Original character fics

I agree with Murataku about Pokémon fics, as the universe is super OC-friendly (except for Fakemons, I don't want to read about those). Hell, I only read OC stories since most of the canon character stories I've seen are shipping-fests (which I give no fucks about), FixFics for Ash being smart (I don't care about him when he's dumb and he's completely unrecognizable when he's smart), or both at the same time.

edited 29th May '15 1:16:35 AM by Karxrida

I also agree with the Pokemon world being very inviting to do OC fics.

Ash is one of those characters who fall victim for being a Posession Stu.

Yeah some of the canon Ash fics can get ridiculous. I remember reading one that a whole lot of favorites and reviews and Ash found 7 pokemon in one chapter at one point.

My very first fanfic I am writing right now is an OC fic and I am planning to make my character go through a whole lot of shit in his past and in the present. His powers are limited and he has some obvious established flaws already.

And so far I have received positive reviews which is kind of surprising since I think my writing isn't up to snuff. I personally think I need to vary my vocabulary more, that I might of picked the wrong time in canon to introduce him. And I fear my fic just getting written off for that if it hasn't been already.

Powers? I'd just record my runs (either normal or Nuzlocke) and write a story around it.

It's a superhero fanfic. My OC is someone who has innate necromantic powers.

You can pretty much see why I am going to put him through a lot of shit and limit his powers to a certain degree so he does not appear to be godmodded or overpowered compared to the other heroes. I have read up on it and from what I have seen it's a two sides of one coin type of ability. Only one side is black and the other is gray. At the moment he's a neutral character but he will become his own kind of hero later on.

My whole concept of this OC fanfic hinged on the idea of introducing an character with abilities that were commonly seen used by evil pretty much. I just hope I am able to pull it off well....

edited 2nd Jun '15 2:02:10 AM by Bleddyn

The OC fics on Pokémon ranges from pretty cool to absolutely horrible at times. I personally use OCs, but sometimes they simply replace the canon character's role. Not that it's bad, but I like me some original plot. When I write an OC, I try to make them endearing enough to be placed on a greater footstool than some of the canon characters. But sometimes, canon characters are simply self-inserts with a different name. They make the OC perfect, they fall in love with the author's preferred canon character. All that's well that ends well.

As an OC writer and not a canon character writer, there are VERY good points. And then, there's just crap. Alot of the times, they lean towards crap. (And not in the purposefully bad way either).

I used to read a lot of pro wrestling fics (I'm a wrestlign fan), but since 2012, most stories are either about "the new Diva" (or in very rare cases, a new male wrestler) OR is a "Submit your OC" e-fed. I just have a hard time getting into unfamiliar characters.

The sad part about some of those Pokemon OC fics is that they have HUUUGE potenial. I tried to read a long winded OC fanfic that had a standard premise at one point (new region, OC explores it and all that) but the thing that appealed the most about it was the the main antagonists of that fanfic were actually really interesting......

And then the author somehow managed to make almost all of the protagonists really unlikable (The main protagonist is a walking teenage boy stereotype, the pokemon he had were not very endearing in personality )which completely killed of my interest as I hate when the presented hero or good guy of the story is a unlikeable douche.

I think the only pokemon fanfic that I have seen that actually pulled that off was Pedestal. And that is because that OC is put threw absolute hell and back to the point that he isn't even recognizable by the end of that story.

edited 12th Jul '15 3:33:21 AM by Bleddyn

We can understand that, especially if you get tired of it.

I sometimes like to read OC stories, provided the OC offers a new viewpoint not covered in canon. My problem with a lot of OC-centered stories isn't that I'm afraid of Mary Sues—the opposite, actually. In the "Star Trek" fandom at least, OCs tend to be incredibly bland, the author just writing themselves on a Starship. The result being yet another average, Earth-bred human from mainland USA. Sorry, but I've seen enough of those from "Star Trek." You want me to read about your OC, give us something new.

That's pretty much the issue I see nowadays in OC fiction. A lot of the characters come out bland rather then an interesting character. Mary Sues still do appear but not as often as they probably where a few years ago.

My current FF is almost entirely made of OCs, soooo...

OC-centric fics are fine if they're used to explore or build on canon settings and concepts without having to deal with the baggage of characterization and personal histories of the people involved. That is to say, the new characters should have different story and motivation than the canon ones.

I don't want a retelling of the original story with additional characters involved, which is frequently what happens if the OC is simply thrown in to give a "different perspective" nonsense.

I can't stand fics that are just the same thing with a few extra characters. If I wanted the story reiterated in written format, I'd read a novelization.

Although to be fair, that's not limited to OC-fics. Crossovers have the same problems, sometimes.

Sometimes, yeah.

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11969730/1/Just-another-mission

Just Another Mission is a short story I wrote for Star Wars the Clone Wars

Two universes that I feel are quite friendly for OC-centric fics are Avatar: The Last Airbender and either Warhammer universe (Fantasy/Sigmar or 40K, doesn't matter).

The former has at least 10,000 years and hundreds of Avatars that can have stories told about them; just pick an Element you like, come up with some World Threatening Crisis, and go. Granted, there is risk to rehash the standard Team Avatar setup, but there still remains a lot of room with which to work. Also, they may not get that much attention due to not having the main characters present, but that's a risk when writing OC fics that a writer must be willing to take.

The latter stands out for being truly massive, and for all their faults Games Workshop does encourage players to "write their own narratives" when playing; why else would otherwise friendly factions like the Salamanders and Ultramarines go out and kill each other. Not even then, there's a lot of freedom to make your own Regiment/Chapter/Warhost/WAAAGH!/Hive Fleet/whatever and send them on their way (look at Warhammer 40000 The Misfits, or batrep channels like Winters SEO or miniwargaming, for examples).

I think OC-centric fics work best in wide open worlds like this, whether due to time, geographic scale, or a combination of the two, OCs have a chance to do their thing without stepping on anyone's toes. And if the question of "Why not write original works" pops up, it can always be seen as a stepping-off point for original work (as a lot of fanfic is, often enough).

I agree wholeheartedly. OC's are pretty much all I write-I come up with new ones all the time, and the names usually have a story behind them. I find it hard to write non-OCs because "staying in character" tends to ruin my favourite trope. I've thought up a weird tale using non-OCs, but given the fact that it will deal with historical figures, I'm sure that The Oesterheld Protocol will never leave my head.

I wonder if I can spin it inside Tales of a Reset Mind...

I've been working on a Pokemon Super Fic starring mainly OCs, but there are a few canon characters who get involved in the plot as well. For me, the hard part has been keeping the canon characters from overshadowing the original characters. Easier said than done. Since the opposite problem is more common, I've had difficulty finding a solution.

Edited by AgentKirin on Aug 10th 2018 at 11:00:21 AM

99% of Warrior Cats fanfics are about OC Clans, I swear. Warriors is probably so popular because it's so OC friendly. I don't even like cats and I've written OC fics (though I haven't posted them online).

A little late, but..

I'm also writing a pokemon oc fic! It's centered around the galar region and it's pokemon.

The main character is a young Clobbopus who goes off on a grand adventure to save the world from an awakened evil.

I've personally been working on some OC-based stories myself, namely for The Elder Scrolls and also 2K's Mafia games as well.

I've got at least 2 OC fics out there, one of which is a crossover. I read a lot of OC fic because I actually wanted to avoid a lot of pitfalls some of them have, but some tropes I just have to use to make it work.

i'm always one way or the other with writing ocs in fics - either it's an elsewhere fic or even an alternate universe that's entirely oc-centric, or i don't include them at all. i've given several warriors oc fics tries over the years (to varying degrees of success and quality), and warriors is a fandom i'm pretty much in almost completely for the oc potential. i love ocs! they're very fun to make, i just worry about stepping on toes by misinterpreting how canon characters would interact with them.

my sole exception is lesson zero, a wreck-it ralph oc fic of mine revolving around a character who knew turbo before he... well. went turbo. and ended up being dragged into his manipulation and schemes. i wanted to tackle unhealthy relationships/friendships and how they can damage a person - i just worry people don't give it a chance because they see "turbo/oc" and think it's just shallow self insert shipping. not that i even have anything against that, but it wasn't what i wrote the fic to be.

as a reader, though, i like oc fics of pretty much all stripes and i'm bummed out they seem to get such a bad reputation. i don't really seek out oc fics, but i think it takes a special kind of author to write em as i feel people hold them to a way higher standard. there's bad stuff out there, but there's bad stuff of pretty much every conceivable genre, and i think the whole "mary sue bad self inserts bad" attitude people take (though i've seen it criticized more lately) has really put a damper on and squanders potential for oc stuff. even now it makes me worry about my oc content and how people will perceive it