Talk:Original Character

Maybe someone knows more or wants to do further research, but I've seen references to fanon characters that sounds like just another word for OC. However, these examples are from video game fandoms, which I am not familiar with. In fandoms closer to home, the term "fanon character" refers to non-canon characterization of established characters.--aethel (talk) 20:49, 17 April 2016 (UTC)

I've seen OCs become fanon, though. Dorian the Archivist in Forever Knight mailing list fandom was an OC of Susan Garrett's, but was used by at least one other fan in their story, plus being popular enough to have his own Forever Knight Faction. Similarly, in the maryrenaultfics LJ community, the notion that Laurie and Ralph would own a dog, Patch, started in one specific story but then spread more widely, with the dog appearing in fic by other fans. I'd therefore call both examples of fanon characters, as opposed to fanon characterization. There are other examples in the article, too. --Greer Watson (talk) 19:03, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

Usage

I'm not sure if I'm mistaken on this or not, but can't "original character" also refer to a non-fandom character, depending on context? For example if someone has a non-fandom character in their own original story they could say "This is my OC Mary." I feel like I've seen people calling pretty much any character they've come up with on their own (based on fandom or not) their "OC." Patchlamb (talk) 00:11, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

Hybrid Original Characters...?

I'm wondering if this page is the place to talk about what I think of as Hybrid Original Characters. (Or are they Fusion Characters?) E.g. a Hornblower fic I wrote that features an old shipmate of Pellew's, a character who is obviously played by Russell Crowe, and draws on traits of his and also a few of his characters. The character isn't canon, but is some kind of mix of original, RPF and crossover... Is this something worth a short section on, with a request for other examples? Or is it covered elsewhere in Fanlore? Thanks in anticipation! Julie (talk) 13:10, 10 June 2022 (UTC)

How to...

I recommend that most of the content added in this section https://fanlore.org/wiki/Original_Character#How_to_create_an_original_character.3F be removed and briefly summarized, as Fanlore isn't a "how to" site.

I also suggest adding some more links to a variety of sites that describe "how to" for variety and differing viewpoints. MPH (talk) 12:11, 16 October 2022 (UTC)

I removed the section because I didn't see a way to summarize that would make it appropriate for Fanlore. As far as I can see, it's just one person's opinion on how to create a new character, and there wasn't any information about whether fans had followed this advice or not. If someone had more information on this subject, they could write a section describing common methods fans use for creating original characters and/or fan writers who answered interview questions about the topic.--aethel (talk) 00:32, 20 October 2022 (UTC)