Hello once more you sorry excuses for bipedal sentiency! It is I! Your messiah incarnate! All mega-inflated egos aside, today's Faux Paux will be focusing on OCs, or Original Characters.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about (which is none of you but bare with me) An O.C is an original character that has been created by either You, or another male/female/Dalek/Raptor of jesus. All joking aside, it is a pony that is not cannon. Now, O.Cs are a blank slate, and are KEY tools in story crafting. Original characters can aid the main character, serve as an antagonist or even the main antagonist, they can serve as the main character of your story's best friend, lover, or even family member. The uses for them are countless. Now, for some reason, people only see one thing about O.Cs and one thing only: A way to fulfill wishful thinking. Now I don't mean everyone, but again, bare with me.

For this particular segment, I will be using Your Average New Author or Y.A.N.A. Say hi Yana!

"OMG OMG OMG YOU GUYZ SHOULD SO TOTALLY READ MY STORY AND FAVORITE AND-"

*gets smacked with a frying pan* No! Ahem. Yana, what do you think an O.C should be?

"An O.C should be a person or pony who gets transported to Equestria and is awesoem and because he needs to be awesoeme to have a good story!"

....*Deep inhale* Yana, first off, go read a book, that is not how you spell awesome.

"NO! YOU'RE RONG! IT'S AWESOMEME!"

*SMACK!*

"Owww!"

That's what you get. And no, what you are describing is something called "wishful thinking". (And I know some of you have seen me use that term) Wishful thinking implies your want for something. In this case, to be transported into Equestria. These people, or W.Trs (wishful thinkers) use an O.C, their OC to create a world in which they..basically take themselves into Equestria. These O.Cs are easy to spot, and as such, here're a few tips to catch one.

1: Their O.C has garish coloring (Pink Mane with Black coat and yellow stripes)

2: They have a very foul mouth, and often wake up in the Everfree forest after finding a portal or getting killed.

3: They have a "special power". These include the power to become a flaming Alicorn, ability to go faster than Rainbow Dash, ability to wield a gun without any proper instructions, and ability to control the sun, ability to become a ghost, and any such outlandish power that doesn't fit nor have any purpose in Equestria.

4: Their OC has a strange name that doesn't fit within the bounds of ponydom or even Equestria (A.E: Sharp Shot, Lightning Flash, Flame Blaze,) They will always be foul mouthed, brash, and mildly abusive.

"Okay! But there are good stories with all that in them! Like Living the drea-"

*Another Frying pan upside the forehead*

And that Yana, is a prime example of Wishful thinking. Notice how he DIED and went to Equestria, became an angel, and instantly fell in love with Twilight even though their personalities are on..basically opposite ends of the Spectrum. Here's a hint about love all you aspiring writers: Be it pony or human, sentient creatures tend to bond with those similar to themselves.

And the whole becoming an angel thing? That's another sign of a bad O.C, they will either be absolutely pathetic, or they will be absolutely overpowerd, there is no middle ground for some reason so people will create characters that either get black-mailed and beaten senseless by a gang of kittens or destroy worlds with their farts.

"Okay! Okay! So how do you make a good O.C oh wise one?"

*Another smack* Have some respect young lady!

To create a good O.C, first of all, don't make them gruff macho-men or girly girls. Or hay, don't make them bad mouthed. No matter how much you say you will, you will NEVER just up and start cursing at your best friend for whatever reason. Also, if you ARE going to do a self-insert, then be as down to the detail as possible. And why I include this is odd because when people do self-inserts; they don't actually insert themselves, they insert the qualities of people they aspire to be (a.e: douche-bag smart mouths). If YOU are going to go to Equestria, then make it YOU going to Equestria, not Enrique Iglesias the sassy smart talking Spec Ops soldier. Nobody wants to read that. And also, give your O.Cs plenty of lines of dialogue. This doesn't mean your main character, this means ALL the O.Cs.

Instead of having your character have a brief conversation with his/her counterpart, actually have the two talking as they walk and such. And for this you might want to observe someone (IRL) talking because you'd be surprised all the things humans do when they talk. Take this for
---
example

Bad O.C dialogues: "Dude! You wanna go grab some pizza?" Asked Lightning Flash, his began to smile at the thought of it's mouth watering Aroma. Silver Gun laughed.

"Nah bro, I gotta go home because Pinkie wanted something. Bye!"

That is right there is conversation 101. Something we as authors, SHOULD NEVER resort to in order to keep a story flowing.

Good O.C dialogue: "Dude! Wanna grab some pizza?" Asked Lightning Flash, his eyes lighting up as he dopily smiled. Lighting had always been a simple pegasus, give him some junk food, a game, and he'd be happy for a week. Silver Bullet stopped to ponder this as the two made their way down Stirrup Street. One one hoof Pinkie had wanted him to get back as soon as possible from his job, babbling about a surprise. One the other, Lightning Flash had always been his best friend, and he always reminded Silver about a dog. They both didn't take rejection lightly.

"Nah man, Pinkie wanted me to get back home, something about a surprise." He stated, his voice deject at the proposal of turning down his friend.

----

"Ooooh! I see now!"

But see, that's only part of my point. In a fandom, people as readers don't want to see a fellow man/woman's self-fullfilment fantasy, and if you resort to writing an O.C story, make them as commically goofy, angry, paranoid, or annoying as possible. Too many times have I seen people try to make a complicated O.C only for their creation to become another Mary Sue or Gary Stu! Here's my advice, make them as OPPOSITE from you as possible, it serves as great practice in writing emotion and will help you write rich caricatures that stick with your readers.

Now, any questions?

(I know I'm leaving a whole lot out so feel free to ask away.)

And now I know. AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!

Great Wandering D do you sound like Wanderer D.

The bit about self-inserts is all very informative and correct. I write the things, and try to make my character as much like myself as possible, and people actually seem not to dislike it. Your informative lectures seem to be influenced by a certain moderator on this site. This is not a bad thing.

336222>>336217 You two keep saying that.

In truth, yes I've read his blogposts (like everyone else) But I kinda just ramble on these, and it tends to get away from me.

336228 Oh, right.

Oh yeah. People get mixed up between "Self Insert" and "Glorified Me Character". A self insert is when you insert yourself into a story. When you take yourself and make him the most powerful man/pony in the universe, it's a Glorified Me Character.

I personally find accurate self inserts much more interesting than a self insert that is epic and cool. It gives you a look inside of the author's head, and how they perceive the world around them. It's more of a mental journey than a physical one.

336216 G.I JOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEE.

Hello you sorry excuses for bipedal senticy!

…That's it? No other witty insults? No "if I see or hear you do this I'm going to shove your head up the bodily crevice known as your asshole"? If this is some sick twisted joke, it's not funny. But this lecture was very informative and I enjoyed it greatly. Thank you

you will NEVER just up and start cursing at your best friend for whatever reason.

Really? You obviously are not close enough fiends with the people you call "friends" then.

I will spontaneously combust in a fit of swearing at my friends and they'll do it back. All in good fun, never serious.

Reading this gave me the epiphany to create a long and drawn out story about this abomination in my profile pic, where it speaks via deathly gurgles...

I need sleep... very badly, but this was quite useful information so I might not create digital shite that's distributed to every person on the bloody planet so they may inhale its odor to further my embarrassment within the vast expanse of the internet. Fuckin need to stop rambling

336214
So who ever who wants it can create a O.C!?
Also, you have presasly inspierd me to do a story with me and my friends as ponys!

2254412 Just...be careful.

2254591
yes sir! I'm not even planing to do one, just happy to know that I have the opertunity to do one if I want to.

2254651
Plus that I now know a lot more about them that befor! thanks!

Okay. About that superpower thing...

What if my OC's special power is sniffing out hidden cheese? Would that be wishful thinking?

(this isn't a joke, my OC actually has that ability...)

2264006
Is that your OC's destiny in life?

I mean, sniffing out hidden cheese is pretty specific and it could be just something he can do.

Not only would it suck to have that be your destiny, but it also sounds a little hard to write about considering you'd have to incorporate that like a lot.

2264142

It's just a special thing he could do, not his destiny.

My newest O.C's talent is Astrology and story telling. While it's a Human to Pony O.C I try not to bring that up outside of maybe the first chapter and when necessary.

I'll admit that most of the OC's I write tend to sound extremely sue-ish whenever I try to explain them in brief detail, mostly because a lot of what I write happens to be very de-constructive, which obviously happens to be heavy in spoilers, which makes it impossible to describe my characters in a manner that doesn't accentuate their more fantastical traits... *Sigh*

336214
You're just jelly that my OCs are better than yours.
Don't steal plz or I'll sue.

I've made an alicorn oc. Simply the fact that he's an alicorn apparently makes him a mary sue. Why is this? I'm very confused. I've asked why alicorns are bad... but they just keep saying 'it's just cause hes an alicorn!' and not giving much of a reason.

3344982
Most of the reasoning comes from the power Alicorns wield. They have the magic of Unicorns, the flying of Pegasi, and the toughness of Earth ponies. It's not so much that the character is a Mary Sue, it's the fact that from square one they are already at a huge advantage over 99% of the population.

Plus, a lot of self insert Alicorn OCs that end up being Mary Sue/wish fulfillment have left a bad taste in people's mouth.

There's nothing that says you can't do it. Just know that you're going to get judged heavily if you do.

336214
"AWESOMEME"
I believe it's pronounced AWESOMAYMAY, dummkopf.

336214 Good point. Most of my OCs are villains... So they don't get favorable luck. Most of them die. Or get severely punished. Or both.

... My OC gets abducted into Equestria and she writes about her adventures there.
Does this make my OC a bad character/ the story a bad story?
I mean, I was holding my breath by 'OC gets transported into Equestria' until I came by the part of 'bad colors/ bad mouth/ etc, but they don't apply for her... right?

Is humans an O.C?

3451944
That depends on whether or not you created them. Human characters like Wolverine from X-Men and Dan from Dan VS wouldn't be OCs. If you make up a human, then it's an original character.

OCs and humans in Equestria are both things that aren't particularly popular. Amateur writers tend to falter when it comes to their own characters. I've read one good 'human' fic, and more than a few decent OC-centric fics.

3344982 Before I begin, let me tell you who my absolute least favorite superhero of all time is...

Superman.

Your might ask "You don't like Superman?!" to which I answer that I not only dislike him, I have label associated for characters like him. My dislike for him comes from the fact that he's basically a God; he's invulnerable, has super strength, can fly and doesn't need protection to do so in freakin' space and this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what he can do.

In essence, he's perfect and always wins, even when kryptonite is involved.

So the reason Alicorn OCs - and a number of human OCs that come to Equestria and get powers - are hated is because they all too often suffer "Superman Syndrome"; they're perfect and always win. They also tend to do what they want, regardless of silly things like "Laws", and are never held accountable for their actions, and also pick up females with a glance.

Human OCs are slightly different, but tend towards the same problem; they're bratty, listen to edgy music, beat up ponies at the drop of a hat, drop more f-bombs than a South Park episode and are never held accountable when they break the Law.

I've seen HiE stories start out great, with believable OCs and encounters... then a lot of them go to Equestria and suddenly the main character turns out be a lost Element of Haromny and becomes an Alicorn or he turns into Super-Ezio-Space-Marine-Saiyan-Shinobi-Dragonborn-Soul-Reaper guy.

If your Alicorn OC is believable and not overpowered, it should be fine.

3344982 3345780 3522060 I myself have an Alicorn OC, but he's not that powerful, since Sombra kicked his butt, and he's fallen for a few of Discords pranks. He's not all powerful, due to the fact that he does lose every so often. He's come out on top a few times, but he's had help in those fights. Even when he has help, something bad always seems to happen. He's been lucky enough not to die, but he's been too close a few times, and was very close to death if others hadn't arrived to save his skin.

Put it simply, he did fight against Celestia and Luna, and was having trouble avoiding their attacks. Even if it was some sort of training, they didn't hold back on him, and of course, thanks to Discord placing a banana peel in his path, he slipped and got sent flying into a wall.

So, does he sound overpowered if he got beat by a banana peel thanks to Discord, or if Sombra beat him?

3522075
It sounds fine, although I would worry about pushing him too far in the other direction and making the audience question why he is an alicorn versus being just a normal unicorn. Even the most bumbling of characters still have their moments of bad-assery; bad stuff's not going to happen every fight. Sometimes, you just get lucky.

That being said, I like the needing help to win. Maybe not all the time, but even Celestia and Luna often require outside assistance on certain matters.

So yeah, overall I would say it shouldn't be too bad the way he is. Try to keep him balanced between powerful and still beatable. Those are what I would look for when there's an alicorn OC in a fight, but without actually reading the character I would be hesistant to come up with more specific suggestions.

3522116 he started out as an Earth Pony, and the fact that he's not from Equestria will make him different. And there are times he will fight an opponent by himself, such as the end of a massive war, he fought another Alicorn and was able to win, but not kill him, considering when Crim was walking away, he got hit with a spell that took away his flight. In the end of everything, it all turns out alright, but there are many things he did in his past that he regrets.

3522075 When I said "Not overpowered" I didn't necessarily mean "Loses occasionally". I meant that he doesn't have godlike powers, he's not better at everything than everyone else, or can disregard things because of "lolMC armor".

3522156 That... made me cringe.

3522205 what did?

3522215

he started out as an Earth Pony, and the fact that he's not from Equestria will make him different. And there are times he will fight an opponent by himself, such as the end of a massive war, he fought another Alicorn and was able to win, but not kill him, considering when Crim was walking away, he got hit with a spell that took away his flight. In the end of everything, it all turns out alright, but there are many things he did in his past that he regrets.

The whole statement made me cringe. Particularly that "things he did in his past" bit, that really turned me off from your character.

EDIT: It just feels to me like you're trying to make your OC "different" from other Alicorn OCs and ultimately falling into the same clichés anyway.

3522241 some things were not good at all, and made him more of a demon to many. You have to remember, these Alicorns are not from Equestria, so they do things that many would not like, including kill. If you knew about the nations these different Alicorns are from, it would be better to understand.

You really think I'll have him born an Alicorn. Too many have most likely done that, and he had to prove himself to become one, and even then, he didn't have godlike powers, since he didn't know how to use magic or fly very well.

3522250 Easy, dude, easy. Just stating my opinion.

Honestly, it doesn't matter what I, or anyone else, says about your OC; If you like him, and you're happy with him, then write as you see fit.

The story is yours and yours alone, and no one but you determines how you write it.

3522258 Hey, like I said, to fully understand these Alicorns, you have to know their homelands. Many aren't even from one place, but two or three others.
Here's something about them that can help.
Imperial Alicorns: Not as rare as Equestria, and more into fighting. They believe in being there with their soldiers, helping to try and turn defeat into victory.
Dragon Empire Alicorns: More ruthless, though many of them were kind. The worst of them would sacrifice young to some sort of idol.
Knight Alicorns: Not much is known about them
Lennex Alicorns: The most ruthless of all. They will stop at nothing to win, and will kill all who stand in their way, including mares, colts, and fillies.

It will be a while longer until I deem the story ready. Still have some extra details to fill in.

This doesn't mean your main character, this means ALL the O.Cs.

I want to add that it looks quite terrible when authors try to give every character an equal amount of dialogue in a Chapter.

I see this every now and then in stories written by under-experienced writers, and I even did this when I was younger. Just because X has a long monologue, doesn't mean that Y and Z need to have long dialogues that amount to X's monologue.

Can someone talk more on how to balance a character out. I plan on making a story where the character literally gets the powers of Jesus. (Do not look at me like that, I'm just using a mage type from a book by Orson Scott card(guy who made Ender's game)) and even in the book he was over powered and I'm afraid I'm going to turn him into a worse Mary Sue than the one from the book.

In addition, their actions must have consequences. Personally, this is one thing that annoys me most. I have seen way too many examples of various OC's mouthing off to Celestia or Luna without consequences, for example, and still remaining in their good graces.

That and the Mane 6 instantly becoming his/her best friends. Considering how different they are, if your OC has anything resembling a strong personality, he/she will clash with at least one of the main cast.

336214

Here's my advice, make them as OPPOSITE from you as possible, it serves as great practice in writing emotion and will help you write rich caricatures that stick with your readers.

That makes sense. But what about the saying "write what you know"?

336214
question but you mentiond peoplw putting stuff that wouldant fit in equestria or the world a self inserts go wrong in or a bad oc area but what about AU where they fit in like that or in my guys case bound to litteral demons and can reality hop sure sounds op but not so much when hes in a realm with demons in it or against more powerful foes.

and thats not including the fact half the time they want to be left alone and dont get involed or use the abilites they can use so did you mean main canon continuity or all continuities?