On OCs · 8:44pm Jan 23rd, 2015
It helps to Imagine the voice of President John Henry Eden while reading this.
Hello my loyal followers and friends. Today I would like to discuss something that has bothered me for quite some time. Just what is an OC? Now I know it stands for Original Character, but I mean what is it to everyone here? To you the readers? To your friends and your followers? Their friends and their followers? Is there such a thing as a bad OC? I'm sure everyone (or everypony) here has an OC to call your own, but I'm also sure many of you have different opinions on what it is to you. Allow me to give an example. My OC Thunderbolt Sentinel (kinda obvious) Started off as a character in a role playing game. A young Pegasus moving out of his parents home trying to place his mark on the world. Delusions of grandeur and glory. He dreamed of becoming a Royal Guard but until then he helped manage the weather in Ponyville. One day he decided that he was getting nowhere and set off to fulfill his dreams.
I didn't know at the time I would grow so attached to my character that not only after the game came to abrupt halt that I would play him again in the next game, but that I would name my profile after him and attempt to write his story. Now what is your OC to you? There are many answers to this question. Is s/he just a character in a story, a one shot? Is your OC a representation of yourself, our look at you in this glorious fiction world we all wish where real? Is she a temptress, a charming rouge capable of tempting even the most stubborn of stallions to seeing things her way? Is he the paragon of good, a Paladin in golden armor here to protect the innocent?
Now I also mentioned the possibility of a bad OC. Now I know the first thing that comes to mind is the "Black and Red Alicorn with Bat Wings", but why is it bad to so many people and why do so many others create them? I think I have some answers.
#1-They are seen as bad because of how they are used.
Almost all of them are really crappy self inserts where the plot is, well, "plot".Example. However they could play a good role as antagonists to heroes in a story. The evil nearly god like being with the plot (as in plan kinda plot weirdo) to do something terrible to Equestria and our band of heroes needs to stop him/her. Sound familiar, almost like the first two episodes of the show of which our fandom spawned from? Nightmare Moon may not have been black and red, but she was an Alicorn and she did look like one of the "Bad OCs". Not to say that the OC from before is still free of blame. What else makes them bad?
#2-Lack of Character.
Most people who create them create them as self inserts. Self inserts are not bad. If I used my OC in a story most people would think it was a self insert, and they wouldn't be to far off. The second half of Original Character is "Character". When I described My OC above I gave you a glimpse into his life, his soul, his character. He has dreams, goals, aspirations! However that's not all that's important. I Intentionally left out things like personality, friends, and skills. You will see all that soon enough when I write his story. (I didn't want to spoil anything, but I also don't want to sound like a hypocrite talking about character without providing it). When someone (or somepony) creates an OC they need to define him if he's a main character! Who is he? I don't mind learning about him as the story progresses. In fact that's the best way to do it. I shouldn't tell you in my first chapter "Rainbow Dash is an athletic Braggart who's always loyal" I should have Rainbow Dash show it to the readers over time. "As you walk into Ponyville you see a rainbow following a Pegasus as she performs tricks at incredible speed"-"The Pegasus you saw earlier is talking to somepony, all you can hear as you pass by is 'Yeah it was an advanced stunt, but it was nothing for me'"-"She looks at you and says 'Don't worry I never let my friends down'". In those lines I let the character define herself without telling you. Most bad OCs either don't have character at all or you're simply told who the character is. -Note it's okay to describe some characters if the reader is supposed to know something about them or if another character tells the reader. "You remember Rainbow Dash as an athletic Braggart, but she's always loyal to her friends"-"Twilight turns to you and says 'Over there's Rainbow Dash, she can be a bit of a braggart, but she's never let me down. Did I also mention she's a athlete? She wants to join the Wonderbolts'".
If you have other opinions or ideas please add them in the comments, and if you're creating an OC to represent yourself please remember this- It's you in this world, who would you be? Why would you be that? Would it make sense?
I found this to help as it pretty much says what I do-OC Guide
In short who is your OC to you? I want to know your opinions.
Please tell me what you think in the comments.
I think OC's are either characters developed for a story, someone who represents yourself, what you can/wish/could/have/will become or someone who happens to fit will within the canon series. My OC is what I would probably be if I was a pony. I based much of her off of me. I modeled her personality, character, flaws, failures after myself. What happens to her is not quite what has happened to me, but it is based off of it. I created a very detailed guideline to develop her. (My OC is not Estrella Scrolls, I changed it). If you would like to hear more you can always ask! Also, I will be posting a blog either today or tomorrow, giving a detailed version of her. :)
~ Estrella Scrolls (soon going to be changed to Estrella Essentia)
2742491 Thank you for giving your opinion. I feel the same.
2742512
Alrighty, my definition of OC is a character that you create yourself, thus having the "Original" title. Stellar Bubbles is just an OC that I based off of myself. But, I feel ashamed by saying this, but I only created my OC so that I could have a profile picture and an easy username, since I'm bad with names and I have no idea what to put.
However, as time passed by, I realized that Stellar Bubbles should have the "Character" in OC, so I made a backstory for her later on.
2743315 Thank you, this is exactly what I mean. I'm glad we agree.