A Comprehensive Guide to Writing OCs
So you say you want to write an OC, but don’t know where to begin? Well, here are a few tips to help you get started, and maybe help you avoid the terrible Mary Sue Trap that so many writers fall into.
1. Create a profile for your OC, with their name, age, gender, height, weight, and other such defining characteristics, to help you flesh out how they will look. Once you do this, go back and take out any Mary Sue/Gary Stu adjectives, such as “Sapphire Blue Hair with Icy Pink Streaks” or “Emerald Green Eyes with Amber Sparkles”. Everyone wants their character to be special, or easily recognizable, but this tends to backfire horribly when introduced into your story. Unless the universe you are working with has canon characters with strange hair/eye colors, stay away from the unique color approach. The same also applies to skin color, unless your character has some sort of disease, like albinism, that affects a person’s coloring, or if they’re something other than human. So go with a normal hair/eye color, and a normal skin color.
Speaking of which, once you actually start writing your character, don’t be overly descriptive of your OC. You want to tell the story, not constantly remind everyone of what your character looks like…and for the love of whatever deity you worship, DON’T compare them to attractive canon characters and have them win! The quickest way to have the Sue-Hunters pounding down your door is to have your character make an attractive canon character look like a troll. “She pushed her blonde bangs out of her face” is fine. “She pushed her golden locks aside, revealing exquisite sapphire eyes set in a face that would make angels weep in envy” is NOT! Average is best. Average will make a character far more memorable than beauty, since beauty runs a dime-a-dozen in the world of fanfiction.
2. What is in a name? Most OC creators come up with the name of their character first, then work out the rest later. Sadly, most of those same authors feel the need to “special” their character up some more by giving them a “unique” name. Examples of these unique/special names are “Ebony”, “Athena”, “Reiaku”, “Destiny”, “Angel”, and “Guinevere”. Yes, there are male OCs out there with equally “special” names, though it seems that the female OCs are far more guilty of this. Repeat the following aloud: Special names do not automatically mean special characters! Those “special” names you spend so much time agonizing over scream Mary Sue/Gary Stu like nobody’s business, so please try to avoid them.
Depending on the universe you are writing in, the name should suit the area/timeframe/race of the character. This means that writing characters with names like “Brandon” or “Heather” in a story with a medieval Japanese setting like “Inuyasha” are as equally jarring and absurd as characters with names like “Palululaka” and “Ryo-yami-sama” in a story about a TV series like “CSI” or “NCIS”. If the name is absurd, then the reader will not take your character seriously, which leads to them not taking your story seriously.
Speaking of names: unless the government, or the character’s pissed-off mother, are going to call your character by their full name, then no one really needs to know your character’s middle name, and if your character has more than one middle name, then there’s something seriously wrong. I know it was fashionable at one point in time for people in various cultures to have multiple names (example: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore), but unless your character was born in/currently resides in that timeline/culture, don’t do it. First and last names are fine, though you don’t need to keep beating the reader over the head with your character’s last name, either.
Last names should be as carefully considered as your OC’s first name. Don’t go for anything overly ostentatious, but don’t go for anything too plain, either. In the wrong hands, Jane Smith can be just as annoying/boring as Wisteria Ravencroft. Finding a balance between the two is the best way to go.
One more thing: if you’re really that hard-up for a name, go online or go to a bookstore and find a site/book of baby names. They’ll have everything you need, from what they mean to what culture they come from, so it’s really quite easy to keep from clashing with the canon universe on account of a poorly chosen name.
3. After paring down your character’s looks and fix their name, you can begin on the character themselves. Start by making a list of all their strengths, then, once you’re done with that, make a list of their weaknesses, and then compare the two. And when I say strengths and weaknesses, I mean personality traits, not special powers/abilities. We’ll get to that part in a minute. If your OC has far more strengths than it does weaknesses, then you most likely have a Power Sue or a Perfect Sue on your hands, and you’ll need to cut down that list. On the other hand, if your OC has way more weaknesses than it does strengths, then you have a potential Damsel Sue or an Angst or Emo Sue, which also needs help. You want to find a good balance between the strengths and the weaknesses, and give both of them equal “screen-time”.
Example 1: Jane is kind, loving, caring, strong-willed, independent, always right, etc., etc. Oh, but she hates bugs.
No! Do NOT do this! This is most certainly a Mary Sue.
Example 2: John is kind, but depressed, cries all of the time, hated by everyone, can’t do anything right, etc.
In this case, John is a Gary Stu, but taken in the opposite direction, and is usually known as an Angst or Emo Stu.
Example 3: Jane is strong-willed, good in school, and loves animals. Often volunteers to help at the local animal shelter. She also snaps at people with little provocation, a total klutz, and deathly afraid of insects. Her claim to fame is falling down a flight of stairs trying to escape a cockroach that was “chasing” her.
This is much better. As you can see, this Jane is a more realistic one than the Jane used in Example 1.
4. Special powers. Every good OC has them, right? No, not always. Might doesn’t always make right, and your character doesn’t necessarily need powers to make them interesting. If you want to create an OC with powers, ask yourself the following questions first…
--1. Does the universe you’re writing in have other characters with powers?
--2. Are the canon characters with powers human?
--3. Is your character human?
--4. Is your character some sort of half-breed?
--5. Will your character’s power have any drawbacks?
If your character is human, in a place where there are NO powered people of any kind, then don’t write a character with powers! If your fandom has nonhumans with powers, but humans don’t have any, don’t write a human with powers! If your character isn’t human, or is in a universe where humans have powers, then feel free to write them, but give them limits! Under no circumstances should they be stronger than the strongest hero/villain, nor should they have powers that are considered extremely unusual even by a Powered being’s standards. In fact, your character shouldn’t even start out near the hero/villain’s level, and would be best if they didn’t actually meet that level by the end, unless they’re going to spend years and years training. A good example of an unusual power would be an OC firing laser beams out of their eyes, while everyone else in the universe is either telepathic or telekinetic. Also, under NO circumstances should your OC have more than three abilities at most; preferably one major ability, and one or two minor ones. If your character’s major ability does a wide variety of things, then they don’t really need any other abilities, do they?
Unless everyone with powers is Immortal, Indestructible, and has Godlike Powers of Epic Awesomeness, then your character shouldn’t have those abilities, either. Those types of abilities are horribly clichéd and thoroughly boring. Besides, balance is key, and in that case, Epic Powers would come with Epic Drawbacks, would they not? Good examples of limits would be “It Harms/Drains the User,” “Only X-Amount of Uses,” or “Only Works Half of the Time.” These are only a few examples and there are plenty that anyone could come up with. And if you want more examples of clichéd powers, tvtropes is a good place to start.
Here’s a piece of advice for those of you whose characters fall under Question 4. If your character is a half-breed, then you should make another list of what strengths and weaknesses it has from its parents. If it has all the strengths and none of the weaknesses, and/or powers greater than either of the parents, then you’ve created a Hybrid Sue. Treat half-breed strengths and weaknesses the same way you would the character’s personality traits, and remember: balance is key.
Another thing concerning half-breeds. If the two species you’re combining don’t even look biologically compatible, like a human and a Cybertronian (giant alien robot from the Transformers universe), or an elf and an Ent (giant sentient tree-man from the Lord of the Rings universe), it’s really better that you don’t do it. It’ll save you a lot of headaches and repeating yourself when you get a bunch of reviewers asking how that sort of relationship would even work.
5. A good key for writing realistic OCs is to put yourself in their shoes in a given situation, and consider how you would react, with no powers or impending help. You have to be completely honest, though. Those of you that say something like “Oh, I’ll just whip out my rocket launcher” or “I’ll just ninja-kick the bad guy” need to back away from the computer and come back when you’re ready to be serious about it. If you’re truly honest, it will give your character honest reactions and make it far more believable.
6. Where are you going with your character, plot-wise? How will they develop as a person? Usually, you can tell how a character grows by writing a very simple summary of what happens to them in the story.
Example 1: John starts out as a coward in the beginning, but over the course of the story, with the help of his friends and hard work, learns to become strong.
John has shown character growth, by working on changing himself inside. Not all forms of growth are that cut-and-dry, but it’s a good example. Now let’s take a look at one that isn’t so good.
Example 2: Jane falls into BLANK universe, falls in love with John Doe, kills the bad guy, and saves the day.
This example is pure Mary-Sue power at work. There is no character growth whatsoever. If your brief summary of your OC looks anything like this, then you have a major problem on your hands. It’s fine for flights of fancy, but not for a story you plan on sharing with God and everyone on the internet!
7. How does your OC react to the canon characters? Very few fanfictions involve OCs in a fictional universe without involving at least one of the canon characters, so this is very important. How does your OC meet the canon characters? Who does he/she get along with? Who does he/she not get along with? If you say that your OC gets along with everyone, because “everyone loves them”, then congratulations, you have yet another Mary Sue/Gary Stu! You should try to keep any canon character in your story as close to the original as possible, even with the new character suddenly involved. It’s not always possible, as there are some situations where there is no telling how the characters would react, but you should try to stay as true to the story as possible. People who read fanfictions are fans of the canon characters first, and to most, an OC will always be extra baggage. So write the canon characters’ reactions to your character as true to the fandom as possible: those who hate OCs will have less to complain about and those who tolerate OCs may even come to like yours.
This leads to another point: no matter how much you hate a specific canon character, please restrain the urge to use your OC to bash them. No matter how much you hate Character-A, your character should not randomly attack them/beat the daylights out of them. It’s okay if your OC doesn’t get along with them at all, but don’t bash them, and DON’T make the other canon characters start bashing them, either, if it’s not actually canon for them to do so. Even if the character you hate is the love interest of the character you love. Don’t do it.
8. A lot of time, in fanfiction, OC/Canon character interaction leads to romance. Unfortunately, it also leads to Mary Sue/Gary Stu rearing its ugly head. Now, I like a good love story as much as the next person, but there’s no need to rush it by having it happen right off the bat. Depending on how long your chapters are, how long the story is going to be, and what kind of person the love interest is, an OC/Canon romance shouldn’t take place for quite some time. I’d recommend waiting at least a month in the story’s timeline, at least, before starting up a romance. Hell, I’d recommend writing an OC/Canon friendship over writing a romance.
If your OC’s love interest is in love with another canon character, then either come up with an actual PLAUSIBLE reason for the two to break up. No, A breaking up with B because “B is stupid and your OC is much better for A” is not a plausible reason. Nor is killing off said character so that your character can comfort the bereaved in his/her hour of grief. Grief for a lost loved one takes a long time to heal, and if the two paired up canon characters are a canonical instance of “Love of the Ages”, then don’t even attempt breaking them up/killing the “unnecessary” one off. Depending on the fandom, the surviving mate will either grieve forever, or follow their loved one into death. No, the “Magical Healing Sex” of legend does not exist, and most certainly will not fly when trying to comfort a bereaved love interest. Besides, depending on what site you’re writing on, graphic depictions of sex are not allowed and will get your story deleted/get you banned from the site.
9. Depending on the universe you are writing in, you may need to create a Villain OC. This can be a lot of fun, but can also be a huge pain in the neck. A lot of first time villain-writers go with their first instinct and try to make their OC so powerful that it makes the canon villain look like a total wimp. That is what is known as the Villain Sue, and is extremely irritating, especially when combined with a Power Sue, who turns out to be the only one who can defeat the Villain Sue. Please refrain from this. A good Villain OC should really only be strong enough to make things difficult for the heroes of the story. That may make your Villain OC stronger than the last canon villain, or it may not, depending on how much stronger the canon heroes have become since defeating their villain. Also, try to make your villain fit in with the universe you’re working in.
Feel free to follow or disregard the advice given here. The choice is ultimately up to you. Please keep in mind that while this guide may help, there’s still nothing better than an honest beta to help you with your story and characters. If, even after you find a beta, you still aren’t sure whether your OC is a Mary Sue/Gary Stu or not, then Google “Mary Sue Litmus Test”. That should give you the help you need, so please refrain from bombarding me with requests to check out your OCs and tell you if they’re Mary Sues or not. Thanks for reading, and good luck with your writing.
1. Create a profile for your OC, with their name, age, gender, height, weight, and other such defining characteristics, to help you flesh out how they will look. Once you do this, go back and take out any Mary Sue/Gary Stu adjectives, such as “Sapphire Blue Hair with Icy Pink Streaks” or “Emerald Green Eyes with Amber Sparkles”. Everyone wants their character to be special, or easily recognizable, but this tends to backfire horribly when introduced into your story. Unless the universe you are working with has canon characters with strange hair/eye colors, stay away from the unique color approach. The same also applies to skin color, unless your character has some sort of disease, like albinism, that affects a person’s coloring, or if they’re something other than human. So go with a normal hair/eye color, and a normal skin color.
Speaking of which, once you actually start writing your character, don’t be overly descriptive of your OC. You want to tell the story, not constantly remind everyone of what your character looks like…and for the love of whatever deity you worship, DON’T compare them to attractive canon characters and have them win! The quickest way to have the Sue-Hunters pounding down your door is to have your character make an attractive canon character look like a troll. “She pushed her blonde bangs out of her face” is fine. “She pushed her golden locks aside, revealing exquisite sapphire eyes set in a face that would make angels weep in envy” is NOT! Average is best. Average will make a character far more memorable than beauty, since beauty runs a dime-a-dozen in the world of fanfiction.
2. What is in a name? Most OC creators come up with the name of their character first, then work out the rest later. Sadly, most of those same authors feel the need to “special” their character up some more by giving them a “unique” name. Examples of these unique/special names are “Ebony”, “Athena”, “Reiaku”, “Destiny”, “Angel”, and “Guinevere”. Yes, there are male OCs out there with equally “special” names, though it seems that the female OCs are far more guilty of this. Repeat the following aloud: Special names do not automatically mean special characters! Those “special” names you spend so much time agonizing over scream Mary Sue/Gary Stu like nobody’s business, so please try to avoid them.
Depending on the universe you are writing in, the name should suit the area/timeframe/race of the character. This means that writing characters with names like “Brandon” or “Heather” in a story with a medieval Japanese setting like “Inuyasha” are as equally jarring and absurd as characters with names like “Palululaka” and “Ryo-yami-sama” in a story about a TV series like “CSI” or “NCIS”. If the name is absurd, then the reader will not take your character seriously, which leads to them not taking your story seriously.
Speaking of names: unless the government, or the character’s pissed-off mother, are going to call your character by their full name, then no one really needs to know your character’s middle name, and if your character has more than one middle name, then there’s something seriously wrong. I know it was fashionable at one point in time for people in various cultures to have multiple names (example: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore), but unless your character was born in/currently resides in that timeline/culture, don’t do it. First and last names are fine, though you don’t need to keep beating the reader over the head with your character’s last name, either.
Last names should be as carefully considered as your OC’s first name. Don’t go for anything overly ostentatious, but don’t go for anything too plain, either. In the wrong hands, Jane Smith can be just as annoying/boring as Wisteria Ravencroft. Finding a balance between the two is the best way to go.
One more thing: if you’re really that hard-up for a name, go online or go to a bookstore and find a site/book of baby names. They’ll have everything you need, from what they mean to what culture they come from, so it’s really quite easy to keep from clashing with the canon universe on account of a poorly chosen name.
3. After paring down your character’s looks and fix their name, you can begin on the character themselves. Start by making a list of all their strengths, then, once you’re done with that, make a list of their weaknesses, and then compare the two. And when I say strengths and weaknesses, I mean personality traits, not special powers/abilities. We’ll get to that part in a minute. If your OC has far more strengths than it does weaknesses, then you most likely have a Power Sue or a Perfect Sue on your hands, and you’ll need to cut down that list. On the other hand, if your OC has way more weaknesses than it does strengths, then you have a potential Damsel Sue or an Angst or Emo Sue, which also needs help. You want to find a good balance between the strengths and the weaknesses, and give both of them equal “screen-time”.
Example 1: Jane is kind, loving, caring, strong-willed, independent, always right, etc., etc. Oh, but she hates bugs.
No! Do NOT do this! This is most certainly a Mary Sue.
Example 2: John is kind, but depressed, cries all of the time, hated by everyone, can’t do anything right, etc.
In this case, John is a Gary Stu, but taken in the opposite direction, and is usually known as an Angst or Emo Stu.
Example 3: Jane is strong-willed, good in school, and loves animals. Often volunteers to help at the local animal shelter. She also snaps at people with little provocation, a total klutz, and deathly afraid of insects. Her claim to fame is falling down a flight of stairs trying to escape a cockroach that was “chasing” her.
This is much better. As you can see, this Jane is a more realistic one than the Jane used in Example 1.
4. Special powers. Every good OC has them, right? No, not always. Might doesn’t always make right, and your character doesn’t necessarily need powers to make them interesting. If you want to create an OC with powers, ask yourself the following questions first…
--1. Does the universe you’re writing in have other characters with powers?
--2. Are the canon characters with powers human?
--3. Is your character human?
--4. Is your character some sort of half-breed?
--5. Will your character’s power have any drawbacks?
If your character is human, in a place where there are NO powered people of any kind, then don’t write a character with powers! If your fandom has nonhumans with powers, but humans don’t have any, don’t write a human with powers! If your character isn’t human, or is in a universe where humans have powers, then feel free to write them, but give them limits! Under no circumstances should they be stronger than the strongest hero/villain, nor should they have powers that are considered extremely unusual even by a Powered being’s standards. In fact, your character shouldn’t even start out near the hero/villain’s level, and would be best if they didn’t actually meet that level by the end, unless they’re going to spend years and years training. A good example of an unusual power would be an OC firing laser beams out of their eyes, while everyone else in the universe is either telepathic or telekinetic. Also, under NO circumstances should your OC have more than three abilities at most; preferably one major ability, and one or two minor ones. If your character’s major ability does a wide variety of things, then they don’t really need any other abilities, do they?
Unless everyone with powers is Immortal, Indestructible, and has Godlike Powers of Epic Awesomeness, then your character shouldn’t have those abilities, either. Those types of abilities are horribly clichéd and thoroughly boring. Besides, balance is key, and in that case, Epic Powers would come with Epic Drawbacks, would they not? Good examples of limits would be “It Harms/Drains the User,” “Only X-Amount of Uses,” or “Only Works Half of the Time.” These are only a few examples and there are plenty that anyone could come up with. And if you want more examples of clichéd powers, tvtropes is a good place to start.
Here’s a piece of advice for those of you whose characters fall under Question 4. If your character is a half-breed, then you should make another list of what strengths and weaknesses it has from its parents. If it has all the strengths and none of the weaknesses, and/or powers greater than either of the parents, then you’ve created a Hybrid Sue. Treat half-breed strengths and weaknesses the same way you would the character’s personality traits, and remember: balance is key.
Another thing concerning half-breeds. If the two species you’re combining don’t even look biologically compatible, like a human and a Cybertronian (giant alien robot from the Transformers universe), or an elf and an Ent (giant sentient tree-man from the Lord of the Rings universe), it’s really better that you don’t do it. It’ll save you a lot of headaches and repeating yourself when you get a bunch of reviewers asking how that sort of relationship would even work.
5. A good key for writing realistic OCs is to put yourself in their shoes in a given situation, and consider how you would react, with no powers or impending help. You have to be completely honest, though. Those of you that say something like “Oh, I’ll just whip out my rocket launcher” or “I’ll just ninja-kick the bad guy” need to back away from the computer and come back when you’re ready to be serious about it. If you’re truly honest, it will give your character honest reactions and make it far more believable.
6. Where are you going with your character, plot-wise? How will they develop as a person? Usually, you can tell how a character grows by writing a very simple summary of what happens to them in the story.
Example 1: John starts out as a coward in the beginning, but over the course of the story, with the help of his friends and hard work, learns to become strong.
John has shown character growth, by working on changing himself inside. Not all forms of growth are that cut-and-dry, but it’s a good example. Now let’s take a look at one that isn’t so good.
Example 2: Jane falls into BLANK universe, falls in love with John Doe, kills the bad guy, and saves the day.
This example is pure Mary-Sue power at work. There is no character growth whatsoever. If your brief summary of your OC looks anything like this, then you have a major problem on your hands. It’s fine for flights of fancy, but not for a story you plan on sharing with God and everyone on the internet!
7. How does your OC react to the canon characters? Very few fanfictions involve OCs in a fictional universe without involving at least one of the canon characters, so this is very important. How does your OC meet the canon characters? Who does he/she get along with? Who does he/she not get along with? If you say that your OC gets along with everyone, because “everyone loves them”, then congratulations, you have yet another Mary Sue/Gary Stu! You should try to keep any canon character in your story as close to the original as possible, even with the new character suddenly involved. It’s not always possible, as there are some situations where there is no telling how the characters would react, but you should try to stay as true to the story as possible. People who read fanfictions are fans of the canon characters first, and to most, an OC will always be extra baggage. So write the canon characters’ reactions to your character as true to the fandom as possible: those who hate OCs will have less to complain about and those who tolerate OCs may even come to like yours.
This leads to another point: no matter how much you hate a specific canon character, please restrain the urge to use your OC to bash them. No matter how much you hate Character-A, your character should not randomly attack them/beat the daylights out of them. It’s okay if your OC doesn’t get along with them at all, but don’t bash them, and DON’T make the other canon characters start bashing them, either, if it’s not actually canon for them to do so. Even if the character you hate is the love interest of the character you love. Don’t do it.
8. A lot of time, in fanfiction, OC/Canon character interaction leads to romance. Unfortunately, it also leads to Mary Sue/Gary Stu rearing its ugly head. Now, I like a good love story as much as the next person, but there’s no need to rush it by having it happen right off the bat. Depending on how long your chapters are, how long the story is going to be, and what kind of person the love interest is, an OC/Canon romance shouldn’t take place for quite some time. I’d recommend waiting at least a month in the story’s timeline, at least, before starting up a romance. Hell, I’d recommend writing an OC/Canon friendship over writing a romance.
If your OC’s love interest is in love with another canon character, then either come up with an actual PLAUSIBLE reason for the two to break up. No, A breaking up with B because “B is stupid and your OC is much better for A” is not a plausible reason. Nor is killing off said character so that your character can comfort the bereaved in his/her hour of grief. Grief for a lost loved one takes a long time to heal, and if the two paired up canon characters are a canonical instance of “Love of the Ages”, then don’t even attempt breaking them up/killing the “unnecessary” one off. Depending on the fandom, the surviving mate will either grieve forever, or follow their loved one into death. No, the “Magical Healing Sex” of legend does not exist, and most certainly will not fly when trying to comfort a bereaved love interest. Besides, depending on what site you’re writing on, graphic depictions of sex are not allowed and will get your story deleted/get you banned from the site.
9. Depending on the universe you are writing in, you may need to create a Villain OC. This can be a lot of fun, but can also be a huge pain in the neck. A lot of first time villain-writers go with their first instinct and try to make their OC so powerful that it makes the canon villain look like a total wimp. That is what is known as the Villain Sue, and is extremely irritating, especially when combined with a Power Sue, who turns out to be the only one who can defeat the Villain Sue. Please refrain from this. A good Villain OC should really only be strong enough to make things difficult for the heroes of the story. That may make your Villain OC stronger than the last canon villain, or it may not, depending on how much stronger the canon heroes have become since defeating their villain. Also, try to make your villain fit in with the universe you’re working in.
Feel free to follow or disregard the advice given here. The choice is ultimately up to you. Please keep in mind that while this guide may help, there’s still nothing better than an honest beta to help you with your story and characters. If, even after you find a beta, you still aren’t sure whether your OC is a Mary Sue/Gary Stu or not, then Google “Mary Sue Litmus Test”. That should give you the help you need, so please refrain from bombarding me with requests to check out your OCs and tell you if they’re Mary Sues or not. Thanks for reading, and good luck with your writing.