Line #9 Main/OCStandIn


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7	A SisterTrope of OriginalCharacter, and the {{fanfic}} equivalent of AscendedExtra. An OC Stand-in is a canon FlatCharacter that gets little screentime or few (if any) lines, and therefore can be molded into whoever the fan wants. Often, they may not even [[NoNameGiven have canonical names]]. Thus, an OC Stand-in is ''like'' an OC, but the fact that these characters usually have ''some'' preset characteristics already means the author has some general direction to go in.
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9	Sometimes, these characters are just used to insult the heroes and make life hard for them, giving the character little point. Does Franchise/HarryPotter really need another teacher who's out to get him? Hasn't Franchise/{{Naruto}} dealt with enough crap already? In these cases, the character is simply used to replace the {{canon}} obstacles for TheHero with smaller and (sometimes) more realistic ones. An OC Stand-in is sometimes used to save a main character from being bashed... The OC Stand-in [[TheScapegoat is then bashed instead]].
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11	However, there are cases, even when the OC Stand-in is "high school evil", that these characters turn out likeable. Or, at least, the {{Fanfic}} does.
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13	In video games, the ''canon protagonist'' is sometimes an OC Stand-in, due to being a FeaturelessProtagonist, a HeroicMime, and/or a highly customizable RPG player character.
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15	A particularly successful [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation interpretation]] of one of these is likely to ascend into {{Fanon}} when other fans want to play with that version. At that point, if the canon work decides to flesh out this character, then you've got an example of AscendedFanon (if it matches) or OutdatedByCanon (if it doesn't).
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17	Also known as an "Original Canon Character" or OCC. This term isn't to be confused with OutOfCharacter, unless the stand-in's character goes against what little characterization the canon character has. Also contrast with RecurringFanonCharacter, an Original Character who never appeared in the original work at all, but became so popular as to appear in many fanworks not by their original creator.
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19	Related to MemeticBystander.
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21	!!Example subpages (by medium of the source material):
22
23	[[index]]
24	* OCStandIn/AnimeAndManga
25	* OCStandIn/VideoGames
26	* OCStandIn/WesternAnimation
27	[[/index]]
28
29	!!Other examples:
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31	[[foldercontrol]]
32
33	[[folder:Canon Examples]]
34	* Aeneas has a very minor role in ''Literature/TheIliad'', but Virgil made him the protagonist of ''Literature/TheAeneid'', partly because he was such a blank slate and partly because he was one of the few Trojans to survive the sack of Troy (and since the Trojans were supposed to be the ancestors of the Romans, they were obviously the good guys). This makes this trope, [[OlderThanFeudalism you guessed it]]...
35	* ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', a crossover that featured characters from the first 12 ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games, had to pretty much create personalities for the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior of Light]] and the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Onion Knight]] from the wholecloth as both of them were featureless protagonists. It should also be noted that the latter could have possibly been avoided if the game used Luneth or one of the other three orphans from the DS remake instead of the OK kids from the NES version, but that wouldn't quite fit what the game was going for.
36	* Zagreus, the main character of ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', is this trope by necessity. The game revolves around [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek mythology]], and the original Zagreus from Greek myth is a very minor and obscure deity with hardly any surviving records about him, typically being part of Dionysus' MultipleChoicePast whenever he's mentioned at all. As a result, the game's interpretation of Zagreus (mainly inspired by the Greek playwright Aeschylus' mention of him as the son of Hades) is an entirely new character who's [[DecompositeCharacter separate from Dionysus]].
37	* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':
38	** Media relating to the books likes to do this with the Nazgûl, since they're clearly important figures, but the only ones to be even slightly fleshed out are the Witch-King, whose life prior to becoming a wraith is still a complete mystery, and Khamûl the Easterling, whose character consists of his name and ethnicity. Any media not wanting to simply name them "Nazgûl three through nine" (which, funnily, [[YouAreNumberSix was the solution one of the card games went with]]) will usually give them backstories or personalities of some kind.
39	** Gothmog is the second-in-command of Minas Morgul who took over the army at Pelennor after the Witch-King died. This is the entire extent of what we know about him, with even his species being indeterminate, as he's mentioned once in the entire series, not even being filled out in the appendices. However, given that there are relatively few named villains in the books, especially high-ranking ones, quite a few derivative works have ended up filling him out more. [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Peter Jackson films]] made him into a severely disfigured orc general, ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' turned him into [[FallenHero the lost king Eärnur]], having been transformed into a wraith, and the ''War of the Ring'' tabletop game depicted him as [[TheFaceless a humanoid warrior in heavy concealing armor.]]
40	* Rosencrantz and Guildenstern -- [[AscendedExtra very minor characters]] in ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' -- become the protagonists of Tom Stoppard's ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead''.
41	* Many ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' series have done this, as the backlog of canon is laden with characters who have previously received little to no characterization.
42	** The ''More Than Meets the Eye'' profile series put out by Dreamwave had to do this to a lot of late-G1 characters who had little to nothing in the way of bios. Micromaster team bios referred to the team as a whole, which meant any new information had to come from the writers.
43	** ''ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'' largely focused on a team of Autobots who had previously made almost no fictional appearances, and whose bios rarely elaborated on them much more than "good pilot" or "weapons specialist." Its cowriter, James Roberts, would go on to be heavily involved in ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' (no relation), which gave heavy development to characters like Swerve, Rewind, Tailgate, and Krok, whose previous characterization was reserved to bios and could generally be summed up as a single gimmick ([[DrivesLikeCrazy "bad driver"]], for instance).
44	** The ''Ask Vector Prime'' FourthWallMailSlot CharacterBlog provided additional background to a lot of characters who had previously had little to go on. A particular case was Spacewarp, based on a toy that was never even ''released'' at retail and therefore had no bio whatsoever, whom the blog depicted as a daring explorer and AntiVillain [[VillainProtagonist Protagonist]] with an arrogant streak, as well as confirming her gender to be female. Not only did she [[AscendedExtra end up holding down the blog for a while]], she even got her first actual new toy out of it.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Comic Books]]
48	* In the (admittedly small) fandom for the ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'' comics and related spin-offs, OneSceneWonder [[DyingMomentOfAwesome Edgar Vargas]] was commonly used this way during the mid/late 2000s. Mostly that's because Vargas was popularized as a potential shipping partner for Johnny, since GuyOnGuyIsHot and the only other "main" characters in the actual comic are women, children, or imaginary disembodied voices (probably for [[TrollingCreator exactly this reason]]). Funnily enough, the original fanfic to use the character, while it did establish the ship, focused mostly on CharacterDevelopment and his characterization stayed fairly consistent afterward, with the original fanfic being used as the {{Fanon}} basis for everything that followed. Vargas was eventually popular enough to merit his own character filter on fanfiction.net.
49	* ''ComicBook/ProjectSuperpowers'' could be considered this on a ''company-wide'' scale, adapting PublicDomain heroes from UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks and giving them personalities and characterisation not seen before.
50	* [[http://www.alara.net/opeople/xbooks/virtuous.html This]] ''ComicBook/XMen'' fic is one of the rare PossessionSue cases. It takes a very obscure character (ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s canonically-dead wife Magda) and turns her from a meek woman whose only real moment of characterization was fleeing her husband after he accidentally killed a bunch of people into a [[FountainOfYouth de-aged]] (since, as a Holocaust survivor, she should be fairly old, even with ComicBookTime) [[GadgeteerGenius genius roboticist]] mutant with a power that's supposedly completely unique and desirable enough that people would kidnap her for it (despite there already being a canon character with the same power whom no one makes much of a fuss over).
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
54	* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'':
55	** The Little Red-Haired Girl from ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' is an unseen character (though she made a few tantalizing non-canon appearances in television specials), and we know nothing about her personality since Charlie Brown doesn't have the guts to talk to her and, hence, really knows nothing about her himself. Any time she appears in a fanfic, she is this trope by necessity.
56	** ''Peanuts'' is actually full of minor characters who get used as OC stand-ins. Of particular note are [[TokenBlack Franklin]], Violet (usually AlphaBitch, especially in stories that require Lucy to be slightly nicer and need a {{replacement\| flat character}} villain), and [[FlatCharacter Shermy]] (whose character trait in most fanfics is ''having no character traits at all'', unless he's TheAce to Charlie Brown as he was in several early strips).
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Fan Works]]
60	* ''Fanfic/AmaranthineShadows'': The fic has a rather particular and more fleshed-out version of Galatea from ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub''. Galatea is a very, very minor character in the series. In canon, she's a plot device whose only purpose is to be rescued by Musa so the latter can gain her Enchantix and use her Fairy Dust to heal the former's ripped-off wings. One might think that any fairy would suffer severe trauma after losing her wings by a witch's hands, even if said fairy later regained them. Winx Club's creators shoved aside all of this after that episode so this fanwork occupies itself on correcting the loose ends. Galatea indeed gets PTSD afterward and a real personality. She's a perfectionist, she's haughty, and since her wings don't immediately grow again after being healed by Musa, she thrives for power in order to regain control.
61	* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': The author confirmed that characters Tejada, Sergeant Travis and Kauffman are [=O.C. Stand-ins=] of notable nameless {{Mook}}s in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019''. Travis is also based on a named minor character in the movie's {{novelization}}.
62	* Three background ponies from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' - Lightning Bolt, Cloud Kicker and Medley - had little screen time and almost no lines in the show. In ''Fanfic/AceCombatTheEquestrianWar'', they are a part of a [[TheSquad heroic]] [[BadassCrew squadron]] and become a CommunicationsOfficer, PluckyGirl and LittleMissBadass respectively.
63	* ''Fanfic/BlazBlueAlternativeRemnant'': Tortuga was only ever mentioned in passing in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', with the only thing known about him being that he was the member of the Ace Ops before Marrow. In this story, he fully appears and has some dynamics with Harriet, is given the last name of Chartreuse, and his death is shown.
64	* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Kelvin the labradoodle is a New York street stray mentioned briefly in the movie by his pigeon friends, but is not seen. He appears in "The Protection Payment" and "The Seer" in this series, characterized as a prognosticator with a highly-developed moral streak who vociferously disapproves of the way Mittens treats his avian pals. The cat mistakes him for a hot-headed CloudCuckoolander.
65	* ''Fanfic/CindersAndAshesTheChroniclesOfKamenRiderDante'' does this to quite a few characters from ''Anime/ReCREATORS'', namely Melt and Shimashima, who were a minor background character seen only in the opening and an off-hand namedrop in a flashback respectively. Here, they become major, recurring characters, with Melt being the DarkMagicalGirl counterpart to Mamika and Shimashima being a ReasonableAuthorityFigure.
66	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':
67	** ''Fanfic/{{Daemorphing}}'' fleshes out a couple of alien races that were only mentioned in passing in canon. The Ssstram (briefly mentioned by Temrash 114 in ''The Capture'') were one of the first species the Yeerks conquered, but they're not seen on Earth because its gravity is too strong for them. The Kelbrid, a warrior race that went to war with the Andalites so long ago that neither can remember what the other looks like, [[spoiler:are colonies of psychically-linked, aquatic worms who travel outside of their ships in water bubbles.]]
68	** In ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'', the girl who Tom followed into a Sharing meeting, who was only mentioned in passing in ''The Capture'', is fleshed out into a character named Bonnie Park.
69	* ''Fanfic/FrozenHeartsRedWitch'': Thanks to the fic being made before we had any idea of what she was like, Betty is this.
70	* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' has Chloe Cerise from ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries''. When the author began writing, the canon Chloe had little in the way of characterization beyond "dislikes Pokémon" and "hates being seen as 'the Professor's daughter'", so she was made into a NightmareFetishist and aspiring horror writer. While both versions of Chloe would slowly become more accepting of Pokémon in their lives, the fic's relationship with the creatures ends there, while the canon Chloe becomes a trainer.
71	* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBoilingPoint'':
72	** Boscha is a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example. While her personality as a cruel, arrogant bully is kept intact, several layers are added to make her a more complex character, now coming across as TheSocialDarwinist that functions on BlueAndOrangeMorality.
73	** Skara is a more straightforward example. In canon, she's the InnocentBetaBitch to Boscha's AlphaBitch... and that's it. In here, she's turned into a quirky MagicalFlutist who's a StepfordSmiler BeneathTheMask.
74	** On the Infinity Train side of things, outside of Lucy, none of the named Apex children showed much personality. The most they did was when Simon and Grace fought, but that's more as a ''group'' rather than as individuals. In here, they're given more concrete personalities: Lucy's a NiceGirl, Lindsay's an AlphaBitch, Todd's a gamer, and Alex is GenreSavvy.
75	* ''Fanfic/InkopolisChaos'': Many major characters' appearances are inspired by nigh-nameless characters:
76	** Samuel, Sylvia, Luke, and Melody are based on the default Inklings found in ''VideoGame/Splatoon1'' and ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'''s promotional material.
77	** Natalie and her brother Dylan are based on the default player Octolings.
78	** Ruby and Obsidian are based on [[EliteMooks enemy Octolings]], with the latter having black hair like the elite variant.
79	* ''Fanfic/JannaVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Janna, though the canon character from [[WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil the show]] would go on to become an AscendedExtra. While she shares a few personality traits with the show's Janna, this Janna differs in everything from surname, to ethnicity, to home situation, to even her relationship with Marco (which is now a more balanced FriendlyEnemy dynamic as opposed to prankster and victim).
80	* Rei from ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'' is often used as an O.C. stand-in when a female love interest is needed (as in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13226631/1/Shigeko-Kageyama-AKA-Mob Shigeko Kageyama AKA Mob]]''), or a female friend is needed (as in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/20144614/chapters/47725234 Master and Student]]'').
81	* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2'', a throwaway line in the ending cutscene says that Adam Benford's Vice President was sworn in after Benford's death in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6''. That's the entire extent of what canon says about this person. ''Fanfic/TheProgenitorChronicles'' introduces her as Robin Margaret Kaldwin, who features heavily in Volume III.
82	* ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline'': The DistantFinale ''Exit: Sonic'' reveals that Tekno and Amy have a son named [[DeadGuyJunior Johnny Junior]]. All that's known is that he's still teething, he's Sonic's godson, and he could become a Freedom Fighter one day. This leaves everything, including his species and design, up to interpretation.
83	* ''Fanfic/TheYoungStag'': ''Edric Storm'', who had a very minor role in [[Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire one of the books of the TV series is based on]], is made into one of the primary POV characters for the Stormlands.
84	* ''Fanfic/StevenUniverseAlternateFuture'' does this with many characters listed below in ''Steven Universe'''s section, particularly with many Gems like Citrine and Morganite.
85	* ''Fanfic/VanishingAct'', a ''VideoGame/Persona5'' and ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' crossover fanfic, has one in Shizuka Joestar. This is justified and done out of necessity due to the fact that Shizuka was only a baby in ''JJBA'' canon.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
89	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen\|2013}}'':
90	** King Agnarr and Queen Iduna aren't given much character in the film compared to their daughters (this is especially true for Iduna who shows very little personality compared to her husband and has exactly one line before her death). Due to the fact they're such extraordinarily important characters, fanfic writers have many interpretations of them from well-meaning parents to secretly afraid of Elsa.
91	** The twelve older brothers of Prince Hans are mentioned but never seen in film, [[FreudianExcuse though they played a part in his actions during the film]]. As such, fanfiction that depicts Hans' family usually brings up one or more of his brothers, even giving them names and personalities. Since the release of the semi-canon novel, ''Literature/AFrozenHeart'', which names four of his brothers (Caleb, the oldest and the king's favorite son; Lars, the third-oldest and the only brother nice to Hans; and Rudi and Runo, the twins who were the most abusive to him) as well acknowledging his parents, fanfiction has also fleshed their characters out more.
92	** Honeymaren's only role in ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'' is to serve as MsExposition without any hint of a personality. Yet since she interacts with Elsa in a potentially meaningful LesYay, many fan fic writers love to expand her personality since she is seen as a potential LoveInterest for Elsa, particularly those who support the "#Give Elsa a girlfriend" campaign.
93	* Absolutely epidemic in ''Franchise/TheLionKing'' fandom due to a large number of background characters and semi-canon characters (characters from books and [[ComicBook/TheLionKing comics]]). Unused or non-canon characters are especially apparent in fanon works. The most common are Mheetu (Nala's brother), Kopa/Fluffy (Simba's son from ''Literature/TheLionKingSixNewAdventures''), Tesma (a meerkat friend of Simba), Naanda (Sarabi's sister), and Bhati (a bat-earred fox friend of Simba). Given that most of them don't have much of a personality this leads fan-artists to create their own versions. Sarafina, Sarabi, and Vitani are popular choices for canon characters with little screentime, while characters like Tama from comics and books also frequently appear in fan-works. The topic of whether Sarafina is even alive in the sequel is a common FandomSpecificPlot.
94	* Ariel's many older sisters in ''Franchise/TheLittleMermaid'' are this with fans. They don't have much to go by besides comics and the third movie (along with the occasional picture book), which have little consistency even with the details of their designs. Attina is especially popular thanks to the prequel movie making her the oldest and [[spoiler:having her indirectly causing her mother's death]]. Aquata is also fairly popular as well as she was the oldest in older material, and comics go more in-depth into her grooming to be queen.
95	* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' has the five members of [[BoyBand 4*Town]]: Robaire, Jesse, Tae Young, Aaron Z. and Aaron T.. They only appear in person during the third act and get minimal characterization[[note]]such as Robaire knowing French, Tae Young being a FriendToAllLivingThings and Jesse being a former art student[[/note]], but their popularity among the fanbase led to several fanfics expanding upon them and their dynamics with each other.
96	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}'':
97	** Many of Judy's fellow officers in the ZPD such as Francine, Fangmeyer, Wolfard, [=McHorn=], and others often recieve this treatment, due to being Judy's coworkers but having almost no characterization in the movie besides name and species.
98	** Another common target for this treatment is Jack Savage, a rabbit superspy[[note]]although OC Stand In uses of him often cast him in other roles besides secret agent so long as they are badass, such as a hard-nosed private detective or a reformed ex-hitman, further driving home that they are essentially an OC in all but name and appearance[[/note]] from an early concept of the movie. Likewise, his girlfriend/spy partner Skye, a female fox[[note]]she's seen with him, wielding a harpoon gun, in a piece of concept art, and named by a mechanic's toolbox she carries in another[[/note]]. Unsurprisingly, being another rabbit/fox couple, they're often used to create love triangles or at least a parallel between Nick and Judy's relationship.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
102	* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
103	** Fans of the MCU version of Loki frequently import Sigyn from the comics and/or mythology to have someone with a seemingly legitimate romantic stake on Loki. Because Sigyn has never actually appeared in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, fans are pretty free to make her anything they want her to be. Results range from genuinely good characters to shallow [[SatelliteLoveInterest satellite love interests]].
104	** Almost nothing is known in canon about Riley, Sam's former fellow soldier who was killed in action, but for this same reason he's very popular with the fandom for being a character who's never spoken or appeared in person. Some fans headcanon him as Sam's [[TheLostLenore former lover]] or a brother-in-law, and some fics will depict Sam as naming his pet drone Redwing in his honor.
105	** Darcy Lewis -- a minor character in the first two ''Thor'' films who never made an appearance outside of them until ''Series/WandaVision'' -- became this for a significant chunk of the fandom when it came to shipping, becoming a LauncherOfAThousandShips in record time. Part of this may have to do with what characterization we got for her in the films; as an ordinary-yet-intelligent human and AudienceSurrogate, she was the closest [[MostFanficWritersAreGirls your stereotypical MCU fic writer/reader]] could get to having herself represented in the films.
106	* Uhura's Orion roommate Gaila from ''Film/StarTrek2009'' had only a couple of minutes of screentime and a WordOfGod backstory as having escaped the Orion slave trade on an "underground railroad" of sorts. Fandom took her and turned her into a sex-positive, feminist symbol through which authors often explore cultural taboos regarding sex as well as culture shock and culture clashes.
107	* The ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' is full of characters that hardly get any development that many fanfic writers expand on, some noticeable examples include [[Film/Transformers2007 Annabelle Lennox (and occasionally her parents)]] and Autobots who are not named Optimus Prime and Bumblebee.
108	* ''Franchise/StarWars'''s Boba Fett is by far one of the oldest examples of this phenomenon. In the films, he only had five lines, had next to no personality, and [[WeHardlyKnewYe was killed off relatively early in Return of the Jedi]]. However, because he was a cool looking blank slate for fans to project their fantasies of badassery onto, he became explosively popular.
109	* ''Film/TheHobbit'': Dis, Fili and Kili's mother, is mentioned only briefly in canon but gets a bigger role in many fics that flesh out the Durin family. The most common fanon characterization of her is a tough, takes-no-shit LadyOfWar who looks similar to her brother Thorin and is twice as stubborn as him.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Literature]]
113	* The Starlings from ''Literature/The39Clues'' served as this in many fanfics, having been PutOnABus early on in the first book. That book revealed little more than the fact that they were rich triplets and not very nice, and WordOfGod later claimed that they were part of the [[TheSmartGuy Ekaterina]] branch of [[BigScrewedUpFamily Cahill family]], but other than that, fans were free to fit them with whatever characteristics they wanted. [[spoiler:Then TheBusCameBack.]]
114	* Terry Pratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has dozens and dozens of spear carriers, cameo roles, and placeholders. Named Assassins such as Alice Band, Miss Smith-Rhodes, Madame Deux-Epees, for instance, or the hero and adventurer Howondaland Smith. Characters like this are fertile turf for the fanfic writer. Howondaland Smith gets a tale of his own in ''Fanfic/TheBlackSheep'', which also features Miss Smith-Rhodes and Madame Deux-Epees in their fuller forms.
115	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' is probably one of the most prolific works of fiction when it comes to OC Stand-ins, due to its large cast which contains a lot of {{Bit Character}}s, and named characters who are mentioned only once or twice in passing:
116	** Blaise Zabini gets special mention here, since from his name appearing in book one until he got a physical description in ''Half-Blood Prince'', half the fanfic writers assumed he was a girl, since "Blaise" is more commonly a girl's name in some places. (They've since taken to writing about Daphne Greengrass or Tracey Davis when they need a generic Slytherin girl.)
117	** Daphne Greengrass also gets a lot of attention when authors need a sympathetic Slytherin girl, as she's mentioned just once in the books and therefore escapes the inevitable Slytherin fate of being described as ugly and/or mean (and probably because later material revealed that Draco Malfoy hooks up with her sister Astoria after his HeelFaceTurn). Typically she's said to come from a neutral wizarding family or otherwise isn't connected with the rest of her house, possessing the same traits that Slytherins are known for but without invoking AmbitionIsEvil. Tracey Davis (who's not even mentioned in the books, appearing only in an early draft list of students in Harry's year) also gets this to a lesser extent, often appearing as Daphne's best friend.
118	** Theodore Nott is almost as popular as Blaise. He is usually portrayed as a somewhat good version of Draco Malfoy, or a bookworm loner. It was also once somewhat popular to make Nott a worse version of Draco Malfoy, almost a Tom Riddle 2.0.
119	** At the time of this writing, Marlene [=McKinnon=] has [[https://www.fanfiction.net/book/Harry-Potter/?&srt=1&r=103&c1=2228 1,500+ stories]] on Fanfiction.net. Who is Marlene [=McKinnon=]? An Order member who [[PosthumousCharacter died in the First War]], along with her family; [[DeceasedParentsAreTheBest Lily]] mentions having cried all night when she heard about her death. That's basically all we know about her, but fans have (somewhat reasonably) extrapolated that Marlene and Lily may have been friends, and (less reasonably) concluded that Marlene was [[EnsembleDarkhorse Sirius Black]]'s [[PairTheSpares girlfriend/wife/etc.]], which is where most of her popularity comes from.
120	** Similarly to Marlene is Mary [=MacDonald=]. All we know is that she was a Hogwarts student during the Marauder Era, apparently a Gryffindor, and on speaking terms with Lily, so she works as another friend of hers.
121	** Severus Snape's Hogwarts friends often get this treatment in Marauders or young Snape fanfics. It helps that we are given names for them: Evan Rosier, Avery, Mulciber, Wilkes, Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange. Regulus Black may also count, though in the final book he gets a fair bit of fleshing out [[PosthumousCharacter despite being dead]].
122	** Tom Riddle's "friends" also get this to a lesser extent. Fans especially like to play with the fact that their surnames are the same as many of Snape's friends: Avery, Lestrange, Mulciber, and Rosier.
123	** Creator/ChrisColumbus giving his daughter Eleanor TheCameo by casting her as Susan Bones in the [[Film/HarryPotter first two movies]] might almost count as an "official" version of this. After all, Susan was a background role with no lines, so what better place would there be for the American director to slip his daughter in without affecting the all-British cast requirement? Well, true to form, Susan ended up getting developed into more than just a throwaway name in the books written after the first two movies came out. The latter films handled this by simply not including her plotline, which they likely would have done anyway considering [[DoorStopper the length of the later books]].
124	** Back before Ginny Weasley had much of a canonically defined personality, she was a frequent target of this.
125	** Fanfic writers are also fond of writing about the main characters' kids' school days, when they don't just [[FanonDiscontinuity ignore the epilogue entirely.]]
126	** By the same token we have the spouses of the characters who HookedUpAfterwards. Draco's wife, Astoria/Asteria Greengrass, is usually either a sympathetic Slytherin or a victim of DieForOurShip (though sometimes she's a sympathetic Ravenclaw instead). Percy's wife, Audrey, is either a sweet girl or a rebellious firebrand [[OppositesAttract in contrast to her husband]]; she may also be a {{Muggle}}. Luna Lovegood's husband, Rolf Scamander, is implied by WordOfGod to be an adventurous naturalist. Since his grandfather, Newt, is the protagonist of the prequel movie series, people have a better guess at his personality than others on this list.
127	** Hermione's InvisibleParents. The only thing known for sure about them is that they're Muggle dentists. As long as that requirement is fulfilled, fanfic writers can fill in whatever they want -- and even that's flexible, as occasionally a fanfic will declare that "dentist" was a [[LiesToChildren Lie to Wizards]] and they're more precisely doctors specializing in oral surgery. Even their first names are up for grabs.
128	** Professor Aurora Sinistra. She teaches Astronomy, and since nothing plot-important really happens there until book 5, she didn't even have a clear gender until that time.
129	** When the fourth book came out, Arabella Figg was just someone who was mentioned in passing as an old ally of Dumbledore. Fanfiction would often portray her attending Hogwarts with the Marauders, usually as the best friend of Lily. The only problem was the widespread fan expectation that Arabella Figg would ultimately be revealed to be the same person as "Mrs. Figg," who had been mentioned as a CrazyCatLady neighbor of the Dursleys in the first book. Moreover, that theory was confirmed by WordOfGod in 2001. However, some leeway was provided by the implication that she was working as Dumbledore's spy at the time. It thus became a popular trope to explain away her elderly appearance in the first book as some sort of magical disguise. Of course, her viability as an O.C. stand-in came to an end with the release of the fifth book, which revealed that she really was an old cat lady and a Squib to boot.
130	** Terry Boot and Anthony Goldstein. Although they are part of Dumbledore's Army, they are very minor characters without much personality, and hardly anything is known about them. The most prominent Ravenclaw students, Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang, are girls, so if a fanfic writer needs a Ravenclaw boy, they will often use Terry or Anthony.
131	* The past competitors/victors in ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' are often this, since few of them are given backstories. Fics about how they won their respective games are also common. Also, many of the other tributes from Katniss's games have be used this way. Glimmer, Marvel, Thresh, Foxface, the girl from 4, the boy from 3 who dug up the mines, and the girl from 8 whom the careers killed the first night, are all distinct enough that they aren't ''completely'' anonymous, but have almost no defined characteristics or personality.
132	* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''
133	** Erestor--the only things we really know about him is that he's the chief counselor of Elrond's household, and that, based on his very few lines of dialogue, he was in favor of trying to hide the ring rather than destroy it. Fanon ran away with the guy, since he's apparently a somewhat important elf, but everything else about him is very uncertain, meaning basically anything you could write about the guy would probably be true. Notably, this is common enough that Erestor/Glorfindel is, statistically, [[ShipsThatPassInTheNight one of the most popular pairings on Archive of our Own]].
134	** Every one of the Ringwraiths, "kings, sorcerors and warriors of old" who succumbed to the evil of the rings Sauron gave them "sooner or later, according to their native strength and to the good or evil of their wills in the beginning," is probably worthy of a full-length tragedy in his own right, but we know hardly anything more than this about their personal histories, and only their leader and his lieutenant get even traces of characterization. Naturally, spinoffs and fanworks love to craft identities for them.
135	* ''Fanfic/LuckyNumberThirteen'' has Sharon Leibowitz. She's an actual character in ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey'', but is only vaguely alluded to and [[NamedByTheAdaptation doesn't have a name]]. Here she's [[AscendedExtra a main character]] and given a surprising amount of characterisation and backstory, considering the fic is only 10,201 words long.
136	* ''Literature/PeterPan'':
137	** Jane appeared in only one scene and was basically a GenerationXerox of her mother, Wendy. The Disney sequel ''WesternAnimation/ReturnToNeverLand'' turned her into a highly pragmatic, disillusioned girl who grew up too fast as a result of living through the bombing in London. Margaret, the next descendant in the Wendy line (named, but never shown), gets this treatment in some fanfics.
138	** Jane made a two episode appearance in ''WesternAnimation/PeterPanAndThePirates'' when Peter brings her to Neverland as a new Lost Boy only to find out about her being Wendy's daughter from the future.
139	* The sheer extent of the ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' backstory, and sheer number of characters, both living and dead, about whom we know very little, means there's the potential for a lot of this. In particular, many characters' dead mothers (DeathByChildbirth being very common in Westeros) get this treatment, such as Joanna Lannister, Rhaella Targaryen, and Minisa Whent.
140	* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': The series has literally hundreds of characters only known through the Allegiances or through bit roles. They're prime fodder for fanfic writers. Some include Snowkit (a deaf kit who was taken by a hawk) and Nutmeg (Firestar's housepet mother).
141	[[/folder]]
142
143	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
144	* In the ''Series/ThirtyRock'' fandom, the Liz/Gretchen ship has a sizable following. Even if you're regular viewer of ''30 Rock'', you're probably wondering who Gretchen is. Well, she's a "brilliant plastics engineer/lesbian" whom Liz was set up on a date with as part of a MistakenForGay plot. Gretchen appeared in ''one episode'' back in the first season and has not been seen or mentioned since. But let's face it, it's not hard to see the appeal of pairing someone who looks like [[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit Stephanie March]] with someone who looks like Creator/TinaFey. Plus, the episode contained a substantial amount of LesYay, featured Frank and Pete becoming [[ShipperOnDeck Shippers on Deck]] for Liz/Gretchen ("So you're saying I should just be a lesbian?", "I'm not saying it'll be easy. You get drunk first."), and ended with Gretchen deciding she couldn't be JustFriends with Liz because they were getting into a StupidSexyFriend situation.
145	* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fandom, there was Devon, the lead singer of the school rock band Dingos Ate My Baby, who had hardly any dialogue at all other than singing when Dingos were seen performing. He ended up with a massive fanfic presence as a major character, due to the popularity of slashing him with Oz, a much more significant character who was the band's bassist.
146	* ''{{Series/The Chosen\|TVSeries}}'': Many of the characters are at least mentioned in [[Literature/TheBible the Bible]] but don't receive much elaboration beyond that in the source material or historical record; logically, much of their personalities and character arcs are made from scratch. Other characters, such as Ramah or Shmuel, are more whole cloth [[OriginalCharacter original characters]], only stand-ins in the sense that they are part of groups that had more members than just those who are individually mentioned in the Bible.
147	* A popular ''Series/DoctorWho'' character used in this way is the Doctor's OppositeSexClone Jenny from the 2008 Tenth Doctor episode "The Doctor's Daughter". She flies off in a spaceship at the end of the episode, falsely believed to be dead by the Doctor, and wouldn't appear in any more TV or Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse material for about a decade, before finally playing a major role in the comics CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/DoctorWhoTheLostDimension'' and getting some AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho dramas. As a result of this, she got heavy development in fanfic during the intervening years. For example, see the fanfic series ''[[Fanfic/SomeoneYoudAdmire Someone You'd Admire]]''.
148	* On ''Series/{{Glee}}'' the Warblers have little to no personality. The named members (Nick, Jeff, Trent, and Wes) are very popular with fanfic writers, and plenty have invented their own wholecloth.
149	** Puck's mother and sister. Since they don't even have [[NoNameGiven names]] in canon, but he presumably lives with them, they play at least a minor part in most fics about his life outside of school and glee.
150	** Beth, the daughter of Quinn and Puck and adopted daughter of Shelby Corcoran. She only appeared on the show as an infant and later a toddler, but many a FlashForwardFic has had her be involved in a new incarnation of New Directions, either taking after her birth-mother or step-sister Rachel (or both, in the event that it's a Faberry shipping fic).
151	* In ''Series/HogansHeroes'', Wilson the medic shows up in one episode and is mentioned in another (not by name). He shows up in so many fanfictions that his name can be used as a character filter on Website/FanFictionDotNet, combining this trope with EnsembleDarkHorse.
152	* ''Series/{{iCarly}}'': Rebecca Berkowitz, seen only once, in an extended rarely seen version of "iSaw Him First" and usually mentioned off-handedly. In any fic with her as a character, she's basically going to be an OC with a canon name, if they even bother to develop her past the implied ReallyGetsAround.
153	* There are ''Series/{{Lost}}'' fanfics that takes the minor survivors, including ''extras'', and gives them the full on Lost treatment, with flashbacks and their own sideplots. Sometimes the show itself [[{{Filler}} wasn't above doing that, either]].
154	* On ''Series/{{Neighbours}}'', Lisa Jeffries was a very minor character who shared a few scenes with Summer Hoyland; she appeared in about a dozen episodes over the course of two years. She has, however, inspired a substantial volume of fanfic, which has developed her in ways totally unrelated to her canonical characterization.
155	* ''Series/RedDwarf'' has several minor characters from before the radiation accident but the most notable example is Frank Todhunter, the ship's first officer, who only appears in the first episode, for about five minutes screen time, and then dies offscreen along with everyone else. He later gets a few posthumous mentions but is never seen again, even in flashbacks (He was supposed to return but [[WhatCouldHaveBeen actor Robert Bathurst was unavailable]]). Other than his position on the ship, all that's really stated about him is that he was married but had several affairs and was utterly hated by Rimmer, mostly out of jealousy. He crops up as a fleshed-out character quite a lot in pre-series fics and it's become surprisingly popular to ship him with Lister.
156	* Since Sebastian Moran (TheDragon to Moriarty in the original Doyle stories) had no canonical characterization in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' until "The Empty Hearse", he effectively became one of these for the fandom. He's been depicted as everything from AffablyEvil to a {{Domestic Abuse}}r [[GenderFlip to]] a DarkActionGirl.
157	* Ronnie Gardocki from ''Series/TheShield'' qualifies as a major example of a live action version, as fans of the character have largely grafted onto him the personality of good guy nerd/geek who fell in with the wrong crowd as far as personality goes. Ironically, David Rees Snell (the actor playing Ronnie) has joked that had the writers fleshed out Ronnie and explored the character's dark side in relations to him being just like Lem, Shane, and Vic as far as being a JerkJock, that he probably would have lost all of his fans.
158	* A juvenile character named Marissa Flores, who appeared in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Disaster" (and absolutely ''nowhere else'' in Trek canon), spawned the rather infamous ''FanFic/MarissaPicard'' fanfic series, written by a chap named Stephen Ratliff. And it's not limited to just Marissa; Ratliff also included a bunch of one-off kid characters from TNG as the title character's various minions and cohorts.
159	* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'':
160	** It's canonically stated that Stefan and Damon had a sibling (usually a girl in fanfics) that was born from a different mother. Whether or not the writers of the Salvatore sister stories actually know this, however, is unknown.
161	** Katherine is shown to have had a younger sister in her origin story that was killed by Klaus. Commonly she is not actually killed but rather turned by him.
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Music]]
165	* Music/{{Vocaloid}}, naturally, since there is nothing canon about the singers, besides name, voice and appearance (and sometimes not even that). [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6854461/1/Good_Night One story]] managed to bring in one of the character's ''creator'' as a separate character.
166	[[/folder]]
167
168	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
169	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' has two Lost Primarchs so that players can have non-canon SpaceMarine chapters of their very own to play with.
170	[[/folder]]
171
172	[[folder:Toys]]
173	* This trope is all over the place in ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}''. The franchise is filled with characters who only appear as toys with bio notes of varying character depth, and occasionally toys without bio notes. This means that anyone wanting to create an OC of their own can easily zero in on a random canon character.
174	* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
175	** Some of the franchise' huge cast of characters only appeared in a [[OneSceneWonder scene or two]] and barely get to be described (the author claims he is very bad at coming up with visual traits, for example). The developers of the beloved ''Mata Nui On-Line Game'' said that Franchise/{{LEGO}} barely gave them the most minor of side-characters to work with, and they had to develop their personalities and culture themselves. What resulted was a game teeming with characters more memorable and charming than many of the ones that the "official guys" made up. They easily became fan favorites.
176	** Fans themselves also get chances to flesh out some of the more underused characters, via official writing or art contests. In the latter, they can even design the look of the characters themselves.
177	* This is pretty much the point of ''Franchise/MyLittlePony''. Most ponies don't appear in adaptations and even many who do are lucky to get a single line. G1 ponies had a brief (and often bizarre) story on their backcard, whereas more modern ponies just have a sentence about them (such as "likes to write stories.") This leaves almost everyone up to interpretation.
178	* Unlike the rest of the ''WesternAnimation/LadyLovelyLocks'' cast, Maiden Goldenwaves and Maiden Mistycurls didn't appear in the cartoon. Their backstories were additionally sparse, leaving their personalities up to fan interpretation.
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Web Animation]]
182	* In ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner,'' there's Champeen and Homeschool Winner:
183	** Champeen was originally a nameless background figure in the minor Dancin' Bubs game, who later had her name revealed in a DVD-exclusive toon: [[SmurfettePrinciple "Why Come Only One Girl?]] She was designed as a DistaffCounterpart to Homestar, though ended up not being used. Fans often characterize her as a PassionateSportsGirl who's often portrayed as either Homestar's sister or cousin, though usually they're on good terms.
184	** Homeschool Winner was originally named in an old version of the game's Characters page, though vanished when the page was updated. However, he's appeared as an in-joke in several minor site features since then. Like Champeen, he's often portrayed as a relative of Homestar, though he's often suggested to be Homestar's opposite: someone smart but cold, and occasionally a bit of a jerk, in contrast to Homestar's KindheartedSimpleton nature.
185	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
186	** Ruby and Yang's MissingMom Summer is a major character narrative-wise, but little is known about her. It's told that she was sweet and Ruby takes a lot after her, but that's all that's known.
187	** Team CVFY are a large example. Originally Velvet was only supposed to appear in one scene, but her popularity amongst fans led to more cameos and an entire team being created for her. Out of her team, only Velvet and Coco have the bare minimum characterization in Volume 2. The team would later get a book (''Literature/RWBYAfterTheFall'') between Volumes 6 and 7 that would elaborate on all their personalities.
188	** Weiss' mother was the only member of her family that doesn't appear in Volume 4. Her design was known from a painting seen that season, but until she formally debuted in Volume 7, all that was known about her character was that she's a distant AlcoholicParent in a bad relationship with her husband.
189	** Sun and Neptune have characterization, but their teammates Scarlet and Sage were bit characters, at least until the expanded universe novels fleshed them out.
190	** Neo has only had a few scenes and she's TheSpeechless in all of them. She's very expressive so it's easy to tell that she's at least SilentSnarker that likes fighting, but her backstory and personality beyond that was unknown until the novel ''Literature/RWBYRomanHoliday'', which released after Volume 8. Her relationship with Roman was especially vague, resulting in fans depicting them as being anywhere from a ParentChildTeam (with Neo usually, but not always, being adopted), to LikeBrotherAndSister, to being lovers.
191	** Melanie and Militia are TagTeamTwins who only appear in the "Yellow" trailer and a single episode as a cameo. The only thing clear about them is that they speak like {{Valley Girl}}s. Their mother is later confirmed to be another bit character.
192	** Jaune Arc's family is frequently treated like this; he's stated to have ''seven'' sisters, but so far only one has appeared in canon and given an identity; the only thing known about his parents is that they didn't believe he could become a Huntsman.
193	[[/folder]]
194
195	[[folder:Webcomics]]
196	* The [[FilmNoir Midnight Crew Intermission]] of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' brought us The Felt, a 17-man mafia group, only three of whom (Snowman, Doc Scratch and Lord English) got substantial characterization to be clearly defined as characters. The remaining fourteen, all from a species known as leprechauns, ALL get this treatment, as only their powers and maybe a single moment of funny is supposed to encompass their characterization. The only exceptions are Clover, whose appearances manage to characterize him as a fusion between [[Franchise/{{Batman}} The Riddler]] and the ClockKing, which is still a fairly open characterization, and Crowbar, TheSmartGuy among the leprechauns who somehow makes the entire team competent and who has a ''Webcomic/ParadoxSpace'' comic of his own.
197	** Until Act 6 Intermission 5, two of the Felt only appeared [[PosthumousCharacter posthumously]], and all that was known about them previously were their names and faces (of course, they still got no characterization at all when they showed up). While their appearances in fanfiction increased once they made an appearance in the story, there still were examples of people using them for as OC Stand-ins before anything was known about them.
198	** The Post-Scratch Ancestors were intentionally written like this so that fanfic writers could have access to a more 'serious' Alternian setting than the setting of the modern trolls. Other than their basic appearance, most important actions, some of their {{Shipping}} proclivities and a bit of the personality of one of them (Mindfang, a sexy pirate and [[HerCodeNameWasMarySue rather a bad writer]]), we know very little about what they are like. This is lampshaded in comic where Hussie refers to Doc Scratch's exposition on them as fanfiction (and, given that they are trolls, troll [[TrollFic fanfiction]]).
199	* ''Webcomic/KlonoaDreamCrusaders'':
200	** In the games, Claire the Ancient is an unseen deity who is worshipped, but doesn't play a direct role in the story. This comic has her appear in person as a GreaterScopeVillain.
201	** Although Tenebrae Hue was the main antagonist of the original comic, he seemed like a GenericDoomsdayVillain due to the comic being cancelled before we could learn much about him. This comic gives him more personality and motivation.
202	* ''{{Webcomic/Prequel}}'':
203	** As par the course in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion the source material]], Quill-Weave is given the slightest hint of a personality and features in the very first fighters' guild quest. She's much more fully fleshed out in the comic, especially through the scenes from her POV.
204	** In Oblivion, Sigrid is a survivor of Kvatch who sells potions. Since the comic takes place before the events of Oblivion, she's made the head of the Mage's Guild in Kvatch and her unusually high Mercantile stat is explained as her being especially beautiful and charming (as well as using some artificial enhancements like Enchantments and Alchemy, mechanics that are known to be {{Game Breaker}}s in the series).
205	* ''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'' invents characterization for the mother of James Norrington (the ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies [[NoNameGiven gave no name]], characterization or any other information), turning her into an extremely likable Irish CoolOldLady.
206	* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': The DistantPrologue takes place ninety years before the main story, and its characters are the ancestors of the main characters. The familial relationships between prologue characters and main story characters are shown to range from parent and child to great-grandparent and great-grandchild in the official family tree. Fics that explore what happened during the TimeSkip will hence frequently focus on a member of the intermediate generations who have UnknownCharacter status in the comic itself.
207	[[/folder]]
208
209	[[folder: Web Original]]
210	* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'': The superheroince Mouse Protector doesn't really appear in the story proper beyond flashbacks to Miss Militia's time in the Wards, [[spoiler: having been subjected to BodyHorror by the Slaughterhouse Nine by the time she actually appears]]. All that's really known about her is that she had a gimmick of acting like a goofy Silver Age heroine, to make losing to her that much more embarassing. In fanfiction, however, she's a fairly popular character who often is made out to be a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, or a GenreSavvy {{Badass}}, particularly in LighterAndSofter works.
211	[[/folder]]
212
213	[[folder:Web Video]]
214	* [[WebVideo/TheDomReviews Dominic Noble]]'s ''Literature/HarryPotter''-themed alter ego, "Terrence the Douchebag from Ravenclaw", is in fact Terry Boot, a seldom-seen Ravenclaw student in the books with little to no characterization. This was first implied by the establishment of Terrence's surname as Boot, and fully confirmed when he was addressed as "Terry" in his flashback to the aftermath of the Battle of Hogwarts. The canonical Terry is enough of an example of this trope that even some book fans will see the name of Terry Boot and jump to assuming it's a direct reference to Dom's character.
215	[[/folder]]

Context Main / OCStandIn