Post by Sarcatsic on Jun 9, 2011 20:11:38 GMT
It would seem as tho there are some... complications within the FiM fandom that call for extreme hatred of Original Characters for the show. It's not unlike any fandom, so what can we do? How can you make an acceptable OC pony and still be "original"? Well, here's a simple tutorial to follow. Now if you don't care about making your character "fit in" to the FiM universe, then this isn't the tutorial for you. If you have a problem using simplicity over complicated designs, this isn't the tutorial for you (well... it MAY be). If you just want to have fun and don't really take OC-making seriously then go do something else xD For the rest of you, here's how to make an acceptable FiM original pony character.
-Choosing colors. Do NOT pick a random selection of colors. Certain colors either don't play well with others or there are better ones to associate them with. (Color theory is an excellent class to take if you're looking to improve yourself as an artist.) Use a color wheel chart. Choosing colors like red, blue, and yellow (or colors in general that are across each other as such) are colors that go very well together. Try using different shades of those colors too. Opposite-sided colors also work very well together.
-Picking colors for the FiM universe are really quite simple. They use very bright and lively colors. Even the brown ponies are bright and noticable, if you've noticed. Avoid using dull colors unless you want a dull-looking character. And DO NOT BE AFRAID TO USE SIMILAR COLORS THAT OTHERS HAVE USED. I mean obviously don't COPY. But if you made a pony and they happen to have blue hair and a yellow pelt like another pony, big deal. In the FiM world, there's many many many ponies with the same colors. This is where hairstyles and body traits come in. Here's a helpful website! colorschemedesigner.com/
-Rainbow-haired ponies are not uncommon. So if you want a rainbow-haired pony, try using different shades of colors. Maybe make the rainbow mane and tail lighter colors, or only use Red-Blue. Even taking out green can look pretty cool. But when it comes to adding body color, avoid using black or white. Black is a sinister-looking color (hence why Nightmare Moon was black instead of a dark purple or something) and white just will make it look like Starlite from Rainbow Brite xD
-Hair styles. Avoid using overly-complicated anime-esque hair. We all know that the only way to achieve any of those hairstyles is to use glue (and I don't think ponies would USE glue out of it being a professional courtesy).
Just look up some hairstyles on google, they have excellent ones. Or maybe your character has unkempt hair, that's cool too. But there's nothing wrong with hairclips, ties, hats, or ribbons either.
-Body types. There's all kinds of them, so why just keep using the standard pony body? Make your character lanky like Snails, or make them buff, or even make them fat. Many appealing characters have different body types than the rest.
-Accessories. No one gives a crap if you wear 576 bracelets on your arm.
Don't put them on your character. They are QUADRUPEDS. So those bracelets wouldn't stay on if you cut off their circulation with them. A couple bracelets would be alright, but wouldn't something similar to an anklet be a little more practical? Necklaces are nice too, so long as they're not incredibly detailed (notice that LESS IS MORE). Bandannas are always cute, but there's hundreds of different ways to wear them!
Even shawls can work on these ponies. But yeah, just like real life, one should never put 657 peircings on an equine. Avoid those rainbowy arm covers too. (If your character is going to have a rainbow mane and tail, adding rainbow accessories is just too much. If your character doesn't have rainbow hair, then adding rainbow accessories just doesn't match. Use fashion sense, not Hot Topic sense.)
-Other markings. Its interesting when your character has a scar on them they have a good story about. Or a deformity that makes them different from their usual breed.
But there are certain markings that simply won't work with the FiM style. Spots are alright, horses have spots, right? Patches of different-shaded or colored fur are kind of cool!
Speckles would be incredibly cute too.
Or even diamond markings on their forehead as ponies often have.
You know what ponies don't have? Cheetah lines down their face, or wolf markings.
Do not take a fox character or a wolf character and expect it's markings to fit well on an equine.
They are entirely different animals and therefore have different traits about them, so take advantage of that. Don't give your character all-yellow eyes with black slits to make them cat-like cuz your "other OC" has them. It doesn't work. Also, don't give them hundreds of scars. It calls for an unrealistically-violent past.
-Choosing a breed. Now, we all know that there's pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. (We don't yet know if there are sea ponies, but considering Lauren Faust's love for the pilot, there may be some in the future.) But there are also donkeys and zebras too. There are also alicorns, but they are only direct royalty. Even Prince Blueblood was a simple unicorn.
So what if you want your character to be an alicorn? Don't. There is no reason for your character to be an alicorn. Whatever their purpose in life calls for, it can't be so complicated that they need to fly and use magic at the same time. According to Laurn Faust, Celestia and Luna are the ONLY alicorns. But what if your character has a destiny with-- No. But what if your character was a unicorn and tried a spell that failed-- No. If you want a spell to "go wrong" have it actually GO WRONG. Don't have it benefit them, have the spell give them an actually-hindering deformity. But what if my character was a genetic experimen--NO! This world is intended to be as FAR AWAY from human society as possible, and having MAD SCIENTISTS doesn't help keep that universe in tact.
Just DON'T. MAKE. AN ALICORN.
-Not selecting an Alicorn for a character isn't the only problem with selecting a breed. What if you want your character to have fangs. Why would they have fangs? Are they a wolf? Are they a vampire? Are they a werepony? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're better off starting over from scratch. Avoid giving your character bat-wings. We know that there are certain mythological horse creatures that have bat-wings, but it doesn't exactly work for this universe (seeing as fanged horses and bat-winged ones are seen as "EVIL"), especially if it's going to just end up being a friendly character, wronged by others for being "different". The FiM universe is a peaceful universe.
-Selecting a cutie mark. If you've watched the show, you know that a pony earns his or her cutie mark when they discover something that makes them special. It can be as vague as a few apples, or as mysterious as a 6-pointed star. It's kind of cool to have your pony have a cutie mark that tells about their special talent AND has a secret to some significance later in life. However... there ARE a few DON'TS when it comes to selecting a cutie mark...
1) Do not make an overly-complicated or detailed cutie mark. They're obnoxious to have and it gives off the vibe that you think your character is better than everyone else's and gives little reason as to why. Overly-detailed cutie marks don't exist in FiM, mainly because they don't look good. I mean, why make a cutie mark that forces you to look at all the detail? It's shrunk down and loses the quality, and most of the time no one can even tell what it's supposed to be.
2) Make it relevant to your character's originality. Don't have a pony that has a talent in baking, but has a cutie mark of a music note. It makes no sense.
3) Picking things like religion or beliefs are a terrible thing to use as a cutie mark. Religion is a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons (So Atheism counts, everyone). So what makes them so special if any number of ponies share the same interest? So if your character is goth and that's their special talent... just don't. Or if your character's an anarchist and that's their special talent... just don't.
4) Musically-gifted ponies. There seems to be an awful lot of those, doesn't there? So your character is good at playing the harp, so what? Pick a specific harp, like the Lyre, or the Medieval Harp, or the Ancient Egyptian Harp. So lots of ponies play the harp, what did they do to earn that? Did they play a very complicated piece of music with it? What did they do? Or if your pony has a set of headphones for their cutie mark, how exactly can listening to music be their talent? Elaborate on that. Remember, it's alright to have a detailed background about their cutie mark and still have it be a simple cutie mark at the same time.
-Choosing a name. It's not uncommon for a character's name to match their cutie mark. But it seems as tho people feel the need to give character names with an many syllables as possible, only to give them a less-creative nickname later. (Neon Rainbow Amethyst Eyeballs) What sense does that make? Keep the name SIMPLE. Even Twilight Sparkle only has 4 syllables. Not even pony has two names either. Rarity, Applejack, Luna, Fluttershy. Even original ponies had one-name names. Firefly, Bow-Tie, Twilight, Medley. There's nothing wrong with picking a single word-name. It's actually seen as very creative to do so. It shows that you have a broad enough vocabulary that you don't need to use more words if you don't have to.
-Finally, choosing a history. Like any original character, as interesting as it is to give them a hard life, this is one universe that does NOT sit well with. There's nothing appealing about a stand-offish character, who killed his parents for being abusive, and hasn't had a good thing happen to him ever. Yes characters get sad in the FiM universe, but they aren't depressing.
If you want your character to actually have conflict there's nothing wrong with it. But do not go overboard. There's enough Bella Swans (or more commonly known as the Mary Sue) already. You know what else is nice? Having a character with a decent life. One that's actually happy and social. You know, the kind you'd actually want to be friends with. It's understanding if people want their character to have some essence of themselves in it, but when the character is basically your wishful-thinking, it becomes more pathetic than likeable. If you're manic depressive that's fine, simply because it's been established that Pinkie Pie is manic depressive. But at least she makes it funny. There's nothing wrong with a character having a hard life, but GIVE something to LIKE about your character. He/she/it doesn't have to be a hero.
-Choosing colors. Do NOT pick a random selection of colors. Certain colors either don't play well with others or there are better ones to associate them with. (Color theory is an excellent class to take if you're looking to improve yourself as an artist.) Use a color wheel chart. Choosing colors like red, blue, and yellow (or colors in general that are across each other as such) are colors that go very well together. Try using different shades of those colors too. Opposite-sided colors also work very well together.
-Picking colors for the FiM universe are really quite simple. They use very bright and lively colors. Even the brown ponies are bright and noticable, if you've noticed. Avoid using dull colors unless you want a dull-looking character. And DO NOT BE AFRAID TO USE SIMILAR COLORS THAT OTHERS HAVE USED. I mean obviously don't COPY. But if you made a pony and they happen to have blue hair and a yellow pelt like another pony, big deal. In the FiM world, there's many many many ponies with the same colors. This is where hairstyles and body traits come in. Here's a helpful website! colorschemedesigner.com/
-Rainbow-haired ponies are not uncommon. So if you want a rainbow-haired pony, try using different shades of colors. Maybe make the rainbow mane and tail lighter colors, or only use Red-Blue. Even taking out green can look pretty cool. But when it comes to adding body color, avoid using black or white. Black is a sinister-looking color (hence why Nightmare Moon was black instead of a dark purple or something) and white just will make it look like Starlite from Rainbow Brite xD
-Hair styles. Avoid using overly-complicated anime-esque hair. We all know that the only way to achieve any of those hairstyles is to use glue (and I don't think ponies would USE glue out of it being a professional courtesy).
Just look up some hairstyles on google, they have excellent ones. Or maybe your character has unkempt hair, that's cool too. But there's nothing wrong with hairclips, ties, hats, or ribbons either.
-Body types. There's all kinds of them, so why just keep using the standard pony body? Make your character lanky like Snails, or make them buff, or even make them fat. Many appealing characters have different body types than the rest.
-Accessories. No one gives a crap if you wear 576 bracelets on your arm.
Don't put them on your character. They are QUADRUPEDS. So those bracelets wouldn't stay on if you cut off their circulation with them. A couple bracelets would be alright, but wouldn't something similar to an anklet be a little more practical? Necklaces are nice too, so long as they're not incredibly detailed (notice that LESS IS MORE). Bandannas are always cute, but there's hundreds of different ways to wear them!
Even shawls can work on these ponies. But yeah, just like real life, one should never put 657 peircings on an equine. Avoid those rainbowy arm covers too. (If your character is going to have a rainbow mane and tail, adding rainbow accessories is just too much. If your character doesn't have rainbow hair, then adding rainbow accessories just doesn't match. Use fashion sense, not Hot Topic sense.)
-Other markings. Its interesting when your character has a scar on them they have a good story about. Or a deformity that makes them different from their usual breed.
But there are certain markings that simply won't work with the FiM style. Spots are alright, horses have spots, right? Patches of different-shaded or colored fur are kind of cool!
Speckles would be incredibly cute too.
Or even diamond markings on their forehead as ponies often have.
You know what ponies don't have? Cheetah lines down their face, or wolf markings.
Do not take a fox character or a wolf character and expect it's markings to fit well on an equine.
They are entirely different animals and therefore have different traits about them, so take advantage of that. Don't give your character all-yellow eyes with black slits to make them cat-like cuz your "other OC" has them. It doesn't work. Also, don't give them hundreds of scars. It calls for an unrealistically-violent past.
-Choosing a breed. Now, we all know that there's pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies. (We don't yet know if there are sea ponies, but considering Lauren Faust's love for the pilot, there may be some in the future.) But there are also donkeys and zebras too. There are also alicorns, but they are only direct royalty. Even Prince Blueblood was a simple unicorn.
So what if you want your character to be an alicorn? Don't. There is no reason for your character to be an alicorn. Whatever their purpose in life calls for, it can't be so complicated that they need to fly and use magic at the same time. According to Laurn Faust, Celestia and Luna are the ONLY alicorns. But what if your character has a destiny with-- No. But what if your character was a unicorn and tried a spell that failed-- No. If you want a spell to "go wrong" have it actually GO WRONG. Don't have it benefit them, have the spell give them an actually-hindering deformity. But what if my character was a genetic experimen--NO! This world is intended to be as FAR AWAY from human society as possible, and having MAD SCIENTISTS doesn't help keep that universe in tact.
Just DON'T. MAKE. AN ALICORN.
-Not selecting an Alicorn for a character isn't the only problem with selecting a breed. What if you want your character to have fangs. Why would they have fangs? Are they a wolf? Are they a vampire? Are they a werepony? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're better off starting over from scratch. Avoid giving your character bat-wings. We know that there are certain mythological horse creatures that have bat-wings, but it doesn't exactly work for this universe (seeing as fanged horses and bat-winged ones are seen as "EVIL"), especially if it's going to just end up being a friendly character, wronged by others for being "different". The FiM universe is a peaceful universe.
-Selecting a cutie mark. If you've watched the show, you know that a pony earns his or her cutie mark when they discover something that makes them special. It can be as vague as a few apples, or as mysterious as a 6-pointed star. It's kind of cool to have your pony have a cutie mark that tells about their special talent AND has a secret to some significance later in life. However... there ARE a few DON'TS when it comes to selecting a cutie mark...
1) Do not make an overly-complicated or detailed cutie mark. They're obnoxious to have and it gives off the vibe that you think your character is better than everyone else's and gives little reason as to why. Overly-detailed cutie marks don't exist in FiM, mainly because they don't look good. I mean, why make a cutie mark that forces you to look at all the detail? It's shrunk down and loses the quality, and most of the time no one can even tell what it's supposed to be.
2) Make it relevant to your character's originality. Don't have a pony that has a talent in baking, but has a cutie mark of a music note. It makes no sense.
3) Picking things like religion or beliefs are a terrible thing to use as a cutie mark. Religion is a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons (So Atheism counts, everyone). So what makes them so special if any number of ponies share the same interest? So if your character is goth and that's their special talent... just don't. Or if your character's an anarchist and that's their special talent... just don't.
4) Musically-gifted ponies. There seems to be an awful lot of those, doesn't there? So your character is good at playing the harp, so what? Pick a specific harp, like the Lyre, or the Medieval Harp, or the Ancient Egyptian Harp. So lots of ponies play the harp, what did they do to earn that? Did they play a very complicated piece of music with it? What did they do? Or if your pony has a set of headphones for their cutie mark, how exactly can listening to music be their talent? Elaborate on that. Remember, it's alright to have a detailed background about their cutie mark and still have it be a simple cutie mark at the same time.
-Choosing a name. It's not uncommon for a character's name to match their cutie mark. But it seems as tho people feel the need to give character names with an many syllables as possible, only to give them a less-creative nickname later. (Neon Rainbow Amethyst Eyeballs) What sense does that make? Keep the name SIMPLE. Even Twilight Sparkle only has 4 syllables. Not even pony has two names either. Rarity, Applejack, Luna, Fluttershy. Even original ponies had one-name names. Firefly, Bow-Tie, Twilight, Medley. There's nothing wrong with picking a single word-name. It's actually seen as very creative to do so. It shows that you have a broad enough vocabulary that you don't need to use more words if you don't have to.
-Finally, choosing a history. Like any original character, as interesting as it is to give them a hard life, this is one universe that does NOT sit well with. There's nothing appealing about a stand-offish character, who killed his parents for being abusive, and hasn't had a good thing happen to him ever. Yes characters get sad in the FiM universe, but they aren't depressing.
If you want your character to actually have conflict there's nothing wrong with it. But do not go overboard. There's enough Bella Swans (or more commonly known as the Mary Sue) already. You know what else is nice? Having a character with a decent life. One that's actually happy and social. You know, the kind you'd actually want to be friends with. It's understanding if people want their character to have some essence of themselves in it, but when the character is basically your wishful-thinking, it becomes more pathetic than likeable. If you're manic depressive that's fine, simply because it's been established that Pinkie Pie is manic depressive. But at least she makes it funny. There's nothing wrong with a character having a hard life, but GIVE something to LIKE about your character. He/she/it doesn't have to be a hero.