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Spaztique β [OUTDATED] Spaztique's Guide to Touhou OC Creation
Published: 2012-11-13 03:45:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 32237; Favourites: 243; Downloads: 319
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No one can easily match, yet alone surpass, my powers! Except for Yorihime, Toyohime, Hecatia...
...Eiki, Okina...Seija...
...um, Sumireko, Miko...
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Something I thought of could be a useful addition is to think of the various character archetypes in Touhou canon to see what role your character fits in. Here's a few I managed to discern:
Archetype 1: Incident Resolver
The most obvious protagonist role. Those people are the ones taking on the various perils Gensokyo has to face.
Canon Examples: Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame
Archetype 2: Roaming Youkai
While not strictly necessary youkai, they tend to be low-level threats that could be encountered anywhere in Gensokyo. While usually a threat to humans, they tend not to be a major obstacle to Incident Resolvers.
Canon Examples: Rumia, Mystia Lorelei
Archetype 3: Expert
A relatively narrow archetype of characters, generally human, who have notable insights about Gensokyo and unusual powers, but are nearly defenseless in a fight.
Canon Examples: Hieda no Akyuu, Kosuzu Motoori
Archetype 4: High-Level Youkai
Similar to Roaming Youkai in many regards - but they tend to have a purpose in what they do and, as the name implies, are much more powerful.
Canon Examples: Utsuho Reiuji, Nue Houjuu
Archetype 5: Reclusive Sage
This archetype is typically the most powerful kind of character, but also the least likely to get directly involved in incidents (unless they are the ones causing it). They generally have very unique and wide-spanning abilities capable of driving and resolving plots.
Canon Examples: Yukari Yakumo, Eirin Yagokoro
Archetype 6: Servant
Usually paired with a Reclusive Sage, a Servant represents their master and enforces their agenda. This archetype commonly overlaps with the Incident Resolver.
Canon Examples: Sakuya Izayoi, Sanae Kochiya
Do note that characters can bend or break archetypes or belong partially or fully to multiple of them. They are a helpful, but by no means required tool to help you find out what role your OC serves in the story or setting.
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Come up with a personality, and the backstory'll basically write itself.
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Ok, I may need help.Β
Oc's a half human/ half satori.Β
He's sensitive to emotions, but he can't read people's hearts.Β
A psychology student (kinda predictable) with a knowledge of weapons.
His situation's kinda .... Gappy, typical 'walked home, found my parents dead, meets Yukari, and killed my parent's killer '
his story is less 'I wanna be the strongest' and more 'I need a place to live here'
He gets to Gensokyo thanks to getting Yukari's interest after seeing him awaken his power.
Said power is something like an offshoot of Satori's, instead of reading someone's memories, he reads his own memories and pulls out whatever is in those memories. (for example, he finds a certain gun in his memory, he can create a functioning copy of that gun, he can even replicate spellcards and even abilities like Flan's 'kyuun' or Sakuya's time stop , but those come with heavy restrictions
If he has to replicate an ability, he has to at least touch a certain object that's used for the ability,Β
For example, if he want's to copy Sakuya's time stop, he needs to touch her stopwatch and create a functioning copy of it. Just copying the watch without getting to touch it won't do. and he can only stay in stopped time for only 3 seconds. If he replicates a different ability, the previous ability will be overwritten.
as for spellcards, he needs to at least see the entire spellcard in action, as in THE WHOLE THING. In other words, he can replicate few spellcards like Marisa's Master spark (its just one big beam, right?)
His danmaku style is mainly around firearms, maybe one such spellcard for him would be Nobunaga's three line formation, for example.
I'm also trying to make his trauma more realistic, like he gets nauseous when he holds the gun his parent's killer used and the same gun he shot the guy with (a Beretta, in case you know), gets nightmares from time to time.
He's obviously getting his ass whopped if he ever duels against Yukari or Reimu.
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other than some of the characters and a little use of walfas, i know jack diddly about touhou
but this is still hilarious
im gonna keep this in mind ^^
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Hmmβ¦
Seems to me that my AA sorta looks like Stevoβs, just by the hair and glassesβ¦
Im may have to redo my AA a little bit. So youβre a wee bit of an talented kinda folk, Spaz. Is my OC, Marcy, any good?
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Iβve already mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: if you want anyone to take your characters seriously, keep any creepy fetishes you have to yourself. Nobody has to be a genius to understand maybe flaunting a love for daipers turns people away.
Seriously, you could the greatest OC maker in the world, but if you let on that you enjoy looking at people wearing receptacles for their own human waste, people will be too grossed out to even remotely care. Everyone and their momβs been telling you this, so maybe itβs time to take a hint. You have to choose: flaunting a fetish that only a few people like, or obeying the norms of general society?
Advice on OCs is the least of your worries: work on yourself before you work on your writing.
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Oi; i know what you mean, but in case you havent seen my page lately, i already got rid of that fetish stuff; its in a different account that im never showing on my original page;
if anything, im trying to make Marcy something for the norms to like; MarcytheYokaiVampire is permamently to walfas and digital art and that only.
I've been going through weeks avoiding the content slowly and steadily to get it out of my head, i want to only focus on my walfas content.
Plus, i wouldnt dare combine two contents like that, its just unnatural; my goal in this community with animations is to do sketch vids on the least popular characters, and comics wise, I wanna make kid/teen friendly content with my comics, memes, and stories related to walfas. Anyone who even thinks I'm gonna add anymore of that other content on my page has another thing coming.
I appreciate the advice, Spaz, I really do. But I'm not making or doing anymore stuff with that content; if anything, the most im doing is replies and such on other people's art and DMs in discord.
Just to clarify, my original account will not associate with such things, which is why im unfavoriting all 5 thousand something of that stuff, and keeping my page clean; I like touhou and walfas way more than that other garbage
And I'll take your advice and work on myself, I'll get some help IRL
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I usually try my hardest when it comes to making OCs for ANYTHING. For example, I've started to create a Touhou OC, and one of her talents is that she can use a Copy Talisman to copy the Spellcard of another character, like Marisa's Stardust Reverie ((just as an example)). However, it's not an exact copy. When she uses this Copy of Stardust Reverie, the pattern is a lot more choppy, with less stars and easier to dodge. The way you know it's not the exact same as Marisa's is A. It looks different, and it's spelled wrong. So for this Stardust Reverie Copy, it's spelled "Stirduhst Rehvaree". She's also not able to copy every single Spellcard however. So she can't copy Spellcards owned by characters like Yukari, Yuyuko, or Flandre. Lemme know what you think of this and if there's any changes I could make to this!
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Every fandom should have at least one of these. There should be a webpage that is literally nothing but links to OC guides like these. Links to this webpage should be widely disseminated and be required reading for every amateur fanfic writer out there.
SOMEBODY FUND THIS.Β
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does it count as a gappy if they're sent in by someone else and by somewhat different teleportation means?
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very interesting...
i ll keep this in mind :0
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I'm writing a character background/new design for Sariel (final boss of the Makai route from the first Touhou game), and while Sariel is technically a canon character, there is literally no information on them other than the fact that they're a fallen angel of death who lives in Makai, so these guidelines give me a pretty good idea of what to avoid when kinda 'filling in the gaps' of Sariel's character.
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I noticed you have a real hate boner for blond people, almost every bad EX you use is blond, did you know that?
I like your advice, its just so hard to remember all of it while writing. You get an idea in your head and you forget the rules.
I'll try tho, one can only improve right?
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About the blonde people: in a number of Touhou fics my friends and I read (and this is also a common thing in OC fiction), the main character OC is often blonde. We've joked about this throughout our various riffs and discussions of Touhou fanfic culture. Of course, there's nothing wrong with making a blonde OC main character; especially one that's likable and breaks the mold of typical fanfics.
As for the advice, thanks. You don't have to remember nor use it all: they're more diagnostic tools to see how you can improve. I mostly cover basic newbie mistakes and ideas many people miss: it's up to you to gain enough experience to learn the more intricate parts of writing. Anyone can read guides, but a writer writes. And even though I don't write as much as I used to, my goal is to help make writing easier for everyone else.
It's my hope that this guide (along with my others and every other guide you encounter) serves you well on your writing journey (as well as your life journey: once you get good with one thing, your gifts begin spilling over to other areas), and I wish you the best of luck.
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This reminds me of a self-insert OC I did when I was 11 (Helena Technology), who is an oni who hates drinking and manipulates technology XDΒ
But I scrapped that, and replaced with new Touhou FCs (Akahoshi no Ameko, a very short-tempered tengu who manipulates speed, stage 5 boss rank, and Chihiro Mitsue, her friend and rival, stage 6 boss rank. I made a full profile for Akahoshi no Ameko but I didn't publish it yet.
You'll see more of them on a game my friend is making :3 And I might publish the other characters' profiles. Mini-profiles, actually. You can see the rest of them in the stories and games.
I'm only going to make full profiles for Ameko, Chihiro, and the extra stage boss I'm not gonna tell right now. <.<)
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Hey Spaz, after reading this amusing comic, I would like you to check my OC to see if it's a good one... when it'll be ready.
For now, let's just say that you can tell by the avatar pic. Well, it's just that I don't want my character to be trash.
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Thanks~ I think I'm going to remake my OC.
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Thank you Mr. Spaztique for the guide!
Although I do have a question: What are the possible effects of your OC's gender on interaction? I'm kinda having a hard time picking out a gender (and I managed to write a chapter already...)
Thanks again!
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I personally don't think it matters, but there's this idea of "masculine" and "feminine" communication and thinking styles. However, there are men with feminine communication/thinking styles and women with masculine communication/thinking styles, not to mention the idea that we need both feminine and masculine traits to balance ourselves out.
The theory runs like this: the biochemistry of a masculine brain runs on linear logic, breaks things into small steps, and says exactly what it means. The biochemistry of the feminine brain runs on holistic, intuitive, big-picture thinking, and communicates with subtext and emotion rather than raw words. Relationship counselor Dr. John Gray wrote a classic book, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, covering this idea extensively.
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Thank you very much! Although I do have another question...
I read in another guide about OC's not stealing the spotlight. Would a story told from OC's perspective (in first person) violate that guideline?
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The idea is that if you're going to do a fic in any series, the emphasis is on the series. It is possible to tell a story in first person without it stealing the spotlight from other characters: first person stories are filled with memorable characters. Look at any visual novel, such as Fate/Stay Night or the like, and although it's told from the perspective of one character, we get to see all of them equally.
First person is usually difficult for beginners because they tend to focus more of the perspective character than the others. The mark of somebody who's mastered first person is their ability to write for all characters equally.
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This rings true ((most at least)) for any fandom. Great job Spaztique.
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spaz you can help me? I have a friend named: iconpewdiepiethewolf: he does not accept defeat it is overpower !!
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1. Contrate um tradutor humano. Google Translate Γ© terrΓvel.
2. Pare de lutar pessoas.
3. Eu nΓ£o apoio rancores. Eu nΓ£o participar de rancores. NΓ£o me incluir nisso.
Or...
1. Please get a human translator. Google translate is terrible.
2. Stop fighting people.
3. I do not support or join grudges, so leave me out of this.
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But spaz you use the hair of rengeteki! (pc-98)
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About the 10th principle, is there a way to make self-multiple WITHOUT falling to the 2nd Trap or the 3rd Trap?
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Hey Spaz.
Anything will be answere'd here ^^
(some OC stuff, should be obvious)
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Idk if someone is still checking characters around here, but i still want to try
ginthewerewolf.deviantart.com/β¦
candidato someone Telles if my char is alright, it's still Wip, which is the reason it still colorless
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My second time reading this, I feel like changing around my OC, Totome. Maybe just design and maybe name.
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Ugh. I have a general idea for a 'Youkai of Voids/Zero', but aside from the appearance, personality and basic abilities, I have no idea what to do with them. They're not a blood relative or 'archnemesis' of any sorts, at least. In fact, I have no intention of having them preemptively acquainted with any canon characters.
A little worried about them being overpowered since there's a lot of cheap tricks they could pull off with that kind of power, too... Perhaps I'll have to think of some kind of nerf that limits their power.
If you'd be willing to help me work on them, send me a message. Thanks.
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Principle 11 should answer this: story trumps how powerful your character is. Your character may have tons of cheap tricks, but so can your characters' opponents. There's also Principle 4: give your character not just a strength (that affects other people), but a weakness (that affects other people). If your character has some cheap powers, but something to blunt their effectiveness like hubris, paranoia, or whatever, use it to balance the character. This way, you won't need to nerf anyone.
Besides, I've never seen nerfing work. Ever. All stories have a balance: the stronger the goodest good guy, the stronger the baddest bad guy must become. If the balance is off-kilter, like a character has too much ease in the story and the villains are too weak, it doesn't matter how much you nerf them if the storytelling is off: the weaker the overpowered hero, the weaker the underpowered villains become. I've seen situations where characters who had godlike powers were stripped of said godlike powers, yet was able to get away with anything they wanted without their powers because the writers didn't want them to lose/face conflict. I've also seen many great situations where characters were given cheat-like abilities, so the situations got worse to adapt to them, equaling the balance.
I'm thinking of maybe adding another principle: the principles are also useless if you do not practice. Test your character out in a few one-shots and get a feel for it. Naturally, you will receive criticism: use it. Nothing will give you experience more than using your bad reviews.
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Well after a few hours I managed to get some work done on some OCs... Could use some feedback.
michel-santangelo.deviantart.cβ¦
Of course, I can't do much for Principle #11 right now, so bear with me.
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hermione0091.deviantart.com/arβ¦Β is this OC ok?
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It's well-designed visually and the backbone is there, but I don't know whether or not it violates Principle #11 until I actually see her in action.
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OH i get it theres no 11.
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This's a nice OC guide! I can apply this for other series, right?
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Yep. I already did a non-series specific comment a while back.
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I have a question regarding OC strength. If I created an OC with full intent of them being stronger than most/all other characters, would it still be a "good" OC if I made another OC(s) of equal/more strength to counter-act the first OC (Like a teacher, rival, etc.)? I'm not exactly making a Touhou story, but the OC rules remain the same... I think, so I'd just like to know.
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