Possessions:

· Weapons:

From guns to swords- a lot of characters, particularly in fandoms with a lot of fighting themes, like to possess a weapon of some sort. Weapons can be as simple as a katana, or as complicated as a, say, bio-tech mecha suit.

· Trinkets:

Some characters like to keep trinkets on them, such as a necklace to remind themselves of someone.

· Pets:

And then some characters like to have an animal companion to keep them company!

Do’s and Don’t’s: Weapons/animals and objects owned by the character is something to be very aware of. It can become very easy to go overboard in this, because, like abilities, weapons can cover up a weakness.

As well, don’t place the wrong weapons in the wrong place, such as giving a character a gun when there’s no such thing in the canon. Whilst it may seem cool, it’s unfair to other characters. Also, a character doesn’t always need a weapon to be a good fighter! Using Naruto, let’s look at some good examples of some characters and their skills:

Tenten: A weapons specialist- particularly of projectiles though has experience in weapons such as staffs. Has no discernable skill in ninja spells or illusion skills.

Rock Lee: A martial arts specialist- has no skill in ninja spells, or illusion skills whatsoever.

Naruto: A fair user of ninja spells- uses no weapons apart from the basics, though had some skills in martial arts.

So not every character has to be decked out like Rambo to be a good fighter! One of the best weapons a person can have is their mind. Smart battles are more interesting to read than ones where the character goes in, guns blazing and kills everyone in a few shots. Challenges to the character let them develop mentally as they use their mind to overcome them.

Even then, a character may still lose. It’s okay for a character to lose. In many cases, it’s losing that will allow a character to grow even more.

A quick mention on animals- be careful. Some Mary Sue characters are associated so because of their pet/s. Common animals in fics, such as wolves, big cats, dragons, ect., can be considered a no-no. Your character can have a pet, but don’t overplay the animal for what it is. They’re just animals, so there’s only so much they’re supposed to be able to do (and in some cases, it’s kinda dangerous for those kinds of animals to be around people). Sometimes it’s best just to leave the pet ideas behind if you’re not sure.

Appearance:

· Features:

Outward features can help readers to instantly identify a character, even without saying their names. For example- Name the kid with a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead. Easy, isn’t it?

· Hair:

The style of character’s hair can define their personality, as well as the colour. Style is not as important as colour, although if you were to give a female shorter hair, it could mean they do it for convenience or because they’re a tomboy. There are many reasons why a character could choose to have their hair a particular way.

Colour is one of the first things a person will notice when being introduced for the first time. It’s not always a natural colour either. Finding a site listing colours and meanings for hair is hard, so I will try my best to provide one here:

o Black- Black haired characters are not always instantly defined as being Japanese in anime, though it can symbolise a traditionally-natured or neutral character, as well a portraying the standard school student. A lot of central male characters in shonen series have black hair. ie. Ash/Satoshi from Pokemon, Keiichi from Ah! My Goddess!, Goku from Dragonball, Luffy from One Piece.

o Brown- Also used to portray a more traditional-type character. Brown hair is usually used for more secondary-characters, though there are exceptions. ie. Tea/Anzu from Yugioh, Sakura from Card Captor Sakura, Naru from Love Hina.

o Blonde/Blond- Often portrayed as being ditzy, or a troublemaker of some kind. Sometimes used to indicate an evil character (power-hungry, calculating, highly intelligent), or a European ancestry. ie. Vash from Trigun, Usagi/Serena from Sailor Moon, Nanami from Revolutionary Girl Utena, Tamaki from Ouran High Host Club.

o Red- Definitely a fiery personality, at least in the Western sense. Otherwise it could mean spirit possession or some kind of enchantment. ie. Ranma’s female form from Ranma ½, Daisuke from D.N.Angel, Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion,

o White/Silver- Obviously used for most aged characters, but also can portray dignity and pride. ie. Sesshomaru from Inuyasha, Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist, Urd from Ah! My Goddess!.

o Blue- Blue usually reflects a calm personality, or a shy one- also portrayed as being smart and/or funny. Most characters with blue hair are likeable for their sweet natures. Also, blue haired characters are often from upper-class families. ie. Ami from Sailor Moon, Hinata from Naruto, Hiwatari from D.N.Angel.

o Grey/Silver- It is mostly agreed upon that a character with this colour will have some kind of hidden power, and are usually very intelligent. As well, it is sometimes used for evil characters. Occasionally with some characters, the hair will take on a slight lavender or pink appearance as well. ie. Vicious from Cowboy Bebop, Kakashi from Naruto, Maya from Tenjho Tenge.

o Purple- There is no fully agreed upon meaning for purple hair, though some say it means that the character is fashionable and/or upbeat, occasionally even from an upper-class living, or has a feeling of mystery about them. There are also a small number of 'badass' characters with purple hair. ie. Zakuro from Tokyo Mew Mew, Mokoto Kusangi from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Yoruichi from Bleach, Hayashida from Cromartie High.

o Green- These characters will usually have a good heart and are sympathetic, but can become misguided. Guys with green hair will occasionally have a rogue-like streak, but are still good at heart. Green is sometimes on alien characters. ie. Zoro from One Piece, Midori from Midori Days, Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo.

o Pink­- The best way to describe most characters with this hair colour is sickeningly cute. Not always the case, but it usually is. ie. Chibiusa from Sailor Moon, Nyu from Elfen Lied, Yachiru from Bleach.

You don’t have to follow these exactly, but it’s interesting nonetheless. Read the do’s and don’t’s for more information.

· Eyes:

“Eyes are the windows to the soul”, or so they say. For the most part, eye colour is more geared towards complimenting hair colour. However, they may also reflect mysteriousness, or be used to convey change in state, such as power. Red, yellow, white and very occasionally, green are used in this way. A good example is the anime/manga, Naruto. Red is often used in portraying a change in state, such as to show the activation of the Sharingan ability, or when Naruto enters his Kyuubi state. Yellow, or gold, is used in a lot of demonic/animal characters as well, such as Sesshomaru and Inuyasha from Inuyasha. White is sometimes used in anime to show when a person is under possession of some kind, or is shocked by something. Green is used rarely, but there are cases of it, such as in Dragonball Z. Purple is worth a mention as well, as it if often used in conjunction with characters that have a level of mystical power about them.

To understand a bit more, take a look at colour theory. As well, try to find out the meanings of colours (both Western and Eastern versions).

Links:

Color in Motion- A fun flash site to get you thinking about colours and their meanings.

Do’s and Don’t’s: Appearance is very important in anime and manga, especially when it comes to hair and the eyes. However, it pays not to go overboard in description. Although it may be nice to go into great detail about exactly how nice a character’s hair is, on top of a large description of what the character is wearing and their body shape, it just takes the shine off of the whole thing. A description is nice, yes, but only if you leave enough up to the reader’s imagination. One of the wonders of fiction is just how a reader will perceive a character and see them in their mind’s eye.

The best thing to do is not go into extravagant detail. If a character is meant to be pretty (though I advise against creating too many pretty/beautiful characters as it adds nothing to diversity), then just say that they are pretty, not go into why. Sometimes I like to take the approach that the character is pretty through the eyes of another character. Don’t make the generalisation that everyone finds them pretty- beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As well, the same rules can be applied to uglier characters.

Although, you may find that describing them as you go along (and not all at once) in the story may help. ie. She placed her delicate fingers on the keys of the piano. (and then further along in the story) “I’m not sure what you are talking about, sir,” she commented with a slight pursing of her rosy lips.

There is also a lot to consider when it comes to placing your OC into the fanfic. Once again, research is the key! Try to figure out what is normal in the canon of a story and then compare it to your character to see if they’ll fit. For example, in Yugioh, Yugi’s gold/purple hair is considered very strange in his area. A rainbow-haired character suddenly appearing at his school would not fit, and be especially strange if nobody mentions upon it. The same goes for eyes.

Another note on eyes- don’t let them become like mood rings and change every other moment. It’s a common trait associated with Mary Sue characters, making many readers agitated.

As well, I must mention clothes. Keep it simplistic and when you do decide to describe what a character wears, do it sparing and not every chapter. After you first introduce a character with their descriptions, I like to think of describing clothes in future cases as a kind of “fanservice”. No, not the panties kind, but do it when you feel like the audience deserve a bit of credit to their imagination for being such good readers. If anything, describe from the character’s or another character’s point of view. If a character is rushing to get somewhere, they’re not going to worry much about the type of lace they have on their skirt- it’ll just be “She quickly pulled on a top and a skirt before running out the door”.

In summary, use the KISS rule (Keep it simple, stupid). Interesting rule, isn’t it? But it’s a rule that you should always remember when it comes to writing. Keep the extravagant details for when you decide to draw your character.

Act III: The Fruits of your Labour- Final Checks before Getting Started

Now do your final checks and add on any extras, such as what their likes/dislikes are, and their birthday, ect. You don’t need to do that, though it can be fun to.

When you have completed your character, go over them. If you have not written a small summary of their character, do so. If you wish to, you may want to give it to some friends to look over, or check them against a ‘Mary Sue Litmus test’. Though these tests aren’t 100% accurate since they don’t allow for much leeway in what’s can be considered ‘normal’ in your fandom, it can be helpful for the basics, such as name and such. So don’t worry much about the final score if you complete it.

Links:

Creating a Character Profile- (goes a little overboard in my opinion, but good nonetheless to look at)

The Original Mary Sue Litmus Test

The Universal Mary-Sue Litmus Test

If you’ve finished, congratulations! You’ve created your first character! Finally we can get to writing!

Act IV: Constructing the Symphony- Starting your Story

When thinking up a plot, take into account the canon first and at what point you would like to set your story in.

For the most part, the choice is up to you. However, here are some ideas on types of fics you could try for placing your OC in:

· OC-centric:

A lot of anime and manga out there these days allow for the chance to place your story nowhere near the original canon. Examples such as One Piece, Naruto, and Pokemon are ones to look at. These types of adventure stories give a lot of information on their world, so it is definitely possible for an entire story to be written in that world, without the canon characters ever actually appearing, or being made into more secondary characters (I myself write a Naruto OC-centric fic, and thus far Naruto has yet to make it past being mentioned).

However, some considerations must still be taken- especially when it comes to the number of OCs you place in a fic. Too many at once, and it becomes confusing for the reader.

· NextGen:

A trend in OC fics is the ‘NextGen’, or ‘Next Generation’ type of fic. It takes the canon characters and then focuses on their children (who are the OCs). These kinds of fics can be very interesting, although annoying to some readers who prefer different pairings than what is written. As well, the rules about having ‘too many’ OCs has to be applied as well. In a lot of Naruto NextGen fics, there tend to be a lot of children although the parents still work as ninja in many cases, giving room for doubt when the canon characters’ parents only had one or two children themselves.

NextGen fics tend to mirror the canon storyline a lot (albeit accidentally), so some careful thinking should be put into planning.

· AU:

You may wish to deviate from the normal canon and go ‘AU’, or ‘Alternate Universe’, where an indefinite number of things can be changed from the main storyline. AU is a more ‘what if?’ scenario, such as ‘What if ___ never died?’, or ‘What if ___ never existed?’.

o SF:

A sub-genre of the AU fic is to swap a canon character with a character of your own (a ‘Swap-Fic’). The fic may continue on to follow the canon storyline, or go off on its own path by going ‘AU’. SFs tend to have a high number of Sue characters in them, so choosing this requires careful planning as to not be placed in the same category.

· AR:

Not to be confused with AU, ‘AR’, or ‘Alternate Reality’, takes characters and places them in a totally new scenario instead of changing details in the canon. One popular AR fic is to place the canon characters into a school setting. However, many regard this as have being done to death.

· Crossover:

You may even wish to do a crossover with another fandom, though there have to be legitimate reasons to how that can work. The best crossovers work where they both share something in common. ie. Tenjho Tenge meets Real Bout High School, as both are based off of the ‘take over the high school’ theme. There are also a number of fandoms that would work with nearly any other as well, such as the Kingdom Hearts, as the characters visit a number of different worlds.

Act V: The Closing Scene- Final Tips

Before you post your fic up for the world to see, consider getting a ‘beta-reader’, someone who will go over your work and edit any spelling/grammar mistakes, and offer you some constructive criticism.

As well, there are some sites out there that will look over your character/fic and offer advice.

Links:

OC_Analysis- an LJ community that looks over OCs.

Fan_Characters- another LJ community to looks at OCs

The Godawful Fanfiction Forum- a forum that looks at all manner of fanfiction, and offers an ‘in progress’ forum for help on your work

Con_Crit- another LJ community that offers constructive criticism

Little_Details- another LJ community that could help with those ‘little details’ you just can’t seem to find anything on

And as the curtain begins to close, I offer you my heartfelt thanks for reading this. I at least hope that in some way, I have given you somewhat of a small idea in which to offer the breath of life to something that will begin as a spark of imagination in your mind. I wish you all the best as you sail off into the world of fanfiction, and hope that you never run aground on the horrible landmass of the ‘writer’s block’.