Disclaimer: I'm never going to own Magi. Ever.
An Author's Digest to the OC Universe: Magi Edition
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Chapter One| The Good, the Bad, and the Meh
Terms: OC
Original Character – it is a character that is injected in a specific fandom that is not particularly a part of the series and is created by an author.
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The Good:
The perfect question for this is: would you even bother?
This is a guide to how to ruin your story, strictly not to enhance them.
However I shall summarize the Good OC. The Good OC is a three-dimensional character that is remarkably, distinctly human that is nurtured under good writing and development. Flawed and well-rounded, readers are naturally drawn to their kind.
The Good OC does not have to be the Plain Jane or the Angsty type; the Good OC can be anyone as long as good writing is involved. The Good OC can be confident and self-righteous or uncertain and insecure, daring and adventurous or secluded and misanthropic, even overpowered and beautiful or down-to-earth and mundane. Aside from the kind, benevolent variety, a Good OC can also be an evil, manipulative bastard; whether that is the case, the character can still be compelling for readers in a way (Yes, I'm looking at you rare Anti-hero and Villain OCs of Magi).
Example:
"The Good OC is a parent. Perhaps a mother or a father from a prestigious family and has children of his/her own. The Good OC is kind, wise, and a little insecure of his/her capabilities; however the spouse of the OC balances him/her, whether to bolster his/her strengths or support him/her emotionally, physically, and mentally. Simply put, they are in love and they support each other. However the Good OC tends to be a snob and a bit of the estranged one in spite of his/her devotion in the family because the Good OC is also ambitious in retaining their family's name yet providing his/her children; thus this makes his/her relationship with her children strained. The Good OC loves her children but he/she loves what she can do with her talents as well, though he/she cannot seem to balance her attention between the two. The Good OC is wise but he/she cannot always give a solution to every problem; thus try to ask for help to his/her spouse, being the lovable, favored parent between the pair, or a friend."
There are plenty of Good OC types but I could only provide one for now. The more I give, the more I spoil the integrity of the objective of this guide.
But to those who actually do care— the trick here? The writing, my fellow readers. It's the writing.
You want great character development? Write better.
You want three-dimensional characters? Write better.
You want your OCs to thrive because you actually care enough to do so? Write better.
Remember these words: "Hell is paved with adverbs and bad writing."
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The Bad:
Generally, OCs that fall into this category are either the truly repulsive kind and the absolutely boring kind. Though before these two terms are to be elaborated, the OCs in this type of category should be first stated from their basic characteristics to their troublesome complexes to understand the mind behind these model OCs.
The Bad OC may vary in different aspects regarding their appearances to their irrational behaviors but if one is to look pass that, there is a common flaw with these characters. It would be how badly written they are. In theory, many avid readers speculate that a Mary-Sue, a perfectly idealistic and irritable archetype, is the worst kind of OC written in a fanfiction but that is not completely true. Rather, what makes a Bad OC bad is not from their improbably outlandish beauty, ridiculously outmatched power, and supposedly "enhancing" traits though rather how the Bad OC is executing the story.
Case 1:
"The Bad OC is a mysterious, angsty character (because it's a common trend) who would prefer making reckless decisions for self-righteous reasons since he/she has given themselves the image of an underdog-like savior that no one asked for (for the sake of being relatable and pitiful) and because he/she shows an abnormal amount of empathy and love for a world that either would not care for him/her or even bother to acknowledge his/her existence. The Bad OC has friends such as the main leads or most of the main cast and disregards their feelings for their self-proclaimed goals and because they selfishly think that they are alone in the world and no one would truly understand them for the sake of their ingrained, profound loneliness and stilted drama.
The Bad OC may have also become a dungeon conqueror, a magician, or even a djinn because, really, who would ever consider a normal character without a djinn or some sort of overly-used power trope interesting? The Bad OC also has his/her suitors just wanting to have his/her love just for a time because the love interest, which is usually a main character, is entranced by him/her and would rather end up in the same tactless formula of boy-meets-girl-boy-finds-girl-interesting-because-plot."
Case 1 shows the stereotyped character in Magi. Unoriginality is not the problem; it is not telling the story in a different way. To ruin your story, make it as redundant and overused (copied) as possible. This grinds the nerves of your readers and with some luck they might even write you a good, old-fashioned flame. If they do not bother to even read, better— simply because they are so unimpressed with your story that they don't even care it exists!
Case 2:
"The Bad OC is born an anomaly, like Sinbad. He/she had parents however they died early (because plot convenience). He/she is definitely special because all the Magis think so and they all want him/her to follow a certain destiny or just become their King Vessel, either to make their country or to fulfill said destiny. Even the elusive, unpredictable Yunan, wants him/her to be his King Vessel (because he surely forgot his mistake with Sinbad because he's practically OOC). The Bad OC goes on a journey, meets other forgettable, side-kick-type OCs, and befriends the main cast as well (because it's not like the main cast isn't going to have some issues with the Bad OC, except for Judal because everyone thinks Judal is a power-hungry asshole with no friends and has no depth in character whatsoever).
The Bad OC with co. embarks an adventure via a rehash of the occurring plot in the series while showing off how much of badass he/she actually is (because every butt-kicking OC is awesome and the silent, more inactive ones are a total snorefest). After a fight with whatsit, Bad OC realizes that he/she comes from Alma Toran, which is why he/she obviously assumes why he/she is so special. He/she does not tell the group because he/she cannot make up his/her mind.
Bad OC also has a love interest, a main character with a crown. Specifically a dungeon capturer. Specifically someone—*cough*Sinbad or Kouen*cough*—who would outrageously change for them to the point of blissful OOcness."
Case 2 shows the Bad OC which is boring and predictable. There is no need to enhance it as the story and atrocious writing on its own is enough to suffice this nauseating mix. However, if you really want to, you can use the Dark! Magi plot, in which you head down the dark, gritty route that does not even work. Dark! Magi plot provides awful gory scenes, repulsive, pitifully detailed rape scenes, an OOC, possessive love interest, and well, dark, edgy stuff the tweens would go for (not like they know anything about Berserk).
*This will further be elaborated in the chapter three, Plot or Not*
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Commentary:
Let's be honest here, kids. What's the point in making a good plot when you're just going to dump the good stuff with an overbearing OC, a distracting love story, and a sided plot that isn't really present?
Bad writing = Bad story, very simple to do, honestly.
Case 1 Bad OC is what I personally find the most irritating— not only was it first brought up by Marshmellowtime (Gutsy? Yeah, I'm pointing out names) but it upsets me that most that readers can't seem to get enough of it. It's a matter of personal tastes, I know. However it doesn't mean that the authors can just get away with it either. It's a trend now, unfortunately. It can't even stress the amount of copy carbon works of this fic—personally, I didn't even enjoy Engima that much. Not saying that it's bad, but it's not my best read so far—and welp, let's throw originality down the river while we're at it, shall we?
Case 2. Well, there's plenty of versions of Case 2 and they don't have to be anomalies. They could be anyone, anything. A rehash of the plot bores me to no end— yes, I read it, all of it. Why you ask? Because I was hoping there will be some kind of change, and well, personally, I had a lot of free time in my hands so you can't blame me. However I don't understand what's so attractive with these types— like Case 1, they're all alike, but unlike Case 1, they're just so meh. Nothing special in my opinion.
Regarding the issue of edginess or Dark fanfic works— hey! I have nothing against them! I actually do like to read Dark fics however it's the writing that upsets me. Look, gore is not for everyone. Rape is not for everyone— but, writing, yeah, you have to be careful with that, especially dealing with a controversial subject. I applaud you for being brave enough to write about it but just don't think bringing it up is not without consequences. There are terrifically written Non-con and Dark fics out there, but not all of it is actually good.
Let's just admit that a majority of Dark fics in Magi isn't even done well. Ugh.
Another thing— Do OCs have to always be young women? Why can't we have Parent OCs? Is an old OC really that repulsing? I think otherwise. It's actually an interesting concept however we don't see enough of it. And what's the deal with killing off the OC's parents or relatives? I know it's a common trope and a plot device for character development, but oh come on! I see my parents every day, why can't you?
Okay. Enough of that. I didn't really think this whole thing through to be honest, but you got this far so . . .
Well, it's not like you came here for good content.
Next Chapter| SI OCs: Reborn to Shake the Magi World