans see them as being. Granted there are those that would hate the OC purely on the basis the character must be a Mary-Sue or a thinly veiled author insert whose sole purpose is to sex up the author's favorite characters and steal the spotlight completely. But I find the benefits to out way the risks in the end. Another thing is that I like to imagine how the some of the characters would act when confronted some personality types and often I don't find the types I would like to use in the show. A final reason is a tad selfish on my part but I love how much work it takes to make a character fit that specific universe. There is nothing more fulfilling than to finely get the character to flow perfectly into the canon. Granted I have yet to fully finish an OC story but I do however have the characters mostly worked out.

[Rei Uchikino]

Ludera

I don't mind original characters, but if it's about your character and her trials and tribulations and it doesn't say anything special about the show or whatever, you're doing it wrong.

I agree. It annoys me when I read a fanfiction that's centered solely on an OC with rarely any mention of whatever show, book, or etc that it's about. But if it's written well enough and the OC serves a purpose to the story like in your example then it's fine.

Nightmare1

The other irritation factor for me is romance, and having an OC only exist to bang the author's favorite character.

This is something that annoys me, too. However, I think if there's substance to the story, and if the story and OC are written well then it might work out okay.

Nightmare1

I guess in conclusion, the best OC's are ones that:

-Actually add something to the story
-Do not overpower canon characters, compete for a single canon position, or if they are powerful, bring something new to the table
-Do not overshadow canon characters, especially if they have a big role in the story
-Are not just there to fulfill the author's fantasies
-Do not give me a re-hash of the canon
-Follow the canon rules
-Are written well

Pretty much, follow those guidelines, and your OC is generally good to go.

I agree with a lot of these. And some are good pointers that I haven't even thought of before. Thanks for sharing. :]

[Nightmare1]

You are most welcome.

[Klaark]

I hate them and won't read a fic where they're featured prominently. I don't care how great they are, if they're well rounded and fleshed out, give them their own story.