Creating a Good Original

So, you don't want to or cannot be a canon character for some reason, and you're not feeling very XIish or Crystal Chronicley either. No problem. But the Originals form says you have to somehow connect your character with Final Fantasy... which you're not sure how to do. Or maybe you've got a character of your own, from your own made-up story that you want to place in the FF universe, and you are likewise muddled by this "connection" business.

So, mister (or miz) I-Have-A-Cool-Person, what do you do? Why not just write up your profile and send it off to Faris? It might be just like this:

Yes. Okay. That profile sucks. Let's go through and point out all the horribleness in the order that it appears.

1. The race. Demon. What the freak. There are no DEMONS in Final Fantasy VII. NONE. It does not fit at all. As a matter of fact, there aren't demons in ANY Final Fantasy. Get out.
   
   
2. The physical description. The form says "do NOT simply post a picture. WRITE
   OUT A DESCRIPTION." Altana ignored that and just gave us a link to a picture. No.
   
   
3. The personality. Granted, this doesn't have much to do with the FF connection, but you should still try to give your character a little more depth. Not just angsty guilt. It's sparse and clichéd.
   
   
4. The history. This is the final nail in the coffin. Methistophenes? Lilith?! What the hell are they doing in FFVII?! They don't exist in the Final Fantasy universe. Religious/mythological figures do NOT belong in any FF character's past. AT. ALL. "She killed her siblings and her parents..." Can you say Mary Sue*?
   
   

This "character" is completely wretched. And you might think "man, nobody would submit anything that awful." But they do. In fact, there was one particularly putrid profile involving the archangel Gabriel, Satan, and some other Christian religious figures posted a few months ago. It was so bad that we had to lock the originals topic and have all potential profiles reviewed beforehand.

If you want to connect a character to FF, you're going to have to use references to things that are actually in the game. Altana is going in the trash bin. Let's pull up another profile that appears just for this tutorial.

*Mary Sue- a character who is overpowered, is usually clichéd, and has a tendency to be flawless and perfect at everything. Don't be a Mary Sue.

That definitely wasn't as bad as the first profile, but it's still unacceptable. Here's another dissection.

1. The race again. In the game, Aerith was the last person with Cetra blood at all. There was not another one. Aerith did not have a secret sister, nor did Ifalna. The Cetra are extinct. They can only exist in plot-significant GM-controlled characters.
   
   
2. The physical description is... better, but this is a profile, not a drivers' license. Try writing something more descriptive out.
   
   
3. The personality is still too sparse. Add some depth or something.
   
   
4. The history. It's definitely connected to FF7, but it is still ridiculously Sueish. First of all, her early childhood is pretty much a carbon copy of Aerith's. Second, it's highly unlikely that a half-Cetra would be enlisted in SOLDIER. "Excelled at magic and physical training. Many successful missions. Fought alongside Sephiroth." This says "Tess is teh uberness, she cannot be defeated, hahaha watch me godmode in every fight." Bad Tess. And the clincher is how she broke away. There were no other SOLDIERS with Sephiroth and Cloud at Nibelheim. You can't say that your character was interacting in major plot events when there were only a few very specific people there.
   
   

Sorry, Tess. You go in the bin as well.

Now let's look at a good profile.

All right. This is a good profile. Let's dissect this one, too, so we can find out what this person did right.

1. Race. Human. Finally, something that makes sense for FF7.
2. Appearance. So, we finally get a written description. Huzzah! There's still a picture link, but we still know what she looks like in case it doesn't work for some reason.
3. Personality. Finally, some description of her motivations, mannerisms, and interests. It's hardly a novel, but we can still get a good idea of what she's like.
4. History. There is a clear and realistic connection to the game: she was born in an FF7 town, traveled the FF7 world, and fought for an FF7 cause: Fort Condor, which was an actual event in the game. She didn't save the world, and she doesn't have super-awesome fighting skills or powers, but she was still there, and she's not a Sue.

Congratulations, Liadel, you have been approved.

See? It's not that hard to make a good, well-thought-out original character and connect him or her to Final Fantasy. If you want to see another example of a non-Sue original that fits very well into FF, look at the profiles for Megaera, Etoille, or Xander for more examples. (Which isn't to say that the other originals aren't good, but those are particularly good.)

If you are modifying a character you have already come up with for your own story/other RP site/etc.--it is your responsibility to make sure that their past and powers fit within the FF universe. Yes, they're different, but this is a Final Fantasy roleplaying board, not a board for your story, and the character must have past and powers that fit within the game you have put them in.

Also, here is a Mary Sue Litmus Test that you can use beforehand to minimize the likelihood of your character being rejected. Its questions mainly relate to fanfiction Sues, but it is also applicable to RP characters as well.

This post has been edited by Faris on Dec 16, 2007 - 11:43 AM

This is the post from last year's news announcement, edited slightly.

Things to Remember

• Just because you put a lot of effort into your profile does not mean we will accept it. You might have worked on it for a month and it could still be unacceptable.
• Spelling and grammar DOES count. We can't accept your profile if we can't understand it.
• We don't care about who you showed your profile to or what other boards--FF or otherwise--you've used this character on without a problem. If we say you have to change x, then you have to change it. Period.
• Connecting your character to Final Fantasy means more than filling in the "FF Origin" slot. For that matter, it means more than just sticking "Andarra was born in Deling City" in the first sentence. There are plenty of ways you can tie FF concepts into your character, so please do.
• Saying "there was never proof that there wasn't this race/weapon/class in FFxyz" is a poor argument that won't change our minds. History books don't go out of their way to state that no half-demons were involved in the Battle of Trenton, but if someone tried to claim that there were it wouldn't even be dignified with a debate. Tolkien never said that fairies didn't exist in Middle-Earth, but as he never mentioned them it's safe to assume that there were none. It said nowhere in FFV that human-dragon hybrids didn't exist, but if you try to pass one off as legit it's going to be sent back pretty quickly.
• If you're using a character from your own thing or from another, non-FF board, you MUST connect them to Final Fantasy canon. Saying "well, of course they're not bound by canonical stuff, because it's from this story of mine" is complete smeg. This is a Final Fantasy board. That means the character must--and I know this is a bit of a radical concept--fit in with Final Fantasy.
• The more and the heavier the ties your character has to the main party or major canon events, the more likely they are to be rejected.
• Anyone whose parent or grandparent or distant ancestor is a demon or angel will be rejected at once.
• Please, for the love of all that is holy, NO STUPID RAPE ANGST. This includes, but is not limited to scenarois such as "Selena's mother was raped by a SOLDIER (or other FF uberclass) and so she has all the powers and strength of a soldier (and glittering topaz-colored eyes of Mako), but her mother hated her for looking like the man who raped her."

Mary Sue / Gary Stu Warning Flags

• Naturally outlandish hair/eye/skin color in games where they don't exist. A SeeD who dyes his hair blue is acceptable. An Al Bhed whose hair grows blue naturally is not.
• Outstanding prowess in battle (or other area) noted by canon characters.
• Extremely tragic pasts, especially those involving abuse and/or mysterious entities or organizations.
• An incident where the character gained a reputation and fame/infamy.
• Heavy connections to canon characters, especially the main party.
• An original character who was a part of the main party. (i.e. Andarra passed the SeeD exam with Squall, Selphie, Zell, and Nida, was part of the team sent to Timber, etcetera). This will result in instant rejection.
• Overwrought descriptions such as "Andarra's fire-red hair flows like molten magma to her shoulders. Her eyes are a deep chocolate brown flecked with amber. She is clad in a tunic that is a brilliant, eye-catching shade of cyan certain to catch anyone's attention, and reaches down to her knees. The tunic is zipped down the center--" etcetera.
• Uncanny similarities to canon characters, viz, "Storm is a quiet, moody SeeD at Balamb Garden, who avoids social contact...she wears all black, and has brown hair and icy blue eyes, and is one of the few people who can use a gunblade."
• A character that has been or is capable of travelling from world to world.
• Any heritage with a crucial canonical race--i.e., the Cetra, Espers, Lunarians.
• Previously-unknown powers or skills that are only unlocked under extreme duress
• Age not matching looks.