Sometimes when you become a fan of a series, you may begin to think "Gee, I'd love to roleplay this with the other fans. I'll come up with a character." or "I want to make a cute Ojamajo too!"
Well, you've come to the right page! This page will provide you with some tips on how to Make a Character. It's up to you whether or not you use this guide, and you may not agree with everything- everyone is different.
This page was made with the intention of giving you a gist as to what goes into making an FC, so please continue on with an open mind. If this page helped you feel free to leave a comment at the bottom :3
The Template
Name
Everything has a name because without one how would they be identified?
Now names do not need to be extremely complicated or overly thought out. Sometimes a name just comes to a creator before they finalize any other details. Skirting on Mary-Sue territory (you'll learn about this later on), some people like to come up with impressive or overly thought out and amazing sounding names that can sound a bit nonsensical to others, like Rose-Luna Shining Midnight.
Rather than try to show-off and create an unrealistic sounding name (but it can sometimes work too), try to break down the words to create a simple one. Like maybe Rose Midnight, or Luna Rose. Not only does it get the creative juices flowing, but it can be fun!
A lot of people like to come up with meaningful names, especially in Japan. If you struggle with this then try to base it on various traits related to your character- a pale beauty from Iceland could have a name associating with white, or snow. Do her parents run a fruit stand? then try to go for something that fits the foods, like Plum or Berry, or go with Japanese names such as Ichigo or Ringo.
You can even make up your own name, or learn to spell the same name differently. For example, the series has Hana. This doesn't mean you can't have one though, you could keep it the same or change it to be more unique: Hannah, or even Hanon.
Age
This one is pretty easy if you're basing the FC in a specific series and want her age to fit the others. In the anime, this is the age range of the girls:
1 - 7 or 8
Sharp - 9
Motto - 10
Dokkan - 11 or 12
Of course there isn't a specific age your FC has to be. You could have an 11 year old first season apprentice if you wanted. Or maybe she's older and comes from the Doremi 16 light novel.
Birthdate, Blood Type, Gender
There are fun and simple aspects that fill out a profile more. Its okay if you don't want to include them though.
Witch
If your character is a full-blooded witch or Apprentice, its important to consider the various aspects; is she a clumsy flier? Does she excel at making various magic goods, does she have any relationships with other witch? You also need to keep in mind what her level is and what kind of Crystal Ball she has, if she has a fairy, etc.
Yousei/Fairy
Most characters have one, and maybe you want to give your FC one too- or maybe your FC is a fairy. It's important to think over this equally as much as you would any other character because they may appear a lot, it would be nice to learn about them. They can resemble their partner, or be their polar opposite.
Here is an example of a nice detailed Yousei:
Bonbon is Ribbon's fairy. She has rose-colored eyes and her hair is shaped like heart odango. Her color scheme is soft pink. She is thoughtful of others and especially worries over Ribbon, but she has a temper.
Now an example of one who hasn't been given much thought:
BonBon is a lot like Dodo but she has heart-shaped odango and is lighter colored.
Crystal Ball
A crystal ball is the item an Apprentice earns when she passes her final exam from season 1. These can take many various shapes and are colored to match the apprentice, with the shape sometimes matching her. For example, maybe a white-themed girl who is brisk and cool owns a snowflake, while a crimson passionate girl may have a flame.
You can also make the shape unique if you feel its too boring; like instead of a crescent moon, maybe its a crescent with a shape on one of the tips, or maybe it's shape is stylized.
For example, these are the Ojamajo's crystall balls:
- Doremi: bean
- Hazuki - Heart
- Aiko - Diamond
- Onpu - Droplet
- Momoko - Triangle
- Pop - Clover
- Hana - Sphere
Here is a list of common used shapes:
- Heart
- Star
- Flower
Instrument
To get her second wand, a witch or Apprentice fuses their current wand with a cherished instrument they used to play. While one could argue that ones voice or singing is an intrument, the wand requires a physical item- as shown with Onpu, who is a singer but also plays a flute. Her flute was fused with her original wand.
Magic Spells
These can be a bit tricky to think up; don't feel bad if you struggle and they are not the most necessary thing to make an FC, they just add more "meat to the page sandwich".
- Transformation speech: "Pretty Witch/witchi __-chi".
- Casting Magic: A simple repetitive sounding phrase, with each girl possessing her own. You can see examples by viewing other character pages or the ojamajo pages on the official wiki.
- Casting Magical Stage: A shorter version of the above, with a Japanese word at the ending that usually ends with ly. Such as Magically, lovingly, or Wonderfully.
Color Scheme
THIS is one of the most important aspects to any character. In Ojamajo Doremi, a character usually has 1 color that identifies them, with complimentary colors for casual wear.
As an apprentice, the colors reflct the uniform and usually -but not always- has white accenting. It is common for Mary-sues to have either more than three colors, or a rainbow theme.
When deciding a color, try to pick one that fits her. Some people are tempted to use black because its more unique or makes there character stick out- but try not to use it unless you really think it fits her.
Here are some personality types and the colors they match with for example:
- Red/Warm Colors - Bold, passionate, hot-blooded
- Yellow/Vibrant Colors - Energetic and perky, bright!
- Pastels/Soft Colors - Shy and gentle
- Pink - Sweet and kind-hearted, flirty, charming, friendly, innocent
- Darker Colors/Grey/Blue - Sad and lonely, maybe depressive or just cold and antisocial.
- Black - Mysterious, antisocial, cool-headed
- White - Delicate, passive.
But keep in mind that there are also times when you may find unusual cases, such as an evil white girl, or a nerdy and lonely pink girl. It's also important to take note that at times there will be color repetition; you can't claim a color for yourself. But if you want to try to be more unique then observe what colors you see and which shades haven't been used. Like what if you wanted to use blue, but there's a bunch of blue girls, you can try to use a unique shade of it, or try using a similiar color, like turquoise or cyan.
Physical Appearance
Physical
This is another field to easily slip into the mary-sue factor. You wanna be descriptive but avoid overdoing it or making her sound like perfection reincarnated. For example, you could get away with doing this:
No - She has tan skin and pink eyes. Her hair is blue.
It's alright, but it doesn't really give the reader much to imagine. So try to be a little more descriptive:
Yes - Mimi has pink eyes and tanned skin. Her sky blue hair is worn in a pair of low twin-tails curled on end and are held with floral clips.
Here's an example of how to be overly descriptive:
No - Helena's hair is as soft as wool, very long and curled on the edge like a gentle ruffle of a beautiful dress. Her hair is golden like the morning sun, while her large eyes resemble amethyst. Her creamy skin is as soft as silk.
It's okay to be this descriptive, but by doing what this example did, the character comes off as a little forced by the author. Mary-Sue makers usually do this to make their character stand out against everyone else, but its not necessary. You can get the same thing across by doing this:
Yes - Helena has long, soft golden hair with a ruffled fringe to match her bangs and forelocks. Her wide, amethyst (or you could simply say purple) eyes stand out against her fair skin.
Clothing
Like the above, its important to be descriptive, but don't overdo it. If you're stuck just look at other character outfits for examples, or try to think of a way to modify the outfits worn by the girls. Like look at Onpu, who wears a dress reminiscent of a shirt or tunic with leggings and sneakers. You could turn the dress into a blouse with a skirt, or remove the leggings and give her a bolero and a pair of sandals.
Interests
This has always been one of my favorite parts, coming up with the "sauce for the page sandwich". It can be a lot of fun, and they add more to the character and helps Readers identify with them. These include:
Likes: these can range from anything, like her favorite colors, weather, animal, hobbies, season, etc.
Dislikes: like the above, but she doesn't like these items.
Favorite foods
Least favorite foods
Personality
A girl needs a personality. But this is the biggest problem, right there. Mary-sues often have the 'perfect' personality. Or people copy the character they color-over. For example, Onpu recolors that aren't very well thought out tend to say "She's a beautiful singer who everyone loves. Onpu is jealous of her."
Not only is that ruining an already established character, but it gives your character no room for growth. Try to think of the above and put that into a personality. Or you could try to work around the above to make a more interesting character:
She admires Onpu and wishes to become an Idol one day. She is anxious when brought to the stage, however, and deep down is a little envious of Onpu. But when she sings she is able to ease the mind of others.
People like realistic characters, don't trash an official character just to make yours seem better, nor do they have to be the same. Even if your character relates to Aiko, it doesn't mean she has to like sports or have her passionate personality. She could be withdrawn and shy.
Background
Her history, not her heritage. This can be another problem field, but it's also an easy one to handle. By that I mean people are likely to slap on the "she's Japanese" label when she clearly doesn't seem to be. It's possible she is though, or you could say "she was born in Japan but moved to ___ at a young age".
Besides this, you may wish to include why she has her future dream of becoming an actress, or information involving her family, or how she became an Apprentice, but this could also be explained in the Witch section.
Final notes
Now that you read this you are ready to complete your FC page sandwich and get to work!