Akira's Guide to OC Creation





General

Information

Hello! So around the wiki, I've noticed a bunch of trends with ocs, such as similar personalities, lazy mistakes, and many other issues. So, since I love giving advice and excessively coding things, I figured I would make a guide, to help people with their ocs. My goal with this guide is to

-Inform people of common mistakes

-Give advice for improving ocs

-Look at a few ocs and give general critique

That said, this isn't complete, or law, and you're welcome to disregard this information if you see fit. I would also love to get some criticism on the guide itself, and any advice you may have would be quite useful. I hope you find this useful for your characters!

-Muffin

'''PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT THE ADVICE HERE IS ALSO MEANT FOR OCS OUTSIDE OF WARRIOR CATS AND, AS SUCH, SOME OF IT MAY NOT TRANSLATE AS WELL FOR WARRIOR CATS. '''



Terminology

Mary Sue
a character with little to no personality flaws, usually ridiculously attractive and with a nonsensical tragic backstory to boot. Used as an example of what not to do, as well as a word for "perfect" ocs.

Example:

Bella Swan (Twilight)

Canon
Canon refers to the continuity of a work of fiction, be it movie, book, or tv show. Canon can also refer to if something is true in the continuity, such as a ship or a quote.

Examples:

Fireheart x Sandstorm is canon

Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw have talked in canon



What to do

Be well researched
When you're making an oc, research is incredibly useful, and important, especially if you're making a character who is part of a minority. Don't buy into stereotypes as facts. All it does is make you look silly and immature, as well as gullible.

Balance originality with realism
Being original is important, of course. No one wants to see the same basic character types over and over again, and trope-y characters aren't very interesting. However, those character types exist for a reason, and making a spontaneous, disorganized oc is almost as bad. Certain basic personalities (cruel and bloodthirsty, fearful and cowardly, compassionate and brave) work well because they're similar. You can rarely have a brave but cowardly character, or a kind but cruel oc that makes sense, since it's a clashing personality. Try to be original, but don't go crazy and make a mess of a personality. Random doesn't equal complex, and there's a difference between subverting tropes and just throwing personality traits out into the air.

Keep things clear and consistent
Going back to the first point, one common thing I see on the wiki in descriptions is something like this:

''She's grumpy, but not always, and is cowardly but also brave sometimes. ''

A personality should flow together, and make sense, instead of random character traits and contradictions. Additionally, don't keep constantly going back on your character's personality (unless the entire point is how wishy-washy they are). It's a given that no one acts the same in every circumstance, and even a cowardly person can be brave, and a cruel person compassionate. If you still need to do something like shown above, work it into their description. So, for example:

''She acts grumpy towards everyone, but softens up with the people she's close to, and acts kinder. She's quite the coward for the most part, and easy to push around. That said, if you push her on a subject she's passionate about, or people she cares about, she gets much more stubborn and strong-willed.''

It's not a perfect fix, but it sounds at least slightly more natural and like an actual personality. Above all though, just avoid making wishy-washy personalities.

Have fun with your oc
Seriously, don't be worried too much about making terrible characters. Everyone's made them at some point, and, in all honesty, they're fun while they last. I'm not saying to try to make them, but you don't need to be overly worried about having a less than stellar oc. We all start out trash

Change as needed
Your character isn't set in stone, and you can always redo them, or, in the very least, fix small things. If you know your oc is flawed, and can be fixed,  change them. I redo characters that I don't like all the time, until I'm comfortable with them for the time being. It's not unusual for people to go through drafts of ocs before they settle on a personality/appearance/backstory they like.



What not to do

Insert your oc into the canon of the series
This is more of a general oc making tip, rather than one aimed at the wiki, but don't write in a character into the already existing story (writing them into ThunderClan during Firestar's leadership, making them co-leader of BloodClan with Scourge, and so on). Not only do those characters tend to turn out terribly, but it requires a sizeable amount of stretching canon.

Write only positive/negative personalities
Everyone's a mixture of different traits, and it's important to keep that in mind when writing a personality. No one's personality is completely good, or bad, or neutral. Everyone has a mixture of these traits, and favoring either side heavily is a bad idea. You can still have characters that aren't morally just, or have more negative traits as a whole, but don't make it completely one-sided.

Write unrealistic self-inserts
Honestly, this one isn't so bad. It's possible to have a balanced self-insert, and it's honestly a pretty good idea to write your own flaws/personality traits into characters, or the traits of others. The problem comes when the creator decides to make the self-insert everything they can't be, and make it overpowered. This usually results in a "Mary-Sue" (an overpowered, "perfect" character, with little depth and interesting development).

Being unclear/vague
'''Go. Into. Detail. '''Think out small little silly details, and fit them in. Give your ocs little wuirks and individual features, tells and secrets. People are complex, and your oc should be too. Write a paragraph or more for personality when designing them, flesh out their past. Explore your ocs in roleplay, and in your own head as much as you want. Don't just list off a few generic traits, slap a piece of stolen art on, and call it an oc, because that's dishonest and lazy.

Steal other people's ocs/art
Just... don't do it, man. It'll get you nowhere but friendless and uncreative. Taking inspiration from someone is fine, or remembering cool character traits and appearances. However, blatantly stealing aspects from someone's oc, or, even worse, stealing their art, is downright nasty. Using generic reference images off of Google is tolerable on the wiki, though credit should be given to the artist. Taking someone's specific oc art, and using their design, personality, and backstory, with minor tweaks, is not.

Ignore criticism/advice
While advice is, well, advice, usually people are giving you it for a reason. Use your own judgement, take a step back, and see if what they're saying is accurate, and reasonable. Not everyone is going to give good criticism, but blowing up like a pufferfish and refusing to listen just hurts yourself, and your characters.

Tips

Start with a prompt
When you're first starting a character, a good thing to do is start with a prompt, or basic idea of what you want, and build from there. This can be anything from: "Friendly vampire girl", "insecure and snappy human", or "steampunk inventor with anxiety". From there, branch out and flesh them out. My usual method is something like this:

Prompt -> Personality -> Appearance -> Backstory -> Extra info -> Revisions 

Know the world
this isn't as big a concern if it's your own original thing, but if you're making an oc for a fandom, know the rules for the fandom. And yes, there are always rules for what ocs make sense and what don't. Especially in Warrior Cats. Remember what makes sense for cats to know, and check genetics, though those are less important for Warrior Cats.

Know your character
Roleplaying is about staying in character, having them move through the world as thhough they were their own people. Know your character, know how they would react and how they would act. And yes, that does also mean making the same mistakes your oc would make.

Play around with ideas
Once again, just let your thoughts go wild. Don't put yourself down for harmless ideas, and try new combinations. If you're unsure about an idea, try asking others for advice as well, though this doesn't always turn out well. Don't be afraid to try out new things with your characters, or new ideas.



Want me to

review your Oc?

I'm always willing to review ocs, and hey, here's another chance. If you want me to review your character, drop me a message on my wall with the form filled out. Just make sure everything's complete, and it's from one of the fandoms I actually know ^^. I'm also pretty busy, so some of them may not be reviewed right away.


 * -|Fandoms I'll review=

-Homestuck

-Welcome to Night Vale

-Warrior cats

-Undertale

-HTTYD (books and movies)

-Gravity falls

- Creepypastas

- Harry potter

- Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin

- Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus

- The Inheritance Cycle

- Pokemon

- Soul Eater

-Steven Universe

-FullMetal Alchemist (I watched Brotherhood, so I might not know everything)

-Hetalia

-Avatar the last Airbender -MLP

-most things by Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli

-Wolfs rain

-The Golden Compass

-Teen Titans

-Wings of Fire

-Over the Garden Wall

-Artemis Fowl

-DHMIS

-Voltron Legendary Defenders

-Furry Fandom

-Overwatch

-Battleborn

-Six of Crows

-some of Terry Pratchett's stuff

-Young Justice (tv show)

-Be More Chill


 * -|Form=

Fandom:

Oc page?:

Name & Explanation:

Weight/Height:

Species:

Abilities/Powers (if you have them, if not put N/A):

Appearance:

Personality:

Backstory:

Family members/Friends

Love interest (if you have one, if not put N/A)

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Fears:

Extra:


 * -|Characters Reviewed=

Wolfclaw (Warrior Cats)

Emily (Voltron)

Princess Spectre (Wings of Fire)

Tartarus (No Fandom)