What Makes a "Bad OC" Bad?

I find ocs that have to much to them to be bad. To many colors, to many clothes, etc, etc.
op ocs are bad. They can have powers but not to many.
oc X canon character shipping.
I hope my oc is good

 

An OC being deemed bad stems from a plethora of reasons. The most common issue is of making one "too perfect", but some can be terrible for other reasons.

Examples:
~Alicorns - As their canon presence and status tends to be royalty and power, they typically fall into this category. This is heavily associated with them being Mary Sues and suffering no weaknesses or flaws.
~Too many positive traits - Characters that never have to go through trials or complex situations because they simply route problems with their perfect personality and/or traits makes them uninteresting and one dimensional. Being faster than Rainbow Dash and more studious than Twilight is generally a no-no.
~Too many negative traits - You don't want a character being a mopey mess all of the time and completely helpless/useless in every scenario. They will just become annoying and predictable. They shouldn't be a charity case.
~Design - While the MLP fandom is usually locked to ponies, they aren't exclusive for OCs. That said, color schemes themselves can be ridiculous or too contrasting. A rainbow colored mess that eclipses Rainbow Dash is just far fetched, while the black and red goth/emo appearance of the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog is all too common. Everyone wants to be a badass, but you shouldn't start with your choice of colors and end up being samey. Try to be creative without making your character stick out like a sore thumb.
~Presentation - Accompanying bios can often time set your character up to fail when they become too extravagant or tragic. I've heard of some ridiculous bios associated with characters they've been commissioned to draw. Your character's introduction should stay realistic to a degree. Having them introduced as "old friends" or some other direct association of a main canon character is generally viewed poorly.

The whole idea tends to be a balancing act, but it isn't as daunting as one might think. Just consider how characters fit into their worlds. Examine your favorite characters and why they work. What makes them strong? What makes them weak? What is their perspective? What experiences have shaped them to be who they are?

 

This thread inspired me to make my own OC. And following on par, Jack Bix is about as normal as you get (or maybe slightly above average?). I even have a back story, which I'm posting in the fan fic section.

Generally, a bad OC (to me) is the design. If it's an ugly or unrealistic design, then it makes your OC a lot less appealing (even if they're awesome personalities). To me, they look too exotic for the sake of being exotic.

But above all, a smashing design is nothing without a personality to boot. You made a cool pony? Make me care about it. Generally, if you can see your OC as a person you can see existing in real life, then you've done a good job.

EDIT: MY OC back story is here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10425997/1/The-Story-of-Jack-Bix

 

Poorly drawn with a bad design.

 

I think that ocs with gun/gamer cutiemarks are horrible, the same goes for alicorns and ocs with a badly written backstory.

 

I regard an OC on the same standards as I regard any other character: bad" characters do not have much general thought put into them.

Good characters are self-aware and have a story that brought them to where they are. Maybe your character has a superpower - how did they get it? How do they use it? Does it label them as an outcast?

Good characters have desires and passions. What does your character want in life and how are they going to get it?

Good characters have flaws. Sometimes, they refuse to accept these flaws.



Bad characters simply do not adequately fulfill these criteria. They have no place in the world; they're just there. They have no flaws that matter. They don't give you a reason to care about their presence.

 

A mane color that obv doesn't match well with fur color. Also pairing OC's with canon ponies, idk just looks weird.

 

It all comes down to characterization, and how good you are at balancing out characters. Writing an overpowered character for example isn't necessarily bad, depending on the challenges you set up for them. But making a character with too many unrelated, disjoint traits and abilities (Other than you think it all seems really cool at the time) doesn't do your character any justice.

When speaking strictly in terms of visuals, nothing kills the eyes on an OC like bad color schemes. Colors that are too bright, too clashy or too dark/contrasting can be really unappetizing to deal with.

 

1. Cliché
2. Hyperbole
3. Unrealism

 

I don't like the term "bad oc" because it does almost nothing to help the creator, especially when given no reason why, like "your oc sucks" and then they just leave it. I prefer the term "can grow". Anyways I see a "growable" oc as:
-op, your characters can have powers but they need weaknesses
-horrible designs, a given
- shipping with canon characters, a pet peeve of mine
- a strange choose, but characters with a only brown color scheme. This can be pulled off but it often makes the characters bland
as for colors...
i say it can be whatever as long as it looks nice. I don't like to try to hard to make my ocs look like canon characters it ruins part of the fun for me, I like to design within my own limits not someone else's limit.

 

Tough love. People need to be told when they write poorly or else they'll never get better.

 

not necessarily. It usually only hurts the artist's feelings. If they don't wish to be criticized then leave them be it doesn't affect you if you think there oc is bad, just move on. When they do request critiques though you have to go threw it in a kind manner and explain why or you'll just come across as rude.

 

It can, actually be pulled off exceedingly well. One of my friend's OCs has an almost all brown color scheme, to match the colors of coffee and cream, and he's gorgeous.

 

good for him, wish all brown oc color schemes were like that!

 

Black and red, Mary sue, alicorn, "Perfect" pony these thing are just silly but if done right will look really good