First of all, I'd like to advertise another guide. 'So, You Wanna Be A Pokémon Master?' by Flaaffy. You can find it by going to her forum, linked on her profile page. You should read it because one: Flaaffy is a cool bean, and two: it's rather useful when it comes to writing OCs.

Another thing I'd like to call to your attention is the fact that I will not use other people's OCs in this guide without their permission. You are free to give permission by contacting me in some way. However, be warned that they may not be mentioned in a positive way. I also might make hints towards your story, but I will not outright say the story's name without your permission.

Anyways, let's get started already. Characters: one of the most vital parts of writing. They may be a canon character - a main character in the anime, games, manga, etc., a rival to one of those main characters, or an evil person from those three universes - or an OC, which stands for 'Original Character'. That, or 'Orangutan Crazy.' Basically, a character you created.

Using canon characters as your protagonist is fine. In fact, it's quite common. However, the thing people mess up on most when it comes to canon characters is OOCness.

OOC stands for 'Out of Character'. You write the character in a way that's different from the way they are portrayed in the anime, manga, or games. For instance, a Wally that curses. Or a Harley that actually is nice and considerate towards other people. Or maybe even a Cyrus that likes catering in his spare time. That's bad because for some people, the reason they read those stories is because they like that character, and want to read about them. This might not apply if it's a parody.

OCs are perfectly fine. However, Mary Sues and Gary Stus are not. The former is referring to a female, the latter a male, although the term Mary Sue can be unisexual. Whatever you call them, the point is, they're one of the worst things an author can have. Again, this may not be applicable if it's a parody.

Now, the definition of a Mary-Sue has often been mistaken. Some say it's an OC who has had an incredibly angsty life. Other say it's an OC that can do everything. Both of those are wrong. The true definition of a Mary Sue is a character that is not believable.

"Isn't that the same thing as having an angsty life or being able to do anything?", you ask. No, no it isn't. A character doesn't have to be overpowered to be a Sue. For instance... Ash is probably considered a Sue, because he just isn't believable. Come on, nobody in this world is that nice. He's seen like, fifty bajillion legendaries, but hasn't attempted to catch a single one. In fact, when he sees a legendary he hardly bats an eye. Do you know how rare legendaries are in the world of Pokémon? Plus there's the fact that he can find fifty bajillion starters all over the place. Starters are supposed to be rare. However, Ash isn't overpowered or angsty.

There are several types of Sues, but they can mostly be categorized into two sections. There's the God Sue, that can do anything, and are the best. They're a total sexy beast, and strong, and can do things that normally would not be possible. Take Kurosaki Ichigo for example. Bankai is a technique that is supposed to take years to learn, but Ichigo does it in three days! That's an example of a God Sue. It is not believable that he could learn Bankai in just three days. God Sues also happen to control the spotlight; which is an important factor when writing a story.

Next there's the Angsty Sue. They are OCs who have had incredibly sad pasts. Look at the world you live in. How many people there do you think have outrageously angsty pasts? Parents who had a harsh divorce is okay. A strict mother that pushes the OC very hard is okay. An OC whose entire family was killed by the EVIL PEOPLE who wanted the OC for his/her speshul powahs, is not okay.

Some people wonder: why is it so terrible that a character is a Mary-Sue? There are multiple answers to this question. For one, it just doesn't make sense. Again, the definition of a Mary-Sue is a character that isn't believable. It's hard to relate to Mary-Sues because of that; real people have flaws, but Mary-Sues don't.

Another reason is that it's terrible for a story. Mary-Sues erase conflict; a perfect character doesn't have conflict, and a story without conflict is boring. People don't want to read about a character that can do everything and eradicate Team Rocket with a flip of her hair. They want to read about real characters, because real, flawed characters are interesting. A perfect, Mary-Sue character is not. The boring principal can apply to Angsty Sues too: reading on and on about the Mary-Sue's angst is boring and old and clichéd.

An important thing to factor in when considering if your character is a Sue or not, is the universe the character will be in. For example, under almost any other circumstance, a character who was mutated so that the character has speshul powahs would be Mary-Sue. However, if the universe this character will be placed in has just experienced a nuclear apocalypse, in which radiation in the air has caused DNA to mutate, and makes people have speshul powahs, it would be okay, because nearly everyone in that universe has speshul powahs, therefore, it is believable.

Now, just because they have a quality of a Mary Sue, does not mean that they are a Mary-Sue. Take for example, Chrona from Soul Eater. She has a very angsty past, but now she is very shy and nervous, and is bullied by her own weapon. That cancels out the Sue-ness of her Angsty past. You de-Sueify an OC by giving them flaws. Perhaps they are a mutant-bird-kid, but are terrified of heights? Or maybe this OC has awesome 'I can speak to Pokémon!' powers, but all the Pokémon hate him and constantly tell him to die in a ditch. Everybody has flaws.

What I often do is write an OC form. Here is an example. If you really want to know your character, completely completing this form is a very good idea. OC forms can help you realize if your character is a Mary-Sue, help you know where to add things, help you add more interesting things to your character, and help you realize something new about your character. This is one I made, feel free to use it.


Name: First and last are helpful. Middle is optional.

Nicknames: Any other name your character is called by.

Age: How old they are. Putting a birthday in parentheses can also be good.

Gender: I hope you don't need help on this one.

Hometown: Where they live currently, and where they have lived in the past.

Occupation: What your OC does for a living. Trainers, Coordinators, street performer, etc.

Accomplishments: Big accomplishments in life. It's up to you to decide what's an accomplishment. It can be anything from most hot-dogs eaten in a period of seven seconds, to the Champion of the universe.


Eyes: Color, and any other characteristics they have.

Hair: Color, length, style. Highlights? Gets messed up often? Dyed? Takes forever to brush? All that good stuff.

Body: Height? Build? Skin Tone? Scars or birthmarks? Make-up? Etcetera.

Clothing: Top, bottom, shoes. Includes major stuff like jackets.

Accessories: Stuff like jewelry, hair accessories, capes/cloaks. That stuff.

Beach Clothes: What do they wear when they're swimming? You may also want to include what they're wearing when they're at the beach, but not in the water.

Night Clothes: What do they wear when they sleep?

Snow Clothes: What do they wear when it gets really cold?

Formal/Contest Clothes: If for a coordinator, it's what they wear in a contest. For everyone else, it's what they wear during formal occasions.


Inventory: Anything interesting stashed in their bag? (ex: A diary, a stuffed Teddiursa, a chocolate cache, etc.), Bag-style (Their backpack/what they carry their stuff in), What are most of their Trainer items (Trainer Card, PokéDex, PokéGear, etc) color-coded in?


Family, Friends and Rivals:

Any relevant family, friends, lovers, rivals, or people-that-they-would-like-to-stab-with-a-tazer. It would help to put a vague personality, age, occupation, Pokémon (if any), and how the OC reacts to them. Hate them? Love them? What they have done to influence the OC?


Personality: Self-explanatory. Stuff like quotes and habits may also be included in here. Make it detailed.

Likes: What they like (You might want to put a reason next to them in parenthesis for some of them).

Dislikes: They dislike (You might want to put a reason next to them in parenthesis for some of them).

Talents: What they're good at.

Not-Talents: What they're not good at.

Fears: What they fear.

Habits: The weird little quirks of your character. Speech patterns and common saying may also go here.


History: What has happened to them in the past.

Love Life: Pretty self-explanatory.

Goal: What they want to accomplish.


Battle Style: Their style of battling. Don't put a Pokémon's specific strategy here, just the trainer's battle style.

Battle Cry: Completely optional, but extremely fun. For instance, Ash often says "I choose you, _". Note that the OC does not have to say this all the time.

Team: A list of the OC's Pokémon's species. Don't put nicknames, and put a (R) next to reserves. Sometimes a person needs to know if there are repeats between Pokémon, and don't feel like scrolling a lot.


Nickname: The Pokémon's nickname, if any. Some people have nicknames for nicknames. Delete this if they don't have a nickname.

Species: What species the Pokémon is. If it's a beginning trainer story, and a Pokémon will evolve over time, put dashes between the specie names. (ex: Growlithe-Arcanine)

Gender: Male, Female, or N/A (If it's genderless)

Ability: Sometimes Pokémon have two possible abilities. Clarify that stuff here.

Personality: Self-explanatory.

Met how: How did/will this Pokémon and its trainer meet? Optionally, you can put what has happened before they met, also.

Evolution: If it has evolved, how? If it hasn't evolved, and it's possible for it to evolve, say if you want this Pokémon to evolve or not, and any reasons why.

Distinguishing features: Anything that sets them apart from other Pokémon. Different markings, smaller than usual, battle scars, etc. (ex: Ritchie's Pikachu, Sparky, has a tuft of fur on his head. Mewtwo's Pikachu's ear-tips had a jagged edge on the black-part. That surfer-dude's Pikachu had blue eyes) Do they have some sort of accessory or held item?

Job: Do they do something for the trainer? Light their fires, carry them across water, etc.

Highest Stats: Are they specialized in Speed, or Attack, or what?

Moves: This should be limited to ten at most. Also, stick to what they actually know.

Battle style: Do they have a certain strategy?

Appeals: (Coordinators only) Any particular appeals they have?

PokéBall: What kind of Pokéball are they in? (For Coordinators) Does the PokéBall have a Ball-Seal?

(Re-copy for each Pokemon)


In reserve: They should not have more than four reserves. :P


Previously Owned Pokémon: For instance, Ash's Butterfree and Pidgeot. Pokémon that they have released, Pokémon that they have traded or given away, etcetera.


The first section that starts with 'Name'. I call it the 'Identity Section'. It states some stuff about who they are and what they are.

The second is called the 'Appearance Section'. It, like its name suggests, tells you about what the OC looks like.

The third is the 'Important People Section'. It tells us about people that are in some way linked to the OC, such as family, friends, rivals, and such.

Fourth is 'Personality'. This is a major one, and it tells us about what the character acts like.

Fifth comes 'History'. It informs us about the OC's back-story.

Next comes 'Battle'. A more insignificant one. It tells us about the OC's way of battling and stuff.

Last is the 'Pokémon Section'. It tells us about the OC's Pokémon, obviously.

Feel free to give or take from each section if you either don't want to fill it out, or if it does not apply to your character. You also might have noticed that I did not state what to do and what not to do and all those specifics. Chill, I'm going to talk about each of the sections in detail, each in a different chapter. So yeah, you can loo forward to that~

Now, you have probably noticed that that OC form is super long, so I decided to be generous and supply you with a shorter one.


Name: First and last. If they have a nickname, put it in-between the first and last names, in quotation marks. (ex: Aleksander "Alek" Danes)

Age: Self explanatory.

Gender: Self explanatory.

Occupation: Pretty self explanatory. Trainer, Coordinator, Breeder, Researchers, Watchers, etc.

Hometown: Self-explanatory.

Accomplishments: Self-explanatory

Appearance: What they look like. Hair-color, hair-style, eye-color, build, clothing, accessories, etc.

Personality: Self-explanatory, as always.

History: What important has happened in their life.

Pokémon: Doesn't have to be too detailed. Nicknames (If any), gender, species, ability, and personality. Occasionally a person might want a move-set.

Other: Anything else important


That's basically it.

Ciao! ~Puff


Coming soon...

Characters: The Mary-Sue Test