Myths about OCs p.1 (eng)

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As promised, I translated it!

I got this idea long ago – to make a kind of discussion about OCs, myths and stereotypes connected with them. Today 7 of 10 artists have at least one own character and if we speak of Winx fandom – it's 9 of 10 I think. Unfortunately quantity doesn't mean quality and there's a set of traits which we can see in OCs. I want to talk about them and maybe give some advice.
Please don't take it too seriously. I don't aim at concrete people or characters.
And I'm eager to listen to your opinion and advice.

1. Here's Lucy Light, a fairy of dancing butterflies and here's Ducy Dark, a witch of cockroaches. They are my OCs!!!
Apparently not.
I don't know who was the first to call all these winx-fandom characters as OCs, but it is a mistake. OC = original character, created from scratch and doesn't belong to any fandom. In fact, all our fairies and witches should be called FC = fan characters.
What to do? Nothing =) The term is popular and there's no way to change it.

2. Unusual appearance makes a character original.
Well, an OC with yellow eyes, blue hair and violet nose will stand out of a blue-eyed blondies' crowd. Bur nowadays there're so many OCs using all colour of specter, that it's become almost impossible to make a unique character. Unusual eyes, tattoos and scars, all types of haircuts, OCs-angels, demons, spirits, aliens - most ideas have been already used.
What to do? Don't rely on appearance only. To make an OC truly original, you have to add an interesting description.

3. Lots of power = Mary-Sue. Less powers = grey mouse. Standard magic = boring. Unusual magic = stupid.
We all face this problem when we start thinking about our character's magic. There are too many OCs who are so mighty that can destroy the world with a single touch. On the other hand, a character with an only spell and weak magic can be boring. Another problem is specification. Fairies of Fire or Water can already make their own communities and go on strikes. But unusual power, like a fairy of chicken legs, can look and sound ridiculous.
What to do? Try to find balance. Or you can choose any magic you like and make advantage of this in bio/fanfic.

4. OC's profile page/biography must be long and detailed.
I agree that there are bios which you can read without stopping and crave for more. But when I see an endless list with points like "favourite colour, favourite clothes, favourite dish, favourite number, favourite animal, number of dresses,  number of friends, number of teeth", I want to unsee it.
What to do? Once again - try to find balance. Mix important information with funny facts and keep it short.

5. There can't be an OC without an artefact.
I have a strong suspicion that there is a hidden factory where day and night artefacts are being made. Blades of Fire, Shields of Glory, Rings of Power, Black Books of Absolute Evil and Staffs of Night are accurately packed and sent to new owners. Of course, all are unique, with unlimited powers and only for the Chosen Ones.
What to do? Think if your OCs really needs an artefact. Maybe the character can cope with problems without a super-mega-powerful thingy? Or if an artefact is essential in your story, just try to avoid this boring image of a Unique, Chosen and Powerful Magic Item.

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Evilness321's avatar
I am loving all the points you make with this discussion. And color, and 'uniqueness' is one of the hardest things for me when I'm making an OC for a fandom of any kind while trying to stay 'true as I can' to the original tale that was told. I've come across purist fans who think my OC Terra for Winx Club is a spit in Mr. Straffi's face, when really, they have no idea how much of a fan of Roxy I am. And as of yet, she has no scepter. Not even a shield.

Another thing I have found, is people seem to be kind of... shying away from the 'emotionally' unbalanced type, or at least those who have a wide range of emotions. It makes a character, my opinion and my opinion only on this, more human almost. All too often, over on fanfiction.net I have to really look for stories that try to express their characters, rather than just something they slapped together. I think you make a good point about the whole mary sue, power house, etc. issue. I personally try to stay away from the term 'mary sue' when I discuss characters in general. Because some of my favorite characters in animation would be considered by many to be a 'mary sue'.

The other issue I liked that you touched upon, is profiling of characters. I have a friend who claims it's not a profile of a character if it isn't at least 5 pages long. I rarely can write that much on a character without spoiling a major part of the story, because sometimes for me, spoilers of said story are part of what help develop a character into a better or even more evil person. There's really a trick to getting just the right amount in making a profile of an OC...

All in all, this was certainly a thought provoking in regards to the OC subject, and a lot of it can be translated in to OCs from other fandoms too, even. Nicely written!