How to Build an OC

Ah, fandoms. A gathering of individuals whose only common interest is a love for a certain franchise. And what better way to show your love for said fandom than to contribute stories. Rich, beautiful stories that captivate the mind and enthrall the senses. And as a proud member of the FiM community, you've decided to commit your first fanfic to print.

But wait! Suddenly you can't fit one of the show's ponies into a specific role! Is there nothing you can do? Well, you could read this other guy's vastly superior guide, or you can listen to me ramble on about nonsense for the next one thousand words.

...Sticking with me, huh? Okay then, let's look over how to build an Original Character.

STEP ONE: Identify the Character's Role

In a story, all characters serve a specific role. Whether it's the hero, the villain, the comic relief, the love interest, or just an innocent bystander, everyone has to play out their prescribed positions perfectly if a story is going to work to its fullest. To that end, you have to identify what spots are empty and need to be filled before you start crafting an OC.

For example, Lofty in MLA initially came into existence to provide a supporting role for Celestia's storyline. In the original draft, this was going to be performed by several ponies, but because of rewrites I narrowed it down to a single character. Her role was to provide Celestia a stronger reason to want to remain a filly.

STEP TWO: Design Your Character's Basic Traits

In particular, this involves deciding on some of the basic attributes of your character. Nothing too detailed just yet, but you have to lay out the framework before you can start the actual construction. Consider this a rough blueprint for who your OC is going to be.

Basic traits include:

Race: Ponies come in four varieties: Earth Pony, Pegasus, Unicorn, and Alicorn. While this doesn't have to be definite just yet, keep in mind that the kind of pony you pick will dictate what a character can and cannot do. For example, an Earth Pony cannot levitate an object like a Unicorn, who can't walk on clouds unassisted like a Pegasus. For that reason, it's usually a good idea to keep in mind what kind of pony you want them to be before you start digging yourself in further.

Basic Personality: Again, nothing solid just yet, but you need to pick out some basic attributes that can describe your OC. Perhaps they're adventurous, or curious, or cowardly. Maybe they're bookworms, or cautious, or even insane. We will expand on these in the next step, but for now, we have a small peek into a pony's mind.

For example, Lofty's race is a Pegasus, both because her mother was a Pegasus and because it allowed for greater comedy value with Celestia. As for her personality, the basic traits I put down were “inquisitive” and “energetic.” With those concepts down on paper, we can move on to the next part of our journey.

STEP THREE: Mold Their Personality

A character is more than just a lump of numbers on a spreadsheet; they're living people we share experiences with through the literature. To that end, you must sculpt your OC's personality to better enrapture the audience's attention.

There are many ways to do that, but the way I personally do it is to give the characters a backstory. It doesn't have to be overly complex, and can only be two or three sentences long, but it should still be longer than five words and explain who the character is and where they come from. By identifying where the character comes from, you in turn start to open them up more, bringing out new ideas and ways for the character to behave.

This is by far the most important step, as it will help dictate how a character reacts to the world around them. In a plot-driven story, this amounts to how the character will act according to what the narrative throws at them, while in a character-based story, it controls how they respond to the other characters. In addition, you should endeavor to make the character likeable enough that the audience won't get sick of them, even if they're supposed to be the villain.

In general, the three steps to building your OC's basic personality are:

Who are they? - Where do they come from? Do they know the other characters? Have their lives shaped them in any way?

What do they want? - What are their end goals? Lifetime aspirations? What is best in life?

How will they get there? - What do they think is the best way to accomplish their goals?

To answer all these, go back to what you had put down in Step Two and expand on it, working in what you've put down as their history and goals and identifying how they would set out to achieve them. From there, you've got a basic personality down. And again, there are multiple ways to do this, but this is just my method. It's up to you to decide on what works best for you.

For example, Lofty's backstory was mostly copied over from Ruby Dream's, as she's still a filly and too young to set out on her own. Where she differs, though, is that she's ultimately of a different mindset than her mother. She's energetic and curious about the world, and since she's a filly, she doesn't comprehend the very adult actions going on around the castle and kind of tones it out in favor of drawing. Her ultimate goal in the story is initially to just spend time with her mother, but when she meets Celestia it changes to becoming friends with her, continuing down the line through the sequels. This, in turn, dictates how she responds to the various ponies around her, from befriending Celestia to hating Blueblood.

STEP THREE-POINT-FIVE: Abilities and Flaws

This is a bit of a gray area that needs to be addressed. One of the common criticisms leveled at OCs is the idea that they're all author insert Mary Sues, and as I've said before, that couldn't be farther from the truth. There are tons of wonderful, interesting characters created entirely by fans that fit perfectly with the canon universe, and writing them off for such a petty reason is more than a little insulting. However, there is a system I've figured out for helping a character along. For every few positive attributes a character has, you need to include at least one proportionate flaw.

For example, if a character has more magical power than Discord but has an allergy to eggs, that isn't a good balance. (Unless the story is about Fluttershy's chickens rising up to overthrow the ponies.) If his powers are tied into a less-than-nice source, then it's a bit better. Throw in some personality quarks, and you might have a chance.

While the exact balance can change depending on the needs of the story, you should avoid making anyone too perfect. Otherwise, it can draw the reader out of the experience.

Villain OCs are a bit different. Villains need a lot of negative traits to show why they're opposed by the heroes, and can generally get away with just being pure evil with nothing redeemable about them. However, if you want to make your character more morally gray, then you need to include a positive trait for every few negative ones. And if you plan to make them redeemable later on, then you need to make sure those traits are proportionate enough that such a path is believable. If we only see a character kick puppies and tie mares to the railroad tracks, then don't be surprised if the readership doesn't buy him suddenly becoming a nice guy.

STEP FOUR: Painting Your OC

Not literally, but still. Now that we have the actual character set up, it's time to get into building their outer shell. This includes the following:

Appearance: Ponies in FiM are certainly a colorful bunch. Most have a single coat color, but ones like Pipsqueak buck this trend. Manes have even more options, with plenty of styles, streaks, and colors to choose from. The best advice I can give here is to fire up your favorite pony generator and play around until you have a character that looks good.

Voice: Obviously, we will never hear your OC actually talk, but you need to consider the kind of language they would use, what tone they'd speak in, and whether or not they have an accent. Since we don't have the show to implant this information into our heads, it's up to you and the dialogue to tell us how this character sounds.

Cutie Mark: The final part of the pony's visual design is their Cutie Mark. Unless your OC is specifically a Blank Flank, they need to have some kind of magic butt tattoo dictating their purpose in life. These can be symbolic or explicit, but either way they should somehow link back to their goals or purpose in life.

STEP FIVE: PROFIT!

Tired meme aside, this is when it's time to look over your character and see if you're satisfied. If you want to make sure, try to write out a short scene where they interact with the canon cast; as they have a set personality already, you can see how your newcomer works with them and make adjustments from there. If you're satisfied with the final results, then it's time to put things to paper and prepare your story. Otherwise, go back to step three and work out what you didn't care for.

Hope you found this guide helpful. There are plenty of others out there if you want a differing opinion on the process, but this is just what I do.