Thread: Fandoms and OC vs Canon

Saber Arturia said I personally prefer to play oc vs oc in fandoms for a few reasons. 1 I just find it hard to get into an actual, established character. I like to make a character my own, playing an official character limits that. 2 Headcanon can be a pain in the ass to deal with. Everyone wants to see their favorite character in a certain light, and i've noticed that people can sometimes get a bit upset if you play their 'favorite' the wrong way. 3 I just feel oc vs oc works a lot more smooth and naturally, and allows for better interaction I guess. It'sa lot easier to work with the mindset of both characters being original or official and since I prefer making my own character, i'd like to see my partner be creative as well. Of course, if I do a fandom based plot I really prefer to do an 'Inspired by' style RP than one that's 11 to the source material. Click to expand... Head Canon is definitely one of the hardest parts of fandom roleplays, I feel. I won't play characters I have no interest in simply because I don't connect well with characters that I don't like. That is definitely a road to me not playing a canon character correctly. I am one of those people who are picky with how my favorite characters are played, so I know how annoying it can be for someone to do something out of character of that particular canon. I have had people want to play canon characters, but give them an entirely different personality which is a huge turn off. So yeah, OCs are definitely easier, but for 90 percent of my fandom roleplays I prefer having canon characters because that's what got me into the story from the beginning. Razgriz said Fandoms can be hard to do, but it really depends what the involvement the players are going to have. Some, like the poster above me, do a story where they include elements of a fandom but don't necessarily play in that universe as a whole. Mine revolve more around 'What If' scenarios and a few extra twists thrown in for fun. I think a healthy mix of OCs and canon will help all involved to enjoy the story, as they can add a layer of depth and enjoyment that puts a fresh spin on the overall plot itself. And so far, I have quite a few successful stories that I'm extremely happy to be a part of. Click to expand... This is why I like our Gurren Lagann roleplay. It's super hard for me to do things strictly with canon characters while making an entirely different plot to roleplay. Sometimes making new villains or protagonists just makes things so much smoother so I'm not racking my brain on how to bring back old villains to give the characters a goal to reach in the story. MellowYellow said I honestly don't see a point in doing a fandom RP if you're going to be using original characters. I mean you could just as easily do an original setting that riffs an established universe. But for the whole canonOC thing... I honestly never do it with strangers. It always comes across as unfair to me, where one person plays their personal pet Sue and they usually are, let's be honest here and expects the other to play their fictional crush. Essentially it smacks of 'I'll sit back and you do all the work, and meet all MY specifications.' I only go canonOC if it's with a person I have RP'd a fair bit with, and have a good connection with. Click to expand... You could do that, but why? Taking canon characters out of a plot and replacing them completely can be fun at times, but some stories need them. For example, you can take out all the characters in Digimon and replace them with new digidestined, that's not a huge dealand I find most of the characters boring anyway. However, something like Legend of Zelda needs canon characters. Most don't fall in love with the universe of Legend of Zelda, they fall in love with the characters and the history of Hylia. It wouldn't be as fun to exclude them from your roleplay. Just because I want to add a new character, or several new characters doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to use canon. However, I do agree that it is absolutely unfair to request your character to be paired with a canon, especially if you won't return the favor for the other person. I have made the later arrangement before, and sometimes it works, but other times, it's so incredibly boring, because obviously it is just their self insert. If someone has a likeable OC, and the dynamic works well with the canon character, I don't mind having them end up together. That doesn't happen too often, I'll admit, but meh. It's worked incredibly well with a few partners I have, so I give people chances.