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1An Original Character Tournament, often abbreviated OCT, is a type of competition that is popular on art websites like Platform/DeviantArt. Basically, it's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin just what it sounds like]]: A tournament between artists where they battle their completely [[OriginalCharacter original characters]] through artistic expression. Usually, this is through comics, but occasionally has included animation and literature.
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3The usual progression of events goes something like this... Somebody figures they have a great idea for a tournament, and they decide they're going to host one. They find other people willing to judge, create prizes (it helps to either have artistic talent or to have good friends who do), and hammer out the setting, the StoryArc, maybe an {{NPC}} or two. Either during and/or after this stage, they hold auditions. Auditioners are usually expected to create a character, a reference sheet for said character, and an audition to introduce the character and explain why they've become involved in the tournament. Once the judges have filled all slots in the tournament, auditions are closed, and the actual tournament begins. Characters are matched up against each other randomly, and the artists have until the first round deadline to create an entry for the first round. At the end of the round, the judges decide which artist continue to the next round. This process continues until only one artist is left. That last artist's plotline then become canon, and he or she is named the winner.
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5Entries are usually in comic style; there have been exceptions, but it's difficult to progress far using other mediums. There are several variations on the basic round that have been used to spice things up: themes for individual rounds, boss rounds, etc.
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7These tournaments, like everything else on the internet, [[SturgeonsLaw may vary in quality]], but some of the more notable ones have yielded stories one could indeed label awesome.
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9An attempt to collect all of the Platform/DeviantArt tournaments in one place can be found [[http://the-oct-list.deviantart.com/ here]].
10
11----
12!!Common tropes include:
13
14* AbortedArc: Likely to happen since [=OCTs=] can take place over several months and artists either lose interest or become too busy to continue further in their entries. You'll rarely find an [=OCT=] where all the participants stay on through the entirety of the tournament's length without someone forfeiting because they couldn't get their entry done on time.
15* AlternateContinuity: Essentially entries in OCT are how the artist's interpretation of events will go down. Sometimes they may continue on from another entries previous story or bout. But more likely then not, they'll skew away into something different then likely intended.
16* ArtShift: Between different artists' interpretations of the characters.
17* BonusMaterial: Usually in the form of Spectator or Special Entries that occur outside of the rounds.
18* BreakoutCharacter: Most tournaments have at least one or two, and some have a fandom that even extend outside the OCT community.
19* CanonDisContinuity: Although some eliminated artists try to finish their story or work their character into the overall tournament plot, many [[AbortedArc just let the story drop as soon as they lose]].
20* ClimacticBattleResurrection: Very likely, since some finalists tend to [[DefeatMeansFriendship gather a group of defeated contestants (known as tagalongs)]] during the course of the tournament.
21* CookingDuel: Strictly speaking, an OCT needs not necessarily be a ''fighting'' tournament. Also seen tourneys that allow more creativity, where fighting is not necessarily the only way to win. When done badly pretty much anything (up to and including "I sprayed mud on him while driving by" and similar nonsensical victories) can become a win. There are usually limitations in the rules to avoid this, eg. stating that the opponent must be incapacitated or otherwise unable to continue the battle.
22* DeletedScene: Non-canonical entries might be treated like this.
23* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Happens at the end of most Tournaments with very powerful {{Big Bad}}s.
24* ExcusePlot: Most OCT's do not have any real story at all. They are usually multi-verse wide battles that have very little internal logic, but that does not make them [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools always terrible]].
25* {{Elseworld}}: Competitors often use characters that first appeared in their other works, so characters are adjusted to better fit the setting without compromising the main story. That's how you can have a [[http://concentrationmoon.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d1ioknv street urchin from Victorian London]] fighting a [[http://zeurel.deviantart.com/gallery/?4483564#/d1lrq3h futuristic bipolar cyborg]] in a [[WebOriginal/LawOfTalos crazy steampunk city]].
26* FollowTheLeader: There are exceptions, but about half the tournaments use this tried-and-true premise: you have your character [[TrappedInAnotherWorld transported to]] [[MagicalLand a strange and possibly supernatural realm]] where you [[LetsYouAndHimFight fight each other]] to win [[MakeAWish some sort of wish]]. (Most often used for practical reasons: this can fit pretty much any type of character: even those who aren't natural fighters [[YouCantGoHomeAgain can not leave]] [[ClosedCircle until the tournament is finished]].)
27* MissingEpisode: Sadly very common due to artists deleting their work or profiles leaving the story incomplete.
28* NewMedia
29* NotJustATournament: VERY prevalent in many of those. Most of them turn out to be ruses for the {{Big Bad}}s (usually the judge characters) to obtain power, and the competitors (including [[ClimacticBattleResurrection the defeated ones]]) will usually have to work together to stop ThePlan.
30* ScheduleSlip: Though rounds have a set deadline, most tournament managers don't mind giving a little extra time when competitors run behind.
31* SequelHook: Some of the better tournaments find a way to start a second tournament, [[MyGreatestSecondChance and may even let previous competitors return for that contest]].
32* SturgeonsLaw: [=OCTs=] that do not filter their auditioners usually end up with lots of subpar auditions full of generally weaker art.
33* StoryArc: Each OCT either has one to start out or develops one during its run with rare exceptions.
34* TournamentArc: Many of them are actual tournament settings.
35* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: Many [=OCTs=] fall into this, especially if its more of an IntercontinuityCrossover rather than a {{Elseworld}}.
36* UnnecessaryRoughness: It's not uncommon for a friendly round of competition to end with a horrific death.
37
38----
39!!Examples:
40[[index]]
41* WebOriginal/AlabasterOCT
42* WebOriginal/AngelZoneOCT
43* WebOriginal/ArtistsAtTheReady
44* WebOriginal/AscendOCT
45* WebOriginal/{{Break}}
46* WebOriginal/BattleOfLimbah
47* WebOriginal/BattleFrontierOhanaIslands
48* WebOriginal/BloodOCT
49* WebOriginal/TheBookOfStoriesOCT
50* WebOriginal/BurningAvalon
51* WebOriginal/CarnageCarnivalOCT
52* WebOriginal/CartoonivalOCT
53* WebOriginal/CascadeCabaretOCT
54* WebOriginal/TheChannelsOCT
55** Formerly known as WebOriginal/ChannelVirusOCT
56* WebOriginal/ChernobylCurs
57* WebOriginal/CivilWarOCT
58* WebOriginal/TheCityOCT
59* WebOriginal/ColoringMedium
60* WebOriginal/TheColosseum
61* WebOriginal/CookingWars
62* WebOriginal/CorruptedCore
63* WebOriginal/ChildsPlayOCT
64* WebOriginal/ChromaticaOCT
65* WebOriginal/CrystalIslandOCT
66* WebOriginal/TheCureOCT
67* WebOriginal/TheCursedOCT
68* WebOriginal/TheDarkAgeOCT
69* WebOriginal/DesireTheWritingOCT
70* WebOriginal/DeadlineOCT
71* WebOriginal/DeviantDead
72* WebOriginal/DogEatDogWorld
73* WebOriginal/DreamWoodsOCT
74* WebOriginal/DualityOCT
75* WebOriginal/EbonSpire
76* WebOriginal/EdenOCT
77* WebOriginal/EmotionalRealm
78* WebOriginal/EndRun
79* WebOriginal/{{Endzone}}
80* Platform/{{Entervoid}}
81* WebOriginal/EscapeFromNevara
82* WebOriginal/TheExcaliburExperimentOCT
83* WebOriginal/TheExchange
84* WebOriginal/ExitStrategyOCT
85* WebOriginal/TheFarsideOfAtmos
86* WebOriginal/{{Firewind}}
87* WebOriginal/FutureBattlesOCT
88* WebOriginal/TheGamesOCT
89* Roleplay/TheGrandBattle
90* WebOriginal/TheGrandCircus
91* GalacticSmackdownOCT
92* WebOriginal/{{Godfall}}
93* WebOriginal/GwangiGoldRushOCT
94* WebOriginal/HandsOfChaos
95* WebOriginal/HenshinScramble
96* WebOriginal/HigherworldOCT
97* WebOriginal/HotelHaven
98* WebOriginal/HousematesOCT
99* WebOriginal/HungerGamesOCT
100* WebOriginal/HyperionConference
101* WebOriginal/InfractusFatality
102* WebOriginal/InkOCT
103* WebOriginal/InterDimensionalDerby
104* Roleplay/JojosOCTournament
105* WebOriginal/LabyrinthOCT
106* WebOriginal/LawOfTalos
107* WebOriginal/LostAndFoundOCT
108* WebOriginal/ManlyMens
109* WebOriginal/ManyWorlds
110* WebOriginal/{{Masque}}
111* WebOriginal/MidwichValley
112* WebOriginal/MulligrubsOCT
113* WebOriginal/NetworkJail
114* WebOriginal/OberonsGarden
115* WebOriginal/OlympiaLost
116* WebOriginal/{{OMGOCT}}
117* WebOriginal/OnceDeadOCT
118* WebOriginal/OneTruePairingOCT
119* WebOriginal/OriginalCharacterBattleZone
120* WebOriginal/OthersideOCT
121* WebOriginal/PanelPunk
122* WebOriginal/ProjectMinotaur
123** Its spiritual successor, WebOriginal/ProjectHades
124* WebOriginal/ThePublisherOCT
125* WebOriginal/RaceOfAleria
126* WebOriginal/ReconnaissanceOCT
127* WebOriginal/ResetOCT
128* WebOriginal/Rise2009
129* WebOriginal/RockHardGladiators
130* WebOriginal/RogueSkies
131* WebOriginal/RouletteCityOCT
132* WebOriginal/RumbleFest
133* [[WebOriginal/{{SOCT}} S-OCT]]
134* WebOriginal/SafeBySunsetOCT
135* WebOriginal/SamuraiDuelersLeague
136* WebOriginal/SanctumOCT
137* WebOriginal/TheSaltIslandsOCT
138* WebOriginal/SecondDraftOCT
139* WebOriginal/{{Sanguine}}
140* WebOriginal/TheSilverRose
141* WebOriginal/SixfoldLeague
142* Webcomic/{{SMOCT}}
143* WebOriginal/SovereignCity
144* WebOriginal/SpiralDownFilmsOCT
145* WebOriginal/SplinterCity
146* WebOriginal/SurvivorDeviantart
147* WebOriginal/TheSwitchOCT
148* WebOriginal/TakingUtopia
149* WebOriginal/TapestryOfHorror
150* WebOriginal/TechnicolorOCT
151* WebOriginal/TouristTrap
152* WebOriginal/TheTournamentOfRings
153* WebOriginal/TheTowerTournament
154* WebOriginal/ToxicOCT
155* WebOriginal/TrailblazersChallenge
156* WebOriginal/TrinityTourneyOCT
157* WebOriginal/TumblrRumblr
158** WebOriginal/TumblrRumblr2
159* WebOriginal/UnsightlyOCT
160* WebOriginal/VitalSparkOCT
161* WebOriginal/WalkingCityOCT
162* WebOriginal/WarForArcadia
163* WebOriginal/WillowHill Asylum
164* WebOriginal/WispOCT
165* WebOriginal/{{Wonderlust}}
166* WebOriginal/WorkingMansOCT
167* WebOriginal/YeahSwingIt
168* WebOriginal/ZombieSpreeOct
169[[/index]]

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