My tips on OC creation

[Jellyfish 135]

Hi there! I create a lot of OCs so over the years I've learned a few things that have helped me make better characters. Now keep in mind, these things aren't absolute and don't work in every case but most of the time they do their job. I also want to put it out there that these are mostly my personal opinion and are also simply suggestions. 

• When they have something about them that is weird/unique make it significant rather than something that is just there for no reason. If it's something about them that is odd I find that making it have an actual impact on the character is much more realistic than it just being there.
• Making decent alicorn OCs are hard and I would recommend avoiding it altogether but if you still want to... good luck.
• Don't make the design to bright, gaudy or ornate. Simple designs are much better than overly complex ones, especially if you want the character to seem like they could fit in the canon.
• Try to avoid rainbows. Rainbow ponies usually make you think too much of Rainbow Dash and doesn't usually look that great anyway.
• They don't have to be a loner but try not to make them loved by everyone either. For example, I have a pony who is very outgoing and therefore has his fair share of friends but a lot of people who don't know him tend to find him creepy and weird and therefore avoid him.
• Don't make your character too self-pitying and emo. I understand wanting to make a darker or sadder character but doing that is not the way to go about it. You may not even realize that you're doing it, but try to be conscious of how your OC looks from an outsider's perspective. 
• Try to avoid relationships with canon characters. So don't make your OC Rainbow Dash's sister or Fluttershy's best friend or something. 
• Pure colors are generally a no-no. Any pure color is usually way too much. Pure black is too dark, pure white is too bright and any other pure color on the RGB is way too bright. If you don't know what I mean by 'pure colors on the RGB' think, like, neon blue and neon green those are pretty close to pure. Examples:

<No         Much better>

• Give your pony a fairly balanced personality. Don't give your pony only good traits or only bad traits give them a mix of both. Also please do remember to give them a personality.
• Art and music ponies are cool, but try to do new things too. I have a musician pony but I also have a therapist, a mechanic, a pony who daydreams more than he does things in real life and  a pony who just collects information for his own amusement.
• Try not to make it red and black. While I have nothing against the colors themselves It makes it look like you're trying too hard to make the pony look edgy and ponies aren't supposed to look edgy anyways.
• Don't use too much black or too much white. They're two of my favorite colors but use them in moderation.

Well those are all the things I can think of off the top of my head without getting too nitpicky. I hope you don't get upset about anything because as said as these are just suggestions. I hope I helped someone with... well anything really! I just want to share my knowledge with the world.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Jellyfish

[Odyssey 5,717]

Hey, thanks for the tips. They quite nice.

 

Got a question, though. I don't really understand when you say too much white. I mean, I have a pony OC/FanCharacter with a white coat/body, but that's it. Is that fine, or is it too much? Her coat isn't exactly pure white too.

 

I'm thinking of making another pony OCs soon with your tips. I have two as of now, but it seems that I feel that I can't have enough pony OCs.

[Jellyfish 135]

Hey, thanks for the tips. They quite nice.

 

Got a question, though. I don't really understand when you say too much white. I mean, I have a pony OC/FanCharacter with a white coat/body, but that's it. Is that fine, or is it too much? Her coat isn't exactly pure white too.

 

I'm thinking of making another pony OCs soon with your tips. I have two as of now, but it seems that I feel that I can't have enough pony OCs.

No just the body is fine. Just don't do it so it's like the body and the mane or something, that's a bit much.

[Jackie Snack 1,498]

It's nothing new, but very good information nonetheless. <3

[Luna the Great of all the Russias 2,987]

• Don't use too much black or too much white. They're two of my favorite colors but use them in moderation.

Somehow I think using mostly white works better than using mostly black. After all Double Diamond was all white and, unless I'm mistaken, there was never a completely black character. Simply my opinion though.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Tsaritsa Luna

[Jellyfish 135]

Somehow I think using mostly white works better than using mostly black. After all Double Diamond was all white and, unless I'm mistaken, there was never a completely black character. Simply my opinion though.

Yeah. I was mostly referring to black but generally all white isn't the best idea either because it rarely works out. Double Diamond is pretty great though. 

Edit: I just noticed that his mane is actually mostly just a really light cyan.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Jellyfish

[Night Mist 151]

Any tips on deciding on the type of mane and tail your character has? That seems to be something I struggle with sometimes. I think it's why I have depended on adopts for some of my Pony OCs.

[Jellyfish 135]

Any tips on deciding on the type of mane and tail your character has? That seems to be something I struggle with sometimes. I think it's why I have depended on adopts for some of my Pony OCs.

Well it mostly depends on personality and to a lesser extent color scheme. Your personal preference also plays a part of course but you also need to think about whether or not their mane/tail style would be practical or not in their line of work, so try not to give super long manes to athletic ponies. Think about if you want them to be designed based off of something, and if to attempt to give the mane a tail style a bit of the feeling of whatever your inspiration is. Like, I have this character Rain Fall who I wanted to give the impression of a storm cloud, so I made his mane and tail poofy and cloud-like. Think about what kind of impression you want the mane and tail to give off, do you want it to feel like the pony spends time on their appearance, like Rarity, or not caring at all, like Rainbow Dash? Not every pony's personality can be gauged by how their mane and tail look but giving the mane and tail a appearance that fits the personality of the character will help a lot in giving off a good impression.

[Night Mist 151]

Well it mostly depends on personality and to a lesser extent color scheme. Your personal preference also plays a part of course but you also need to think about whether or not their mane/tail style would be practical or not in their line of work, so try not to give super long manes to athletic ponies. Think about if you want them to be designed based off of something, and if to attempt to give the mane a tail style a bit of the feeling of whatever your inspiration is. Like, I have this character Rain Fall who I wanted to give the impression of a storm cloud, so I made his mane and tail poofy and cloud-like. Think about what kind of impression you want the mane and tail to give off, do you want it to feel like the pony spends time on their appearance, like Rarity, or not caring at all, like Rainbow Dash? Not every pony's personality can be gauged by how their mane and tail look but giving the mane and tail a appearance that fits the personality of the character will help a lot in giving off a good impression.

That helps me a lot thank you.

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

@@Jellyfish,

 

I'm curious if Dark/Tainted Mist is too dark? Cause i haven't had one bad complaint. 

[Jellyfish 135]

@@Jellyfish,

 

I'm curious if Dark/Tainted Mist is too dark? Cause i haven't had one bad complaint. 

You mean like a really dark grey? If you're talking about something specific, I would like to see it because I can't really tell from words alone. 

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

You mean like a really dark grey? If you're talking about something specific, I would like to see it because I can't really tell from words alone. 

Okay, she's a lighter gray, but here:

 

[Jellyfish 135]

Okay, she's a lighter gray, but here:

 

No it looks pretty okay. It seems to be about the same shade as the changeling body color, if not slightly darker, and the changeling body color is the one I'd choose for the darkest black color to have on a pony. 

[Tom Snyder 4,112]

No it looks pretty okay. It seems to be about the same shade as the changeling body color, if not slightly darker, and the changeling body color is the one I'd choose for the darkest black color to have on a pony. 

Just wanted to have something that fit her personality better; seeing as she becomes the one holding Dark Mist down.

[prism55 20]

Thanks for the tips! I will hopefully use them one day!