Sorry it's been a long time, but I wasn't sure what to talk about in the next chapter. Then it hit me: OC's that are too perfect/important/talked up in a story are what end up as Sues, but you still need them to be important, right? Okay, so here we go.


Keeping OC's Relevent

Okay, so you know there are Mary Sues that come from an OC being a 12-year-old-circle free-alchemist-who's the long-lost sister of Ed and Al or The eighth homunculus-with-Chuck-Norris-powers-who-totally-thinks Envy's HAWT, and blah blah blah...yeah, we all know that. But why have an OC at all if you don't make her stand out somewhat? Shouldn't she be a little important in the story? Well, actually s/he should. After all, what's the point of putting an original character in your story if they don't do anything? You can use an OC to make your fanfic really exciting, without having to make her too good (or not good enough)...you can make them work in your story in a few ways.

1. Make Them Part of the Plot. When you have an OC, they should serve a purpose in the story that would make it work better than if you didn't have them. Basically, you should make the character fit the plot so that if they weren't in there, it would effect the story. The story doesn't have to be about your character (mine is, kind of), but it can be about a canon character and the OC can take a role that involves that canon member. Maybe your character is supposed to (or trying to) solve whatever problem the canon character(s) has. Or the problem is your OC's fault. Or it could be something little, like Ed and Al needing directions to get somewhere and your OC helps them out or something. Either way, making them part of the plot will help give them importance in the story.
i) Part of the Problem: Maybe it was your OC that made the next homunculus. Or they crossed the Gate and that caused a lot of trouble for everyone. Or they could even be the problem. In any case, it adds to the story, and whether the readers 'like' your character or not depends on the person and how the work moves (or something like that), but the point is, it makes your character matter.
ii) Part of the Solution: Or, instead of being the one to screw it all up, maybe your character helps fix the problem. It's kind of risky though, becuase a lot of Mary Sues play this role. Then again, your OC doesn't have to be the one to do the fixing; they can just help, and it would still work. Considering how in both versions of FMA, Ed didn't solve the problem on his own either (in the first one, I don't really know if any "solving" happened), but it still worked for him, right?

2. Make Them Hilight the Main Character.Sometimes, you'll have one character in a story who's paired up with another character, and their personalities, interests, and ideas are kind of opposites of eachother. In a way, one guy makes the other guy stand out, and vice versa. Your OC can do this in the story with a canon character (or another OC). Sometimes it's not so much "opposites" as, say, "different version of X" in a way. These characters are called "foils" because they're like a foil that jewelers put on stones to make them shine more. [Thank you TV Tropes!] For example, you can have two original characters who meet up with the Elric brothers: one of them can be hot-headed, a major risk-taker, and maybe even something of an anti-hero, while the other is the kind who doesn't say much, is more easygoing, and passive. Together, they would foil for Ed and Al!
i) Similar, Yet Completely Different: The characters you pair up don't have to be totally opposite of one another; they can be different in a way that works like this: Ed and Al can meet two characters, one who's the more outgoing and aggressive type but kind of an impulsive idiot, and the other who's more passive and kind, but something of a "momish" kind who needs to relax. Or, pairing up a defiant, snarky eighth homunculus with Envy! These are just examples, but they work.
ii) A Darker Me: Maybe the character doesn't have to be all that different at all, except for one tiny detail; they just happen to be on the Dark Side. Someone who's just like Ed, only evil. Someone who is kind, caring, and absolutely loves kittens - they just wanted the cookies. On the flip side, someone who's just like one of the homunculi, maybe a little nicer, but this person is one of the good guys. See what I mean?
iii) Night and Day:
Finally, you can stick two characters together who are basically opposites; cat-loving Alphonse Elric with a dog-loving OC; crazy, vertically-challenged (and sensitive about it) Edo with a taller and calmer OC. They conflict eachother, so they'll argue with each other. That can be the whole of a chapter plot!

3. Part of the Ensemble: A lot of times, you hear people say that OC's should be kept in the background if they want to avoid becoming Mary Sues. Okay, I partly agree with that, but there's just one problem - not all OC's need to be pushed aside. If you want, you can keep your OC as a main character, but you should also consider making them a side character. Hey, ever hear the term "ensemble darkhorse"? It could happen. I have one OC (granted, she's not in an FMA fic, but still) who basically shows up, talks to a canon character, and gets "hazed" by another one...in a flashback! I'm not saying you have to make all your characters fade into the background, but even if you do, they'll still make a difference.

4. Focus on the Plot: I figured something out about myself recently; I tend to do better with developing characters than a plot. Fanfiction kind of gives you a plot to work with, so it's not as hard to come up with one. Crossovers are easy too - FMA is a great venue for it because you can just say "the Gate opened up somewhere and characters X, Y, and Z got sucked in." It makes for a great plot, but it's simple. That's the thing though; I need work on my plots. I think a lot of us like to focus more on characters in a story than the actual story sometimes, and maybe that's where we get into trouble. So one way to make a story better is to look at the actual story, and ask yourself "Is this any good? Would I read it for something besides my OC getting to hang with the other characters?"


Well, I think I covered a lot here. I hope this next chapter helped - I wrote it up from an epiphany. By the way, am I the only one who's been having a hard time getting into my account? This site's being a real pain in my you-know-what lately! XD Anyway, I appreciate the readers, and this has more reviews than all my other stories combined! Thanks for everyone's support...now what to write about for my next chapter...