Can I Talk About OC's?

No? Oh, well okay... Actually, no, I'm kidding, I'm going to anyway.

QUICK NOTE: Whatever I say here does NOT mean that I do not want to hear about your OC. I enjoy hearing about people's OC's, even if they are every item on the list I have below. What I'm saying is that these are my personal thoughts, but I can understand why these OC's exist (I've even thought of them myself! ^_^)

So, in my time in the DP phandom, I've come across the necessary topic of Original Characters... Which, frankly, boggles my mind, because it seems that characters created for a fandom are not necessarily still "Original Characters"... though I'm sure the argument could be made either way, and I can see it either way as well. I would like to think of them as "Different-to-the-Show Characters"! lol

But now on to serious matters: If you were to ask me what I think about OC's (and I'll be using the DP Phandom as an example here), I probably could not tell you straight out. After all, I kind of have to explain. My answer, in short, is that THEY NEED GOOD JUSTIFICATION. The reason we love any character is usually because they are justified and relate- able. Take Danny, for instance; his imperfections and insecurities are exactly why we love him! Additionally, it makes it more fun and more reasonable to develop a character... Which is another reason we love them: we love to watch characters grow and develop. An OC that already has every good characteristic on the planet is "annoying" particularly because they do not open themselves up to improvement.

I do not want to sound mean here, but most of the "Sue/Stu" OC's in the DP Phandom generally have one or more (or all) of the following characteristics:

- They know the main trio
- They are dating one of the main trio (this mostly seems to happen with female halfa OC's that fangirls create)
- They are halfas
- They are Danny and Sam's children
- They are Danny's siblings (lost, unknown, distant, whatever you want to call it)
- They have all of Danny and Sam's characteristics, yet they seem to be even more perfect
- They are the most popular kids or the most obscure kids at Casper High
- They have suddenly moved to Amity Park and are somehow involved with the trio
- They have new powers or are more powerful than Danny himself, or have unexplained connections to powerful ghosts (like Clockwork)
- They have... different names for their halfa sides (basically, something like AngelStarTwilight or something...)

I know there are more, but these are just a few examples. Often, these would not bother me too much, but I've seen so many lately, and it kind of irritates me, to be honest. I feel that original characters should have some thought and justification, not just be an excuse for fans to associate themselves with the main cast in some way. Good justifications might usually steer away from any of the above listed characteristics.

For instance, I welcomed Danielle as an addition to the show's canon characters because she had a unique justification which, in the process, built another character as well: Vlad's position as an obsessive fruit-loop led him to make various clones of Danny, whom he wished to have as his son. Thus, Danielle's presence and association with the group felt justified to me. That is basically what I like to see and what I hope to do with my own OC's.

I know there are many different deviations, journals, and stances on OC's. It seems to me that the basic Mary Sue/Gary Stu OC will try to take the place of any one of or maybe even more than one of the main characters. Additionally, they do not seem to support a story as they always seem to "try too hard" to be or say or do something... One example of this may, again, be in their very unusual names.

Now, I won't say I've never done this (creating Sue/Stu-type OC's), but I usually keep this kind of thing in my head. Would I love to make an OC representative of myself with halfa powers and dating Danny? You bet I would! But I don't. Why? Because somewhere in my mind, I know it's been done, and I know it wouldn't take me anywhere with the story...

Rather, I would love to be a ghost with some sort of interesting power who ends up fighting Danny somehow... In real terms, if I had to associate myself with any characters or ghosts, I might say I'm most like a combo between Jazz and the Ghost Writer.

Why am I saying all this? Because I want people to understand my stance on OC's. I respect other peoples' rights to create them and insert them into the fandom all they want. I won't stop them, and I wouldn't want to; that is their business, and if I don't like it, I don't have to look at it. As for me, though, I would rather I have more unique reasons as to why an OC of mine would ever be involved in a specific fandom, ANY fandom, really.

For me, I feel that my OC's are better in their own universes, and I can experiment with putting them INTO those different fandoms, just to see how well I can justify their presences there. However, overall, this is one main reason why I am reluctant to create any sort of DP OC.

However, I respect everyone else's views, but I wanted to state mine.

Thanks for reading you guys!