5 Ways To Revive your Old OCs!!!
“I forgot I had this character! I like this old OC’s design…but it could be better! This old OC had such a cool concept, maybe I should revisit it!”
Have you ever had thoughts like these about your old characters? Do you miss these OCs that have been ‘dead’ for a while? Is it about time to bring them back to life? Let’s see what we can do! Before we try reviving some old OCs, if you want some ideas for a spooky (un)dead character, try one of these articles!
- Tips for Designing a Ghost OC!
- 5 Public Domain Monsters You Can Base Your OCs On
- Tips for Designing a Monster OC!
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get back to the topic of reviving OCs! Most of us have old characters we’ve left forgotten for a while, whether it was intentional or accidental!
Maybe a hyperfocus shifted, you thought of a new story, or you just haven’t had the time to think about your OC for a while! That’s not at all a bad thing, but what do you do when you’re finally ready to bring these poor lil characters back from the grave? Well, put on your lab coat and goggles, and let’s talk about it!
What aspects of your old OC do you want to keep?
Before getting into the 5 ways, let’s decide what aspects you want to keep about your old OC! There’s a reason you made the OC in the first place, whether it was just out of boredom, a fan character, or for an old story you were writing. So what made you create your old OC, and what are your favorite details about them? If you’re not too sure, here’s some questions to try and help you remember!
- Was the OC for a specific story?
- Was the OC a fandom character or self-insert OC?
- Was the OC created from a specific interest or fixation?
- What kind of personality did the OC have?
- Did the OC have a key aspect of their design?
Thinking about why you made your OC in the first place can help you determine what to keep about them, whether it be their personality, a part of their design, or something else!
If you think about what you liked about a character, you can then try to expand upon that aspect of them, or add new things that go along with that idea! Now that you have an idea of what you want to keep about your character, let’s get into the 5 ways to revive them!
1: Find new inspiration for your OC!
Inspiration plays a big part in creating a character! It gets you excited to create, and can give you new ideas for your characters and story! Inspiration can come from just about anywhere, whether it be a favorite book or a favorite video game. Incorporating elements from things you’re interested in will make your creation process more fun! If you need ideas for where to look, here’s some ideas:
- A favorite fairytale
- A favorite mythology story
- A favorite novel
- A favorite comic book
- A favorite cartoon
- A favorite manga series
- A favorite anime series
- A cool moodboard
If there was a specific piece of media that was your main source of inspiration for your OC in the past, you could try revisiting that as well and see if there’s anything you interpret differently! You might interpret things differently because you’re at a different stage of life now.
You can use that inspiration for your own characters! Maybe your favorite book has a character that’s more morally complex than you initially thought, or maybe the side character in your favorite childhood show has accessories that serve as symbolism. Try diving deeper into your current or old interests and look for inspiration there!
If you’re interested in using mythology specifically for a story, check out this cool article by my co-writer over here!
2: Try combining your OC with another old OC of yours!
Another way to bring to life an old OC is to combine them with another one of your old characters! Consider combining your favorite elements of both characters to create an OC you really like, because now they have more things you like about them! If you’re not sure how to go about this, some ideas could be things like…
- Taking one OC and giving them the outfit that belonged to a different OC
- Combing your favorite personality traits of different characters
- Giving your OC a design motif that another OC had
- Taking a story theme one OC has and giving it to a character with a design you like better
Sometimes you might have aspects of one character you really like, but maybe it feels like they would be better suited as part of another character. If one of the characters is one who maybe you didn’t like the concept of that much, you could give the concepts about them you do like to the character you want to revive!
By doing this, you can create a character you liked even more than before! Maybe with one character, you really liked their development in the story, but didn’t really like their design! If there’s a different character who feels kind of flat but has a cooler design, you could combine the two OCs!
3: Give your OC a new personality or theme to their character!
A third way you could revive an old OC is by giving their character a new theme or personality! If you have a character who was made more just for fun and didn’t give them much story or personality, adding that to them can really help them feel more alive, and even inspire new ideas for their design! Try coming up with new things about your OC. If you’re not sure where to start, here’s some questions to get you thinking:
- Is the OC an introvert or extrovert?
- Do they work better as part of a team, or do they do better solo?
- Are they good, evil, or morally grey?
- What are their goals?
- Why do they have the goals they do?
- What could be the moral of their story, based on their personality?
Adding onto an old character’s personality or coming up with new traits for them can help you figure out what part they play in the story they're in, or help you get an idea of how to change up their design to better suit their personality!
A new personality trait or moral theme can create new ideas for what you can do with your OC! It can influence the design, their goals, how they interact with others, and more!
If you need some more ideas, a character trope could be a fun addition to their character! If you’d like to learn a bit more about that, check out this article here!
4: Incorporate a new motif and/or aesthetic to your OC’s design!
If you’ve read some of my other articles before, you might know that I LOVE a good design motif and aesthetic! Incorporating either into an old OC’s design can both freshen up their look, and make them feel more interesting! If you need ideas on what to add,you could consider:
- An animal motif that matches the OC’s personality
- A flower motif that symbolizes their role or fate
- An aesthetic that showcases the time period they’re from
- An aesthetic that gives a glimpse at their personality
Incorporating a motif or aesthetic throughout the design of your OC can make a design feel more coherent, and also tell the audience a bit about your character in a subtle (or not so subtle) way! Maybe a deceptive character has a motif of a poisonous flower, or a free-spirited character has an aesthetic that represents that!
Motifs and aesthetics are great ways to revive an old OC! Both can help give you ideas on many different parts of their design, and you can make it as subtle or obvious as you want!
If you’re not sure what a motif is, I cover it a bit more in this article about choosing OC outfits here! Shape language is another way to create a more cohesive look, and if you’d like to learn more about that, check out this article about it!
5: Create a new story for your OC to be a part of!
Listen close…Now this, I saved for last…because it’s the most DANGEROUS. Number 5 is…creating a new story for your old OC entirely. Why is this so dangerous, you ask? Well, because there’s a chance you might end up loving this new story so much that it becomes your new favorite to work on and becomes a new passion project! …Huh? Am I speaking from experience…? Uh…heheh…Let’s continue!
A new story can truly bring to life an old OC, or even multiple old OCs! Maybe there’s something about an old side character that could make a great story separate from the original, or maybe a specific design element inspires worldbuilding you could turn into a new world! You might get ideas from an old OC such as…
- A new idea for an original species
- A new concept for character development
- A new concept for a world
- A new concept for a magic system
Creating a new story for an old OC can not only be a fun way to revive them, but can also be a fun new story to work on when you feel burnt out or bored of your other ones! It might take a little more effort than the other ideas, but if you put your mind to it, it can be really worth it in the end!
If you need some further ideas for creating a new world for your OCs, check out these articles on worldbuilding concepts for OCs and original species!
If you want to see some cool OC redesigns from the creators on Unvale, check out…
- Denzy’s OC Lexley
- Elibi’s OC Ollie
- NinaSlay’s OC Pearl
- Zero’s OCs Unicorn + Uni-cat
Reviving an old forgotten OC can be a lot of fun! Looking for new inspiration, combining ideas, and incorporating new elements are all ways you can go about giving new life to these old OCs!
If you’re looking for more ideas for writing your characters, check out these tips for writing hero and villain OCs, learn how to write a scary scene, or learn about how to write a fight scene!