My thoughts on OC characters-races · 2:16pm May 18th, 2018
Throughout my time in the fandom I've seen plenty of original characters and made my own as well. My opinion on OCs has changed from time to time, and I wonder what you guys think about them. Here are my thoughts on OCs based on race, and feel free to give me yours.
Now, although I don't have too much writing here, I have done quite a bit off site, and I have had several table top RPGs and RPs that let me see many different kinds of characters in different lights.
Earth Ponies, Pegasus Ponies, and Unicorns-
They're the standard ponies of the MLP universe as I'm assuming everyone here knows, and what most people's OC are. Earth Ponies are the least common it looks like, and most people pick Unicorns for their characters. They're usually easy to fit into stories and most fit into the cannon of the world pretty well (of course the person could give them a story that changes that). Many people choose to let their OC just have whatever magic is convenient for the story purposes, but I prefer to keep spells themed to the character and only a few. Over all for writing these are the easiest to work with by far, unless their story makes them hard to place.
Zebras, Griffons, Bat Ponies, and Changelings-
In the show these are shown much less often, and are usually outcasts. Gilda is the only griffon we see for a very long time, Zecroa is shunned by the ponies of Ponyville, bat ponies are only seen in a few scenes with Luna, and the Changelings only recently were shown in a new light. The OCs made from these are also usually outcasts or stand out more. Most changeling and bat pony OCs I've seen have a dark backstory or are otherwise shunned. They're portrayed as the shunned anti-heros, the reluctant protagonists in a world against them or the tragic villains trying to get revenge for how they've been treated. These can be some of the best characters to work with because they easily still fit with cannon and have more story elements to work with. Only have one or two per story though, otherwise they get overwhelming and lose their charm easy. What makes them special is that there's so few of them, having too many makes them lose that appeal and you're usually left with an outcast who isn't really an outcast from anything.
Alicorns and other godlike races-
Generally I avoid these. They're almost impossible to fit into a story without breaking cannon directly and the creator has made them very powerful. While I think it's a wonderful plot element to have a character who performs something absolutely heroic be rewarded in such a way, or perhaps a character searches out the power in a story for some reason or another, most people want their character to be introduced with the powers. They're also typically the outcasts like bat ponies, or simply exist, no story or explanation. The OC is usually also related to the princesses or is tried to be explained in some other way, but they're just very hard to use without breaking cannon completely and I typically avoid them outside of the occasional RP with friends.
Custom Races-
If there's one thing harder to work with than Alicorns, it's custom races. Sometimes it's a simple hybrid of two normally incompatible races, that can be explained easy. Sometimes it's some odd plant pony thing, that just is. They usually break cannon, but unlike Alicorns, simply don't exist in cannon. If the author is flexible and willing they can add them in as an oddity or from somewhere far from Equestria, so it's still within reason, but sometimes they're nearly impossible to work with.
Don't know why I did this, just felt bored and took a break from reading. What are your opinions on the various MLP races and how OCs play their parts in stories?
Red and black OCs are usually disgusting
4863393
Usually, yeah.
YOU LIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
4864519
I doooo.
Well, mine has a nice amount of depth, right? At least he doesn't wanna be godlike.
4900596
I have no problem with your OC, I just can't use him in stories easily.
4901673
Works best in humorous environments.
Like "Brave Vs. A Fly".
Yeah, I agree with much of this... But what about Diamond Dogs?
A part of me wonders how interesting it might be if instead of having a HiE story, people just had them pop into Equestria as one of these races, maybe they're vaguely aware that they were something else but it's a bit hazy.