How did you develop your OC?

[Dulset Tarn 441]

First I started with the concept, focused on the abilities and powers, then worked out the personality, likes and dislikes etc, then the design, and finally the name (which took a LONG time to think up).

 

Then over the course of some RP, her backstory and personality actually changed quite drastically to something that fit more with my playstyle. After 3 years I've never stopped adding more and more to the character. I definitely think this is the right way to do it, far too many people focus on design and names before they even have a concept. Although I'll totally admit, I have made another character based entirely around the name.

[Kuyon 43]

I currently have three OCs.  My first was developed a bit differently than the 2nd and 3rd.  Lightning was basically built a bit then I started an ask tumblr to help flesh him out some more.  I eventually started to RP with him and he grew more from that and have gotten some things from RPs that I have made canon for him.  Iris and Tender have been purely built in RPs with only a basic personality and letting them become fleshed out in the RP.  I honestly think  RPing is a great way to build and OC.  It sometimes help you see how they would react in a situation possibly generated from another person.

[Emerald Star 513]

Emerald Star started out as the pony version of a human character in a story I wrote. The character had blonde hair and green eyes. I got bored one day and started messing around on Pony Creator to come up with a more finalized design for her, who at the time didn't have a pony name. I had a general idea of what colours I wanted her to be. After that I drew a couple of pictures with her using that as a reference, tweaking the design, mostly the mane, a bit more. The human character always wore an emerald necklace so I already wanted her name to be something to do with emeralds. When I posted her here Emerald Star was suggested by a few people and I went with it.

 

She's basically my ponysona if I was a bit more confident and outspoken. She has become more separate from the character she was originally based on. Her personality and backstory is still in the process of being written, but maybe there will be a fanfiction that no one will read some time in the future.

[HunterTSN 1,444]

I usually have an basic outline for the character before I start; typically just a bare bones personality and idea for what the character will be. Then I find a good name for the character and, if it's a pony, a fitting cutiemark. After that I usually design and draw the character, I'm not the best artist out there so I sometimes look up pictures similar to what I had in mind to sort of help me understand the posing and style I want for the character. Once the artwork is done I pass it by a few of my friends to get the greenlight before filling in all the gaps in the personality, backstory, and anything else that needs to be addressed. Of course I double check everything to make sure I didn't make any contradictions or continuity errors and I then I'm pretty much done.

 

Here are a few of the OCs I've done in this manner:

Nymphaea

Zephyr

Slug

[AmberDust 1,118]

I have 3 mlp OCs now...Amber Dust, Plum Pudding, and Stormjumper. The last two started out as background characters in Amber's life, and as such they aren't as well balanced. I grew to love them, though, and I started drawing them more and more until I had internally developed backstories, personalitites, etc. they started as doodles.

 

Typically, when I'm making an OC, I try and consider what element of harmony suits them best. That usually helps me develop their character, and it gives me a heads-up to make sure I'm not making a clone of one of the mane 6. 9u9

[MysticShine 529]

I'm a fan fiction writer, so I usually create characters to fill roles within the story. I ask myself, "What kind of character would work best in this role?" and go from their. I start with some general information: Name, age, gender, blah blah blah. Afterwards, I go to develop a personality. What do they like, what do they hate, and how do they act? After that, I'll develop a backstory. Sometimes they're relatively simple; other times I go into great depth. It really just depends on what I need.

[1943 57]

My OC is pretty much me, in pony form, nothing else. That's an easy way to make an OC, base it off of your personality.

[BigBossFoxtrot 34]

My OC is based on my real self and the progression and changes I've experienced in life. I connected a lot with Luna, especially during the nightmare night episode and took a lot of inspiration from her as well as other source materials (harry potter, star wars, etcetc.) I LATER found out people hate on alicorns, which my character is. This only made me want to be an alicorn more. 

[Stallionslaughter 394]

I used the people around me and myself.

 

I have three OCs:

 

Majesty Envoy is my wife if she were strong willed and independant.

 

Scroot Whinny is my step-father with the exception of the dishonest past and laziness.

 

Floor Tom is a direct representation of me. I had to change a lot about his backstory because there are major events in my life that wouldn't happen in Equestria.

 

Question though; I don't have a huge giant story about Tom and his past, are the minute details important? or are just major events in a summary sufficient?

[Venomous 18,859]

I just took 3 of my favorite colors and my hairstyle into consideration.

[Rebel the Wolfgirl 5,592]

Renegade started out as a badass vigilante, then evolved through many incarnations into a treasure hunter with a personality similar to mine: goofy and lazy, but also friendly and responsible.

[Tao 7,432]

Well I throw  a bunch of ideas and colors into a blender,  pressed it on and watched out popped out....

[SteffieMusings 295]

My O.C. started out as a ponified version of my Sonic persona so that I could have a pony-like icon for my fimfiction account. Since I enjoyed the Flutter Ponies from the original series, I decided to make her one. I already had a couple of draconequus O.C.'s, which meant that I didn't think much of my ponysa.

 

I recently decided that I should make her her own character. Took a few elements of Flutter Ponies and gave them a bit of a twist. She mingles with non-Flutter Ponies since she her good luck isn't working as well as her peers. The ponies had heard about Flutter Ponies from old stories and would buy the lamps she made simply because they believed she would charm her lamps with good luck. It would turn out that they don't receive any good or bad luck at all.

 

I decided to have it that she is talented with making, creating and designing lamps to make her job a bit different. It would also be a plot point for why a certain canon character would ask her to do something.

 

I may develop her a bit more if I were to write a fan-fic idea that I had recently spawned.

[Hashi 323]

My oc....

Ugh

I'm actually waiting until I'm good enough at drawing before I create a proper OC, the other ways are quite simply, not worthy :3

eg, the pony generator

THAT MAKES ME SO ANNOYED AND YET IM NOT GOOD ENOUGH AT DRAWING TO DRAW MY OWN 

*tableflip*

Otherwise, I try to make characters I create part of the world they are from, as in nothing really special, just normal

I actually have a Draconequus oc in creation at this very time

[Pucksterv 4,508]

My first OC is a ponysona of myself. Just finished it today actually. But still needs some editing

I was struggling with how to present her, visually. Her mane and stuff, it's just never right.

Got any advice, My avatar is my OC. Otherwise just look up Blue Caramel at the role playing page.

This I mean as for help, not for advertising or anything.

[AmberDust 1,118]

My oc....

Ugh

I'm actually waiting until I'm good enough at drawing before I create a proper OC, the other ways are quite simply, not worthy :3

eg, the pony generator

THAT MAKES ME SO ANNOYED AND YET IM NOT GOOD ENOUGH AT DRAWING TO DRAW MY OWN 

*tableflip*

Otherwise, I try to make characters I create part of the world they are from, as in nothing really special, just normal

I actually have a Draconequus oc in creation at this very time

I could draw one up for you.

[Krampus 197]

Oh man, my OCs...

 

Some of the most cliched garbage around, and we both know it. Which one should I start with? Fancy Tomato? Or perhaps Domino?  Might as well tell everyone about Fancy Tomato, he was my first OC after all.

 

 

When I first designed Fancy Tomato, I had just heard of the Pony Generator and decided to experiment. It helped that I was in a RP on a site called Friendship is Magic.com. I made the poor bastard a pegasus zony, you know, like that famous Sasha (or whatever) pony on Tumblr. Muted red coat, bright red and burgundy tail, glasses, cream stripes, etc.

 

His backstory was that he was of noble blood, his family cast out of Cloudsdale for his father marrying a zebra and siring an offspring. Cliched already. Secondly, he lived on the edge of Ponyville, in an old mansion that he refurbished, where he lived alone and spent his days growing tomatoes. He was also uptight.

 

And for one of the biggest mistakes I have ever done, I made him gay.

 

Hoo boy, how do I recover from that one? Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being gay, it's just that a (mostly) straight kid should not be putting his interpretations of a gay person on an OC. That just spells trouble. Never really focused on that part about him, just mainly his character.

 

When I uploaded his character info on the site I previously mentioned, I did not take the rejection (criticism) all that greatly. I lashed out at the person, insulting them. They told me I was being an asshole, to which I realized my mistake and hastily apologized. That encounter made me realize that I should possibly reconsider my OCs look and backstory.

 

 

This was the tale of my first OC. I will gladly tell the story of the second, if you wish it. This first story was meant as a warning on to how NOT develop an OC. Since everyone else here had a positive story, I figured I'd even it out with a slightly depressing, if not insightful one.

[BlueSkies 82]

I usually start with the name--I'll see some quote or idiom or word and start imagining what kind of pony would have that name (and why).  This usually gives me either the physical design or the personality (or both).  For example, "Scaredy Cat" inspired a skinny, knock-kneed mare with dark circles under her eyes with lank mane/tail. 

 

The cutie mark follows, usually with a lot of redesigns on the side of the page.  I scribble notes about the pony's history/etc in the margins too.  Then I experiment with the character, drawing them in different poses, from different angles, with different facial expressions, etc. 

 

When I'm satisfied that I know what they look like and how they act: voila!  An OC.  Though it's likely to change as I revisit the character or simplify complicated details.

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

As i said before, i start with the name and then pick a color scheme appropriate to them. The background and personality comes next and lastly the cutie mark. That's all it takes to make an oc. But its really up to you if you just want to do a persona or both. 

[Silverhoof 2,844]

I start with a concept, and build a story around that.

Concept

1) I wanted a fledgling mage that thinks he is way tougher than he really is.

2) I wanted to tie him into the rules of the existing show.

3) I wanted him to be an everyman character. That means he's not a noble, or a powerful magic school grad. he's just a pony off the street.

 

Fleshing out the story.

1) if he is going to fit in the MLP storyline, where should I put him? The Changeling Invasion is a good dramatic point. He was a merchant in Canterlot and was helpless to prevent the changelings from feeding off his family. Thats why he searched for spells to begin a life of adventure.

2) Spells: A detailed list is in my sig below, but he has only four spells. He is just starting out after all

      A) he can change the color of anything for 24 hours

     b.   his attack spell only stuns, it cannot kill.

      C) Teleport

      D) Cleansing gaze. Its a janitorial spell. cleans up a place.

Thats it. The spell list fits with the sillyness of Equestria, but allows for some limited combat. further he is not the invulnerable warrior some OC's become.he just thinks he is.

 

For me, spells make up a lot of a unicorn's character. I love coming up with silly spells that would be found in Equestria. 

 

 

Whimsy

 

 

My wife doesn't have an account here, but she has an OC too. Her name is Whimsy, and her concept is a secret agent turned girl scout leader. My wife, Debbie is a little weird but she made it work.

 

Whimsy was a scout in the employ of Celestia. Her job was to keep an eye on the borders of the Everfree. when the Mane Six came upon the scene, Princess Celestia realized they would make enemies rather quickly. So a number scouts and spies were reassigned to watch for threats. They were not to interfere, or even interact with the Mane Six...just watch for threats to them. Whimsy stayed in the background and adopted the cover of a Filly Scouts leader. She reports to the mayor. Since then she met Silverhoof, got married, and resigned her position (still classified, so even Silverhoof doesn't know).

BUT, she stays in Ponyville because she loves the little fillies in her troop. Whimsy has found her calling.

 

 

Bottom Line: with us, it was the concept first and the story just flows from that.

the colors and looks were the last things we did.

Edited March 8, 2015 by Silverhoof

[Tao 7,432]

I tend to hit the random ideas for mine,  sometimes even a "saying" can become a oc: Holy Smokes!  Also I try out

ideas that I dont see many ppl use a bit!  It works at times and others get a dead end but other times it just flows

like water!

[Shift 4,272]

Ooh, lemme think about Equinox, then.

 

Well, first off, when I decided I wanted a 'main OC', I needed to pick the species / gender / blah. I went with a female since I usually am better at writing girls then guys because i'm a girl myself. As for species, I really wasn't sure for a while. Changelings are completely awesome but so are pegasi and unicorns. I eventually settled on an earth pony due to being the lesser used race and I wanted to be less mainstream. 

 

The special talent/cutie mark took a while. I knew I wanted a thiefy-assassiny type of character, since those are awesome and I think a badass thief would fit right at home in Equestria. I couldn't really think of anything that had to do specifically with thievery that wasn't cliche for a while, so then I began to brainstorm a bit about things that didn't directly relate to sneaking around but still had something to do with it. I came up with a yin-yang sort of idea, which I liked but I wasn't sure how to incorporate it. Then I figured out that if you meshed a sun and a moon together the result was a yin-yang sun-moon thing. I decided to make it represent survival, which still involves thievery but not directly.

 

As for the design I just kinda screwed around with colors until I found something I liked. That's how I usually design anyway.

 

Personality-wise, I decided to cherry-pick my personal favorite personality features and quirks with a few flaws thrown in because if I want a good OC I want it to be an OC with a personality I like. I eventually got a sassy, snarky outlaw who is obsessed with money, is antisocial but is good when forced to be social, has a ton of quirks, and has trouble trusting people and usually takes advantage of them.

 

If we're onto backstory, I'm still working on it, but i'm thinking about having Equinox grow up in a normal environment with parents that didn't have a lot of money, and Equinox (in order to make their lives better) shoplifted and pickpocketed so her parents could afford more extravagant things, but eventually got caught in the summer before she was off to college and became a criminal. Maybe she still sends money to her parents and hangs out with them? I honestly don't know. Backstories are tough.

 

This is generally the process I use for most of my OC's, with perhaps only a few things differing.

[Krampus 197]

Well, since people are posting in this topic, I guess I didn't completely kill it. Might as well tell the story of my more successful OC, Domino.

 

Story:

 

So in the middle of the RP that I was in (which lasted nearly 5 parts, each one hitting 201 pages of posts), I decided I wanted a foil to Fancy, a darker side, if you will. I was reading the Equinox Pony blog at the time and was inspired by the whole "reverse, kinda sorta evil Equestria" vibe. So once more, I delved into the depths of the Pony Generator. Out came Domino 1.0, the dark side of Fancy Tomato, the carefree asshole who constantly talked shit. He was supposed to be around when Fancy Tomato got overwhelmed with darkness or whatever and he would pop up. Later down the RP, I made it where they where separated, where Domino developed his own soul where it was placed into a metal robot, while Fancy kept his body.

 

Our RP was a little nuts like that. After all, it started from a simple "Would you survive a zombie apocalypse?" to this vast RP which had angels, demons, zombies, interdimensional travel, and ponies. Ponies only arrived after we abandoned Earth to the undead and fled to Equestria. Like I said, crazy.

 

Domino ended up sticking around the longest, though. He was supposed to be a temporary thing, but he kinda just grew into a life of his own and I ended up using him more than Fancy Tomato. Something about his attitude and views on life just kind of matched mine. As I got older, and more cynical, Domino seemed to fit me more, so he became my primary OC and I ended up leaving Fancy Tomato behind. He's still around, but he's not really prominent.

 

 

Anywho, I slowly learned hot to RP better and in the process learned better character design and background, so I ended up re-designing Fancy Tomato and Domino to not look so...crappy? They have a more normal look now as opposed to when I first created them. Their personalities are still pretty much the same, though. Backstories are different, thank Christ. The one thing, however, is that I could never find a Cutie Mark that fit them. I'd go searching for hours, trying to find something that was their destiny, but I could never really find it. Nothing seemed to call out to me. I suppose that makes them unique, but still fell the need to get them one.