Things that I hate about OC's

[Rockymoo 2,137]

I agree with OP about the OC tropes that are so common they're cookie-cutter, but I don't see the point in making one if they're going to be a personality-less milkylicker with either a blank slate of a backstory or an unrealistic personality. I know they're ponies, but making an interesting and three-dimensional character should be something everyone tries to accomplish.

 

I have one I think is pretty neat and original, but I'm probably not posting it since I'm not really into role-playing.

And also, it's very situation-specific since it's for a project I'll do eventually and his personality actually changes. I'd feel like a d00sh for posting my pony without role-playing with it.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Rockymoo

[Nomadic 210]

Unfortunately, it's far too easy, especially while first starting to make OC's, to fall into some relatively easy writing traps, or tend to think that some characteristics of an OC are unique when they're relatively common. Though, the best way to subvert this, that I've found, is to just keep on revising a character by asking for others feedback until it "clicks" with you. You don't have to take all the feedback to heart, but you should revise certain traits or story elements if they're a recurring complaint from others.

[Taviscratch 453]

I agree completely.

 

I just have the one OC (my avatar). At first he was just a pony representation of myself for my YT channel but then he got a name (Mercury) and a background story (including not knowing what his cutie mark means and so he doesn't know what his talent is). I haven't fleshed out a personality because its my personality. He is, however, Vinyl's brother (lots of ppl said he looked like Vinyl's bro so I made it so) 

[Lisa 5,553]

Honestly, I don't care about alicorns. It's just the ones with a completely exaggerated and cliche backstory.

 

Orphan OCs... too many. Guys, you do realise your parents don't HAVE to die? Be smart enough to create a story with your OC's parents implemented in correctly.

 

DJ OCs. No. Just, fucking no. Stop going for a copy of Vinyl Scratch, it looks incredibly unoriginal. And her mane isn't even that nice to look at, it's ugly. There are other professions in music than being a DJ.

 

Dark backstories, seriously, come on guys, this is a show for little girls and you're making a story about how your parents' skulls were bashed into pieces and now you're OC is on a rampage to kill all villains? Fair enough though if your dark backstory is for the purpose of a dark RP.

 

Terrible designs.

All you need to do is have simple colours that compliment each other well. You don't need fluro yellow + fluro pink.

Edited August 6, 2013 by ✶Nova✶

[Blue Moon 6,341]

There are other professions n music than being a DJ.

How about for a talent; you could use songwriting/composing for the OC? There aren't a lot of songwriter/composer OCs in the fandom...

Edited August 6, 2013 by Blue Moon

[Lisa 5,553]

How about for a talent; you could use songwriting/composing for the OC? There aren't a lot of songwriter/composer OCs in the fandom...

 

Exactly. It's incredibly cliche and boring when I see a DJ OC because it's been done by many other people loads of times in the past. And it doesn't always have to be electronic music, why not classical, metal or folk?

[Blue Moon 6,341]

Exactly. It's incredibly cliche and boring when I see a DJ OC because it's been done by many other people loads of times in the past. And it doesn't always have to be electronic music, why not classical, metal or folk?

A folk music OC would be interesting. It would definitely be nice to see an OC associated with something other than the usual electronic.

[Anneal 2,197]

How about for a talent; you could use songwriting/composing for the OC? There aren't a lot of songwriter/composer OCs in the fandom...

Better yet, make your OC's talent a random hobby in life. Mine is golf, chess, stage magic, poetry, billiards, cartography, calligraphy, etc. I think that's a better way to start building your OC, rather than pick a typical talent from your OC. Roleplaying isn't about conformity, it's about variety. Think up of a talent people are less likely going to use.

 

Speaking of music... jazz and ragtime, anyone?

[♞RedLotus♞ 360]

I mean, sure I cant lie to you guys because my OC is quite edgy but seriously though. He has a skull for a cutie mark but that doesnt mean he is a blood thirsty killer. His talent is just hunting animals and keeping the forest safe by slaying monsters. Just a hint of spice doesnt hurt right? He has a brash personality like rainbowdash, which I guess makes it already a bad trait rather than a good trait. critics like bad traits more, rather than an all goody pony. He IS an orphan, but theres no back story of his parents being killed or anything so its not your typical batman story. He is from the jungle, which isnt quite common.

 

My point is that you can make your OC loveable and fun, without making him some sort of satanic cult leader, or the pony version of hercules. Also, shy ponies are so common I cant even tell you how many I have seen! I think my pony is original, and most you guys who took time to agree with me here also have original ponies. By the way, I have seen tons of "Male" ponies who have vinyls hair style, or rainbow dash's mane style in a different color -.-

[Blue Moon 6,341]

 

 

He has a brash personality like rainbowdash, which I guess makes it already a bad trait rather than a good trait. critics like bad traits more, rather than an all goody pony.

Actually, bad traits aren't more important; it's best to have a balance between both good and bad traits.

 

 

 

He IS an orphan, but theres no back story of his parents being killed or anything so its not your typical batman story.

 

What's wrong with Batman's story? It is because of the death of his parents that makes him the type of person he is currently. He probably wouldn't have become Batman if it weren't for that event in his life. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

How about for a talent; you could use songwriting/composing for the OC? There aren't a lot of songwriter/composer OCs in the fandom...

Hey! My OC is a doctor/composer! That counts right?! And his eventual wife in one of the AUs I'm trying out is also a composer! We're still here! And yes, I agree. I've seen a lot of DJ OCs lately... but it can be pulled off nonetheless without necessarily making them too cliche. You just have to be really experienced.

[Blue Moon 6,341]

Hey! My OC is a doctor/composer! That counts right?! And his eventual wife in one of the AUs I'm trying out is also a composer! We're still here! And yes, I agree. I've seen a lot of DJ OCs lately... but it can be pulled off nonetheless without necessarily making them too cliche. You just have to be really experienced.

Hey, I said a lot, not all. But yeah, I guess that counts though your OC would probably be better off with just one of those careers.

 

I have no doubt there are a few good DJ's out there; I've just never seen them.

[♞RedLotus♞ 360]

Actually, bad traits aren't more important; it's best to have a balance between both good and bad traits.

 

 

 

 

What's wrong with Batman's story? It is because of the death of his parents that makes him the type of person he is currently. He probably wouldn't have become Batman if it weren't for that event in his life. 

1. I didn't mean it that way, what I was trying to say was that he isn't the typical "So friendly to every pony, such a good person and hes a nice helper, but kind of shy or whatever" kind of guy, but he also isnt an all badass duke nukem guy... But you are right though, there does need to be some sort of balance. 

 

2. I used the batman cliche to explain most excuses for the orphan ponies. I have seen a ton of orphan OC's who say stuff like "His parrents were murdered, or died in an accident, so he was raised lonely, or he wanted to avenge his parrents, or he lived such a tragic life" 

[Inactive01 5,299]

I forgot to add this. Do you want to know what I see is the BIGGEST problem of all? The fact people who roleplay don't do anything with their OCs. There's no character development and it clearly goes nowhere! I can't see character development if each person just posts the minimum 200-300 characters per post. You won't get anywhere with that. Wherever did the writing of Ernst Hemmingway go? Trying to convey the full experience of the pony's emotions, feelings, and rationales? Trying to paint a picture of the world around them, or just delving into the dreams/daydreams of the ponies you're playing with as you delve deep into their subconscious? 

 

The point is that no matter now good your OC's backstory is, you'll go nowhere if you post extremely lazily (ie just post to advance the plot without even considering character development or improvising new ways for your character to interact with others for the good of not just your character, but for the others too). I find that to be the biggest pet peeve of all. It's like I'm trying to roleplay with slugs (Pardon the metaphor)! Like, I'm trying to type as much as I can about the character and their surroundings, even adding NPCs to spice the plot, and NO ONE ELSE is doing it! That's the BIGGEST pet peeve of all, and it leads to disillusionment of the roleplay in question. 

[Dark Qiviut 22,402]

 

 

Question. Is there a Mary Sue Litmus Test for pony OCs specifically? If not, someone needs to make one.

As someone who's been in other fandoms, a Mary Sue Litmus Test is one of the worst ideas a fandom can conceive and don't belong anywhere. MS Litmus Tests force people to tally points in order for people conclude whether the fancharacter is a Mary Sue or not. These tests are extremely simplified because they only evaluate concepts from face value and not the idea in general. (Most of the well-done characters actually tend to fail the litmus test, while many of the worst tend to pass.) Their only purposes are to attack OC creation in general and bully people into making none at all, and abstaining people from creativity (whether the characters are well-developed or not) is a terrible thing to do in fandom.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

I don't there's really a universal "no-no" for OC creation other than making sure that don't conflict with cannon, or arn't absurd in general.

 

Keep in mind, Lance Strongshy of Silent Ponyville fame, one of the most well written and realistically dark characters I've ever seen would fail the Mary Sue test by a landslide. He's related to a cannon character, has a dark back-story, a dead relative, and is an atoner, but it's all done well.  It comes down to how you use the offending tropes. 

 

Let's take immortality for example, the couple of immortal OCs I have make sense because their from a Highlander crossover, and are Highlander immortals. It makes sense because I'm working in a universe where immortals exist and  anyone can be born with the dormant power to become one upon their first death. 

 

Or Alicorns, it can make perfect sense to have one, if you know what the hell your doing and have a good reason why they're one and a place for them. 

 

As Tvtropes would say, "Tropes are not bad, tropes are tools". As with anything, it's about knowing how to use each tool correctly, and not use to many that clash(as tempting as it is, affixing two boards together with three kinda of glue, concrete, and 12inch spikes hammered in with a sledgehammer is just going to look gawdy and not work right in the end. As much as you like all twelve of those colors, splattering them on the walls at random will not look good.)

As someone who's been in other fandoms, a Mary Sue Litmus Test is one of the worst ideas a fandom can conceive and don't belong anywhere. MS Litmus Tests force people to tally points in order for people conclude whether the fancharacter is a Mary Sue or not. These tests are extremely simplified because they only evaluate concepts from face value and not the idea in general. (Most of the well-done characters actually tend to fail the litmus test, while many of the worst tend to pass.) Their only purposes are to attack OC creation in general and bully people into making none at all, and abstaining people from creativity (whether the characters are well-developed or not) is a terrible thing to do in fandom.

 

That, it preemptively marks things as red flags without knowing if they're justified(ie, immortality, and looking much younger than they are is a red flag even though that would perfectly fine for a Highlander OC, because who the hell is going to have some random human for Highlander OC?) 

Edited August 6, 2013 by Shoboni

[Cactus 155]

I agree. A lot of OCs I see are very cliché. Alicorns, dark backgrounds, "special" powers or abilities. Rainbows OCs.

 

People can absolutely do what they'd like for their character, but I would never do any of that.

[GhostPony750 959]

I kinda agree, but it's their OC's, they can do whatever they want with them.

When I made my OC, it was supposed to be myslef, and nothing else.

 

Doing an OC is a good way to show who you are to the community, writing stories about him, giving your personality to your character by the way he react to events.

 

You can do an OC who represent someone in your family or a friend.

Doing OC's just like that make them look unclear, unrealistic.

[Gigapony 650]

Personally (and I want to stress the word "personally" here, as my opinions are just my opinions and anyone can do what they want with their OC's), my big list of no-no's are based around whether or not the OC feels like he/she can belong in the show and not stick out like a sore thumb.

 

To that end, I do admit I have a big distaste for "Dark" OC's. OC's who look like they were designed by King Sombra after he had a bad acid trip and listened to some Rob Zombie, for example. OC's who have a "dark and grim past™" and/or "horribly abusive/dead parents" do bug me as well. Angsty OC's who are all nihilistic and whatnot and who have unnecessarily dark, convoluted and tragic backstories that simply do not fit with the show's cutesy aesthetic. Gun-toting OC's are the worst offenders for me. A HANDgun in a world without HANDS is pushing it a bit to me, plus firearms are COMPLETELY out of place in MLP.

 

To me, no amount of dark colours, skull cutie marks, and bloodstains will ever make the show's marshmallow-shaped ponies look badass. It's just too jarring an effect to see what looks like a living plush toy cursing and beheading other living plush toys.

 

To me the best OC's are the ones that, even when they're evil/antagonists, they're flawed in a comical way. That they balance badassery with silliness and cartoonishness. I've tried (though I can't say if I've succeeded) to make my own OC's follow that template.

 

NOW, that said, I must stress again, that nobody needs to give a flying feather about what I just said, because it's THEIR imagination, and THEIR character, and they have every right to make them in any way they want.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Gigapony

[Anneal 2,197]

To that end, I do admit I have a big distaste for "Dark" OC's. OC's who look like they were designed by King Sombra after he had a bad acid trip and listened to some Rob Zombie, for example. OC's who have a "dark and grim past™" and/or "horribly abusive/dead parents" do bug me as well. Angsty OC's who are all nihilistic and whatnot and who have unnecessarily dark, convoluted and tragic backstories that simply do not fit with the show's cutesy aesthetic. Gun-toting OC's are the worst offenders for me. A HANDgun in a world without HANDS is pushing it a bit to me, plus firearms are COMPLETELY out of place in MLP.

A bit off topic, but firearms in MLP ARE plausible, but they would appear differently or used less commonly. It would still be okay if say, earth ponies and unicorns were using those breech-loading or even lever/bolt-action rifles. I tend to see Equestria fall in the Victorian or Edwardian era. (compared to Earth)

 

Back on topic, cutie marks related to military weapons should be avoided at all times. A fencing sword or rapier could be fine, or if you want your talent to be related to firearms, use something else (like a bow and arrow) to imply that.

[Mephala 2,633]

I make very dark OC's (not in colour, because dark colours in excess look cheesy and they don't mix well, taking away from the physical appearance of your character just as much as excess of light colours does). However, many to all of my OC's are created in an alternate universe of Equestria for my fanfiction. Due to the nature of the "new world" it is not possible that every character is going to be happy-go-lucky. (I think the happiest ones I have are Quinn and Valour, and they're both happy in their evilness.) (I came up with the names before the League of Legend champs, for the record.)

 

However, when creating within show canons, it's not a (commonly thought) good idea to do the colour things (still), as well as it is bad to put too much dark stuff in the story. A little is okay, because no one has a perfect life (show characters included), but it can get out of hand. My main OC as of late, Pluse (see avatar(, is admittedly a bit over the top, yes, but again, she is in my fanfic. I don't think she's perfect at all, because she is certainly flawed, and she was MEANT to be. However, my character Greenery was created within show canon and he's much better-he has flaws but his life wasn't a complete hellhole.

 

I think that's it-flaws. Flaws always add more depth to a character. Whether it be a physical or mental disability (so long as they aren't some crazy war veteran with torn off wings or something) or a trait they can't get over, you want something that you can expound or improve as RP's or stories go on. In the case of my characters, Pluse has to get over her natural carnivorous nature and learn to trust, and Greenery has to learn that he doesn't have to be silent to be polite. Or something.

 

It boils down to what YOU want, though. Don't let people hate even if they may, because the character is for YOU in the end.

 

Sorry for the rambling nonsensical-osity of this post, I am practically falling over.

[Gigapony 650]

A bit off topic, but firearms in MLP ARE plausible, but they would appear differently or used less commonly. It would still be okay if say, earth ponies and unicorns were using those breech-loading or even lever/bolt-action rifles. I tend to see Equestria fall in the Victorian or Edwardian era. (compared to Earth)

 

Back on topic, cutie marks related to military weapons should be avoided at all times. A fencing sword or rapier could be fine, or if you want your talent to be related to firearms, use something else (like a bow and arrow) to imply that.

 

I should've clarified, I agree with what you say, old-school weapons do fit, and things like cannons and muskets and whatnot (especially when redesigned to fit around pony ergonomics) are a welcome expansion of MLP lore. I recall one poster showing a picture of what pony weapons might look like, with a series of classic-styled cannons, catapults, and muskets that I thought was pure genius and a successful way to introduce weapons without it seeming forced or out of place.

 

What I meant was more of like "My OC uses an AK-47 and a Glock .50 calibre Whatchemacallit" (sorry I know now't about guns) type of thing, where they're using extremely detailed depictions of real world modern firearms that just look UTTERLY out of place. This is especially silly (to me) when their cutie marks essentially amount to a photograph of said weapon.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Gigapony

[lincolnshirepony 527]

I'm a firm believer in the idea that anything can work in fiction if it is well done. If an alicorn OC makes sense and is a compelling character, why not? I would take that over a pegasus with no personality and an illogical backstory.

 

The faults I find in OCs tend to stem from poor execution and a lack of logic regarding the character. I want to read about interesting, believable characters. If I can believe a character as a person or find something worthwhile about them, then I'll usually enjoy them. Inconsistency in OCs bothers me (even if I'm guilty of it myself. I'm working on fixing it.)

 

I will say that OCs are subjective. There's no perfect OC, because someone, somewhere will find fault in it. It comes down to taste in a lot of cases. Some OCs may need more improvement than others, and are worse in a technical sense. At the same time, personal preference plays a role in what makes a character appealing.

[Anneal 2,197]

I will say that OCs are subjective. There's no perfect OC, because someone, somewhere will find fault in it. It comes down to taste in a lot of cases. Some OCs may need more improvement than others, and are worse in a technical sense. At the same time, personal preference plays a role in what makes a character appealing.

Then again, OCs are not meant to be perfect. They're supposed to have faults, and if you meant that the OC characterization is "perfect", I would say there is no definite scale for "perfect".  

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Then again, OCs are not meant to be perfect. They're supposed to have faults, and if you meant that the OC characterization is "perfect", I would say there is no definite scale for "perfect".

 

I would agree with that. I was trying to say that there isn't an OC that will be universally lauded and loved. People have different ideas of what makes a good character, and will have different favorites. There's something to love and hate about almost any OC, and people will love an OC for the same thing others hate that OC for. It doesn't necessarily make a character bad; it can merely come down to a difference in taste.