CHARACTERS: Originality Turned "Not So Original"

[Xavirne]

Originality Turned "Not So Original"
The Woes of a Roleplayer

Have you ever spent hours working up a character to have someone, quite bluntly, tell you that you lack originality? Have you ever spent a nice chunk of time fleshing out a character that you think is so badass that it should be against the rules to then find out that your so called "original character" is really very similar to a person you know? What about those times were you're just throwing someone together and, subconsciously, turn said character into an iconic figure?

This thread is going to revolve around discussing such issues as these. The pitfalls, the uphill battles, and the downright dirty remarks that could smear your reputation just because you, god for bid, created something that wasn't 100% original.

So, what deems something original? Let's look at some definitions, shall we?

Roleplay Hub states that an original character is...

Original Character - A player-created character that does not already exist or is not based on another character.

Facebook likes to believe that it means (ignore the poor grammar)...

a character not from the story. an stand alone character.

Smileypedia comments that an original character is as follows...

(Original Characters) or OC's: A graphical persona with regular and specific visual characteristics unique to an individual artist. The character can be simply recurring or can have a personality and "stories" created around it.

Our beloved UrbanDictionary even has a few thoughts on the topic...

Stands for "original character." A character created by a fanfic author or roleplayer. Said created character does not belong to the canon cast but is inserted anyway for entertainment.

Many OCs appear as long-lost family members, past lovers, or exchange students. These background stories provide alibis for the sudden appearance and previous absences of the OC.

OC may also stand for "other character," in this case representing an extremely minor character, introduced or mentioned but not extremely active in an original series.

I was reading a person's fanfic the other day. It was centric of their OC, but the original character they made up was pretty cool, so I didn't mind.

short version of the words "Original Charecter" , if used in Art communities like deviantart.com .

Original charecter means a new charecter someone has made fully of his/herself,and hasn't been seen in any movies/series/mangas/animes/dramas,and are used in Original story that the person itself has written.

"Oh,this is my OC mink!i just made her yesterday while thinking about my new story,"

An anime character of yourself, created by yourself,

"Man I'm going to make my own anime character of my self!"
"You just made an Original Character"

As you can see, the definitions all hints at the same thing - a character someone made up that isn't originally a part of a story or concept. So, in a sense, the creation of any character could be considered original, but we all know that's a fine line we might not want to cross. Why? Perhaps it has something to do with Mary Sue.

Ah yes, Mary Sue. Ripping the definition from Wikipedia, in case you didn't know about her, you can read her little story below~

A Mary Sue (sometimes just Sue), in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfilment fantasy for the author or reader. It is generally accepted as a character whose positive aspects overwhelm their other traits until they become one-dimensional.

Mary Sues are usually frowned upon because they are, without a doubt, poorly made characters. Such characters get lumped with unoriginal character creations.


AND THIS IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS~

[Strude]

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TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE: 150 YEARS OF MARY SUE
by Pat Pflieger

Everyone should give it a read. One of my favorite essays on mary sue. It's insightful and fun to read (least to me). Some references might throw some players, they're older references to series I think a lot of you young-ins haven't watched! >D None the less still a great essay.

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