Small Details That Make a Big Difference in OC Design

This is part of our design series on How to make an OC! – the ultimate guide to character building.

Have you ever created a character, but felt like they needed something to really make their design stand out? Adding unique features to an OC can help create a design that’s both interesting and unique.

Choose a Rich Setting

First and foremost, try to consider the area the story takes place in. As cool as it would be, you probably won’t find someone with shining eyes or wings in a story that takes place in a realistic world. That doesn’t mean your character can’t have unique elements in their design though! They might just be more natural features that are seen in real life.

The setting can help determine what kind of details you could add. An OC 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 features. Some unique OC ideas for details based on story setting could be:

• A robot arm for a sci-fi world
• Glowing freckles for a fantasy world
• A hook hand for a pirate-filled world

If a 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.

While you can use the worldbuilding to make your character’s details seem more natural to the world, another option is to give your OC something that wouldn’t be expected of the world. Maybe somebody has a robotic limb in ancient times because they’re a time traveler, or maybe one has sparkly freckles because they’re secretly a fairy. If you want some ideas on building the setting and other aspects of your story, there’s an awesome article on genre-based worldbuilding.

Use Personality to Choose OC Details

Another thing to consider is the demeanor of your character. There’s plenty of ways to use personality to your advantage while creating an OC. Different design choices could show off certain aspects of a character's temperament. A loud and brash OC could have more flashy features, while a nervous and quiet OC might have subtle or less-noticeable details. Aspects like whether they're a hero or a villain could also be incorporated into the design. Maybe a hero has bright characteristics like shining markings or tattoos, while a villain has dark aspects like a black ombre on their fingers or shadow-like hair. 

You could use unique features that are opposite of the character’s traits too. Maybe an introvert can’t stay as hidden as they’d like because they have glowing antlers. An extrovert might have a secret they’re hiding, so they could have markings on their skin that they keep hidden. A villain could have brightly colored hair that makes them seem innocent, while a hero might have sharp horns that make them seem more dangerous than they are. If you need some unique OC ideas based around personality, you could try:

• Bright wings for a more outgoing OC
• Small arm patterns for a shy character
• Extra limbs for a more extroverted OC

Sometimes, writing lore can also help showcase an OCs personality. We have an article on how to write compelling lore if you want to do just that.

Give Features Purpose

It’s nice to add cool features just for fun. That being said, sometimes it’s good to have a reason behind a specific design choice too. Try to think of why a character has certain details as part of their design. When choosing special details for an OC, you’ll want to consider what makes it unique. You could incorporate backstory into the features or craft it into the current story. Maybe the OC doesn't start the story with cool physical characteristics, but they gain them as the story goes on and they grow. 

Making design choices go hand in hand with your character’s backstory can be fun and make your story and designs more coherent. Details can say a lot about them, 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 their physical attributes have, if any. Here’s some ideas for incorporating an OC’s special features into a story:

• They were born with mysterious powers that gave them fingers with a color gradient
• They were enchanted by an evil wizard and now they have feathers instead of hair
• They were granted power by a fairy and now they have flower markings on their arms
• They were cursed during a magic battle and now they have dark scleras

It’s easy to think that more unique features will help a character stand out, and it might be tempting to add more. However, you don’t want to add too much to a design. Adding too much can confuse your audience – and yourself too! It’s easy to forget elements of a design when drawing a character that has a lot of little details. Check for too much visual clutter and make sure the OC doesn’t get frustrating to draw after a while, especially if you plan on drawing a comic or animating. 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 it useful to the character?
• Will I remember to add in the detail while drawing the OC, or will I forget?
• Does it make the design cluttered, or is it just enough?

Design a Cohesive Group

When choosing unique features for your OC, you’ll also want to think about what the characters around them look like. A character won’t seem as interesting if they look like everyone else in the 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 members.

A character’s attributes should make it easy to identify them while around others. If everyone in the group has bioluminescent hair, it might be hard to tell who’s who. However, if each one’s hair glows a different color, it makes them easier to differentiate. You can make the group look coherent, while giving each member something that's special to their appearance. Some ideas for keeping design aspects harmonious with a group:

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

Share Your OC on Unvale

There’s lots of different ways to go about choosing features that make an OC stand out. Thinking about the purpose it serves, your OC’s personality, and how they fit with their group are all ways you can use to try and decide on a character’s special attributes. The most important thing to remember though – is to have fun with it! It’s your character, and your story, so pick what will be fun for you.

Once you’ve finished giving your OCs unique features, share them with us on Unvale. We’d love to see your awesome characters!