An original character (OC) typically refers to a type of fictional character that is created by a member of a fandom. They are a non-canonical character created by the author of fan fiction, a fan artist, or creator of another fan work, who exists within a certain fictional universe and may interact with existing characters or locations.[1][2][3][4][5] The term can also be used in a wider sense to refer to any fictional character.[6] There are also gender-specific acronyms like OMC (acronym for original male character) and OFC (acronym for original female character).[7][5]
Examples
OCs are used in various subcultures including the Star Wars fandom, the Harry Potter fandom,[1] and other subcultures such as the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom. Takashi Iizuka mentioned that the character customization system in Sonic Forces was influenced by the Sonic community's tendency to create original characters;[8] tools for creating Sonic OCs exist on sites like Newgrounds.[9] Cosplayers create original characters based on their imaginations, fan fiction, and other works.[10] For cosplayers, OCs can give them a larger range of choices of characters to cosplay as.[11]
OCs can serve as protagonists[1] or as minor characters in a story.[17] A writer may add another author's OC into their own work.[18] An OC can provide a different point of view to a fictional universe; for instance, a fan fiction author can create an OC that is a student at one of Hogwarts’ rival schools.[1] There has been some debate online whether or not writers should make their OCs suffer or not.[6]
