Advice/Help Do you prefer RP'ing 'OC's' or pre-existing characters?

[beehsknees]

Probably the wrong flair but eh.

I'm super curious as to which people prefer to roleplay as/with.

For me, I don't have many OC's that are super strong or work well enough on their own to be a character I could RP, so I tend to opt for pre-existing characters in pre-made universes. What do you guys prefer? And how do you feel about characters from different universes crossing over? Say for example Bart Simpson and Naruto having a blast at a theme park? I think for me, that's what I find so fun about that. Roleplay can be a great tool to see how two random characters would react if they met each other.

 

[welian]

I prefer original characters all the way, though I don't mind fandom settings.

I don't think OCs are inherently superior to canon characters, I just really suck at consistent characterization and I don't believe I would feel comfortable or have fun playing a character whose personality I didn't design myself.

It's like driving someone else's car... So weird...

 

[PaddieCake]

I'm the same. I much prefer playing my own characters over canon ones. I don't do a lot of fandom RPs to begin with, but I'd always prefer my own personal characters over canon characters. I don't feel like I'd do the original character justice or something.

That being said, obviously if someone prefers playing pre-existing characters right on, I just feel weird doing it myself x3.

 

[GoldenSlime]

I really like playing my own characters in original RPs but for Fandom RPs, I hate OCs. Mostly because the OCs are 90% overpowered, awful, Mary Sues who the most popular character of the Fandom (*cough*Sans*cough*) is in love with. I do a lot of Undertale RPs and I've found this to always be the case. Literally always. I have never in my time seen one good Undertale OC. I had a pretty cringeworthy UT OC myself once, though, so who am I to judge...

 

[beehsknees]

I really like playing my own characters in original RPs but for Fandom RPs, I hate OCs. Mostly because the OCs are 90% overpowered, awful, Mary Sues who the most popular character of the Fandom (*cough*Sans*cough*) is in love with. I do a lot of Undertale RPs and I've found this to always be the case. Literally always. I have never in my time seen one good Undertale OC. I had a pretty cringeworthy UT OC myself once, though, so who am I to judge...

I totally get that! I used to run into the problem of people creating Fan Characters just to ship with other main characters and that was the worst!

 

[hologram]

I pretty much only do 1x1 fandom RP and my preferred fandom RP is one where my partner and I both play a mix of OCs and canon characters. I'm all about that self-indulgent roleplay life and enjoy Canon x OC plots. I definitely dig crossover elements too, a lot of my RPs tend to have that element. I've done a lot of Canon x OC stuff where my partner wants a canon from one series paired with their OC and I want them to play a canon from another series so we meet in the middle and make some sort of crossover AU plot.

 

[BackSet]

OCs all the way. Which is mostly because I don't do fandom ros that often. But even when i do do fandom rps I use OCs. (I sometimes use pre-existing characters, though. It's especiall useful when they're character traits are up for debate. For example, I play a great Link.)

 

[BackSet]

I really like playing my own characters in original RPs but for Fandom RPs, I hate OCs. Mostly because the OCs are 90% overpowered, awful, Mary Sues who the most popular character of the Fandom (*cough*Sans*cough*) is in love with. I do a lot of Undertale RPs and I've found this to always be the case. Literally always. I have never in my time seen one good Undertale OC. I had a pretty cringeworthy UT OC myself once, though, so who am I to judge...

Damn. It's like fanfics but worse because you have to be there to experience it.

(It's reasons like these why my fandom rps are mostly limited to pokemon because it's still pokemon if you leave out the major characters)

 

[Idea]

I don't roleplay as nor with people using cannon characters. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, specifically if a certain character is integral to the plot, like Kyubey from Madoka Magika. That said, even then I'm hesitant. The main reasons for this are:
1. I want the person to invest in the roleplay personally, not via fangasm. By my experience people using cannon characters tend to be even less committed to it than those who don't. This is also a reason why I'm generally a bit uncomfortable with people using prebuilt characters in my RPs.

2. I don't like the idea of someone taking someone else's character and using them like that, as it feels like it disturbs the character itself. Like an uncanny valley, but applied to the idea of how a character "should be".

3.Balance issues. If one wants to roleplay a given character so badly, the odds that they would allow real stakes to fall upon that character without turning it into a melodrama plumet...

 

[BackSet]

That 2nd reason is like, entirely why I mostly don't roleplay canon characters. That and I'm scared that I would get the personality wrong.

 

[Eonivar]

I prefer writing and portraying OCs and stories based on OCs for main characters and plots, but I have no problem having and portraying a canon side character as long as I know the character well. I do not mind having OCs interact with canon characters because that is part of the fun of having an OC in a fandom. What OC at Hogwarts would not want to interact with Snape and Dumbledore?!

Canon characters are fine as side characters and bit parts here and there, basically as a part of the background and flavor of the setting. I am always afraid the more I write of a canon character the more I distort the real character with my own slant and that canon character no longer is the character that is intended to be portrayed.

 

[The Omen of Death]

Considering I tend to do a lot of Fandom RPing I have much experience in playing pre-existing and OC characters, obviously I do some better than others, if I ever do Fandom 1x1's (which honestly I have not done an 1x1 in forever in general) I never do one's with canon's shipped with OC's ever. Personally I feel writing a fandom canon character is an interesting challenge, because it allows you to improve on your writing, as its a challenge to try to write a character properly and match their personality and maybe use what you learn to apply to your own characters in other RP's, I feel a sense of accomplishment writing a canon character properly, especially if they are known to be a funny character and I nail their humor and can make others laugh.

Me being a huge Deadpool RPer, in my own experience RPing as him has actually improved my humor and wit, and it's done wonders for me (and not always of the crude, crass type as a character like Deadpool's humor would imply) and I love to try new characters and try to get them right or as close as possible to fulfill a sense of accomplishment.

Then on the matter of OC's if I feel I have a GOOD character on my mind that I can actually make just like any other character. I usually never do OC's from fandom universes (I usually do multifandoms) unless I am in a RP that's meant to make OC's in a story. Overall I enjoy both as long as they aren't mary sues or abhorrent portrayals of the characters.

 

[Count Gensokyo]

I have a track record of always playing canon characters. Am I a rare specimen?

 

[welian]

I have a track record of always playing canon characters. Am I a rare specimen?

Yes.

 

[BackSet]

I have a track record of always playing canon characters. Am I a rare specimen?

Most definitely.

 

[GoldenSlime]

I have a track record of always playing canon characters. Am I a rare specimen?

I'm pretty much the same.

 

[Bone2pick]

I love writing both, and I don't find either more challenging or rewarding than the other.

 

[Shuusuke]

OCs only here. As much as I like my favorite characters (or because of how much I like them), I don't think I'd do them justice. Someone like me isn't worth having the joy of RPing as Komaeda! I also don't feel comfortable using a character I didn't create. As I only join and plan on joining OC-only group RPs, I don't run into people with an agenda (which if I did, would greatly displease me, especially if they distort a character for some selfish reason...).
Nothing stops me from giving my OCs traits shared by canon characters, though. Considering how many characters exist, I doubt that avoiding that is even possible.

 

[Umbrie]

i prefer OCs as long as the person making them has at least some knowledge of the Fandom or how to make an idea from another fandom work via clever use of Reskinning. a Lot of Naruto Kekkai Genkai make a Great Bleach Zanpakuto and Vice Versa. though the key is to look at similar universes or universes with similar rules to design an OC. i'm not saying you have to be an expert, but at least watch more than 1 season of the Anime or read more than 1 Comic book printing of the Fandom.

 

[Clocks]

I generally prefer OC's because with existing characters I always worry that I "do" them wrong. After all everything is up for interpreatation and so on, but as I observe canon-character roleplayers and sometimes think "would really X act like that?" - that makes me see canon roleplay much harder. That said - I also do pre-existing characters. I see it a bit as a challenge and I like to test myself. Besides it's fun, not to mention that in some roleplay groups, it is much easier to fit in when one plays a pre-existing character.

 

[saints and sinners]

I prefer OC’s as I like to explore my characters as I roleplay them and add things to them. With Canons, I always get a bit nervous because I feel I won’t make people’s expectations of that particular character.

 

[Wreadite]

I like OCs cause I'm scared I'll screw up portraying a canon character. Also, it kind of makes me cringe? Especially if one is bad at portraying it and end up making the canon character act OOC.

 

[Gaben]

I prefer preexisting characters.
With ocs i have a habit of making them fall victim to my own personality and values. So basically end up just roleplaying myself with a different name.

 

[connexe legis]

I always prefer to use OCs even when I roleplay in already existing universes, however, I have used canon characters as NPC's before. With OC's I feel more free and I just love exploring them as characters and build their lives around them

 

[Kitsunebaba]

Mostly I like pre-existing, but I also end up making them my own after I've been playing them a while so they're more a basis and premise than anything.