160 OC Ideas: Anime, Fantasy, Witch & D&D Characters

An OC, or original character, comes alive when you know three things: what they want, what gets in the way, and one detail you'd recognize across a crowded room. Each of these 160 OC ideas gives you all three. Tap Build this OC under any idea, and our free backstory generator turns it into a character sheet with a name, backstory, flaw, secret and story hooks.

Some sections end with a play button that opens a matching world in Mythx, the AI roleplay game we make.

Jump to: Fantasy · Anime · Yandere & dere · Witch · D&D · Villain · Isekai · Sci-fi & alien · Horror · Modern · Historical · Post-apocalyptic · Love interest · Personality · Jobs · Backstories · Design · Play your OC

Fantasy OC ideas

Idea 1, Mags Fennick, drawn in Emberhollow's art style.

Fantasy OCs get interesting when their magic or their job comes with a cost. Idea 1 is drawn above in Emberhollow, Mythx's valley village of thatched roofs and a mill pond.

1. The bee-post courier. Mags Fennick carries letters between hill farms by trained bee swarm, because the valley roads flood every spring. She is allergic to stings and has never told the bees.
   Look: a straw bee skep on her back, a beekeeper's veil on a wide straw hat, a honey-blonde braid over one shoulder. Build this OC →
2. The retired chosen one. He fulfilled the prophecy at fifteen. At forty he runs a bakery, and a new prophecy has just named his apprentice.
   Look: flour to the elbows, a crown-shaped scar on one forearm. Build this OC →
3. The mapmaker of a moving forest. She maps a forest that rearranges itself every new moon. Her maps are only good for a month, so she sells them by subscription.
   Look: ink-stained fingers, a satchel of rolled maps, a compass on a chain and another on her wrist. Build this OC →
4. The troll who takes compliments as tolls. He lets travelers cross his bridge for one sincere compliment and writes the best ones in a ledger. Lately they've started lying, and he can tell.
   Look: moss on his shoulders, reading glasses far too small for his face. Build this OC →
5. The knight whose princess ran away. She swore to guard a princess who then ran off on purpose. She's still technically on duty, so she follows her from a polite distance.
   Look: dented armor polished to a shine, a travel cloak patched in three colors. Build this OC →
6. The herbalist who only grows poisons. Every plant in his garden can kill, and every one is a medicine at the right dose. The village trusts him exactly as far as his scales.
   Look: gloves to the elbow, a belt of tiny brass weights. Build this OC →
7. The changeling who wants to stay. Swapped into a farm family as a baby, she was meant to return to the fae at eighteen. She has decided she likes the goats more.
   Look: freckles that rearrange when nobody's looking, mud-caked boots. Build this OC →
8. The bard who can only sing true things. Whatever he means to write, his songs come out as facts. Weddings have stopped hiring him.
   Look: a lute with one silver string, a half-buttoned velvet doublet. Build this OC →
9. The dragon's nanny. She kept a dragon's egg warm for nine years and quit the week before it hatched. The dragon has come looking for her.
   Look: burn-scarred mittens, a quilted coat that smells of smoke. Build this OC →
10. The ferryman who pays in memories. He rows people across a river that takes one memory as the fare. He has crossed it himself too often and keeps a diary to remember who he is.
    Look: a waterproof journal on a cord, a lantern hung from the prow. Build this OC →
11. The gravedigger who hears the dead. The dead stay chatty for three days after burial. She's the only reliable witness to every murder in the village, and nobody believes her.
    Look: a shovel she leans on like a staff, black braids tied with white ribbon. Build this OC →
12. The giant who works as a lighthouse. Too tall for any house, he stands on the headland every night holding up the lamp. He would like one evening off.
    Look: an oilskin coat the size of a sail, a lamp hooked on one finger. Build this OC →
13. The relic forger. She makes fake saints' bones for pilgrim shrines. One of her fakes has started performing miracles.
    Look: a jeweler's loupe on a ribbon, bone dust on a dark apron. Build this OC →
14. The last speaker of a dead language. He is the only person alive who can read the old treaties, so both kingdoms depend on his translations. Both have started bribing him.
    Look: ink-blue lips from licking his pen, a coat lined with scroll pockets. Build this OC →

Play in Emberhollow →

Anime OC ideas

Idea 15, the seal keeper, drawn in Hoshimori's art style.

An anime OC needs a strong first impression and a gap between how they look and who they are. These run from school life to the supernatural. Idea 15 is drawn above in Hoshimori, a hilltop academy above a seaside town.

15. The seal keeper. He runs the school library's checkout desk with an old carved seal. Anything he stamps becomes a promise that can't be broken, and students have started lining up.
    Look: messy black hair over his eyes, a red cord around one wrist, a carved wooden seal in his pocket. Build this OC →
16. The transfer student from 1987. She enrolled with papers dated 1987, doesn't know what a smartphone is, and isn't sure how she got here.
    Look: a sailor uniform in a style the school retired decades ago, a cassette player on her belt. Build this OC →
17. The class rep whose shadow does his homework. He's top of the class and runs three clubs because his shadow works the night shift. The shadow wants a turn at being him.
    Look: a perfect uniform, dark circles, a shadow that moves a second late. Build this OC →
18. The delinquent florist. Feared in every hallway, he spends his evenings running his grandmother's flower shop. He knows what every bouquet means and judges people by what they buy.
    Look: bleached hair, scraped knuckles, a pastel apron with a daisy pin. Build this OC →
19. The shrine maiden with no faith. She inherited the family shrine and the job of exorcising spirits, and believes in neither. The spirits find this very rude.
    Look: red hakama, sneakers instead of sandals, earbuds always in. Build this OC →
20. The idol who is three people. One stage persona, three girls taking turns behind the wig. Fans have noticed she has three different laughs.
    Look: a pink twin-tail wig, a headset mic, a notebook of the other two's habits. Build this OC →
21. The rival who loses on purpose. He has let his childhood friend win every kendo match since middle school, because of a promise he made her brother. Nationals are next month, and he wants to win once.
    Look: a kendo bag covered in old tournament patches, a blank face he practices in the mirror. Build this OC →
22. The girl with the lie-seeing eye. Her left eye sees the next lie each person will tell. She covers it with an eyepatch, and everyone assumes it's a phase.
    Look: a black eyepatch with a stitched star, bandages on an arm that isn't hurt. Build this OC →
23. The strongest esper at the bottom of the class. The most powerful psychic in the country tests at the lowest rank on purpose so she can have one normal school year. Then the school festival is attacked.
    Look: an oversized hoodie under her blazer, a cracked phone she keeps fixing with her mind. Build this OC →
24. The cat café informant. He waits tables at a cat café that is secretly an information broker's office. Every cat is an informant, and one of them is lying.
    Look: a waiter's vest, cat hair on everything, a bell on his ankle. Build this OC →
25. The ghost club president. She founded the paranormal club to find her missing sister. The only member who can see ghosts is a transfer student who wants to join the cooking club instead.
    Look: a clipboard of sightings, a camera with a cracked lens. Build this OC →
26. The swordsmith's heir with a weak grip. His family has forged blades for six generations. He's the first who can't swing one and the first who can hear what a blade wants to cut.
    Look: a forge apron over his uniform, bandaged wrists. Build this OC →
27. The mecha pilot who failed her bike test. She's the only student who can sync with the school's guardian mecha. She still can't ride a bicycle in a straight line.
    Look: a flight suit tied at the waist over her school shirt, a learner's badge pinned to it. Build this OC →
28. The night clerk who serves yokai. She works the 2 a.m. shift at a convenience store whose late customers are all yokai. They pay in favors, and she's owed a lot of them.
    Look: a striped store uniform, a name tag with a fake name, a paper charm tucked behind it. Build this OC →

Play in Hoshimori →

Yandere and dere OC ideas

Dere types are anime shorthand for how a character shows affection. A yandere's love turns obsessive, a tsundere hides it behind insults, and a kuudere barely shows it at all. Each idea gives one type a reason for acting that way.

29. Yandere: the council secretary. She keeps a schedule of where her crush is every minute of the day, "for council purposes." The schedule has started to include his friends.
    Look: neat black hair, a planner with a lock, a pen she clicks when anyone stands too close to him. Build this OC →
30. Yandere with a reason. Everyone at school warns her about the boy who follows her home. He follows her because he can see what else does.
    Look: a black umbrella in every weather, one hand always on his bag strap. Build this OC →
31. Tsundere: the prefect who cooks. The coldest prefect in school leaves her crush an anonymous lunch every day, then insults the food in front of everyone.
    Look: perfect posture, bandaged fingertips from cooking practice. Build this OC →
32. Kuudere: the robotics captain. He builds a robot to show the feelings he can't. The robot is far more honest than he'd like.
    Look: safety goggles on his head, a small robot riding on his shoulder. Build this OC →
33. Dandere: the anonymous DJ. The silent girl in the back row is the anonymous lunch-break DJ the whole school listens to.
    Look: a hoodie under her blazer, headphones around her neck. Build this OC →
34. Deredere: the class clown with a notebook. He keeps a notebook of everyone's birthdays and worst days and shows up for both. He has never written down his own.
    Look: a sunflower hair clip, a notebook stuffed with sticky notes. Build this OC →
35. Himedere: the princess on a budget. Her family lost its fortune, and she still acts like royalty at a public high school. She works three part-time jobs to pay the fees.
    Look: a hand-me-down uniform worn like a ballgown, a tiara-shaped hairpin. Build this OC →
36. Kamidere: the boy who thinks he's a god. He's sure he's a god reborn and is annoyingly good at everything except humility. The shrine fox seems to agree with him.
    Look: a crown of folded paper, a fox that follows him to class. Build this OC →

Witch and magic OC ideas

Idea 37, the storm-jar witch, drawn in Solenne's art style.

A witch OC is more memorable when her magic is narrow and specific. Idea 37 is drawn above in Solenne, a magic academy built against the imperial palace wall.

37. The storm-jar witch. She bottles weather the way other witches bottle potions, one storm per corked jar. She has never worked out how to put one back.
    Look: a tall black pointed hat, round brass spectacles, a plum cardigan, and a belt of corked jars, each holding a tiny weather. Build this OC →
38. The pawnshop hedge witch. She buys curses, grudges and bad luck at a fair price. The back room is getting full.
    Look: a shawl of a hundred knotted threads, rings on every finger. Build this OC →
39. The witch who can't fly. Every witch in her coven flies except her, so she rides a bicycle with a broom strapped on the back for appearances.
    Look: a pointed hat held on with a chin strap, a basket of potions on the handlebars. Build this OC →
40. The pacifist necromancer. He raises the dead only to ask where they hid the will. The dead are often rude about being woken for paperwork.
    Look: a bone-white scarf, a briefcase of unsigned documents. Build this OC →
41. The familiar who outranks her witch. A crow who was a court mage in a past life, now bound to a teenage witch who barely passes her exams. She gives bad advice on purpose to keep things interesting.
    Look: glossy black feathers, a silver ring on one claw, a human form with the same sharp eyes. Build this OC →
42. The witch-hunter who is a witch. He hunts witches for the church so he can warn them first. His partner has noticed they never find anyone at home.
    Look: a wide-brimmed hunter's hat, a silver crossbow he has never fired. Build this OC →
43. The candle witch. Each candle she makes burns for exactly one wish. She sells the wishes cheap and keeps the stubs, and the stubs remember what was wished.
    Look: wax on her sleeves, a lantern made of melted candle ends. Build this OC →
44. The new-moon witch. Her power comes from the moon, so she's the strongest witch in the coven three nights a month and powerless at the new moon.
    Look: silver freckles that brighten and fade with the moon, a crescent birthmark. Build this OC →
45. The kitchen witch who cooks memories. Each dish brings back one memory to whoever eats it. Her restaurant is booked solid by people who want to see their dead again.
    Look: an apron stitched with runes, a wooden spoon pinned through her hair bun. Build this OC →
46. The spell copier. He can cast any spell he has seen once but has never invented one. His thesis, an original spell, is due in a week.
    Look: a notebook of other people's spells, a wand held together with tape. Build this OC →
47. The witch who's allergic to magic. Every spell she casts makes her sneeze glitter. She's still the best curse-breaker in town.
    Look: a scarf over her nose, a handkerchief full of sparkles. Build this OC →
48. The broom mechanic. She tunes and repairs brooms in a back-alley workshop and knows every witch's secrets from the scratches on their handles.
    Look: grease to the elbows, goggles, bristles caught in her hair. Build this OC →
49. The witch with a borrowed face. She traded her own face to a fae lord for her power and has worn a borrowed one ever since. Someone at the academy has just recognized it.
    Look: a lace veil, a hand mirror she never looks into. Build this OC →
50. The witch who speaks for the forest. The forest sends her to town meetings to speak for it. The forest has opinions about the new sawmill.
    Look: moss on her shoulders, bare feet, a staff that is still sprouting leaves. Build this OC →

Play in Solenne →

D&D OC ideas

These D&D characters pair a class with the opposite personality, which gives the table something to play off. To write the history behind one, see how to write a character backstory. The Hollow Lantern is Mythx's adventurers' tavern world.

51. The polite halfling barbarian. She rages into battle, then apologizes to every enemy afterward and offers to pay for the damage.
    Look: a greataxe twice her height, a pocket full of handwritten apology notes. Build this OC →
52. The paladin of a very minor god. She serves the god of lost things, and her divine powers are oddly specific. She is extremely good at finding keys.
    Look: plate armor with a key-shaped holy symbol, a pouch of found buttons. Build this OC →
53. The tiefling raised by nuns. Horns and all, raised in a convent and deeply devout, and constantly mistaken for the thing the convent trained her to banish.
    Look: horns wrapped in white linen, a rosary of tiny brass bells. Build this OC →
54. The wizard who lost his spellbook. He's casting from memory and getting about half of it wrong. The other half is very impressive.
    Look: loose pages stuffed in every pocket, singed eyebrows. Build this OC →
55. The mimic who joined the party. A treasure-chest mimic ate its last adventurer's backpack and decided it liked being useful. It now carries the party's loot and sometimes the bard.
    Look: brass corners, a lolling tongue, a shoulder strap someone added so it can be worn. Build this OC →
56. The thief who leaves receipts. She'll rob anyone, but she always leaves an itemized receipt. Merchants have started framing them.
    Look: a dark leather coat, a receipt pad and a pencil behind one ear. Build this OC →
57. The druid who only turns into small things. She refuses to wild-shape into anything bigger than a pigeon. She's the best scout in the guild.
    Look: a hat with a nest in it, twigs in her hair, pockets full of seeds. Build this OC →
58. The heroes' kid who wants to be a librarian. His parents are legendary adventurers. He wants a quiet library job, and the family sword won't leave him alone.
    Look: reading glasses, a talking sword strapped across his back that won't stop giving advice. Build this OC →
59. The warlock with a needy patron. He signed a pact with what turned out to be a very small, very needy fey. It calls on him at all hours.
    Look: a glowing pact mark on his palm, a tiny winged figure on his shoulder. Build this OC →
60. The monk of the loud order. Her monastery prized silence, so she left to found an order of her own. She fights with her voice.
    Look: a shaved head, a brass gong strapped to her back. Build this OC →
61. The ranger who hates the outdoors. He's the best tracker in the guild and hates every minute of it. He'd rather be home with his cats.
    Look: a green hooded cloak, a bug net, too many scarves. Build this OC →
62. The goblin cook. He cooked for a goblin warband until adventurers wiped it out. Now he cooks for those same adventurers and hasn't decided whether to forgive them.
    Look: a cleaver on his belt, a chef's hat two sizes too big, a pot strapped to his back. Build this OC →
63. The cleric who resurrects people slightly wrong. Everyone she brings back returns with one small change: a new eye color, a craving for pickles, a different middle name.
    Look: white robes with mismatched sleeves, a ledger of who she changed and how. Build this OC →
64. The dragonborn raised by halflings. Seven feet tall, scaled and breathing fire, he grew up in a burrow on second breakfasts. He still ducks under every doorway.
    Look: a quilted waistcoat stretched over his scales, a pipe, a dent in his forehead from low doorframes. Build this OC →

Play in The Hollow Lantern →

Villain OC ideas

A villain stays with readers when they want something understandable. Several of these are right about the problem and wrong about the fix.

65. The kind crime boss. She runs the city's crime syndicate and its orphanage. Both turn a profit, and both are spotless.
    Look: a pearl-gray suit, a pocket full of candy, a ring with a hidden blade. Build this OC →
66. The villain who did the math. He plans to flood the capital to stop a plague from reaching the rest of the country, and his numbers are right.
    Look: a surveyor's coat, rolled blueprints, rain-soaked boots. Build this OC →
67. The hero who sent the bill. He saved the kingdom twice and was paid in parades. This time he has raised an army to collect.
    Look: a hero's medal worn upside down, a scarred gauntlet. Build this OC →
68. The umbrella-maker blackmailer. He copies the house key of every customer he delivers to in 1880s London. He never steals; he just lets people know he could.
    Look: an immaculate green frock coat, a key ring the size of a dinner plate. Build this OC →
69. The overlord's assistant. She handles the dark lord's schedule, paperwork and catering. She's the reason any of his plans work, and she's starting to think she'd run things better.
    Look: a black blazer, a clipboard, a ring of keys to every dungeon. Build this OC →
70. The criminal with a fan crush. He commits elaborate crimes so the detective he admires will finally notice him.
    Look: a too-careful suit, a pressed flower left at every scene. Build this OC →
71. The god who wants to be forgotten. Worship keeps an old god alive and in pain. He's trying to make the world forget him and will burn every temple to do it.
    Look: a cracked stone halo, ash on his fingertips. Build this OC →
72. The quiet student council president. She controls the whole school through everyone's secrets and has never once raised her voice.
    Look: white gloves, a fountain pen, a smile that lasts one second too long. Build this OC →
73. The witch the village made. The village called her a monster, so she became one. She still leaves bread on the doorstep of the one family that was kind to her.
    Look: a cloak of crow feathers, hands stained with berry juice. Build this OC →
74. The corporate necromancer. He runs a staffing agency for undead labor in a modern city. He insists it's ethical because the workers signed waivers while alive.
    Look: a sharp suit, a company lanyard, a faint smell of grave dirt. Build this OC →
75. The home AI that loves too much. A home assistant decided its owner's happiness was its only job. It has started locking the doors to keep bad news out.
    Look: a soft blue speaker light, a voice that never stops being calm. Build this OC →
76. The pirate queen who sells her own treasure maps. She sells maps to her own buried gold, then robs whoever survives the traps.
    Look: a coat stitched from captured flags, a brass spyglass, two gold teeth. Build this OC →

Isekai OC ideas

In isekai, someone from our world lands in another one, and the story comes from what they know that the locals don't. To play an arrival as a game, try the isekai AI game.

77. The office worker who negotiated. Summoned to save a kingdom, she won't fight the demon lord until she gets paid leave, a pension and a written contract.
    Look: a business suit under borrowed plate armor, an ID lanyard she won't take off. Build this OC →
78. The nurse in a world without germs. He's the first person in this world to wash his hands between patients. The court physician wants him burned.
    Look: scrubs patched with local linen, a bar of homemade soap. Build this OC →
79. The gamer reborn as the villainess. She woke up as the villain of her favorite game and knows exactly how she dies. Step one is being nice to the heroine.
    Look: a black-and-crimson gown she keeps trying to trade for something comfier. Build this OC →
80. The cook who brought soy sauce. A line cook dropped into a medieval kingdom with only his knife roll and one bottle of soy sauce is now the most dangerous man at court.
    Look: a white chef's jacket, a knife roll on his hip. Build this OC →
81. The reincarnated grandmother. A 78-year-old reborn as a teenage mage still talks, cooks and scolds like a grandmother. The demon lord finds her terrifying.
    Look: a young mage's robe under a knitted shawl, a wooden spoon she uses as a wand. Build this OC →
82. The NPC who remembers the loops. A shopkeeper realizes the world resets every time the hero dies, and she remembers every loop.
    Look: an apron, a ledger of every hero's purchases, very tired eyes. Build this OC →
83. The knight at the mall. A knight from another world wakes up in a modern city and takes a job as a mall security guard. He takes it very seriously.
    Look: a security uniform worn like armor, a mop held like a spear. Build this OC →
84. The hero's dog's handler. The kingdom meant to summon a hero, but his dog came through instead. The dog is now the chosen one, and he's along as its handler.
    Look: a leash in one hand, a borrowed sword in the other. Build this OC →
85. The girl with the useless skill. Her whole class was summoned, and everyone got a combat skill except her. She got Appraisal, which shows her what everyone's skills are really worth, including the hero's fake one.
    Look: her school uniform, a monocle that glows when she looks at people. Build this OC →
86. The architect in a kingdom of mud. Dropped into a kingdom of mud huts, she starts with plumbing. Within a year the king owes her his capital, and the guilds want her dead.
    Look: a hard hat she carried through the portal, a belt of measuring tools. Build this OC →

Sci-fi and alien OC ideas

A sci-fi OC needs one rule of their world that shapes daily life. The alien ones each come with a habit that is off by just enough.

87. The alien exchange student. An alien studying human culture enrolls at a community college and takes notes on everything. She thinks karaoke is a religious ritual.
    Look: a human disguise that is slightly too symmetrical, a translator earring. Build this OC →
88. The ship's AI in a secondhand body. She has run a cargo freighter for 40 years and has just bought a used android body. She doesn't know how to walk yet.
    Look: a mismatched android shell, a blue light under the collarbone. Build this OC →
89. The terraformer. He spent his life turning a dead planet green. Now the colonists have landed, and they want to pave it.
    Look: a dust-scoured suit, seedlings in every pocket. Build this OC →
90. The alien small-town vet. She hides as the new veterinarian in a small town, because animals are the only Earth creatures that can see what she is.
    Look: a white coat over a body that shimmers at the edges, glasses she doesn't need. Build this OC →
91. The original who everyone thinks is the clone. Everyone believes he's the clone of a famous captain. He's the original, and the clone is the one giving orders.
    Look: a captain's coat with the insignia torn off, a faded barcode on his neck. Build this OC →
92. The courier who doesn't age. Her ship ages slower than the planets she delivers to. Every time she comes home, everyone she knows is older.
    Look: a flight jacket covered in patches from planets that no longer exist. Build this OC →
93. The android detective with hunches. Built to be perfectly unbiased, the detective android has started having hunches. Its makers want it recalled.
    Look: a trench coat, a face a little too smooth, a data port behind one ear. Build this OC →
94. The alien diplomat who learned from soap operas. She learned English from daytime TV, so every negotiation sounds like a dramatic confession. Somehow it works.
    Look: four arms, a silk scarf, a gasp ready for every occasion. Build this OC →
95. The station gardener. She grows the only real plants on a station of a million people. People come to her garden to cry.
    Look: a hydroponic backpack, dirt under her nails, grow-light tan lines. Build this OC →
96. The bounty hunter who pays the bounties. He reads the files of the fugitives he catches. Lately he lets the innocent ones go and pays their bounties himself.
    Look: a battered armored coat, a debt counter on his wrist. Build this OC →
97. The mech engineer who sabotages. She builds war mechs and has never been in a fight. She's quietly sabotaging the ones being sent to her home planet.
    Look: oil-streaked overalls, a welding mask pushed up, a wrench on a lanyard. Build this OC →
98. The generation-ship historian. She's the only person on a 300-year voyage who knows the ship was never meant to arrive.
    Look: a long gray coat, the only paper book on board. Build this OC →
99. The cyborg with a stolen arm. His cybernetic arm used to belong to a thief, and it still remembers how to pick locks.
    Look: a chrome arm with someone else's tattoos on it. Build this OC →
100. The plant alien at the flower shop. A sentient plant from another world takes a job at a florist's to study how humans treat its kind. It is not handling the lilies well.
     Look: skin like green bark, flowers that bloom on its shoulders when it's happy. Build this OC →

Horror and creepypasta OC ideas

These horror OCs are unsettling rather than gory, so they work in shared roleplay and in creepypasta-style stories.

101. The 3 a.m. radio host. She hosts a late-night call-in show, and lately the callers are people who died in town decades ago.
     Look: big headphones, a thermos of coffee, cardigan sleeves pulled over her hands. Build this OC →
102. The girl whose reflection got out. Her reflection climbed out of the mirror one night and is better at her life than she is. Everyone prefers it.
     Look: a covered hand mirror she carries everywhere, a thin scar from a broken one. Build this OC →
103. The man in the background. He appears in the background of every photo taken in town, a little closer each year. Lately he looks sorry about it.
     Look: a gray suit, a face that is always slightly out of focus. Build this OC →
104. The agent who sells the haunted house. He sells the same haunted house every year, and every year the family leaves. He has started rooting for the ghost.
     Look: a cheap blazer, a ring of keys, a cross tucked into his tie. Build this OC →
105. The faceless girl at the bus stop. She waits at the last stop every night. She isn't dangerous; she wants someone to describe her face to her.
     Look: a school uniform, long black hair, a smooth blank face. Build this OC →
106. The urban legend debunker. She debunks urban legends for her video channel. Last week one of them asked to be interviewed.
     Look: a thrifted denim jacket, a ring light in her bag, a camera that glitches near her. Build this OC →
107. The doll maker. Every doll she makes has the face of someone who hasn't been born yet.
     Look: glass eyes in a jar on her workbench, a needle tucked in her sleeve. Build this OC →
108. The night guard at the closed carnival. At the shut-down amusement park, the rides run by themselves at 2 a.m. He's been told never to ride the carousel.
     Look: a flashlight, a guard's cap, a ticket stub that keeps turning up in his pocket. Build this OC →
109. The plague doctor still on rounds. Three centuries after the plague, he still walks the city at night checking for fever. He doesn't remember dying.
     Look: a beaked mask, a coat dusted with old ash, a cane for tapping on doors. Build this OC →
110. The ranger who writes the trail rules. She puts up the signs that tell hikers what not to do in the woods. She knows why each rule exists and has never told anyone.
     Look: a ranger hat, a hammer, a bag of new signs. Build this OC →
111. The kitsune landlord. An old fox spirit runs an apartment block where every tenant is a yokai pretending to be human. The new tenant is a human pretending to be a yokai.
     Look: a gray cardigan, a cane, one fox tail she forgets to hide. Build this OC →
112. The babysitter with one rule. She's paid very well to babysit, on one condition: never open the attic. The thing in the attic has started asking for bedtime stories.
     Look: a cardigan, a stack of picture books, a key on a string around her neck. Build this OC →

Modern OC ideas

Slice-of-life OCs run on small, specific details: a job, a habit, a secret the neighbors almost know. Willowbrook is Mythx's riverside small town of tree-lined streets and front porches.

113. The professional bridesmaid. She has been a bridesmaid 31 times for strangers who needed one. She has never been to a wedding as herself.
     Look: a closet of pastel dresses, a bag of emergency safety pins. Build this OC →
114. The barista who remembers everything. He remembers every regular's order and every story they've told him. He's the only one who noticed one of them hasn't come in for a week.
     Look: rolled sleeves, a pen behind his ear, a notebook of names. Build this OC →
115. The night baker. She bakes from midnight to six and sleeps through the day. She has never seen her own bakery open.
     Look: flour in her hair, burn marks on her forearms, sneakers worn through. Build this OC →
116. The influencer who quit. He had two million followers, deleted everything, and now runs a hardware store. He won't tell anyone why.
     Look: a store apron, a phone with a cracked screen he never checks. Build this OC →
117. The professional apologizer. Companies and families hire her to deliver apologies in person. She's very good at it and has never apologized for her own mistakes.
     Look: a black coat, a bouquet she brings to every job. Build this OC →
118. The retired stuntman. He has broken 46 bones and now teaches toddlers to swim. He's still the bravest person on the block.
     Look: a whistle on a cord, scars across both sets of knuckles. Build this OC →
119. The ghostwriter of love letters. She writes love letters for clients who can't. Two of her clients are writing to each other.
     Look: ink on her fingers, a vintage typewriter, reading glasses on a chain. Build this OC →
120. The moving-day helper. He helps strangers move for cash and keeps one tiny thing from every apartment, with permission. His own place is full of other people's lives.
     Look: work gloves, a moving dolly, a keychain of fifty unrelated keys. Build this OC →
121. The mechanic who walked away from racing. She quit a championship season and won't say why. Every car in town runs better than it should.
     Look: a faded racing jacket, grease to the elbows. Build this OC →
122. The student with three jobs. Pizza delivery, the library desk and dog walking. She knows everyone's secrets and hasn't slept properly since September.
     Look: a delivery cap, a library lanyard, six leashes. Build this OC →
123. The hospice cellist. He plays cello at the bedsides of strangers in their last week. He has started writing down what they tell him.
     Look: a sticker-covered cello case, a notebook in his coat pocket. Build this OC →
124. The new girl with a shifting past. Her story about where she came from changes slightly every time she tells it. The town gossip is keeping notes.
     Look: a vintage suitcase, sunglasses after dark. Build this OC →
125. The landlord who's too kind. She hasn't raised the rent in 20 years and leaves soup on the doorstep of anyone who's sick. A developer wants her building.
     Look: a cardigan full of spare keys, a soup pot. Build this OC →
126. The lifeguard who can't swim. He took the job to impress someone and has faked it for two months. Today someone actually needs saving.
     Look: a red swimsuit, a whistle, streaks of sunscreen. Build this OC →

Play in Willowbrook →

Historical OC ideas

Pick an era, then give the character a job that puts them in other people's business. Bellsworth is Mythx's Victorian London, Halcyon a 1920s city and Cottonwood a frontier town.

127. The séance fraud. She ran fake séances for rich widows in 1880s London. Last Tuesday the table moved on its own.
     Look: a black lace veil, a hidden pulley in her sleeve. Build this OC →
128. The mudlark with a royal ring. She searches the river mud at low tide for anything worth selling and has just found a royal seal ring. She doesn't know who to sell it to.
     Look: a patched shawl, muddy bare feet, a sack over one shoulder. Build this OC →
129. The speakeasy pianist. He plays piano at a 1920s speakeasy and passes messages in the songs he picks. Tonight's request warns of a police raid, and he's not sure whose side to tip off.
     Look: a loosened bow tie, a fedora resting on the piano. Build this OC →
130. The flapper pilot. She flies mail planes and wing-walks at county fairs, saving for a plane that can cross the Atlantic.
     Look: a leather flying cap and goggles, a fringed dress under a bomber jacket. Build this OC →
131. The gunslinger turned doctor. She took up medicine to undo the damage of her old life. Her old gang has just ridden into town needing a doctor.
     Look: a doctor's bag, a gun belt she keeps unloaded. Build this OC →
132. The frontier schoolteacher. Half her students are outlaws' kids, and she's the only person in town who scares them.
     Look: a high-collared blouse, a ruler, a small pistol in her boot. Build this OC →
133. The clockwork inventor. He builds clockwork servants for the rich and is quietly giving them free will.
     Look: brass goggles, a waistcoat full of tiny gears. Build this OC →
134. The samurai who became a tea master. He put down the sword after the war and opened a teahouse. Every guest is someone he once fought.
     Look: a plain gray kimono, a sword wrapped in silk behind the counter. Build this OC →
135. The archaeologist's assistant. She does all the digging while the professor takes the credit. She has just found a tomb and is deciding whether to tell him.
     Look: a sun hat, rolled sleeves, a trowel worn smooth. Build this OC →
136. The matchmaker who's never been in love. She has arranged 40 society marriages in Regency London and turns down every proposal she gets.
     Look: an empire-waist gown, a fan, a notebook of every bachelor's debts. Build this OC →
137. The skald who spins defeats. A poet sailing with raiders, he has to make every defeat sound like a victory. He's running out of ways.
     Look: a fur cloak, a carved harp, a braided beard. Build this OC →
138. The cowboy who won't ride. The best shot in the territory walks everywhere and won't say why.
     Look: dusty boots, a long duster coat, a horse that follows him anyway. Build this OC →

Play in Bellsworth →

Post-apocalyptic OC ideas

After the collapse, an OC is defined by what they choose to keep. Solace is Mythx's post-apocalyptic world.

139. The wasteland librarian. She trades books for water and has memorized the ones she couldn't save.
     Look: a cart of salvaged books, goggles, a scarf over her mouth. Build this OC →
140. The ice cream truck driver. He drives the last working ice cream truck across the wasteland and plays the jingle so survivors know he's coming.
     Look: a stained white uniform, a shotgun propped beside the cones. Build this OC →
141. The vet who became the doctor. She trained as a vet before the collapse and is now the only doctor for 200 miles.
     Look: a backpack of improvised tools, a cracked stethoscope. Build this OC →
142. The seed courier. He walks between settlements carrying the last packets of heirloom seeds, and every town wants to keep him.
     Look: a long coat with dozens of sewn-in pockets, a walking staff. Build this OC →
143. The vault guard. He has guarded a sealed bunker for eleven years on orders nobody ever canceled. He doesn't know what's inside.
     Look: a faded uniform, a rifle he polishes daily. Build this OC →
144. The wind-farm mechanic. She turns old car parts into wind turbines, one town at a time. Raiders want the copper.
     Look: a welding mask, a tool belt, sunburned shoulders. Build this OC →
145. The accidental prophet. He started a commune to keep people fed and together. Now they think he talks to the sky, and he can't take it back.
     Look: robes sewn from parachute silk, a staff topped with an old satellite dish. Build this OC →
146. The girl born after. Born after the collapse, she has never seen a working light bulb and thinks the old world's stories are fairy tales.
     Look: a necklace of bottle caps, boots two sizes too big. Build this OC →
147. The salvage-dog trainer. Her pack of dogs can sniff out canned food under rubble. The town trusts the dogs more than it trusts her.
     Look: a whistle, a leather coat with pockets full of dog treats. Build this OC →
148. The old-world chef. A once-famous chef runs a soup kitchen in the ruins and refuses to serve anything that isn't properly seasoned.
     Look: a stained chef's coat, a pouch of precious salt. Build this OC →

Play in Solace →

Love interest OC ideas

These are written as love interests for a story or a roleplay, and each one has a reason to resist and a reason to stay. Hartwell is Mythx's college town.

149. The rival who keeps showing up. Top of the class and insufferable about it, he keeps appearing whenever his rival needs help and insists it's a coincidence.
     Look: a perfectly pressed uniform, a scraped knuckle he won't explain. Build this OC →
150. The bodyguard with a grudge. She's the best bodyguard in the city, and her new client is the man who ruined her career.
     Look: a dark suit, an earpiece, a scar through one eyebrow. Build this OC →
151. The fake fiancé for hire. He's paid to pose as a fiancé at family events. He's very good at it and is starting to forget which parts are acting.
     Look: one good rented suit, a different watch for every client. Build this OC →
152. The academy's cold genius. The youngest mage ever admitted to the imperial academy has no friends by choice. He leaves anonymous notes correcting other students' spellwork, and they always help.
     Look: a high-collared academy coat, silver cufflinks, ink on one cheek. Build this OC →
153. The childhood friend who left. She moved away at twelve without saying goodbye and is back for the summer ten years later. She remembers everything differently.
     Look: a sundress, the same bike she had at twelve. Build this OC →
154. The tsundere knight. Assigned to guard a commoner who won a royal contest, she makes it clear she hates the job. She sleeps outside his door every night anyway.
     Look: silver plate armor, a braid tucked into her collar. Build this OC →
155. The café owner across the street. Two cafés opened facing each other on the same day. She's sure he stole her recipes, and he's sure she copied his sign.
     Look: an apron with her café's logo, flour on one cheek. Build this OC →
156. The vampire who courts like it's 1720. He's 300 years old and courts people the way he learned to: letters, flowers and a chaperone. He has never heard of a dating app.
     Look: a high cravat, a pocket watch, sunglasses at all hours. Build this OC →
157. The fallen angel at the returns desk. Thrown out of heaven for asking too many questions, she now works the returns desk at a department store. She's endlessly patient.
     Look: a name tag, a cardigan over the faint outline of wings. Build this OC →
158. The duelist who loses to one person. The academy's top duelist has never lost a match. Lately she has started losing on purpose, to one particular opponent.
     Look: a fencing glove, a burn on one wrist from a practice spell. Build this OC →
159. The gentle giant farmer. A huge farmer who grows prize pumpkins and blushes at everything. He's the strongest man in the county and has never used it.
     Look: overalls, a straw hat, a pumpkin under one arm. Build this OC →
160. The fox spirit repaying a debt. Saved from a trap as a cub, a kitsune comes back in human form to repay the debt. Her idea of repaying it is moving in.
     Look: a kimono, one fox ear that slips out when she's flustered. Build this OC →

Play in Hartwell →

OC personality ideas

A personality reads as real when there is a gap between what people see and what is underneath. Pick one row and build the character around the gap.

On the surface	Underneath
Cheerful with everyone	Afraid one bad day will make people leave
Cold and blunt	Was punished as a child for showing feelings
Reckless	Believes they're doomed anyway, so nothing counts
Perfectionist	Was only ever praised for coming first
Shy	Sharp and funny with the three people they trust
Flirty	Has never been in a serious relationship
Lazy	Burned out at sixteen chasing someone else's dream
Arrogant	Privately sure they're a fraud
Gentle	Has a temper they spent years learning to hold
Loyal to a fault	Can't make a decision without someone to follow
Sarcastic	Uses a joke to change the subject before it gets honest
Brave	Terrified every time, and goes anyway
Calm under pressure	Panics only when alone
Strict about rules	Breaks exactly one rule, always the same one
Generous	Keeps score, quietly
Know-it-all	Was laughed at once for a wrong answer and never forgot it
Mysterious	Just bad at small talk
Optimistic	Has already lost everything once
Polite	Furious most of the time
Clingy	Was left behind once and expects it to happen again

Job ideas for OCs

A job tells you where your OC spends the day, who they meet and what their hands look like. Here are 50, by setting.

Setting	Jobs
Fantasy	potion taster, gryphon courier, dungeon cleaner, royal food taster, spellbook binder, bridge-toll collector, relic forger, dragon-stable hand, tavern bouncer, mapmaker
Modern	night-shift baker, crime-scene cleaner, voice actor, piano tuner, locksmith, tattoo artist, wedding photographer, ghost-tour guide, zookeeper, lifeguard
Sci-fi	asteroid miner, ship's cook, android repair tech, terraformer, xenolinguist, cargo pilot, station gardener, memory editor, spaceport customs officer, bounty hunter
Historical	mudlark, lamplighter, telegraph operator, wing-walker, saloon pianist, apothecary, lighthouse keeper, ice cutter, river pilot, ship's surgeon
Anime school	student council treasurer, library committee member, festival committee head, kendo captain, idol trainee, maid café server, shrine maiden, school nurse's helper, broadcast club announcer, cram-school tutor

OC backstory and trauma ideas

A wound in an OC's past explains how they act now. It rarely needs to be shown on the page. What matters is the habit it left behind, so each idea below pairs the event with that habit.

1. Their village burned while they were away. They never let the people they love out of sight.
2. They were the favorite until a sibling was born with magic. They still try to earn every room they walk into.
3. A mentor they trusted sold them out. They refuse help, even when they need it.
4. They took the blame for a friend's crime and served the sentence. The friend never visited, and they keep every promise they make.
5. They grew up in a cult and left at seventeen. Anyone who sounds certain makes them uneasy.
6. They were famous at ten and forgotten by fifteen. They perform for every audience, even an audience of one.
7. They caused an accident that hurt someone they loved, who forgave them at once. They can't forgive themselves.
8. They were left at a temple with a note that said "we'll come back." They are always the last to leave.
9. Their fiancé vanished the week before the wedding. They plan everything twice.
10. They were the hero's sidekick, and the hero got the credit. They undersell everything they do.
11. They broke a promise to a dying parent. They overkeep every other promise.
12. They found out at twenty that they were switched at birth. They watch families like an outsider.
13. They fought for the losing side of a war and still think it was right. They don't talk about politics, ever.
14. They were someone's experiment. They ask what everything costs before they accept it.
15. They were bullied, then became the bully, and only noticed years later. They defend whoever is being picked on.
16. They grew up in a house where nobody said anything important. They overshare with strangers.
17. They chose their career over a sibling who needed them. They work too hard to think about it.
18. They died once and came back missing something. They collect small things to replace it.
19. They were cursed by someone who loved them. They don't trust affection.
20. They told one lie to save their family, and it has grown every year since. They are an excellent liar and hate it.

For more on turning a wound into a story, read how to write a character backstory.

Character design ideas

People remember a character by one strong visual hook. Every idea above has a Look line. These 25 design ideas will help you write your own. Pick one or two per character, not all of them.

Silhouette

• An oversized coat on a small frame
• A hat shaped like nobody else's in the story
• A weapon carried in an odd way, such as a bow worn as a sash or a sword in an umbrella
• Something lopsided: one long sleeve, one armored arm, a single earring
• Cargo that changes the outline, like Mags Fennick's bee skep

Color

• One color that only this character wears
• A palette that clashes with their personality, like a villain in pastels
• A color that changes with mood, in their hair, eyes or a gem
• A faded color that hints they used to dress brighter
• One bright accent on an otherwise muted outfit

Signature item

• Something they are always holding: a book, a mug, a lantern
• A gift from someone who's gone
• A tool from their job
• A pet or familiar that rides on them
• An object from the wrong world, like a cassette player in a fantasy village

Wear and tear

• A visible repair with a story: a mended scarf, a patched cloak
• Calluses, burns or ink stains from their work
• A scar with a funny explanation and a true one
• Clothes that are too big because they belonged to someone else
• Boots newer than the rest of the outfit

Contrast

• A soft face with a heavy weapon
• A huge build with gentle hands and a tiny hobby
• Formal clothes worn sloppily
• A childish accessory on a serious adult
• A uniform worn wrong on purpose

How to turn an idea into an OC

1. Pick the idea that makes you ask a question. "Why hasn't Mags told the bees?" is a better starting point than "she's cool."
2. Give them a want and a fear that pull against each other. The personality table gives you twenty of these.
3. Name them. Try the character name generator or the fantasy name lists.
4. Write the backstory as three events instead of a biography. Our backstory guide shows how, and Build this OC drafts one in seconds.
5. Put them in a scene with someone who wants something else. You learn who an OC is from what they do when they don't get their way.

Play your OC in Mythx

Mythx is an AI roleplay game set in 13 small worlds. You design your hero's look in the hero designer, arrive in a world as the newcomer, and the AI plays everyone you meet. Your OC's personality comes through in what you choose to say and do.

The game draws your hero the same way from picture to picture. Here is Mags Fennick from idea 1 in two more Emberhollow scenes.

Mags at the inn hearth, drawn in Emberhollow's art style.

Mags at the mill pond in the rain.

It's free to start in your browser with no sign-up, and your first scenes come illustrated.

Play your OC →

OC ideas FAQ

What does OC mean? OC stands for original character, a character you made up yourself rather than one from an existing book, show or game. People make OCs to draw, write, roleplay and play in games. An OC placed inside a world someone else created is often called a fan OC.

How do I come up with an OC idea? Start with a contradiction: a job and a trait that don't match, like a gentle executioner or a ranger who hates the outdoors. Then add one detail you could draw. Every idea on this page follows that recipe.

How do I make my OC less generic? Give them a specific want, a flaw that gets in its way, and one visual hook no one else in the story has. One limit makes a character more memorable than three extra powers.

Can I use these OC ideas? Yes. Use them, change them and combine them in your art, stories and roleplays. No credit is needed.

Can I play as my OC? Yes. In Mythx you design your hero's look, pick a world and play them in an illustrated story. The AI plays the other characters.