Choosing Unique Details for Your OC!

Have you ever created a character, but felt like they needed something…extra? Something that really makes them stand out among your other characters? Sometimes, adding unique details can help with that! How do you go about adding unique details? Let’s talk about it!

What’s the setting of the story?

First and foremost, you might want to consider the world your story takes place in! As cool as it would be, you probably won’t find a character with glowing eyes or wings in a story that takes place in a realistic world. That doesn’t mean your character can’t have unique details though! They might just be more natural, the kind of features you would see in the real world! 

The setting can help you determine what kind of details you could add! A character in a world that’s more magical could have details with a more mystical feel, while a more sci-fi style world could have characters with more tech themed details! 

Some ideas for details based on story setting could be:

• A robot arm for a sci-fi world
• Fire hair for a superhero world
• Glowing freckles for a fantasy world
• A hook hand for a pirate world
• Vitiligo for a realistic world

If your world has multiple different species, the setting could determine what specific details each kind has! Maybe different fairies have different wing patterns, or maybe elves have different ear shapes!

A good example of unique details using settings would be Ramunev’s OC Nix! Nix is a siren on a pirate ship, with fin-like ears and unique patterns on her skin!

Another good example of using settings to choose unique details for an OC would be Cailin’s OC Derrik! Derrik is a vampire from a time of monster hunting, with pale skin and purple eyes!

While you can use the setting to make your character’s details seem more natural to the world, you could also use it to give your OC something that wouldn’t be expected of the world! Maybe a character has a robotic limb in ancient times because they’re a time traveler, or maybe a character has sparkly freckles because they’re secretly a fairy! If you want some ideas on worldbuilding the setting and other aspects of your story, there’s an awesome article here about worldbuilding using genres!

What’s the personality of your OC?

One thing you’ll want to consider the personality of your character! A part of character creation that makes your character unique is the personality they have, and their design can help show that off! There’s plenty of ways you could use personality to your advantage!

Different details could show off different aspects of an OC's personality! A more outgoing character could have more flashy details, while a more introverted character has more subtle or less-noticeable details!

Some ideas for unique details based on personality could be:

• Glowing wings for a more extroverted OC
• Small arm patterns for a more introverted OC
• Extra limbs for a more extroverted OC
• An abnormal eye color for a more introverted OC

Personality can be a fun way to incorporate unique design choices to your characters! Even things like whether your character is a hero or a villain could be incorporated into the design! Maybe a hero has more flashy light details like glowing eyes or tattoos, while a villain has dark details like a black ombre on their fingers or shadow-like hair!

You could use unique details that are opposite of the character’s personality too! Maybe an introvert OC can’t stay as hidden as they’d like because they have unique features that make them stand out! Or, maybe an extrovert has a secret they’re hiding, so they have markings on their skin that they keep hidden! A villain could have bright details that make them seem innocent, while a hero might have sharp details that make them seem more dangerous than they are!

What purpose will the details serve for your OC?

It’s fun to add cool details, well, for fun! But…Sometimes it’s good to have a reason behind a specific design choice too! You might want to think of why your character has certain details as part of their design!

When choosing special details for your OC, you’ll want to consider what makes it unique! Was that character born with wings, or were they enchanted by a wizard? Is that OC’s scar the result of an epic battle…or was it from a silly accident? You could incorporate your OC’s backstory into the details, or craft it into the current story! Maybe a character doesn’t start the story with cool features, but they gain them as the story goes on and they grow! Some ideas for incorporating your OC’s special features into the story could be:

• They were born with mysterious powers and features
• They were enchanted by an evil wizard
• They were granted power by a fairy
• They were cursed during a magic battle

Making character design choices go hand in hand with your character’s backstory can be fun, and make your story and designs feel more coherent! Details can say a lot about your character, without saying anything at all! They could hint at the future, or hint at the past…or both! You’ll also want to decide what function the details have, if any. Does the detail help the character in some way? Provide magic powers, or something similar? Details that actually help the character can be a fun addition to a story!

Not every aspect of your character needs an explanation, especially if it’s a feature that’s just natural to the world itself! Sometimes you just want to make a character look cool, and that’s perfectly fine! However, you don’t want too many details that don’t provide any kind of purpose! 

A good example of unique details and their purpose would be Batty’s OC Clementine! Clementine has special hair that functions like another limb!

Another good example of using purpose for unique details would be Ember’s OC Asher! Asher’s horns and fiery hair go alongside the powers he gained!

Keep your OC’s design balanced!

It’s easy to think that more unique details will help your character stand out, and want to add more! However, you don’t want to add too many unnecessary details! You’ll want to make sure your OC has a balanced design. Enough details to help them stand out, but not too much to the point of making the design cluttered and confusing. 

Just like how it’s good to give design details purpose or some sort of backstory, you’ll want to make sure you keep the important details, and avoid adding too many insignificant ones! Adding too much detail can confuse both your audience, and yourself too! You might forget details while drawing if there’s too many to keep track of! Here’s some questions you can think of when making sure your OC’s design is balanced:

• Does the detail provide hints about backstory?
• Does it have some other kind of lore to it?
• Is the detail useful to the character?
• Will I remember to add in the detail while drawing the character, or will I forget?
• Does the detail make the design cluttered, or is it just enough?

Thinking about how you can keep an OC’s design balanced will help both your audience, and you! It’s easy to forget details when drawing a character that has a lot of little features, and it can get tedious to draw after a while. (I am guilty of this with my own characters…Don’t tell anyone though…)

Designs with lots of detail can be fun to draw, and it’s perfectly fine to have characters that have designs like that! However, you want to make sure there’s not too much visual clutter, and make sure the design doesn’t get frustrating to draw after a while. Especially if you plan on drawing a comic or animating your character! 

A good example of a unique, but balanced design would be Vee’s OC V! V has a very recognizable and cool design that has a nice balance to it!

Another good example would be Bug’s OC Ren! Ren has a few different details that makes them stand out among other characters, but not too many either!

What does your OC’s group look like?

When choosing unique details for your OC, you’ll also want to think about what the characters around them look like! Your character won’t seem very unique if they look like everyone else in the cast of your story! You’ll also want to make sure they fit into the group, and don’t stick out too much where they don’t feel harmonious with the rest of the group!

You’ll want to make sure your character’s unique details make it easy to identify them in their group! If every character in the group has glowing hair, it might be hard to tell who’s who! However, if each one’s hair glows a different color, it makes them easy to identify! Or, maybe one’s with certain powers have glowing hair! You can make the group look coherent, while giving each member a unique feature too! Some ideas for this could be:

• Each member has a different kind of animal feature
• Each member has a different part of their design that glows
• Each member has a different motif to their design
• Each member has a different pattern as part of their design

There’s lots of ways you can make your OC fit in with the rest of their group, and lots of ways you can make them stand out at the same time! Thinking about how your OC’s design will look amongst a group of characters is another way to help a story and cast feel more consistent or coherent! 

There’s lots of different ways to go about choosing unique features or details for an OC! Thinking about the purpose it serves, your OC’s personality, their group, are all ways you can use to try and decide! The most important thing to remember though…is to have fun with it! It’s your character, and your story…So you get to decide what you want to do!