Hi folks! If you are wondering how to make a fandom-related character properly, for roleplaying or just because you want to make a character that would fit in a specific universe, well here is an article for you.
I will have examples regarding to a specific fandom that I know of, but the tips I say here can be applied to any fandom, but maybe with some slight variations on things to avoid in ways, depending on the specific fandom in question.
Of course you need to be familiar with the canon of the fandom you are going to make a character for, so you don’t accidentally create something that would be impossible within the universe of the story. You wouldn’t want a anthropomorphic animal character in The Walking Dead, a dragon in Warrior Cats, or a human-dragon hybrid in Wings of Fire. Unless you are creating a character for an alternate universe, (otherwise known as an au) where things such at that would be possible.
You should also try to be familiar with things that are accepted as “fanon”, which are concepts that are never brought up or confirmed in the actual canon, but most people in the fandom accept as being accurate or true to the canon.
Dos
In regards to things to do, here are some tips.
- Make your character balanced. Your character needs to have a balance of strengths and weaknesses. They shouldn’t be perfect at everything, or terrible at everything either. There needs to be a balance.
- Make your character recognizable. You don’t want people to mistake your character for a character that already exists in-canon.
- If you go for the “child of x character” be careful with it. A lot of people use that concept, if they like a specific character a lot. Be careful with it, because due to overuse, some people consider the concept to be “cringe” or bad.
- Make sure your character is likable, and not overpowered. People try to focus on power, and then the character ends up not being liked very much as it is just too much!
If the character is a hybrid, make sure that it is possible in-canon. For example, in Wings of Fire, it has been shown that hybrids between two tribes can occur, but a hybrid between more than two tribes has never been seen, but many accept the possibility as fanon.
Don’ts
In regards to things to not do, here are some tips.
- Don’t make the character a Mary Sue/Gary Stu. A Mary Sue/Gary Stu is a character that has no weaknesses at all and is perfect at everything. That’s unrealistic.
- Don’t make the character too overpowered. For example: In Wings of Fire, you shouldn’t have your character be a mix of all the dragons (an allwing, as the fandom calls it) an animus, a mind reader, and a prophet all at once! That’s too much at once. I suggest avoiding ‘allwing’ and if your character is an animus, maybe avoid having them be both a mind reader and prophet as well (if the character is a nightwing, as nightwings are the only dragon species that can be mind readers and prophets, while nightwings, and seawings can be animus). Put simply: limit the power. Don’t make the character have godly levels of power.
- Avoid the “evil for no reason” concept if your character is a villain. Your character needs to have a reason for being the way they are.
Don’t copy a character that already exists in the canon of the story, unless the version that you are making is different somehow, such as a “what if” thing or, a version of that character, but from an alternate universe/au.
Tip
Even if the character has some of these don’ts make sure there are some dos to balance them out. Like for example, if the character is an allwing, make sure they have faults somehow and aren’t perfect in every way.
In-Canon example: Darkstalker (a villian in Wings of Fire) was a nightwing and icewing hybrid, an animus, mind reader, and prophet.
A scroll he used to cast spells was used to enchant a strawberry, and after eating the strawberry he was turned into a baby dragon with no memories or abilities from his previous self as Darkstalker. What is unique is that after some convincing from other dragons, he willingly ate the enchanted strawberry.
He did show kindness at times, so perhaps he wasn’t 100% evil. Perhaps only a percentage?
To summarize, I made a couple of characters in a Roblox game, to show visible examples of the tips stated above.
Here is an example of a good fandom OC, my sand-night hybrid Dusk. She is a hybrid, but is balanced and not too overpowered.
Here is an example of a bad fandom OC, my allwing Oddity. Oddity is simply too much! Usually I would not make an OC like this. However, I made it for the sake of an example. Oddity turned out being somewhat silly, I admit. Perhaps I could rework Oddity into a silly character, that’s not so ridiculously over the top.
