OC Pet Peeves

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

So I was thinking the other day... there are so many Naruto fan characters out there... and some are great others just make me want to pull my hair out. I know I work hard to make interesting and believable OCs but sometimes I honestly wonder where some people get their ideas.

So I pose this question to you oh members of Chuunin:

What is your biggest OC pet peeve?

Mine are Uchihas. I can't stand fan made Uchiha characters. Other than the three... well two now, running around, the rest are dead. And the reason always seems to be the same. (insert OC name here) wasn't there on the night of the killings. Honestly now, Itachi had that all planned out. And if someone wasn't there, I'm sure he would track them down. 

In fact just today I saw one that was an Itachi's twin sister... that and for whatever reason they thought Itachi was only a year older than Sasuke. And this person was so proud of their character. I was hoping when I got to the end of the bio it would be a joke... oh no, but they were so happy with it.

I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but really... if you make an OC pay attention to the details of the story.

What about the rest of you? Any major make you want to scream moments? 

Comments

[kalliel]

My main beef with OCs is that the Naruto cast is already extensive--over-extensive, some might say. Why would introducing another character be necessary? In general, that's my main question--if you're going to be writing fan fiction, shouldn't it be the series' characters that prompt you to do so in the first place? Some fandoms may make the argument that no, it's the world/the worldbuildling--things like Pokemon, or Oblivion--but uh. Naruto is lacking in worldbuilding. XD It's the characters everyone loves, methinks, not the intricate government structure and hierarchy of power (which is not to say these things are not touched upon in Naruto--but they are hardly the main focus).

If you're writing plot!fic, however, I can see how some OCs may be in order. If Team Naruto is going to Kirigakure (for reasons unknown), there will probably need to be some ninja there, beyond Random Ninja A, B, and C. XD

In all honesty, though, I think my number one least favorite OC is Uchiha Shisui. And he is TECHNICALLY not even an OC. But if all you are is a name and the hint of a relation in canon, why should you be so important in fic?

I have nothing against fleshing out the rarely-seen characters, such as Tenten, Anko, Kurenai. This is part of the charm of fandom--to make the characters more than what they have been shown to be in canon. But SHISUI?

Most of the time when I see him, he's been created with the essence of OC--he acts like an OC, overshadows nigh everyone else present in the fic like an OC--he just bears the luxury of having a canon name.

This may simply be because I do not read fics with character/OC in their summaries, but I have read quite a few fics with Shisui in them.

So, uh. There really wasn't a point to that, except to rant a bit about my noncomprehension of Shisui's EXTREME popularity in fandom. XP I figure if ever there was a place to do that, it would be in this thread.

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

I have to say, I do agree with you in the fact that there are plenty of charactrs for Naruto... there really isn't a need for OCs. But people will still make them

I made one, but I made a Cloud ninja... and you know... going through countless rps and fanfics, I think I'm the only one out there. XD

Usually OCs are just more Konohanin that over shadow the actual characters, like you were saying with Shisui. And really that annoys me as well. If there is going to be an OC they should't be stronger, better, or anything really over the cannons.

Now I have to make one comment though about OC with cannon pairing in fics though. Usually they're horrible... but sometimes I don't mind them if they're with characters that don't really have hinted at cannon relationships. Typically that isn't the case though, and most those fics are with mary-sues in love with Sasuke... but if the OC is actually a well thought out character and the relationship doesn't send the cannon into an OOC fit... with a good writer to boot. Sometimes... it's rare, but they are good.

But thank you for your rant, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has them over things like this. XD

[rainejoybringer.livejournal.com]

Naruto is lacking in worldbuilding.

So much word. People can't even figure out what era of technology there is. You won't believe how tough this makes things for the Konoha sim I've been helping to make in Second Life. =_=

[nobellesavage.livejournal.com]

Shisui's EXTREME popularity in fandom

I don't understand it either. It really confuses me when a rp community will allow someone to rp Shisui but not an OC. We don't even know what the hell he looks like!

[rainejoybringer.livejournal.com]

Biggest pet peeve? Kicking Sakura out of the team just for an OC to be placed there.

I love OCs, and I have too many Naruto ones to count, but there's a right way and a wrong way, and a bunch of bad reasons to justify making one.

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

XD Oh yes, I've seen that one a lot... or a mysterious unexplained reason team 7 gets a fourth member. Even if that's not how the cell system works in Konoha.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD PEOPLE DO THAT?

They should be flogged.

[helreginn.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I also don't usually read fics with OCs, but I've still read quite a few. And I've written one fic with OCs, only because it was a future!fic of sorts, but anyway.

I only have one opinion about OCs, if you have to use them, make them human. >.> Overly fail or overly cool makes them unbelievable and eyesores. Because in the end, the story isn't about OC but the canon characters. Unless it's a Mary-Sue fic. *keels over and dies*

I've seen some really good OCs out there, and there are people (amazing writers) who pull them off without any problem and the only thing I noticed was...they weren't awfully important in themselves, but rather like canon fodder and...normal.

But honestly, unless it's absolutely necessary (like the abovementioned other villages' teams) or say, future!fics, OCs should be avoided. /two cents.

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on that. More often than not, if there is a good writer behind the OC... typically the character is well thought out.

._. Speaking of characters being human... I can't count how many times I've seen OCs with demons sealed in them and claiming they're stronger than the Kyuubi... then they have some horrible past to make the cannon cast play pity party for them.

[ootorotan.livejournal.com]

I think that in some cases OCs are necessary; Ninja A, B, C or you know...shopkeepers and things like that. But what I really can't stand is when there's an OC that pretty much takes over a story completely; he/she's stronger and better and more special than everyone else, you know?
That really bugs me, especially lately, since that's basically how the filler!Characters work. D:

And of course Mary Sues. I can't stand it when some girl comes in and falls in love with (most frequently) Sasuke or any other of the males. I mean, okay it might've been sort of okay if it was an undeveloped character and she remained in the background, but that's generally not how Mary Sues are portrayed..

Having said that, I don't mean to lash out at anyone with an OC I even had one myself once, it's just my opinion. And I don't really read fics with OCs in them. Although I do beta for a friend who's rather big on the OC front; he writes really well, but yeah, not too fond of the OCs here. ^^;;

And like kalliel said, there are so many characters in Naruto, why create new ones when so many are in need of attention (Moar Tenten plz)?

As for Shisui; I reckon he's very difficult to grasp as a character, since we know nothing about him, and I'm not against incorporating him in a story as long as he's not OVERPOWERED or whatevs, because we don't really know what he was like. I'm writing a fic now where he's one of the characters, but his role is too small for him to make an impression i think.

omg, sorry for writing a novel

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

Yes Mary-sue romances annoy me to know end. And not only are they usually in love with Sasuke... more often than not he makes a complete 180 in his personality and because her loving boyfriend... and they live happily ever after. ._. It's really sad isn't it?

Like I said before though... a well thought out OC who isn't the center of a story and doesn't have the "OMG superpowerz over 9000" complex can work. It's just a rare thing to find.

[zelos22.livejournal.com]

one of my biggest peeves about fanmade OCs is their lack of original abilities. they always seem like a rip-off or another version of jutsus we've already seen :| ive never thought "ooo thats a cool technique" when seeing a fanmande jutsu. theyre always stupid e_e

i had thought of a few Narutoverse OCs a while back but i scrapped them mostly because they didnt bring anything new or interesting to the fandom.

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

That's a good point to bring up. If you're going to go to the trouble of making up a character, then why yoink jutsus? Is it that hard to come up with a interesting and new technique? It's really a chance to let the mind run wild and be creative.

More often than not I see OCs that somehow know how to do the Rasengan, only better... Or Chidori... but with fire or something like that...

._.

[vermelli.livejournal.com]

I'm bothered greatly by brainless, kawaii, sparkling, bjutiful, ivil, flower-cosmic-supapowah, luv-oriented, twin-something-lol?? OCs. And vampires, god, please no.
And by cigarettes. Be it smoking OC, be it suddenly making poor Shisui or Itachi a darkh knight of the night with a kewl cigarette dangling from the mouth. EWWW.

However, I don't see any problem when an OC is well-developed, with rich history, background and personality. In fact, it makes me laugh and sorry when people ban and throw all OCs into one sack, marysue. Some fans out there take their time to make their character believable and if they're having fun with the creation process, I don't see any reason to mud it. Not that I've seen that/been done to. We all are narutards. Some are happy messing with Kishimoto-san characters, some, from whatever reason - not enough of suiting charas in original Naruto to work with, for example - feel the need to make an OC. And when it's used in an original, good way, it can be as much enjoyable as story/picture with only Naruto charas and bring depth to those Naru-ones, emphasize on some traits. But I've read only a few good OC stories, and only one of those few had romance involved.

Yup. I's also sad to say this, but better stories are usually created by those who write without OC-as-one-of-main-chara. *headslamdesk* Have to agree though, it's much much easier to just write/draw something simple and kawaii than to try hard.

From the other hand, Naru-stories can be as much horryfying, with characters degenerated to a brainless kawaii level worse than any OC I've ever seen. Lol, come to think of it, it's a nice comic relief ;]

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

It is funny how many of those for mentioned OCs fall into that kawaii level. But they do make for a good laugh though.

I do agree with you though about people who take their time with OCs. And there are some really good ones out there, they're just hard to find. More often than not you get the mary-sue characters. Which is sad. Not enough creativity in kids these days. XD

[unikorn.livejournal.com]

I with a passion hate OC's paired with canon characters. It's far too self indulgent on the creators behalf.

In general I avoid anything to do with OC's because I really couldn't give a hoot about them.

The occasional fanfiction that will introduce a new character because they are children of the canon characters is acceptable. Also any characters that we know exist but have never seen are ok as OC's (eg: The other Kages and Jinchuuriki)

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

Usually the case with cannon and OC pairings the character is a self insert to fulfill a fangirl fantasy of sorts. And that's what most of the fics out there are.

But there are rare occassion I don't mind. First of the OC must be well thought out and not over shadow everyone else in the story. And the cannon in the pair must be one that doesn't have any hinted relationships already.

Most of the fics though are ones where OC girl character falls in love with Sasule and they live happily ever after. So I understand your distaste for those pairing.

[therealkaichan]

I never understood the need of people to make their OCs 3204832 times better than everyone in canon. Defects are what make the characters in the series so cool, so why not give some defects or weird quirks to yours?

I have a bunch of OCs working as NPCs for a roleplay set 25 years after the end of the series.
Of course, it being a roleplay about politics and war, we needed lots of extra people to make it work.

Still, none of these OCs is allmighty and capable of doing everything without breaking a sweat, and I just LOVE giving defects to my characters too...
Below goes the Too Long; Didn't Read:
Summoner who can't quite control her summons, kid who can't turn off his eye based bloodline, guy who is awfully powerful during full moon and gets moody and depressed in new moons, guy who has super hearing and just falls asleep anywhere (a mix between narcolepsy and some weird jutsus)...
And also a bunch of "the child of" OCs... Examples are Naruto's daughter who barely survived a bridge exploding and has a weakness against genjutsu and a little Sasuke's boy who has... pink hair. Both kids share their mom. (Yeah, canon SasuNaruSaku ~_~)

Well, shutting up now, it was a fun recap xD

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

Perfect characters irk me as well. Even in the ninja world, they are humans... and they make mistakes.

I like making OCs with weird habits and faults. Like ones with stress triggered conditions. XD Lots of stress being a ninja. And it's fun to come up with the ways a character copes with their problems.

[paperninja.livejournal.com]

Off-topic, but...


I have a bunch of OCs working as NPCs for a roleplay set 25 years after the end of the series.
Of course, it being a roleplay about politics and war, we needed lots of extra people to make it work.

Dude. 40something Rookie Nine? Canon Team 7 threesome? Politics and war? ZOMG Linksplz? :DDD

[aubreywitch.livejournal.com]

Long lost cousins. Ugh.

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

Yep... just like long lost siblings and well... any mysterious new family member. Most don't even have a good reason for it.

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are plenty of those pairing fics out there. And most of them are horrible. But like I said before... I don't mind it in rare cases: First of the OC must be well thought out and not over shadow everyone else in the story. And the cannon in the pair must be one that doesn't have any hinted relationships already.

Those AU things you mentioned are just as bad. I think you should be able to write cannons in character before attempting to throw them into another world. And more often than not it's the writer just using a character to project a self insert. Much like said Sakura.

Those can be funny though... especially when the writer thinks they got the characters down perfectly.

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, the paint recolors of screenshots. They're all over the place. I know a bunch of people put them on Deviant Art, claiming they are original characters. I can't stand that myself. If you want to draw an OC, do it, it doesn't matter how good you are. Just stop hijacking screenshots.

But I hate the whole kicking Sakura outta the team thing, the UBER!Jinchuuriki thing, and Itachi's mysterious twin sister who ran away the night everyone was killed and mysteriously returned as a homeless teenage girl with an attitude.

I think those are things we all hate. XD

[premium-shaday.livejournal.com]

The things that make me hate OCs are the things that make me hate any character.

1. Bad characterization
2. 1 dimensional personality
3. Unecessary Awesomeness. Like how u played pokemon cards w ur friends b4 u knew how to do it right and u were all BAM!! ur Charizard is daed cuz of my Rattata. And they'd be all NUH UH!! My Charizard is rat proof! And then ud both talk about how invinicible ur pokemon is? Yeah, I don't want that in a fanfic.
4. Showing up randomly, unexpectedly, unexplainedly, when they have been there the WHOLE DAMN TIME!! Srsly, why not mention them before? Why weren't they there before hand? Why didn't anyone mention Itachi's twin sister? Wassupwithtaht?


With good plot and characterization these aren't really a problem. Like if the OC is some Guru and the point of the story is to find that Guru then the characters are prolly talking about it the whole time, so it's not stupid when they finally find him or something.

So really, it's just bad storytelling I just can't stand.

[yumi-maki.livejournal.com]

I like how you put that - 'bad storytelling' - that's exactly what it is.

[twistedsheets10.livejournal.com]

Naruto OC writer here. Heh. *gets shot* I had some who sucked so bad I discontinued the fic. Oddly, my physical description of one of them turned out to be almost similar to what she turned out to be when she appeared in canon.

Oh yes, Uchiha family members. That always give s me a bit of a headache. Although I do wonder if all Uchihas are in Konoha. Perhaps some migrated elsewhere and lived there in relative quiet and obscurity? Alas, fanbrats rarely have any explanation why said Uchiha exists.

It always puts me off when I see parents who act the same as their children at their age. While I understand anime and manga open operate that way, and often a child takes traits from their parents, frankly, I find it weird when they're almost carbon copies of each other.

One recent example was when I saw a fic where Naruto's mother spoke like Naruto--you know, with dattebayo, which implied Naruto got that from her. I found this especially O_o because as far as we know, Naruto hardly met/knew his mom.

[jirukoumori.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine made a simular comment about that when I asked this same question on DA. It was more about people making characters older than they are, so a teenager making their OC in their mid-twenties... but then not knowing how someone that age should act.

But really, I think it's funny with the parent thing as well. Come on, how many of us ar copies of our parents? I sure know I'm not... and I'm happy for that, and I think my parents would say the same. XD

And I think we've all had that mary-sue or bad character at a time. That's just how it starts, but there's a big difference between people who learn and change things as they do... and those who continue to make the same cookie cutter fangirl fantasy fullfiller characters out there.

I know I love my OC but I worked hard to make sure she wasn't one of those that people loath.