OC's and You: A quick guide to OC creation and success!

As a wiki centered around the creation and fighting of OCs/FCs, it's fighting that we should have a guide handy to help ease any uncertainties you have about creating your OC. Good writing is what makes a memorable OC a memorable OC. For this, I'll be dividing this page into two major sections, one dealing with Fan Characters (FC), and the other dealing with Original Characters (OC). What's the difference, you ask? OCs are from Original Fiction, not connected to (or only ephemerally connected to) other existing works of fiction. Harry Potter, Mario, Mary Poppins, all of these started out as OCs. FCs are from fanfiction, characters created to add on to an already existing work of fiction. Let's begin!

Fan Characters
Of the two, fan characters are typically far easier to write, as you have an already existing universe and other preexisting characters to work with. However, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind as you're making your FC.

The Universe
Where does your character fit in in the grand scheme of things? Are they a new antagonist? A rising star? A new ally to the protagonist? Where do they come from, where are they going? What drives them? What are they like, and how have/will their experiences shape them? These are all questions you should ask yourself while making your character. Poorly developed characters can fall flat, resulting in a character that more or less appears from nowhere, and goes back, making no real impact. Well developed characters strut in, and make us wonder who they are, and care about them as much as any other character in the series.

Powers and Abilities
How are your character's abilities, in comparison to others, in universe? If you find yourself copying the exact same abilities as another character, only better, stop and justify it. If the character has the same powers as Superman, why? Also important is that you respect pre-established characters abilities. If your FC was in a Sonic the Hedgehog universe, for example, they should not run faster than Sonic, who is known by the title 'Fastest thing ali(ei-ei-eiiiiiii)ve'. Try to avoid boring justifications as well, such as, 's/he has the same powers because they're a clone of X', especially in the case of a protagonist working alongside the hero. In the case of a villainous foil (a character who mirrors the hero in some ways), this can be much more well played, such as Shadow the Hedgehog or Owlman to Batman. Also, make sure to never describe them as 'has the powers of X, only better!'. Not only is this lazy, it will get fans of the series mad at you, because no matter who it is, it's someone's favorite character.

Relations to Canon Characters
This probably goes without saying, but DON'T MAKE YOUR CHARACTER A CARBON COPY OF ANOTHER CHARACTER AND SAY THEY'RE THAT CHARACTER'S LONG LOST TWIN/SIBLING/COUSIN/CLONE. Whew, now that we've gotten that out of the way, this can be one of the most difficult parts to write unless you know the characters very well. Keep in mind that in real life, you're probably not going to get along with everyone, and the same holds true in fiction. If everyone likes your character, even those who normally would not, or even the villains who hate even the most pure-hearted heroes, you may have a problem. A lot of this overlaps with Mary Sue, who we'll hear more about later. Another thing to keep in mind is that your character will have to build a relationship with the others. A character with firmly guarded secrets is not going to tell them to your character within an hour of meeting them.

Alright, that just about covers FCs, let's move on to OCs!