Brucie's Guide to Marvel OCs

Edit: Thanks for the feature! I'm glad to get my message out!

I'd like to preface this post with a disclaimer: this is not meant as a personal judgement on people who have Marvel OCs. I know it's all for fun and I'm not here to bash that. This is just a statement on how I think people can make their OCs better. So feel free to take that with a grain of salt!

We good? Good.

Greetings friendos, Brucie here! Original characters set in the marvel universe are a big part of this community, and it's not a bad thing in and of itself. But let's be honest here; a lot of Marvel OCs... are not good. Some of them are even down right lazy. So let's talk about that for a second, shall we?

There are two kinds of OCs common to this community, and Amino in general. There are what I'm choosing to call "personas," and there are characters meant for roleplay or other stories.

I've chosen the word "persona" to describe a character which is just meant as a stand-in for you on the app. It's a name, it's a role, it's a persona that you play. "Brucie Bear" would be my persona, for example. For personas, pretty much anything goes. You don't really need a backstory or explanation for your persona, but making one can be fun as well! Since it doesn't extend very far outward from you as a , there's really no holds barred on what you can do with a persona, so long as you follow the rules of the app. You can do as little or as much as you like, the choice is yours.

Than we have roleplay characters. This is what most people think of when they use the term OC. It's an original character that you've come up with and are trying to tell a story through, be it through writing, roleplay, comics, or any other form of media. There are no rules on what can be an OC, but there are certainly guidelines on what can make a GOOD OC.

Here are some tips and common mistakes I've noticed:

1. Family to exisiting heros.

I'm not saying this can't be done well, but it's very hard to do well. Unless you give him a killer backstory, the son of Caption America just isn't that creative, and isn't going to hold the interest of an audience for very long. This is especially true if they're just a carbon copy of their parents, or the long lost brother with the opposite personality. These backstories are a dime a dozen, and while they aren't bad by default, they should be approached with caution because they're very hard to make interesting.

2. Carbon Copies

Don't make a "new spiderman" or "young iron man." It's not interesting. It's the opposite of creative. If you want to make a character with similar powers to an exisiting one, they need to have a distinction. If you want to make a spiderman like character, give them a power that is different from spiderman to make them interesting. Give them a costume that ISN'T spiderman. Just give them something.

3. Sad backstories

No person's life is totally devoid of happiness. Even Deadpool finds joy in his painful existence. Keep this in mind when making a backstory. Killing everyone someone loves does not mean you've made them interesting. It makes you've made them cliche. That's not to say a person can't have a sad story, but it's important to keep things realistic. Life screws people over for sure, especially those who are different, but characters who are always miserable are not interesting.

4. Time and effort

People can tell if you didn't put any effort into making an OC. It's not hard to figure out if you threw the backstory together in a half hour and called it good. Don't copy people. Don't take the easy way out. Put your mind to the test and make something creative that is worth people's time. If you're invested, we'll stay invested.

Bonus: a note on mutants

Mutants are a great way to give a character powers because they're an established part of the world. But don't use that as a crutch. Mutants still need a fun, and well thought out backstory. Use your brain. Keep us interested.

So these's my guide on how to make a good OC! Go forth my friends! Go forth and make creative and well thought out characters we can all enjoy!

And Brucie's got your back! ;)