Post by Lady Ten on Aug 27, 2012 14:24:20 GMT -6
Note: this article is a repost from dA. You may comment if you'd like, but no stories about your special characters, please (at least, not on this particular thread). To clarify, this isn't a guide to making characters -- just a guide to what's not unique.
Warriors OCs: How Not to Make Your Character Special
So you want to make a character that stands out. Understandable, that's not a bad goal to have. There are a lot of fan characters out there, a lot of things have been done and overdone, and you want yours to be distinctive while remaining realistic. Good for you. Here's how not to do it.
NAMES
First and foremost, the worst thing you could do is give your cat a crazy/depressed/mentally-imbalanced mother so that you can excuse any old random piece of crap name. That is the opposite of creativity and has already been done to death.
So what about background and birthplace names? Nope. Those are common enough as it is, and forcing your character to be born in some random place outside the nursery or in the middle of a tornado does not an interesting character make. Clan cultures do not place value on an individual's distant past so much as what they are like here in the present. You know, the relevant stuff. What actually makes this cat worthwhile.
Appearance, for example, is some relevant stuff. Oh, here's an idea. What if you give your cat some special eyes and create a name based on that? Special eyes will be covered under a different section, but remaining on the subject of names, this is also already overdone and doesn't make a lick of sense in the first place. Kittens are born with their eyes closed. Once they open, they're always blue before developing into their true color. Okay, so what if naming the kitten was delayed because-- No. Stop. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. There is no need to come up with yet another convoluted backstory just for a name.
** BONUS, actually special: Brownfur. Do you know how many people have the guts to use a name like Brownfur? Nobody. Nobody has the guts to use Brownfur. "Too common!" is the cry of the starry-eyed children stuck in a seething miasma of Opalstrikes and Pinkhorizons, and while names such as Brownfur do sound "plain," their use is infrequent and cannot be matched for sheer nerve. There are some strict traditionalists out there, but nobody has the guts to use Brownfur.
You think I'm kidding. This is fact. Nobody even touches a name as daring and fearless as Brownfur, because when you strip away the glitter and the frilly tacked-on nonsense, all those lyrical namers are faced with the reality that their characters themselves are downright boring.
RANK
If you're somehow thinking you can get away with an original idea regarding your character's rank, it had better not be an exceptionally young leader. There's a pandemic of those already. Don't give us another one.
Fine, but you're not interested in the usual career trajectory. You want to make a medicine cat, you say? Fair enough, every Clan needs one of those. If you're at all concerned with being unique, though, don't make it a promiscuous female. Everybody and their aunt is making slutty medicine cats to get them pregnant and milk the drama for all it's worth. At this point, you might as well change the name of the rank to Clan whore. It's not unrealistic for a character to want kits, but if that's in her plans, be reasonable and don't let her sign up for medicine apprenticeship. You've been warned. If you still want a skanky medicine cat, at least make it a tom.
APPEARANCE/GENETICS
Let's presume you're aiming for a realistic character here, or at least, as realistic as anthropomorphized cats can get. No "strange" markings or fancy scars, okay? No hearts, no stars, no crescent moon on the forehead, no cutie mark imprint of destiny. You're reading this guide because you want to be original.
If you feel like adding a splash of a different color to the mix, white markings are fine and can occur anywhere on the cat, provided you keep it simple and understand how the variations work. Generally, when it comes to large patches, the white comes upward from the paws, rather than starting on the back and extending down.
Now that that's out of the way, let's consider the base coat. Please, whatever you do, don't force your character to have purebred lineage just to get a cool color or Siamese points. There's a grossly disproportionate amount of people who do this compared to the likelihood of a kittypet wanting to join a Clan and the likelihood of a Clan accepting them. In some cases it's not even necessary, since a cat doesn't need to be a Russian Blue to have a solid gray coat. Kittypet characters are fine and dandy, if you're into that kind of thing, but if you want a feral cat, make it a feral cat.
Sometimes people don't even realize they're doing it. A solid brown pelt -- that sounds like it would be the plainest and most realistic of all, right? Nope. It's hard to find anything like that outside of one particular breed that's famous for having achieved it at all.
In the same vein, there are plenty of people who make a tortie tom character without even realizing that it's a genetic anomaly for tortoiseshells to be male. Now that you know, please don't make a tortie tom just to make him special, because there are already too many people doing this and it needs to stop. If you're the kind of person who likes research and would be willing to write an infertile gender-confused character, however... you're not the first to think of it and people are already doing that too. Still, doing your homework on the issue would make it less atrocious. Here's a bit of information for you to browse. Enjoy.
Now, about eyes. Everyone loves eyes, apparently, especially weird ones. Violet eyes are indeed possible, but don't. Just don't.
For a more classic look, you may be thinking about making a white cat with blue eyes, which ranks up there with black fur and red eyes when it comes to fantastic levels of un-creativity. Still, this one is possible. It's just that too many people forget (or don't bother to find out) that white cats with blue eyes have a much higher likelihood of being deaf. Also, seriously there are a lot of characters like this running around and not being deaf.
Now if you're thinking you'll take it one step further and make an albino, stop right there. Have you done your research? Not only are white cats prone to sunburn and cancer, but albinism in cats is associated with photosensitivity and a poor immune system. That might be interesting to write about (albinism is very misunderstood, misrepresented, and often vilified), but if you're intending to make a Clan cat here, better move on to something else.
** BONUS, actually special: mackerel and ticked tabbies, especially brown ones. Honestly, there's no logical reason for people to be making more solid brown cats than brown tabbies. Also, if you're interested in adding a mutation that won't impair your character from being a full-fledged warrior, the polydactyl mutation would be acceptable. It's not too common in the fandom, not too rare in real life to stop it from being a realistic choice, and it looks awesome, making it an appropriate addition to an original character.
SKILLS
Warriors are supposed to be the rough, tough, fighting types, right? So you'll do something different and give your character a light frame and exceptional speed.
Except no wait, that's not all that different from what tons of others are doing.
Cats that like water and are good at swimming aren't all that uncommon either.
Well forget about general warrior skills, what about other kinds of skills? What about cats that have "people skills" and are good at getting others to like them, allowing them to be manipulative and get away with mischief, if they choose? Problem is, kits are generally loved by all, apprentices who "get away with mischief" are everywhere (there's one right behind you now), and as for whether this skill can continue into adulthood... that's heavily dependent on perception by others. See below, after personality.
PERSONALITY
Or, for those of you who think this is clever, purrrsonality.
Personality is the broadest of these topics, and it'd be impossible to cover every facet here. Let's just take a look at the most popular descriptions.
Loyal: Why does anyone feel the need to mention this one? If it's a Clan cat you're talking about, that cat had better be loyal, or else its little kitty butt will be getting kicked out, pronto. What about the sneaky and scheming sort of Clanmates, you say? The sort who sell secrets to other Clans and plot to kill the leader of their own? Well, that brings us to...
Ambitious/Evil: In the Warriors fandom, these two are often used as if interchangeable. Good, pure-hearted cats are too modest to even think about promotion, whereas any cat who dreams of leading the Clan one day is a heretic with an appetite for bloodshed, a selfish brute who wants to take over the Clan and expand the territory at the cost of countless lives because... because... because they're ambitious and they just do. Or because they had a traumatic childhood that makes them go "insane," or because they were possessed by an otherworldly demon who's bent on destruction and chaos. So they have no choice but to try to take over. Not because there's a problem with the current leadership, no, or for any legitimate reason. They're just evil. Everything they do is evil. They're so evil, they don't even like kittens.
Nice but can be mean: Congratulations, this is the most pointless description ever. With any variation of "can be one thing, but can be another," even if it's accurate, you're doing the opposite of being informative. Narrow it down a little. Specify. If your idea of specifying here is "nice to friends but mean to those who are mean to her," get out of the pool and come back when you understand the meaning of the word personality.
Has a soft spot for kits: every single character everywhere, especially she-cats, unless they're eeeevil.
Stubborn: This is one of the most common attempts at giving a character a "flaw," next to the notorious "clumsy, in a cute way". Too many times, though, their creators don't really mean it. The character is stubborn, sticking to what they believe... until someone calmly explains a different point of view and convinces them to change their mind. That's not so much "stubborn" as it is sticking to your guns instead of wilting like a flower in the face of opposition. Maybe what they mean is that the character is a free spirit, doing what they will, refusing to obey others... unless it's a superior and they have to listen, because it's not like they're disloyal or anything (or if they are, why hasn't this uncooperative little toot been given the official boot?). In order to really classify as stubborn, a character doesn't have to refuse orders from the Clan leader, but does at least have to remain obstinate in the face of a better argument. In other words, the only truly stubborn characters are idiots.
Animated/Energetic: all apprentices, all the time, unless they're busy angsting over something else like their tragic past or their tragic present.
** BONUS, actually special: a cat of either gender who manages to be feminine without being a simpering weakling who spends every waking hour in the nursery. That's not the mandatory definition of feminine, people. Get over your sexism.
PERCEPTION BY OTHERS
For fanfics, having your character be the most popular cat in the Clan OR the most reviled outcast are both very cliche. For roleplays, no. You cannot control this; leave it to the other roleplayers to decide what their characters think. This includes stating that your character is "exceptionally beautiful," as that too is subjective. Please, somebody try making an ugly character for once.
