A Personal Essay: The Thin Road: Author Created Characters

In my experience with fanfiction, one of the most controversial topics to arise from stories of any kind is that of author created characters, or ACC's. This page will not only focus on the ups and downs of ACC's (since already thousands of debates have taken place to establish the why's and how's of ACC structure) but also deal with the question: when are ACC's necessary? It is ultimately up to the reader to decide whether or not a specific ACC is good, whether or not ACC's in general are good.

In fanfiction, nothing is always and nothing is never. Author Created Characters, then, are not -- contrary to what some firmly believe -- always bad nor are they never good. In my opinion, a fair ACC is one that follows the general and common guidelines (i.e. doesn't steal the spotlight, is not omnipotent in one way or another, etc.). A good author created character, however, is one that is the story without stealing it. For instance, say that an author created character was nothing but a clone of an extant character and/or made no solid impact towards the story, its characters, or its plot. The writer must then ask him/herself: "Why is my created character here?" The character Lyn Anouilh from EVA:R, in my opinion, embodies the element stated above. On the other hand, we have characters who just plain steal the story, either by befuddling the existing characters or by, well, being better than each and every one of them in one way, ten ways, or every way imaginable -- a Mary Sue, I believe they're called. These characters are just plain perfect, and unless the fanfic is based upon a story that is full of perfect characters, I don't see a Mary Sue helping the story at all. These people, who are just too cool in every way, who always know what to say, what to do, and when to do things are annoying and are neither plausible (assuming the writer is aiming for plausibility) nor engaging. I think the key with Mary Sue's, though, is that (once again) they are just plain annoying. An example of this character, as I'm sure 99% of all Evangelion fanfic readers have already been picturing in their minds, would be the infamous D.J. Croft from the fanfic Neon Exodus Evangelion.

So what are good examples of useful (in my opinion) author created characters? The first one that comes to my mind is Terrence St. John from Gospel of Malachel. This guy has an actual background, for one, and a relatable one to boot (connection to Asuka and her past). He's nothing special in any respect other than the fact that he's Australian (ooo), which doesn't (or hasn't) affected the storyline at all in the first fourteen chapters of the story. He even has a little romance with Miss Ayanami Rei (though I would argue that despite the fact nearly ten chapters went by before it blossomed, it is still going too fast ... and before I really go off on a tangent...), and it is, for the most part, well, romantic, very natural-like, and what's more, the fact that "Terry" is an ACC has already slipped the readers' minds. Terry has become one of the cast, and I believe that Mr. Douglass Weeks should be proud of himself (and write faster).

About romance -- not in general, but dealing with author created characters specifically. A romance angle (or even a WAFF one) shows that a degree of connection between the ACC and another character has been reached. For this to happen, interaction has to take place beforehand, and I have yet to see this deed be completed perfectly. Another thing that the writer would have to take into account is that often an existing character has fans who believe he/she should be paired with another character from the original storyline, and that a new person coming in, sweeping him/her off his/her feet and riding into the sunset with him/her is intolerable. One thing for which EVA:R should be commended is pairing Lyn with yet another ACC -- Aoi Tamashii. The key, of course, isn't that Lyn wouldn't have matched any exisitng character, but that his interest is someone that has yet to be firmly set in the audience's minds, and thus less development was required of both ACC's beforehand. Some find it easier to simply say that any ACC that becomes an unofficial better half of an original character is intolerable. As for the end result, however, this sentiment may not always be true (though it most often is). Not much detail will go into this subject as it will hopefully be addressed further in another upcoming essay.

Sometimes an author will decide to insert him/herself into the storyline and world of the original characters in one form or another to experiment or to live out a dream that cannot be experienced otherwise. These types of author created characters are also known as self-inserts. There are probably a hundred things that can go wrong with this endeavor, but, as I have little experience with self-inserts in the realm of Evangelion fanfiction, I can only speculate. One thing that comes to my mind immediately is that one will often be reluctant to be honest with themselves and thus their character. For some, admitting faults is a vice, while for others it is bait (I won't explain what that means). The thing is, the writer will have to consider that his/her fanfic will be read and judged by its readers, and thus the self-insert will be judged, and thus the writer will be judged personally as well. Another problem is that a great deal of focus will tend to revolve around the self-insert, even more so than it would around any other author created character. And finally, the last ("last" being somewhat relative) idea in my mind that might pose as a problem is the possibility that that author does a perfect job describing him/herself only to have the audience realize that he/she is just plain boring. What gives me this idea is that in most anime the main characters are special in some way, thus distinguished from other characters from other stories. That is why people like Ayanami Rei and Soryu Asuka Langley have fans who are dedicated to the characters. Basically, the normal everyday Joe Sixpack isn't what people would be excited to see.

Finally, the last type of ACC I've seen is the minor kind, the ones that don't stand out, but are given names, maybe even a little background, and a single purpose. Having few of these can be potentially harmless, which is probably the best result when dealing with this type of ACC. However, if the writer introduces too many of these little boogers or too early, then things can get complicated and the reader will probably get bored and/or fed up with all the new information he/she must take in to grasp the story. The fic Children of an Elder God is littered with these characters, but so far they have managed to avoid both traps in the process, and thus I have yet to hear anyone complain about the targeting dummies that arise in the story (if you've read the story, you know what I'm talking about). In fact, Children of an Elder God even messes around with already established characters who are only "semi-major," like Aida Kensuke and the bridge bunnies. The writers have thus far managed to pull it off, often leaving a grim cloud in the readers' minds, but for different reasons completely than the ones stated upon this topic. In the end, I would recommend experimenting with minor ACC's before trying to create a big one. Mel Gibson's words in The Patriot apply here: "aim small, miss small."

I believe that the prospect of creating a character is similar to that of walking down a very thin road -- it's difficult to stay on track as it is very easy to lose one's way. That is, too many things can go wrong at the start of the journey, in the middle and at the end. What must be emphasized is that for readers like myself, every action, thought, and voice the author created character makes is being watched meticulously. You (the writer) make one mistake and we'll be all over it like buzzards upon a dying infant (mua hahaha). Still, the choice and course is decided by the writer, and fanfiction is sometimes by the fans before it is for the fans.