Club Penguin Fanon Wiki:OC Guide

First of all, this guide is a collaboration between me and KiLLsama (who recently got banned from dA lololol)

Second, this guide is our view on the topic and we hope it helps anyone that uses it.

This is a guide to making an original OC (Original Character) that will help you to balance it well. If you follow these steps you will (hopefully) make a character that is not too 'awesome' and has almost no flaws (see: Mary Sue), or a character that is too boring.

There's a big difference between drawing/otherwise making a random person just because you wanted to draw/write/whatever something and a well developed character with both a history and a personality.

Please remember that this is just a guide. You don't have to exactly follow what it says, nor do you have to follow the steps in the given order, it's how we think it's most comfortable to work.

Also, if there's anything you want to know that's NOT here, feel free to ask on the discussion page :3

Step I: Choosing sex/race
This is vital to choose well. It will determine how your character will interact with creatures of the same race and sex, or different races and sexes. It also, even more importantly, determine how your character looks for a big deal. For example, a human looks very different from a furry, even though the basics are the same, this also counts for the sex, as a man and woman have a lot of physical differences. Especially with Elephant Seals

As this is a Club Penguin themed wiki, the basic template for a character is a penguin. However, there are many other races in the game as well; bears, crabs, fish and of course puffles. Delve deeper into the game and you have squids, octopi, prawns (note that I am naming all of this from the ice fishing and the aqua grabber minigames). Not to mention the costumes too; moose, sheep, parrot etc.

You could even use the fanon content we have on the wiki to make your OC! Zone, a Doom Weed / X-Virus hybrid is an OC, as well as Raziel (we hate to sound egotistical and use our articles as references but they're the only examples we could think of - we're tired)

Step II: Choosing appearance
After you've narrowed down the sex and race, you can go and make up the appearance: The hair, in length and color. The length of the character, how tall is he/she. Color of its skin/fur/scales/whatever it has. The style of its clothes, if it wears any. Anything you can come up with. You can either draw it, or write it down, or something else entirely, just make sure you can remember it all.

Designing the main appearance can be a lot of fun; you're basically creating a whole new person. If you don't already have an image in your mind of what you want your OC to look like, you could always try to inspire yourself by looking at your favorite characters. What is it about them that makes you like them? Beware that you don't copy the whole character, though!

Step III: Powers / Talents / Characteristics
Many characters have some sort of special power to aid them (usually in battle). Maybe it's something they don't know about (which is cliché, but useable) or something they've lived with their whole lives. Maybe your character is actually a spy from outer space and can transform himself into a penguin, so he can spy on them and send information to his allies.

Also, what makes your character so special? Is it something that influences its appearance? Or is it that power unknown to the outside world? Or, if he or she is just a plain ol' ordinary penguin, you could also think of characteristics. Is he or she obsessed with some sort of food, maybe candy? Go crazy and think about it. Be careful not to copy too much and/or make your character too powerful and overloaded.

Step IV: Personality
This is what I (Zone) think is the most important step. Who is your character? What does it like / dislike? Is it quiet and shy, or outgoing and always hyper-active? How does it respond in certain situations? No one will blush every five minutes and no one can kill someone without feeling just a hint of remorse - unless they suffer from some sort of mental illness such as a personality disorder. Know your stuff and do some research. Be careful, again, not to make it too incredible, as it will be annoying to watch or read.

A few situations, as example:
 * Meeting someone new: Is the character shy, and barely says anything, or it outgoing and can't stop talking?
 * Confronted with something it did wrong: Does it try to talk itself out of the situation by lying, does it tell the truth or does it shut up and just blush?
 * Having a fight with a good friend: How does it respond to that? Does the character get aggressive, or does it try to talk it over?
 * Losing someone, by death or something else: How does it handle this? Will the character cry until it has no tears left, does it resort to drinking, smoking, drugs or something else?
 * Life and Death situation: What if they had to choose between themselves and a friend, or a large group of people, for that matter? Like: in a matter of life and death, would they have themselves live, or the other person(s)?

Please remember that these are only example situations and responses. The possibilities are endless.

Step V: Name / History / Social Connections
This step is mainly a follow up of the fourth. Its history and social connections make it the way it is as you design it. It, together with the personality, shapes the character. You have to shape it with care though. You want it to be a socially awkward person that lost his whole family and is all alone? Was his family murdered right before his eyes in the worst way you can imagine? That's fine, but done so many, many, many times before. It's this step, together with the personality, that makes an OC difficult to design, but all the more fun. Be creative, outgoing and, by all means, unique!

Disclaimer: (guess I'll just have to do this) We (KiLLsama and myself) are by no means professionals, we merely want to share our vision here. Zone 14:18, 9 April 2011 (UTC)