Notes: Been a long time. I would dearly love to blame NaNo for the lack of updates. But that would be A supermassive blatant lie. Hopefully, this won't happen again, but I would advise against holding your breath there.

The Annabeth chapters are due for a revamp. Will do that once I'm at the crest of my Annabeth-Bipolarism again. Wouldn't be fair otherwise.

Part Five: The Creation and Manipulation of Original Characters

(ie; Exploring the Deadly Swamps of OC Creation)

An Original Character, just to avoid any possible ambiguity (which is really not likely, but hey- why take chances?) is a character who does not appear in the Original books, but plays a role in a fic. The OC domain, it is to be noted, is also the birthground of the dreaded Mary-Sue.

I haven't yet been able to peg down a perfectly workable definition for the Sue yet, because there are always exceptions and not every opinion on the subject seems absolute. The most I could find were a few key traits which seem to commonly occur among the MS population. But before that;

5.1. Types of Original Characters

a. The Protagonist

Your Hero. Your main man or woman. If you are writing an OC-centric story; he, she or they are what it should be focused on.

Common challenges with making a normal Hero include the problem of balancing out things so that they are, while embodying the very common heroic/anti-heroic characteristics, is still a likeable, individual personality distinct from everyone else around them. Making a Hero who can be replaced with little to no trouble by anyone in the cast (and I mean personality/influence on everyone else wise, not superpower-wise) is generally a bad move.

So. Protagonists in general should be commonplace enough to be identifiable (or at least sympathetic, if you're going the Anti-Hero way), but individual enough to be distinct. It's actually a pretty tall order, and they're probably the hardest of the types to create. This doesn't stop everyone and their goldfish from having a go at them, though.

b. The Supporting Character

Whoever plays a very important part in the story in a positive or sort-of-positive role; but is still secondary to the Hero. Oftentimes, what separates a supporting character from a cameo character is the considerably greater influence he/she has on the protagonist or the plot.

Okay. Protagonist OCs? Highly overrated in most mediocre-to-bad fanfictions. Especially when compared to the amount of neglect the supporting characters go through to service the primary character.

Take a good look at pretty much any worthwhile story, and ask yourself who your favourite character is. Chances are that nine times out of ten, the character you pick is not the Hero. This is because supporting characters often enhance the overall storyline in ways that the Hero is simply not capable of.

A story is not just comprised of just one person; and the Hero should not be able to do everything. Supporting characters often end up being more well-liked, developed and exploitable than the Protagonist. Neglecting them is a bad, bad idea.

c. The Antagonist

The thing with the antagonist? Making them can be fun.

The last couple of types have rules. Lines. Borders. It'll take a better writer than me, for example, to make a sympathetic protagonist of a sociopathic madwoman. Even the most hard-hearted sidekick is better off with motive and history to back up their actions. With antagonists, making them sympathetic is merely an option. Sociopathy and psychopathy are perfectly acceptable substitutes.

But there is one thing you should probably be careful about. The antagonist should be a challenge to the protagonist/sidekicks. Competent villains make a story more interesting than it otherwise would be. And yes, this applies to your random High School Alpha Bitch as well. Smart bad guys also enhance the plotline. If your story is a quest-plot or anything which has action/adventure elements, you must pay attention to your villain. Give him/her some love. Chances are that you won't regret it.

d. The Cameo Characters

Cameo Characters? Also fun. And this time without the added bonus of not having to worry too much about motive, means, opportunity or anything else. Much.

A cameo character appears in one scene or two, and does not have a significant part to play in the main storyline. He/she/it may provide information, humor or a convenient distraction; but their character never really shows up in a position significant to the plot. Alternatively, the character might have significance to the plot, but he/she does not undergo any development despite how essential he/she is to the plot.

The cameos can be treated like a somewhat more entertaining non-living object. But if you are using them, try to limit their numbers to very little. Random cameo character popping up all over the place with no reason can get very confusing. And annoying.

Note One: There are always, always exceptions. You don't really need a sympathetic protagonist or a despicable antagonist.

Note Two: Seriously, this is only a how-to Guide for people who're starting out on their expedition to the OC swamps. People who have some amount of experience about these things can do whatever they want with their characters. It is, after all, a learning process.

End Notes: Up Next. The Long-Anticipated Sue Chapter. It could get convoluted. o.O