What makes a poor OC? Post your thoughts here!

Started by Renatan, 2014 Apr 27, 22:45:47

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MrEmu

Quote from: Mizuki on 2014 Apr 29, 07:48:51
As much as I rag on really cruddy, unoriginal OC designs, I still think all OC's are perfectly valid.
They can be horribly unoriginal, entirely self-indulgent and total self-insert wish-fulfillment fantasies, but at the very least you're still doing something creative. So long as people are having fun with it, I honestly don't mind :] (Mary-sue's and all!)

Why when I was a youngin', I used to draw romantic pictures of myself and my favorite anime character as a couple :3
....granted, I wasn't even that young...I....I was still doing that stuff at like...age 17...
But I'm 25 now, so...so it was totally a long time ago!! YEAH!!

Also Batman is a total gary-stu, but nobody cares 'cause it's perfectly normal for men to have fantasies about being ultra-cool, dark & broody billionaire playboys :U
I personally think your OC's were great, they fit in the show cannon quite well!
I don't think an OC can be 'too boring' because some of the shows most loved ponies like...

Octavia: Plays a cello
Lyra: Plays a harp
Bon Bon: (Not confirmed) makes candies...

Those all could seem 'boring' but MLP isn't about FLASHY and WOW struff, besides season finals most episodes are rather calm, so an OC can't be 'boring' in my book.

And in DC's defense Suparmane-I mean SuparMan is THE FIRST SUPER HERO EVER! so he deserves the 'OverPoweredness'.

Mizuki

Quote from: Ramisha on 2014 Apr 29, 14:29:43
I don't know, I know a bad oc when I see it. Sometimes the ocs aren't bad but I jsut hate them for some reason. Wait I'll find you something.
Spoiler: show





sorry if I offend anyone, I jsut don't like those ponies.


The art for these OC's are actually quite nice :O Some of them might even be okay "original characters", but I don't think any of them would work in FiM's canon-universe.

Whenever I see OC's like that, I just call 'em Sparkle Horses :] Virtually harmless but not "friendship is magic"-y.

Quote from: MrEmu on 2014 Apr 29, 23:40:38
I personally think your OC's were great, they fit in the show cannon quite well!


Aww thank you! <3 To be honest a lot of my OC's don't really have backstories, they're mostly just ponysonas. Some do have backstories though, I know Digibrony put a lot of thought into his character's backstory even though I just designed him to figuratively "smile for the camera".

The only OC I have that has a genuine personality is my OC Globe Trotter, but I never gave her a color palette and I wrote her background so long ago (2011) that it's probably awful now :'U


Not to be confused with Zukiuke

AaronMk

Quote from: Prince-Puri on 2014 Apr 29, 21:57:08
As my Pony Persona, she's my figure head who explains why I hate/love something or somewhere.


Oh dear, another bullhorn.

At least you're not forcing your words through the mouth of a canon character in a weak-wristed attempt at making a stand in the worst possible way.


#DeposeGothsFromRomanClay

MrEmu

Quote from: Mizuki on 2014 Apr 30, 00:37:05
Aww thank you! <3 To be honest a lot of my OC's don't really have backstories, they're mostly just ponysonas.

Ponysona's don't really need a back story seeing as their's is usually yours, also most OC's don't need back stories ether.

Once again, Octavia, Lyra, BonBon(Technically Sweetie drops but Bon Bon sounds cuter ;) ) none of them have a back story! but they're still loved wonderful characters.
Adding TO MUCH to a pony can make them too complex, one thing I like about your OC's Mizuki is that they're simple, like the show!

"an artist work is not finished when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" is a good quote, I always saw this as "Don't try to spakle it up with doohickys and thingamajigs, only use the BEST parts to it"

A Pizza tastes good if it has fresh cheese, good ripe tomatoes, and fluffy fresh bread.
but when you start adding gross tasting but pretty looking stuff it may LOOK nice, but it'll taste like a baked bad :x

Wow, I'v been rambling here! all in all I'm not saying Complex is bad, just TO complex can get over board.

But I <3 your OCs because they're pleasingly simple like the show!

snowflurry

2014 Apr 30, 01:16:43 #44 Last Edit: 2014 Apr 30, 01:27:04 by snowflurry
for me if find it a poor OC when they start mixing different types of ponies just because it looks good, for example:

a pony with zebra stripes, bat pony ears, eyes, and fangs, changeling holes and dragon wings.

it just doesn't make any sense, how did this pony come to be.



On a side note, does my OC sound bad?

FEEL FREE to skip this part if you don't want to read a chunk about my OC, I tend to get carried away when I write/type


He is a unicorn called Snowflurry, he has a deep dark blue coat, a long wild mane that is royal blue that as it travels down changes to sky blue, icy blue, and finally white, same with his tail. light blue eyes and hooves (possibly white hooves, not quite sure).

He is an orphan who was raised by zebras, he originally was at an orphanage where he didn't fit in because he has trouble with talking to other ponies, he stutters, gets tongue tied and generally gets nervous.

He has a scar down his right side and a cracked horn, caused by being trapped in the orphanage when it caught fire. Because of this he generally hates heat and gets nervous around fire

Since his horn is cracked he has difficulty using magic in general, he can do simple magic like levitating ordinary objects as long as they aren't to heavy, but he excels at water and ice magic, as well as simple transformation spells (e.g. ice to glass), but if he tries other types of magic it causes migraines and if he pushes himself through other powerful magic spells it causes his horn to crack even more, damaging it more.

To compensate for his lack of magical abilities he delved into studying alchemy and potions and soon found a passion for the art, which his foster/adoptive parents helped hem develop and grow.

His cutie mark is a frozen/icy potion bottle

In his spare time he likes to make miniature ice sculptures, and the ones he really likes he turns into colored glass

By the time he grew up he became a competent aspiring potion maker and heard from his parents that a amazing potion maker lived it a town called ponyville and decided to head there to learn all he could from this potion master.

Since he has quite a difficult time communicating with other ponies, he often doesn't talk directly to others unless he is close to them, and even then not when in large crowds, instead he often leaves notes and gifts, including miniature glass statues

(I know the whole orphanage fire, scar and cracked horn aren't really quite in theme with the show, oh well. p.s. no one died in the fire (side note he got caught in there cause he thought his only friend was trapped in there for she was bedridden, but I digress))




Sorry for the longish description and thanks for reading, (trust me I could have gone way more in-depth XD) I think I have thinned it down to the most important parts that shape the main idea of my OC (but I have been known to write walls of text from here to kingdom come)

I will get round to writing the full thing in the OC section soon, I promise

Tiger

I think my main pet peeve about OCs are those that are named based off their talent. Which doesn't make sense, since ponies don't get their talent the minute they're born.

Personally I think ponies are better if named off appearance (Eg Derpy... heh), or perhaps based off something their parents knew, inspiring them to name the pony based off that object or thing. (Eg Applejack. Then again, most of the Apple family has Apple in their name...)

It's because of this that I actually get a bit annoyed at some of the canon character's names, like Fluttershy (how would they know she would be shy?) and Scootaloo (how would they know she'd be good at a scooter?).


But I think I also share the pet peeve of alicorns with other people, since alicorns are simply so rare in the show that it's not likely to have so many existing OC alicorns. Although mainly because of the over-poweredness of alicorns. Like, come on. Magic AND flight, and also the strength of Earth Ponies? Seriously...

And sometimes, flashy designs are a downfall. Most of the time, actually. There are simple, cool OCs like Coffee Talk or Sea Drizzle from Ask King Sombra on tumblr that have good background stories, making them good characters. I'd much rather see characters like those rather than neon-coloured ponies screaming "LOOK AT ME" without any sort of story.

I'd go on and on about what I think bad OCs are and what aren't, but I think I'd be talking for too long, so I'll just stop here   X3

A link to my tumblr above!
Tiger's OC page. Should re-do it...

Chishio Kunrin

Quote from: Ramisha on 2014 Apr 29, 14:29:43
I don't know, I know a bad oc when I see it. Sometimes the ocs aren't bad but I jsut hate them for some reason. Wait I'll find you something.
Spoiler: show





sorry if I offend anyone, I jsut don't like those ponies.

Those OC's are rather pretty. I bet they're fun to draw. In terms of just drawing pictures of them, I like them. In terms of RP... I don't think I like the first one in terms of RP. I might not like the second one either. But the others, I'm not sure about.

"(Ticktock, time is running out) What are you doing now?
I don't know where you are, don't even know your name.
They think I'm crazy, my heartbeat goes up..."

MrEmu

Quote from: Tiger on 2014 Apr 30, 01:27:45
I think my main pet peeve about OCs are those that are named based off their talent. Which doesn't make sense, since ponies don't get their talent the minute they're born.


:s well...Sweet brew's cutie mark is in making tea...Only reason I justify it though it because his Mom was VERY 'Bray'tish and he loved tea sense the day he had it, which he was like...3...maybe less...and I doubt he'd get his cutiemark at THAT age...

Also, all of this is based off of the REAL me, So I thought it makes more sense, because I can't argue with the world seeing as it happened... except the part about a tattoo appearing on my rump. lol

Chishio Kunrin

Quote from: MrEmu on 2014 Apr 29, 23:40:38
Octavia: Plays a cello
Lyra: Plays a harp
Bon Bon: (Not confirmed) makes candies...

Actually, Lyra plays a lyre, not a harp. Huuuge difference. And that's actually what Lyra's name is derived from - her lyre cutie mark. Lyres and harps are shaped totally differently.

"(Ticktock, time is running out) What are you doing now?
I don't know where you are, don't even know your name.
They think I'm crazy, my heartbeat goes up..."

Mizuki

Quote from: MrEmu on 2014 Apr 30, 00:53:07
Quote from: Mizuki on 2014 Apr 30, 00:37:05
Aww thank you! <3 To be honest a lot of my OC's don't really have backstories, they're mostly just ponysonas.

Ponysona's don't really need a back story seeing as their's is usually yours, also most OC's don't need back stories ether.

Once again, Octavia, Lyra, BonBon(Technically Sweetie drops but Bon Bon sounds cuter ;) ) none of them have a back story! but they're still loved wonderful characters.
Adding TO MUCH to a pony can make them too complex, one thing I like about your OC's Mizuki is that they're simple, like the show!

"an artist work is not finished when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away" is a good quote, I always saw this as "Don't try to spakle it up with doohickys and thingamajigs, only use the BEST parts to it"

A Pizza tastes good if it has fresh cheese, good ripe tomatoes, and fluffy fresh bread.
but when you start adding gross tasting but pretty looking stuff it may LOOK nice, but it'll taste like a baked bad :x

Wow, I'v been rambling here! all in all I'm not saying Complex is bad, just TO complex can get over board.

But I <3 your OCs because they're pleasingly simple like the show!


I don't know what to say other than omg thank you!!  D: <---happy tears!

Quote from: Tiger on 2014 Apr 30, 01:27:45
I think my main pet peeve about OCs are those that are named based off their talent. Which doesn't make sense, since ponies don't get their talent the minute they're born.

Personally I think ponies are better if named off appearance (Eg Derpy... heh), or perhaps based off something their parents knew, inspiring them to name the pony based off that object or thing. (Eg Applejack. Then again, most of the Apple family has Apple in their name...)

It's because of this that I actually get a bit annoyed at some of the canon character's names, like Fluttershy (how would they know she would be shy?) and Scootaloo (how would they know she'd be good at a scooter?).


Y'know, some people believe that naming a child can actually shape their personality or destiny. :o Perhaps in Equestria, this is a thing that actually happens? I mean the land is pretty darn magical, I imagine words have a magic all their own! (perhaps anyway)


Not to be confused with Zukiuke

Ramisha

Oh right about the ponies I posted (they got a lot of replies  :o ) I don't like them because, well, their designs are good but not for a pony. They could be good if ummm they were something else. The last one looks like an alien and the first one is a cat dragon horse?! But I don't like the design of the second one. It's too ugly :x
sometimes ponies can look really good but when I read their backstory all I can say is "w0t  >:/ "

S_Realm

Some people have trouble making their story line up. Still, prettttty poniiiiiesssss! ovO

teacloud

This doesn't necessarily make an OC bad.. but,
I don't like plain mane/tail styles. There's a test you can do to check the uniqueness of your design.
If you black out the character and can still tell it apart from other characters, you're good to go.
However, I find tons of OCs copying the RD mane style-- just plain down. If you saw an outline of
Pinkie or Rarity for example, it'd be hard to mix them up with anyone else. However, if you blacked
out Rainbow's colors, you could easily mistake her for Derpy. Because pony's body styles all look the
same (usually), the mane and tail is what really sets them apart aesthetically.

Alicorns bother me for almost all reasons mentioned above.

And I think that OCs with musical talents are horrendously overdone.

Deviantart
Twitter

Link me to your OC ponies and I'd love to critique them for you!

GoldenTerrabyte

I don't like OCs who are insane. Not in appearance, I mean like actually insane. And creepy. And I don't like OCs with too much "special" stuff, like fangs, and stripes, and weird eyes, and irregular wings, etc. On some circumstances I don't mind, sometimes actually like, an OC with just one, no more, of those previously mentioned things. Like if they're a vampire, okay, fangs, fine. Zebra, stripes, okay. Weird eyes, not common, but I can be fine with it. Dragon/Bat pony, with dragon/bat wings, cool. More than one of any of those things at once? Even just two? No, just no. Any one of those things can make your OC slightly more interesting, but when you push it... it comes out kinda creepy.

One thing I kinda like(and have done) is a non-pony creature. For example, I have an OC that is a deer. And another that is a changeling.
I'm back

Asterian Starfall

2014 Apr 30, 17:38:15 #54 Last Edit: 2014 Apr 30, 17:42:39 by Asterian
Quote from: Midnight Breeze on 2014 Apr 27, 22:51:51
Alicorns.
Hybrid species.
Extracanon powers.
Blood relative to a canon character.

I have to argue a little bit on that.

Alicorns --- Okay, there is little argument for that, however, there is a possibility to justify the character being an alicorn. If the creator can come up with a valid and believable reason for making a character an alicorn, it is fine. Sadly, very few know how to accomplish this without destroying the character's believability. I know I can not do this.

Blood Relation --- Not always. I read a story recently under the title "She Knows How to Treat a Lady" in which the writer managed to make a believable character of direct blood relation to Trixie. Now maybe the ruling is a little warped due to perception and the fact we are talking about a rival, not a Mane Character, but I found the story more touching with Clementine.

By the way, here's the link to that story!
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/97807/she-knows-how-to-treat-a-lady
"Luck is how you explain an overly-variabled scenario that went in your favor." - Asterian Élire Starfall

Prince-Puri

Quote from: AaronMk on 2014 Apr 30, 00:38:43
Quote from: Prince-Puri on 2014 Apr 29, 21:57:08
As my Pony Persona, she's my figure head who explains why I hate/love something or somewhere.


Oh dear, another bullhorn.

At least you're not forcing your words through the mouth of a canon character in a weak-wristed attempt at making a stand in the worst possible way.


Eh... it'll be a long while before she's officially seen as that.

I think that's sort of stupid; using the canon characters to get something done. How about you use yourself?

Naura

After reading all of this... time to fix my Oc page (Gonna add stuff, not delete, I realized how poorly I had described it, must fix naow)
Feel free to check out my [URL=http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=11982.0]Oc page[/URL]!

Renatan

Quote from: Ramisha on 2014 Apr 30, 07:50:57
Oh right about the ponies I posted (they got a lot of replies  :o ) I don't like them because, well, their designs are good but not for a pony. They could be good if ummm they were something else. The last one looks like an alien and the first one is a cat dragon horse?! But I don't like the design of the second one. It's too ugly :x
sometimes ponies can look really good but when I read their backstory all I can say is "w0t  >:/ "


You know, Shiver was actually featured on a Tumblr blog called Terrible Pony OCs. Personally, I don't HATE her design but it is a bit cluttered. I think they just need to cut back on the accessorys a bit.
Beware the writer. She will feed off everything you say and store it into her memory, so don't be surprised if a few years from now you open up a book and see something you said years ago there. I'm always watching ovO

AaronMk

Quote from: Asterian on 2014 Apr 30, 17:38:15
Quote from: Midnight Breeze on 2014 Apr 27, 22:51:51
Alicorns.
Hybrid species.
Extracanon powers.
Blood relative to a canon character.

I have to argue a little bit on that.

Alicorns --- Okay, there is little argument for that, however, there is a possibility to justify the character being an alicorn. If the creator can come up with a valid and believable reason for making a character an alicorn, it is fine. Sadly, very few know how to accomplish this without destroying the character's believability. I know I can not do this.

Blood Relation --- Not always. I read a story recently under the title "She Knows How to Treat a Lady" in which the writer managed to make a believable character of direct blood relation to Trixie. Now maybe the ruling is a little warped due to perception and the fact we are talking about a rival, not a Mane Character, but I found the story more touching with Clementine.

By the way, here's the link to that story!
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/97807/she-knows-how-to-treat-a-lady


To do something on this - whether to add or counter I don't know:

A good case of alicorns I'd invoke would be out of Fallout Equestria. In so far as I've read, they're handled pretty well and they work well within the narrative.

In FOE's case they're the stories version of the Super Mutant and do have a slavish obedience for their version of The Master.  Though they're broken out of that system by the end.

Project Horizons also explores FoE alicorns in a different way, while keeping to the cores of the core-FoE alicorns. Particularly in Lacuane, one of a few who are permitted some free-will from the rest. This though comes with the crate-loads of typical angst and anguish that's a theme in PH.


Per Blood-relations, I could invoke the Satyr [Abominations] as being an exception to the conception that being blood-related is a poor choice. Though it could be strengthened given the nature of the Satyr's source thread to not enforce any form of canon. But there are OCs directly related to the mane cast and other ponies through being their offspring that lumps them into this "rule" (so to speak); as well as the non-canon species one.

Satyrs could probably be argued to the bitter end, since they're somewhere between a pony and a full-fledged humanization which is wholly controversial. More so if Equestria Daily is taken as a complete representation of the whole fandom.

But they're cute and they don't know what they're missing.


#DeposeGothsFromRomanClay

MrEmu

Quote from: teacloud on 2014 Apr 30, 14:56:33
This doesn't necessarily make an OC bad.. but,
I don't like plain mane/tail styles. There's a test you can do to check the uniqueness of your design.
If you black out the character and can still tell it apart from other characters, you're good to go.
However, I find tons of OCs copying the RD mane style-- just plain down. If you saw an outline of
Pinkie or Rarity for example, it'd be hard to mix them up with anyone else. However, if you blacked
out Rainbow's colors, you could easily mistake her for Derpy. Because pony's body styles all look the
same (usually), the mane and tail is what really sets them apart aesthetically.

Alicorns bother me for almost all reasons mentioned above.

And I think that OCs with musical talents are horrendously overdone.

lol, hye, I'd rather have an totally normal mane style then see one more OC steal CloudChaser or Vinyl Scratchs mane! :] but yeah, I totally agree....well...just don't look at my Ponysona's mane...okay? :s lol

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