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For my fellow oc makers: When you make a new oc how do you usually start? Do you think of the design and then personality and story or the reverse?
I usually start with a small concept like: “Marnie Girlfriend” or “Galar Bug scientist”, or “Alolan Ice Aether Admin”
Depends! If there’s already a running story in place then design and personality go hand in hand since the latter kinda dictates the former (cliches exist for a reason, it’s all about just adjusting certain bits to feel more unique). But if it’s just randomly making an OC with friendos then screw story, design first and personality injection afterwards, especially because 9/10 times the personality will evolve over time and warrant redesigns anyways.
I mean, just look at Ruth :)
Design => Story => Design
It starts with one character and something I'm interested in exploring, then I build everything else around it. Like Elio for example. He was set to have a twin in Renee. But later expanded into him having a larger family. Also, originally, he would be middle-class like I am irl, but he became wealthy since I wanted to let loose while giving him and his family more importance.
I do the design first. The way it usually goes for me is creating the outfit, then "okay, why does he dress like that?" And then I build the world around it. Developing personality has always been kind of a crutch for me though. That one takes me the longest to develop.
Mostly the former although ocasionaly the latter. Usually, a random idea gets in my brain which tends to be a basic concept like "Cool Mom Character" as an example, then my brain starts breaking it into parts of personality and history. then my brain goes back to design in order to change some of the appearance or to make sure it's not too similar to previous ideas.
OHHH THIS IS A FUN QUESTION RAY!!!
For me, I first think of a personality! And then begin to think “what kind of person/people would be around them? What kind of story can I make out it?”
lemme use Teresa and Génesis for example!
I actually made Teresa before Génesis and I’ve always wanted to make a “cool” character but it wasn’t enough for me, so then I thought to myself “what can actually make her struggle with that label? Can I put her in a situation where she simply can’t do whatever she wants?” and that’s when I had the idea of having her be suddenly become a child’s mother figure/mentor.
This is where I came up with Génesis!
I made her to not be the complete opposite of Teresa, but more so have a complimentary personality that helps with Teresa’s character development of being someone who simply only did things that benefited herself to truly a mother figure that Génesis needed in her life…
This is when I would begin to design them and I wish I could put pics here but I’m gonna do my best to describe my process!
So like first things first I choose the signature colors!
For Teresa her main colors are Red/Black, while Génesis is a complimentary Blue/White
And then their outfits, Teresa’s figure is shown more since she wears clothing that helps her move around, while with Génesis she wears a dress with a long skirt that well…hides her legs and stuff cuz that’s where she hides her weapons LMFAOOO
And finally I give unique features to those characters!
I gave Teresa this like swirly bang that covers a specific area of her face that hides a scar of hers, and also an aquiline nose cuz like?! They’re so under-appreciated…
Meanwhile Génesis really only has one unique trait and it’s her little eye markings but it’s also to help connect her with another established OC of mine since she’s a relative of them!
after that I just begin to write haha!! SORRY for this crazy dump but it was a really fun question haha!!!
I usually briefly start with a general idea of who they are and what their role is. Then I trial and error a concept on a piece of paper. Once I’m satisfied I transition to digital and figure out colors once I’ve finished lining them. Then I develop them as characters even more from there. Some characters I had a lot of their personality and character decided on long before they had designs, a good example is Minerva.
Sometimes one way, sometimes the other. Most of the time I think of a backstory for someone and think of a design to fit with that, but occasionally I just think of a neat design and then work out character details later
It's rare that I have a lot of success sitting down and actively thinking "Okay I will make a new OC"
Usually the ideas just hit me and I just start writing stuff down. It can come from anywhere. Listening to a song, seeing a nice picture, thinking about a setting...
Also typically the personality comes first. The story second.
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