original character
{{Short description|Type of fictional character used in fandoms}}
File:April the Pony.png design inspired by My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]
An original character (OC) typically refers to a type fictional character created by someone that is not affiliated with a company, or by a member of a fandom. They are a non-canonical character created by the author of fan fiction, a fan artist, or creator of another fan work, who exists within a certain fictional universe and may interact with existing characters or locations.{{Cite web |last=Vicente |first=Vann |date=2021-11-14 |title=What Does "OC" Mean, and How Do You Use It? |url=https://www.howtogeek.com/765474/what-does-oc-mean-and-how-do-you-use-it/ |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=How-To Geek}}{{Sfn|Whitehead|2018|p=73}}{{Sfn|Barner|2017|p=188}}{{Sfn|Franceschi|2017|p=81}} The term can also be used in a wider sense to refer to any fictional character.{{Cite web |last=Carpou |first=Madeline |date=2022-05-27 |title=Should You Be Allowed to Make Your OC Suffer? Twitter Debates a Controversial Tumblr Ask. |url=https://www.themarysue.com/make-oc-suffer-twitter-tumblr-controversy/ |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=The Mary Sue}} Acronyms can also be gender-specific, like OMC (original male character) and OFC (original female character).{{Cite web |last=Richard |first=Moriah |date=2022-06-25 |title=What Is Fan Fiction in Writing? |url=https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/what-is-fan-fiction-in-writing |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=Writer's Digest }}{{Cite journal |last=Carson |first=C. |date=2017 |title=What is fanfiction and where to find it: Definitions and fan archives |journal=Beyond the Book:fanfiction|s2cid=63070065 }}
Overview
OCs are used in various subcultures including the Star Wars fandom, the Harry Potter fandom, and other subcultures such as the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom. Takashi Iizuka mentioned that the character customization system in Sonic Forces was influenced by the Sonic community's tendency to create original characters;{{cite web |last1=Frank |first1=Allegra |date=September 25, 2017 |title=Sonic Forces' Custom Hero mode might not be the wish fulfillment you want |url=https://www.polygon.com/2017/9/25/16338202/sonic-forces-custom-heroes-original-characters |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227184902/https://www.polygon.com/2017/9/25/16338202/sonic-forces-custom-heroes-original-characters |archive-date=December 27, 2019 |website=Polygon}} tools for creating Sonic OCs exist on sites like Newgrounds.{{Cite web |last=Feldman |first=Brian |date=2020-02-14 |title=The Staff of New York Shows Off Its Sonic OCs |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/the-staff-of-new-york-shows-off-its-sonic-ocs.html |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Intelligencer}} Cosplayers create original characters based on their imaginations, fan fiction, and other works.{{Sfn|Winge|2018|pp=118-119}} For cosplayers, OCs can give them a larger range of choices of characters to cosplay as.{{Sfn|Crawford|2019|p=173}}
OCs are also used in the furry fandom.{{Sfn|Adams|2023|p=101}} A majority of furries have a fursona,{{Sfn|Reysen|2021|p=96}} defined as a personally claimed persona resembling an anthropomorphic animal.{{Cite web |title=Words We're Watching: 'Furry' and 'Fursona' |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/history-of-furry-and-fursona |access-date=2021-06-30 |website=Merriam-Webster |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Definition of FURSONA |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fursona |access-date=2024-03-31 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}} Some members of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom also use pony OCs as personas called ponysonas.{{Sfn|Alexandratos|2017|p=67-68}} According to researchers studying the brony fandom, 39% of bronies have a ponysona. Forty-six percent of bronies reported having an original character, and their ponysona was among the first original characters they created.{{cite book |last=Kosnáč |first=Pavol|title=Fiction, Invention and Hyper-reality: From Popular Culture to Religion |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2016 |isbn=9781317135494 |pages=79-97}}
OCs can serve as protagonists or as minor characters in a story.{{Sfn|Schott|2023|p=49}} A writer may add another author's OC into their own work.{{Sfn|Black|2008|p=40}} An OC can provide a different point of view to a fictional universe; for instance, a fan fiction author can create an OC that is a student at one of Hogwarts’ rival schools. There has been some debate online over whether or not writers should write about their OCs in situations in which they suffer.
See also
References
= Footnotes =
{{reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{Cite book|last=Whitehead |first=Carrie |title=Teen Fandom and Geek Programming:A Practical Guide for Librarians |date=June 15, 2018 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmxaDwAAQBAJ&dq=Original+character+fandom&pg=PA86 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=9781538107539}}
- {{Cite book|last=Winge |first=Therèsa |title=Costuming Cosplay:Dressing the Imagination |date=November 2018 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wKJyDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781350035928}}
- {{Cite book|last=Crawford |first=Garry |title=Cosplay and the Art of Play:Exploring Sub-Culture Through Art |date=June 4, 2019 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8pabDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Springer International Publishing|isbn=978-3-030-15966-5 }}
- {{Cite book|last=Alexandratos |first=Jonathan |title= Articulating the Action Figure: Essays on the Toys and Their Messages |date=March 31, 2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tj9UDgAAQBAJ |publisher=McFarland & Company|isbn=978-1-4766-6427-9 }}
- {{Cite book|last=Barner |first=Ashley |title=The Case for Fanfiction:Exploring the Pleasures and Practices of a Maligned Craft |date=October 31, 2017 |publisher=McFarland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A5EwDwAAQBAJ |isbn=9781476668772}}
- {{Cite book|last=Schott |first=Christine |title=Canon Fanfiction:Reading, Writing, and Teaching with Adaptations of Premodern and Early Modern Literature |date=January 30, 2023 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7efEAAAQBAJ |isbn=9781501515989}}
- {{Cite book|last=Franceschi |first=Valeria |title=Exploring Plurilingualism in Fan Fiction:ELF Users as Creative Writers |date=June 20, 2017 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H10pDwAAQBAJ |isbn=9781443896085}}
- {{Cite book|last=Black |first=Rebecca |title=Adolescents and Online Fan Fiction |date=2008 |publisher=Peter Lang |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RTYfNHABvMC |isbn=9780820497389}}
- {{Cite book|last=Adams |first=Camielle |title=Furscience: A Decade of Psychological Research on the Furry Fandom |date=December 8, 2023 |publisher=Stephen Reysen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uEroEAAAQBAJ |isbn=9780997628838}}
- {{Cite book|last=Reysen |first=Stephen |title=Transported to Another World:The Psychology of Anime Fans |date=April 19, 2021 |publisher=Stephen Reysen |isbn=978-0-9976288-1-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=15cqEAAAQBAJ}}
{{Fandom}}
{{Fan fiction}}