Character Theory Old, cringe-worthy OCs?

We've all been there. c':
Off the top of my head, the only one I can remember is an old warrior cat character that was literally named "Killerfang."
[Middle school me was e d g y]. It was on this random wiki site for a fan Clan. I did some digging and found my joining page:

Personality: She is very quiet and likes the shadows rather than the spotlight, she scares kits very easily (due to her fangs) and is VERY nervous around families
[What does that even mean?]
History: She was found in NightClan territory when she was only a kit, only knowing her name, though cats think she was originly [I was a great speller, clearly] from DeathClan because her name sounded so "violent"
Family:?? From DeathClan??
[Of course].

 
I had a catboy OC and back then I was going through my UGUU YAOI KAWAII phase.
I had him be overly touchy with one character who was underaged and at the time I failed to see how horrible and toxic the relationship, despite him more or less being a pedo and me not realizing it. Other things i did with him was use cropped hentai for reaction images.
I straight up can't read some of my old stuff because of this
 
oh I had so many warriors ocs I would have no clue where to begin
hmmm... oh! wait!

i used to be in an online community for a youtuber, and my most memorable oc was
Pyro, the pyromanical werewolf who really likes to destroy things

very creative child. though, i doubt my experience was (or is) nearly as bad as many other's
 
I'm pretty grateful that I started RPing after the super awkward edgy early teen phase or maybe I didn't really go through it that much(??) but one of my early characters wore a trenchcoat for literally no reason, except I thought that John Constantine was cool as beans and I wanted this guy to be a little like him. After a couple of months I switched it out for a white and red motorbike jacket and that was fine. XD
 
Even though this character is one of my favorites because it was literally one of my first rp OCs, it was an "Evil Emperor" whose character-defining feature was Being Evil. He liked to torture people for no reason and burn villages. It was never mentioned who those villages belonged to. But was necessary for the "tragic backstory" of my rp partner's character who Returned For Revenge.
I also remember some evil scientist who experimented on people for I don't remember what reason. I remember the character because even though it was cringy, but still adorkable.
Then there was an OC who was an angel with 6 huge wings. That must have been really uncomfortable to move in a dungeon because the rp was basically a dungeon-crawler... At least that character was not evil for once.
 
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Heya. Does visual cringe count? Oh boy, I am feeling brave today.

2011. Deviant art. It wasn't quite the scary place it is today and the community at the time was into creating these oc worlds where we would rp, write stories and draw stuff centered around our OCs interacting together.

I made this atrocity for a group like that. Somehow it would eventually become a fairly prominent villain. To be fair all of us were pretty young. The group lasted 2 years or so. I have to live knowing this is my longest lasting rp character to date.

So let's see, it was... *squints at the bio* a three meter tall millionaire orc extraordinaire.

Sadly I don't have the text part of the cs anymore. Believe it or not this guy had a fascinating backstory.

mr__t_by_gandalfman_ddiw3k5-pre.jpg

I could probably dig up some comics where he appeared but not sure if it is a good idea to link things other people made and likely want to see bleached from the internet. That said, I can share some of my own from the later days of the group.

mr_t_page_by_gandalfman_ddiw7fo-pre.jpg
[edit] You will never guess the name of the dialogue typeface. That's right, it's Evil Genius! How could it be anything else?

The point is,

Contrary to the popular belief, the amount of effort spent is not inversely proportional to the edge. Makes it hilarious tho.

(b^_ ^)b[/div]
Excuse me, the title of this thread is 'Old Cringe Worthy OCs' not 'Old and Gold oh god that's a lot of mother effing gold OCs.'

Seriously that Mr T looks awesome
 
I remember one of my very first OCs was a girl named Tressa who was an amnesiac vampire who also happened to have magic for some reason... she looked like a fourteen year old but was obviously much older, though I didn't do any sort of research into the history of the country she was from (England of course) because I was eleven and didn't particularly care.

I RPed her for a year before OtakuZone broke into little glitchy bits of code. Rest in pieces, Tressa. (Her face claim was that goth anime girl that was everywhere back in 2011. You'd know it if you saw it.)
 
My first RP character was a bear, no, not a furry, a Polar Bear that was just hungry and wanted to eat, in the RP where I was some character gave him a Nuke to eat.
The results were...explosive. I still wonder how he did survive.
 


FOOLISH MORTALS

YOU ONLY HAD ONE OR TWO CRINGY OCS!?

I AM THE QUEEN OF THEM

why meee.PNG
why meeeee.PNGwhy meeeeee.PNGwhy meeeeeee.PNGwhy meeeeeeee.PNGwhy meeeeeeeee.PNGwhy meeeeeeeeee.PNGwhy meeeeeeeeeee.PNGwhy meeeeeeeeeeee.PNGwhy meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.PNG

THIS ISN'T EVEN ALL OF THEM!!!!!


i crave death

bonus: old stupid roleplaying that's kinda funny

why mee.PNGwhy meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.PNG
 


To be fair you had a great imagination!!
 
When I was 12 I joined an RP on a website that has since died, and I honestly feel bad for everyone else in the RP because I simply refused to take it seriously.
It was like a high school fantasy drama with elves and vampires etc. Sounds pretty cringy already but my OC's weren't even edgy. I just took the piss because I thought I was funny :T

IMG_1142.jpgIMG_1144.jpg

I also apparently didn't know what capitals were...
 
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Heya. Does visual cringe count? Oh boy, I am feeling brave today.

2011. Deviant art. It wasn't quite the scary place it is today and the community at the time was into creating these oc worlds where we would rp, write stories and draw stuff centered around our OCs interacting together.

I made this atrocity for a group like that. Somehow it would eventually become a fairly prominent villain. To be fair all of us were pretty young. The group lasted 2 years or so. I have to live knowing this is my longest lasting rp character to date.

So let's see, it was... *squints at the bio* a three meter tall millionaire orc extraordinaire.

Sadly I don't have the text part of the cs anymore. Believe it or not this guy had a fascinating backstory.

mr__t_by_gandalfman_ddiw3k5-pre.jpg

I could probably dig up some comics where he appeared but not sure if it is a good idea to link things other people made and likely want to see bleached from the internet. That said, I can share some of my own from the later days of the group.

mr_t_page_by_gandalfman_ddiw7fo-pre.jpg
[edit] You will never guess the name of the dialogue typeface. That's right, it's Evil Genius! How could it be anything else?

The point is,

Contrary to the popular belief, the amount of effort spent is not inversely proportional to the edge. Makes it hilarious tho.

(b^_ ^)b[/div]

Your stuff is too damn good.

I mean, maybe you think its cringey, but I think it's great. XD

Also I feel like I have the opposite problem and I just don't cringe enough about things I should cringe over? 🤔
 
I had to do some digging. I made this guy back when I was 15. To be fair, he was a lot less obnoxious IC than I made him in the sheet, but the EDGE. This whole thing has me laughing so hard. I have older stuff that's even worse, but I deleted my oldest account and the search function only goes back so far so I can't find it lol.

The sheet is LONG so I'm sticking it in spoilers. Right down to the edgy font... I remember when that was still cool 😂
I really loved this guy though. Our roleplay lasted for over a year, the longest group roleplay I've ever been in and my favourite one ever (so far), leading to a lot of longtime friendships. I also remember designing James to be insufferable for the sake of redeeming him throughout the roleplay... and insufferable is a good word for it. Right down to him having a wolf-dog as though it wasn't cliche enough (granted, I do have Frost killed off later in the RP which sends James into a spiral so maybe I redeem myself a little with that).

Also... the whole premise of the RP was that six teenagers were actually of alien origin--raised by various human families. Eventually they discover they have powers and their origin is revealed to them. They become very famous, but another alien race that sought to exterminate their home planet and every one of their species learns of the existence of the six and comes to hunt them down. They basically have to band together to fight against them and save both themselves and Earth. Explains some of the stuff in the sheet that doesn't make sense out of context lol.

JλME$

↑ ղɑʍҽ:
James Drake Monroe

↑ ղìϲҟղɑʍҽ:
You can call me James or Drake.

↑ ցҽղժҽɾ:
I'm male.....obviously.

↑ ɑցҽ:
17


↑ հҽìցհէ:
Oh, I stand at 6' 3" not too shabby if I do say so myself.


↑ աҽìցհէ:
I'm a good 179 pounds, perfect weight for my height. Look it up, its true.


↑ քօաҽɾʂ էհɑէ աìӀӀ ҍҽ ցɑìղҽժ:
* Mental Manipulation: - Ah well, not to boast but...I have a pretty fantastic power set. My main, though most energy consuming, ability would be my ability to get inside the head of the enemy, its an ocular power really, through eye contact I am able to create elaborate illusions. Not just any sort though, I can make suddenly transport you into the jungle where an alligator slowly gnaws up your body for days, starting at your leg. I suppose you could call it a form of torture but....-shrugs- thats debatable. It has one intense limitation though. I can only use it on one enemy at a time, and while I'm weaving and holding the illusion I am completely vulnerable to any and all types of attacks. So I work best in a pair.

* Cross Species Communication - This one is much simpler, I can talk to animals. Yup, I can tell you what your cat REALLY thinks of you...and whether or not your dog likes their new food. Funny thing is that a lot of animals don't like me being able to communicate with them...I get shut down a LOT by other creatures. So this is pretty much a useless power. But who knows, maybe it'll come in handy one day.

↑ քҽɾʂօղɑӀìէվ:
James is a very complex man, he is driven by very strong impulses and emotions, but he also possesses a level and cool head. Some would almost say he's incredibly cold and calculating....which he is, but there also is a warm and loving side to him. One that longs to hold the woman meant for him in his arms and never let her go. Generally speaking though he leans towards a decidedly cooler attitude, polite and kind, but not overly fond or warm towards anyone. This stems from a deep seated fear of abandonment, not that he blames his father in any way, shape, or form, but its there. There are four main aspects to his personality: The Calculating Side, The Emotion Driven Side, The Anger Led Side, and The Romeo Side. James tends to alternate decidedly between these four, and depending on which "mood" he is in often determines how you should approach him and the response you will receive.

The Calculating Side: When James is in this mode all flattery, manipulation, and sugary words are useless. He tends to look upon situations with a totally objective view, neither phased, nor affected emotionally by anything happening around him. Its arguable that he's the most dangerous at this point, simply because he doesn't have any biases or affections clouding his judgement. Its purely and entirely based on what he thinks is best for himself and will get him closer to completing his objective or goal. Typically when training, fighting, or intent on accomplishing something he'll be in this state.

The Emotion Driven Side: No, this doesn't mean he goes around crying, actually it just refers to the fact that his actions are all linked back to what he's feeling at the time. If he's around people he loves he's likely to act in their benefit, rather than what would logically be wisest for the survival of all the people depending on him throughout the world. He also is more likely to change from being angry to sad, to happy, to depressed. Essentially it makes him act very hormonal. You can expect him to act in an exaggerated manner towards you. If he likes you, you'll clearly be able to tell, whether this involves a hug or a heart-to-heart chat. If he doesn't like you.....run.

The Anger Led Side: When James is in this state its best to avoid him completely. He'll lash out at everyone and everything, without exception. Even his mother might suffer by his hand if she tries talking to him when he's like this. Though it would cause him much angst later at the time he's hardly in control of himself. This generally results from thinking of his father and all that could have been but wasn't. Its generally a damaging state of mind for him to be in, not only to others but also to himself, and if possible should NOT be allowed to continue for any length of time.

The Romeo Side: When James is like this he is nearly irresistible to those of the female persuasion. He's charming, witty, attractively dressed, and very complimentary. Of course, he usually only switches to this side of himself when he needs to escape from all his troubles, and he seeks solace in the arms and attention of other people. He's quite enjoyable to associate with when he's like this. Its likely the most pleasant he will ever be around you, and thus its wise to make good use of it. However beware, when forced out of this state prematurely, as in before he's ready to face his troubles again, he tends to slide straight into his Anger Led Side, which is definitely not a good thing, so if possible try not to jolt him out of this state until HE'S ready for it.

Of course, there are other facets to his personality and he can be a combination of these or decidedly neutral, however generally speaking you are likely to interact with him when he's in one of these states, so its wise to know what you're getting into ahead of time. Its also good to note that James is a fighter, the last words of his father have been deeply imprinted into him and he NEVER backs down from a fight, its both his greatest strength and worst weakness, and thus should be taken into careful consideration, NEVER back him into a corner or be confrontational if you value your health.

↑ հìʂէօɾվ:
Shadows. Thats what James remembers the most vividly from that day, he was an unusual child of course, choosing to remember something like this at only the age of five. But he supposed it was simply the way of things, genetics allowed for him to be special....or something like that. The shadows took on a more visible shape, morphing into two dear figures, his mother and father. To most this would seem insignificant, not worthy of being mentioned, but for James this was everything. The start of disaster, triumph, and discovery. His father was wearing the colours of trees, it looked like the hunting outfit his father had proudly showed him, declaring that one day HE would wear it, and they would go hunting together. But this was different, no warm smile, no anticipation, only grimness and fear. Even at the tender age of five James could see it, and sense it. His mother turned her head so he wouldn't see her tears....but James knew, he knew. His father beckoned him closer, and a young James shuffled forward, tense, and dreading this moment, though he couldn't have told you why. "Son. I'm off to fight a war. I know your mother thinks you're too young to hear this but....I want you to remember what I tell you son. Fight. Always fight, when given the choice, the OPPORTUNITY, don't turn your back, swell up your chest, grab the fire inside of you, and let it burn. Burn until it melts and obliterates those standing in your path. You hear me boy? NEVER let fear grab a hold of you....and always fight. Always." the last word ended on a painful whisper, but James was too busy staring at his father with wide adoring eyes. The respect and love he felt for this man, who was so incredibly strong and powerful in his eyes, was overwhelming. And he hoped his father knew it. "I love you Daddy." He murmured shyly, ducking his head and missing the sheen of moisture on his father's face. "I love you too son, I love you too." his father said. Gave him a kiss on the head, and walked away.

His father never came home.

Years passed, James became a quiet, brooding, and introverted teenager. He passed his days in the downstairs of their home, working his body and pushing it to the limits until he became extraordinarily fit and knew that no one would be able to take him down with ease. He was the youngest in his age group to have a six pack and washboard abs, the envy of all his male schoolmates, and the obsession of the majority of the female population. When James realized that he could get so much fawning attention and adoration from the women he began to crave it. Simply so he could escape himself for a while, escape from his woes and troubles. And so James developed a sort of playboy persona, "The guy who gets the girls." But things never went past a first date, if that, and James pretty soon became known as "Mr. Hands to himself." Because of his gentlemanly attitude towards woman and his refusal to do anything more than kiss their hands as a greeting. James mother was incredibly proud of him, and she supported him in everything he did, despite her lapses into depression, which tended to come in three to four waves every year for about three weeks. James was able to cope though, caring for his mother, yearning for the father who would never come home, and living for the day when HE would get a chance to fight. Just like his father.

At fifteen James stumbled, quite by accident, onto a frightening ability. One day while he was walking in a park, he noticed a young girl had lost her kite in a tree. In and of itself this wasn't unusual, but for some reason James really felt a deep desire to aid this girl. And suddenly, without even consciously doing anything, he found himself at eye level with the kite. Thus it was that James stumbled upon his ability to levitate. As with everything he'd ever done in life James strove and worked to perfect his ability, and in the process of that he discovered his ability to fly. It wasn't long after this that the government revealed them to the world, and James took to the life of a celebrity like a fish takes to water. Especially since his Mother had grown deathly ill and needed highly expensive medication, now he had the ability to provide that for her. However he always had a feeling that there was something missing....some task or responsibility he had left unfilled.......


↑ Ӏìҟҽʂ:
* Running - it soothes his mind, a sort of natural therapy
* Women - Their company allows him to forget his problems.
* Flirting - Makes him feel more manly and capable.
* Reading - Its something his father always did with him and makes him happy.
* Singing - Just a quirky love of his, he's quite good too.
* His powers - They make him feel special, unique, and powerful.
* Fighting - His father's last words mean everything to him. He'd end his life fighting if possible.
* Winning - If there's one thing that drives him its the need to win.
* Animals/Nature - He has a connection with them thats unexplainable....for now.


↑ ժìʂӀìҟҽʂ:
* Bullies - those who intentionally hurt others should be eliminated.
* Being cooped up - Nothing worse than being restricted without freedom
* Pessimists/Optimists - better to be in between and wise.
* Anyone who disses his singing - He didn't ask for your opinion. Don't give it.
* Losing - Doesn't really need explanation, he hates it
* Winter/Cold - He fares better in warmer climates, though this is a minor one
* Heights - Hates them, there's something about being high up that he finds terrifying.
* Abandonment - The fear of being left behind is his greatest weakness and he fears it above all else.

↑ օէհҽɾ:
James periodically has nightmares about his father, and when he does he sends out a powerful vision in a three mile radius, one that causes all people within its grip to be inflicted with nightmares as well. He also has a wolf-dog named Frost, who is a constant companion of his and his "one true friend" as James would say. The two are nearly inseparable, and some would even say they can communicate. James also has a slight French accent.​

Goes to show how much better writing can get with time xD I'd love a shot at remaking James.
 
Back in my first RP site, I made some... mistakes let us say. My first character was actually surprisingly kinda well made, even by my current standards, well crafted and limited, with motivations, solid but complex personality, not trying to push too much nor too little, it was a nice character. When the character started trying to go into the "wise old man" trope, it started getting a little derrailed though...but nonetheless, I think it went by well. Some of my others weren't so lucky. I might tell ya'll about Charles if this thread was about cringeworthy roleplaying, but it's just about cringeworthy characters, so I'll bring up one of my biggest lessons in RPing.

If you ever read one of my interest checks, you may know that I am a Roman Catholic. I'm no preacher, but I make my beliefs no secret either and will gladly take to its defense. My faith has also resulted in a pet peeve of mine that is rather petty, but which I can't quite let go off: I hate it when demons are anything but pure evil. It just doesn't go hand in hand in my head, the concept of a demon disjointed from the evil that defines the concept. So what do I do about it? I just avoid doing roleplays where "good demons" are a thing... but there was a time when I took my expression of my beliefs one step further...and one step too far.

Set the scene: You are roleplaying an anime fandom roleplay, which the entire site is based around. Suddenly this little idiot comes along and starts preaching in character, actively seeking out arguments and make all of his characters more attached to Jesus Christ than old ladies serving as christmas carolers.

Yeah...ain't proud of those days. But it did teach me a very valuable lesson in bringing baggage into a roleplay.
 
Your stuff is too damn good.

I mean, maybe you think its cringey, but I think it's great. XD

Also I feel like I have the opposite problem and I just don't cringe enough about things I should cringe over? 🤔
I think it is only a strength if you don't feel ashamed of the stuff you've made. I used to worry about what others thought all the time and all that ever resulted in was not being able to finish anything.

Also thanks! I guess this OC is not that bad. For me it is mostly a taste thing, but then again it's all about the context.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
I wrote fanfiction with my oc's before I knew what fanfiction even was. My most memorable was a Naruto/Pokemon cross over except only my OC (who was the last of her clan, had the 10 tailed sealed inside of her, byakugan and sharingan in each eye, the works) had pokemon and she gifted them out to Team 7. Also she stopped Sasuke from joining Orochimaru with the power of love and killed Sakura because of course.

I was 10, it was a time. Thank god I didn't have access to FFN because I would have RUINED my life.
 
I think it depends on your definition of an OC. A character I created - sure, tons, still are, many on purpose. I don't really create 'perfect' people, so to speak, and so-o-o many are acting over-the-top because they think they're just that good. But if you mean something like a main character, character for playing, or writing... surprisingly not. Most of the cringe goes to secondary characters, or those I had no attachments at all.

I guess the most cringeworthy characters I have ever created were two ladies. One was for a very long book series I wrote as a teen (and finished, surprisingly, and even remember what it was vaguely about), and it was a reluctant leader of a tribe of human/animal hybrids (not the cute ears ones, the really freaky ones), who was mostly cringeworthy visually. I remember her name was Moragh, she was shortish, and almost skeletal, covered in green scales, portruding sharp teeth and claws, pair of lizard-like horns and non-working leathery wings. Like, she had it all. Now when I describe her, she is not as crigeworthy, but my younger self drew her to be too pretty. She was also the first more or less humanoid OC I've created, because however weird that is, till that point my OCs were all mutated plants and monstrous blobs.

Another one was Tot ('dead' in German)an important NPC for a Marvel RP back in the day when I played Marvel originals. Totally overpowered amnesic bimbo girl, dyed blue hair, large bosom, absolute naivety, an ability to turn you into meat fodder by just thinking that. She had to be a part of a shortish quest about revenge, and self-destruct... oh, right, she also used to resurrect in a way after death, having her body after around a day and last few wiped out of her memory as coping mechanism to the horrors of dying, so she never knew what hit her... but the players went off the rails so much, they botched the quest, and so I ended up stuck with this overpowered sex doll with no way to get her out of the game organically, since everyone loved her so much.

Getting back to my original point, in reality a lot of people I do choose t play have some intentional cringe in them, but since it's intentional, I have no idea if it can be considered that. I do like over-the-top, arrogant, know-it-all characters, and play them with outmost pleasure. Like, for instance, I am currently involved in a group RP where I play a now-criminal, medical dropout student, and I am so tired to underline he's arrogant by adding irony in my posts. Just to note to anyone confused that what he thinks he is and what he really is, are very different things. He's a small, weak, big-headed junkie who has half of an expertise in medicine, and another half in being an active addict, but he thinks and acts like he's a master manipulator with all of the control, always ready for anything, knowing better than everyone else. As a person, that is immense cringe. As a character, though? I think not.
 
"Nicole Japann [...] her real name is microwave. Her grandma, spoon, told her it's because[...]"

This is working for me. I want to know more about the kitsune tribe that names infants after kitchen appliances.
Honestly I think it was just part of me trolling edgy backstories but now looking back I sort of love the concept of a reclusive race being so fascinated by every day human technology that they name children after them, it's just so hilarious to me. 2015 was wild.
 
I find it fascinating how roleplay culture differs from site to site; for instance, I have never seen the requirement of a "popularity score" in a joining form. O-O
 
I guess it was a high school drama run by 12 year olds XD However I completely agree with you, it seems every different site I role play on does things differently.
 
My first "actual" RP OC was a stereotypical trigger-happy edgelord that you would expect a teenager fresh into their roleplay career to create. She was even my namesake online for quite some time; several years, in fact. That all changed, though, when people I thought were my friends for almost a decade turned out to be assholes and treated me like dirt. Still, I might revisit her someday and continue to flesh out her story. Even with all the bullshit I went through, she still remains the most developed character I have so far. Perhaps that might be because every RP I've been in inevitably dies out early on and leaves me with a barely developed character, but it's still something to note.
 

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