Good OC's?

[Legacy|iB]

A thought that's been on my mind for awhile...

I'm aware that in regards to original characters that more chances than naught, they suck. Whether they're nothing but poorly made self-inserts of an egotistic author, or even poorly made paper cutout OMG Mary Sues for whatever reasons, we all have a general consensus that using OC's should be left to good writers only.

In regards to that, this raises my question - one that I've had ever since coming here and having been enlightened as to the true natures of OC's.

If good OC's should be left only to good authors, then what defines a good OC? Is there even such thing as one? In whatever amount of time we've spent reading and writing fanfiction, has any of us ever spotted a decently made original character?

Just curious.

 

[SMWhat]

There are two kinds of OCs that are very very bad, among others.

There is the HERO OC. This OC is the hero of the story, often replacing the main character. He always has a witty comment to use to strike back at others with, and he can always get himself out of a jam.

There is also the SAVIOR OC. This OC is created to "save" the main character of the manga/anime the fanfiction is based on. Whenever the main character gets hurts or yelled at or whatever, he'll be there conveniently and selflessly to lend a helping hand. He always has a witty comment to use to strike back at others with, and he can always get the main character out of a jam.

Making a good OC is tricky. The thing to remember is "periods of awkwardness". In real conversations, people don't "return fire" with words so quickly. There is a period of awkward silence full of "um" or "uh".

Non-literally, you must apply this awkwardness to your OC. A good OC has flaws. A good OC will more often than not NOT have a witty comment in mind. A good OC is imperfect.

 

[ttestagr]

Don't forget the OC who is introduced to move a plot in the direction the author wants. For example, a Harry Potter story that wants to make him good with girls, so an OC girl is introduced that teaches him how.

Basically, its the author copping out because they aren't skilled enough to move a story in the direction they want with just the canon material. Almost any plot twist that you can imagine can be brought about using just the canon if the author is creative enough.

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

Also, some Ocs' are firey tempered, in situations when cooler heads are needed. Being Cool as a cucumber all the time only works if you're the Fonz.

 

[SMWhat]

What do you mean "is needed"? If a character shows up that just happens to fit the situation like a missing puzzle piece, that is not a good sign.

Clear imperfection is key. And "a little stern" or "a bit bubbly" or "too polite and standoffish" does not count as imperfection. If you can sum up a character in less than ten words, that's bad.

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

That's what I meant.

 

[Christopher Robin]

On the note of OCs... who do you think is the worst ever? Personally, I'd have to say DJ Croft.

 

[PCHeintz72]

There are two kinds of OCs that are very very bad, among others.

There is the HERO OC. This OC is the hero of the story, often replacing the main character. He always has a witty comment to use to strike back at others with, and he can always get himself out of a jam.

There is also the SAVIOR OC. This OC is created to "save" the main character of the manga/anime the fanfiction is based on. Whenever the main character gets hurts or yelled at or whatever, he'll be there conveniently and selflessly to lend a helping hand. He always has a witty comment to use to strike back at others with, and he can always get the main character out of a jam.

Making a good OC is tricky. The thing to remember is "periods of awkwardness". In real conversations, people don't "return fire" with words so quickly. There is a period of awkward silence full of "um" or "uh".

Non-literally, you must apply this awkwardness to your OC. A good OC has flaws. A good OC will more often than not NOT have a witty comment in mind. A good OC is imperfect.

While I agree with almost all of that, there are exceptions to even these type of OC's being nearly all bad for a story, though really, they should be more accurately called ACC's (Author Created Characters), heck they even often border being Mary Sue/Gary Stu.

I've seen Hero/Savior/All powerful ACC's done decent to good before. But are rare, as it is quite some balance to maintain. Only three come to immediate mind.

For the First, it was Kyle in MULTI 'Not Another SI Fic' by Taiteki Kagato.

For the second, it was Koryu in ORIGINAL 'Shadows of Honor' by syncron.

For the third, it is an ongoing ACC in several of Steve Edward's Full Metal Panic Stories. The character was Captain Andrew Simms.

Steve Edwards had been using him in almost all of his Full Metal Panic story arcs. The character has been fairly consistent and good in all of the ones I've read.

I'm unaware of syncron doing much other than the one story, so experience seems limited. His main problem has nothing to do with the character, and more with the language barrier.

Taiteki Kagato has done other stories, so uncertain how good he is in them, as I've only read one other. But that came after the fic above. What problably helps is unlike the others, his character started out human, but from the supposed real world, thus with advanced knowledge, and power has been granted as the story progresses.

 

[toraneko]

For worst OC, and also (ironically enough) best OC, I vote for Carrotglace's many self-insertions.

Worst, in that he seems to get into the starring role above and beyond the canon hero/ine in whichever series he's in. Typical SI behavior.

Best, in that the engaging writing style and lack of real seriousness in all the fics he's in, and the fact that being the "hero" only seems to make everything worse for him EVERY TIME, helps move him up a few notches.

Taiteki Kagato's SI is runner-up in "Best" only because I see him as a sort of "spiritual successor" to Carrotglace.

Coincidentally (or not <_<), both authors write multi-crossovers that twist the characters out of their canon presentation without making me vomit. It's usually a funny thing.

HALO junkie Belldandy FTW!

 

[Turbanator]

Well, OCs or ACCs are only good if they aren't the hero of the story. I distinctly recall two good characters in a Love Hina fic by the name of 'A Different Life' (on ff.net), two people who remained in the background and didn't affect the plot massively, just gave it some extra ideas etc.

As people have mentioned, these kind of characters only tend to work if they aren't completely infallible, nor extremely knowledgeable about the situations they're in.

 

[toraneko]

Yeah. Carrot and Kagato's OC "heroes" always end up in situations where what they thought they knew (if they ever had a clue in the first place) turned out to be completely wrong, and attempting to use any "inside knowledge" usually winds up biting them in the ass somehow.

Hooray for cheat-thwarting!

 

[Lord Raa]

The best OC/ACCs I've seen have come from Black Dragon, the writer of Guardian and Yagami 1/2.

He's written other fics, but I think that these two highlight my point

Personally, I think that Reiko Tendo is the best thing in that terrible Ranma AU "Make Room for Daddy".

Man, that fic's terrible and the author's a talentless hack.

 

[nuclear death frog]

Good OC's can really enhance a story; bad ones utterly kill it.

One story that is greatly enhanced by them is the Naruto fic 'One Hundred Days'. Though, given that the plot is greatly dependent on them for depth, if the OC's weren't well done the story would probably suck.

One story that is destroyed by them...well, I could probably list you a bunch but I don't think I need to.

Agreed on Black Dragon.

 

[zeebee1]

I would say that the best written OC I have encountered would be Yukikio from "The Way of the Apartment Manager", and "The Guardian in Spite of Herself."

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

Say, would you give me your opinion of a character I will write up here?

 

[ttestagr]

Elizabeth Culmer's Yukiko is a very good OC indeed. I still have to give the title to Yanagi's Yanagi in Wasted Years though. http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1356810/1/

 

[nuclear death frog]

All of Elizabeth Culmer's OC's are awesome. I can't believe I forgot about them.

 

[Mechatrill]

Since we're talking about good OC's, lets look into the WHY of their author's successes in their creation.

For BlackDragon, much of his success in OC's can be attributed to two facts. One, all OCs he make are only one of many; two, none of the OCs are ever THE central character. These two factors almost completely kill off (or greatly reduce at the very least) all possibilities of a Mary Sue/Gary Stu, which is one of the biggest traps that reduce the quality of OC's.
Of course, the fact that all his characters are well thought out, have a good background, and have both good traits and glaring flaws help quite a bit too.

For Elizabeth Culmer, it's been a while since I've last read her work, so I can't put a very good analysis of why her OC's are good, so I'll leave her for those with a better sense of her works.

 

[Lord Raa]

Since we're asking questions about what makes a good OC, what do people like about Reiko Tendo (the Tendo fiancÚe in "Make Room for Daddy") ?

 

[GenocideHeart]

Since Raa is asking, I'll bite as well. I'd also like to know what people thought of my OCs in Twisted Fates. I did spend a long time to make them as balanced and interesting as possible, and they are important to the story... but are they also good enough to pass the anti-Mary Sue test?

EDIT: for reference, the OCs are, in their order of creation:

-Basara
-Maki Yamazaki
-Rin Watanabe
-Kagura Moritsuna
-Jun Rando
-Onikage
-Kazuki Maeda
-Shizumaru Hagiri
-Akari Hagiri
-Hatori Hagiri
-Arisa Hanada
-Saburo Murakami
-Kaidomaru
-Tairo Masakado
-Ageha
-Hotaru Sakuraba

Note that some of them had very little screen time as of now, since I'm focusing on Naruto now...

 

[nuclear death frog]

Since we're asking questions about what makes a good OC, what do people like about Reiko Tendo (the Tendo fiancÚe in "Make Room for Daddy") ?

I like her. Stories where Soun died instead of the girls' mother are pretty rare, and the mothers in those stories are generally MarySue-ish, or else they have no personality at all. Reiko seems cool enough.

The thing that irks me is that I thought the girls would be more different, really. Yeah, they are different from canon, but sometimes I feel it's not enough. Can't readily explain why.

But really I just want that story to be continued. Or in other words: MOAR!!

 

[Lord Raa]

Speaking of OCs, Kodama Horaki is effectively an OC.

And because of the mental image of her that I have (older, voluptuous, possibly sluttier version of Hikari), I'm thinking of writing a Shinji/Kodama fic.

What do y'all think about that?

 

[Demon Eyes Laharl]

Speaking of OCs, Kodama Horaki is effectively an OC.

And because of the mental image of her that I have (older, voluptuous, possibly sluttier version of Hikari), I'm thinking of writing a Shinji/Kodama fic.

What do y'all think about that?

What story is that?

 

[Unknown-common-827]

Speaking of OCs, Kodama Horaki is effectively an OC.

And because of the mental image of her that I have (older, voluptuous, possibly sluttier version of Hikari), I'm thinking of writing a Shinji/Kodama fic.

What do y'all think about that?

Umm... :snigger: ~ :snigger:

I think no one will really mind... I know I don't! :yay: :yay: :mmm:

 

[nuclear death frog]

Since Raa is asking, I'll bite as well. I'd also like to know what people thought of my OCs in Twisted Fates. I did spend a long time to make them as balanced and interesting as possible, and they are important to the story... but are they also good enough to pass the anti-Mary Sue test?

EDIT: for reference, the OCs are, in their order of creation:

-Basara
-Maki Yamazaki
-Rin Watanabe
-Kagura Moritsuna
-Jun Rando
-Onikage
-Kazuki Maeda
-Shizumaru Hagiri
-Akari Hagiri
-Hatori Hagiri
-Arisa Hanada
-Saburo Murakami
-Kaidomaru
-Tairo Masakado
-Ageha
-Hotaru Sakuraba

Note that some of them had very little screen time as of now, since I'm focusing on Naruto now...

GH: What I like about 'Twisted Fates' is all the references to other series you've thrown in, and the cool ways you've shown "damaged" characters, particularly the Yamazaki curse, and that blind kenjutsuka kunoichi whose name I can't remember at the moment. And the Onikage.

As for if there's any character that fails the MarySue test, your only OC who I can't get attached to is Basara, unfortunately. I don't think I can explain it any better than she seems too nice. She was part of the Kyuubi; she should hate humans, or at least consider them nothing better than either prey, or ants to squash. The Kyuubi tried to kill Naruto when Naruto first showed up in front of the cage in canon; Basara shouldn't be that much different.

I'm aware that this would be hard to fix.