Line #2 Main/OriginalCharacter


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5	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tropeythealicorn.png]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350: [[Creator/{{Ukinojoe}} It's not Twilight Sparkle! It's our original character,]] Tropey the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Alicorn]]! Half pegasus, half unicorn, and half JustForFun/TimeLord! Copyright Website/TVTropes. Do not steal.]]
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11	->''"I even made my own Gemsona. My gem is on my tail, and my weapon is a frying pan."''
12	-->-- '''[[WesternAnimation/UncleGrandpa Mr. Gus]]''', ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', "[[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E4SayUncle Say Uncle]]"
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14	An '''Original Character''' is, in the simplest terms, a new character created in a FanFic or other work that does not come from an existing copyright work. Any and all CharacterizationTropes can apply, along with employing any and all tropes in general. The only real distinction between original and regular characters is that the former are synthesized specifically to unofficially integrate with the {{canon}} for the purposes of the story. The vast majority of fanfiction makes use of these, ranging in importance from being background extras to stealing the spotlight of the canonical characters.
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16	[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This isn't necessarily a bad thing]]. After all, all characters were new once. Series that are structured around new characters every week such as MonsterOfTheWeek, VictimOfTheWeek, or GirlOfTheWeek actually require that the author create original characters in order to maintain the OriginalFlavor of the series. Rarely, these can become a RecurringFanonCharacter, one popular enough to be widely used in fanworks throughout the fandom.
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18	Attempting to list every instance (or even every "notable" instance) is rather pointless--they are almost as numerous as fan fics themselves. Indeed, '''TV Tropes does not permit articles for original characters unless they appear in a published work, and then only in Characters subpages of that work'''.
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23	In some places (such as Website/DeviantArt) the term "Fan Character" is used instead, and the distinction "Original Character" refers to a character that exists in a canon of the author's own creation, or the canon of an "OriginalCharacterTournament" (where artists compete by pitting their original character against other people's in fights, or [[CookingDuel pizza eating contests]], or whatever the creator of the tournament has decided is the proper form of conflict); in other words, an "Original Character" is a truly original character without ties to another creative work's canon.
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25	The commercial side of this, adding new or re-imagined characters to a non-copyright work, is SeriousBusiness thanks to international laws that consider original adaptations of long-standing public domain works to be copyrightable; but considers further derived works an infringement of intellectual property. This is why companies like Creator/{{Disney}} can freely adapt ''Literature/TheSnowQueen'' by Creator/HansChristianAndersen into ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', while at the same time suing those who make derivatives of the latter.
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27	Compare OriginalGeneration. SisterTrope: OCStandIn. {{Sub Trope}}s include FanCreatedOffspring (giving canon characters kids or further descendants), RecurringFanonCharacter ([=OCs=] that becomes popular enough in the fandom to appear in other fan works), and SailorEarth (a stock scenario for [=OCs=] created by openings in the setting).
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29	A CanonForeigner or CanonImmigrant is what happens when an Original Character is created for an ''official'' adaptation of an existing work, and sometimes the term is used as a derogatory one.
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31	[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused with]] {{OOC}}, although a certain type of OC may cause [=OOC=]ness in {{canon}} characters. Also don't confuse with ''Series/TheOC'', though ''O.C.'' original characters might be out there.
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Context Main / OriginalCharacter