How to make a good Warriors OC by Eggpaw

Eggpaw walks us through the steps to making a good OC

Original characters are great. They allow the fandom to express their creativity. The problem is, you might not know how to make one or might not know how to make a good one. So, how do you do that?

APPEARANCE
I like to start by making the cat’s appearance. There are not many rules here, and, really, you can do whatever you want, but it’s better to steer away from natural pelt patterns and/or colors. It’s not realistic for a cat to have rainbow stripes or bright, neon colors. While these things aren’t illegal, usually, the fandom prefers more natural colors. Don’t be disappointed; These can still be as pretty!

If you want a unique-looking cat, you can find some spectacular patterns on real-life cats. These can be chimera cats, albino cats, and so on. You can also play around with the body type of your OC. It can be thin and lithe, or muscular and broad. Some cats have shorter legs or a stubby tail, and others have torn ears or unique scars. There are plenty of things you can do with your OC’s appearance, so have fun with it!

PERSONALITY
Your OC’s personality should go hand-in-hand with its appearance. A great thing to do is make your cat’s appearance be based on its personality. Ambitious cats can have a stronger, more muscular figure while more charming cats can have a skinnier, more lithe shape.

For the actual personality of your character, here are a few things to consider: Does my OC feel like a real person? How would they react in this situation? Usually, the goal is to make your character feel real. There are multiple ways to do this; One way is to give your character weaknesses. Not small, insignificant weaknesses, but weaknesses that could impact the story.

Say, for example, a cat who is very ambitious, but very arrogant. This cat could get caught up in its arrogance and it could be a turning point in the story. On the other hand, take this other cat. This cat is sweet, caring, never judges wrong, always seems to know the right thing, and is an empath, but is bad at hunting. The fact that this cat is bad at hunting might never make its way into the story, and readers might not even get to see that this cat is a bad hunter. See, the first cat would have a much more interesting story and character development. The second character is what you would call a mary sue or gary stu, or a perfect character. These are characters to avoid since they don’t feel natural or realistic.

BACKSTORY
The backstory. Not the main story, but your OC’s backstory. Not all OCs have a backstory, but I’ll give tips for the ones that do.

When writing your character’s backstory, keep in mind that not every cat is going to be hated and have a tragic life. Some cats are completely normal, and some who have even had a life of love and attention.