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Either from canon version, or your own characters established characteristics. How do you use it? For drama,humor, due to sleep deprivation? Heres a spot to show off any ooc moments from your tale if you'd like.
Avoid it like the plauge? Feel free to share when it worked (or didn't) in other's work.
In my fic, a bit of OOCness is expected since I'm primarily working with canon characters. With the more serious tone, I've had to make everyone a bit more serious in comparison to their canon selves, not to mention aging some of them up. For the most part, I try to stick to what canon has established and what could be possible for them to say or do in different circumstances. In other words, I try to make them as authentic as possible, even if not always entirely accurate.
If there's anything majorly OOC that happens like an action the character would never normally do, then I'll try to build up to it through character development so it doesn't feel unnatural.
Really interesting topic imo... Conventional wisdom is that OOC is always something to be avoided, so it's neat to think about how it might be utilized or cases where it would be a positive choice.
I write almost exclusively OCs, so it's a bit different for me. My characters can still be OOC, but a lot fewer people are going to notice because the only "canon" representation they get of them is the one I'm providing! For the most part I think I do a good job of representing them as they truly are, but sometimes I'm tempted by a really good line that doesn't really fit with their POV, or a snappy line of dialogue that's delightful but wouldn't really be a thing they'd ever actually say. Where I'm most likely to break character is for a joke I'm particularly fond of--I may sometimes Rule of Funny it if it's something the character would never really say/do. I do try really hard to kill my darlings in that area, though; I think the best humor usually comes out of the characters acting extremely as themselves, and undermining that for a laugh now and again isn't worth it. But sometimes I can't help myself. :P
it still could be used to show how far something went over the edge of acceptable, even in an OC character. After all, if the stoic fearless character from your setting is running, and screaming, it's a flag to the other characters or even the reader if the cast is oblivious, that something big's coming up or is coming up.
I tend to only pull the ooc card personally when I've established the character for 10 chapters minimum and they've had enough screen time for the readers to be likely to catch the lapse.
I'd say the longest one I sat on was chapter 58 of one of my stories, when my variant of Anime 'verse Profefesor Oak, an established borderline pacifist, and a character with a massively established conflict avoidance streak (nearly a disorder) looks the big bad in the face and says that if PROJECT 151 wants a fight he's more than happy to march into the pokemon reserve, grab every combat-capable Dark-type and give the PROJECT one hell of a fight.
He's also overtly snarky, and having been the sole straightman in a world of snark shows he has some bite when pressed beyond his patience.
Paraphrased mind:
Oak in response to false reassurance and cutting into a villain monologue.
“Oh I assure you, there’s no comfort in this moment." ... "If you want to change that and need pointers on how to not blast your voice at a wavelength that will give everything about you brain tumors and aneurysms I’ve a number of abra at my reserve that can give you pointers.”
it still could be used to show how far something went over the edge of acceptable, even in an OC character. After all, if the stoic fearless character from your setting is running, and screaming, it's a flag to the other characters or even the reader if the cast is oblivious, that something big's coming up or is coming up.
Ah, gotcha! I usually don't consider that sort of situation to be OOC. Like, it's not in line with the character's typical behavior, but everyone behaves a bit differently when pushed to their limits. To me that isn't a character acting counter to their nature (OOC), but just an example of them being placed in an extreme situation that we haven't seen them try to deal with before.
I do think that these deviations from normal behavior can be quite powerful, though. You truly know that things have gotten dire if the usually stoic, no-nonsense character is breaking down, or if even the sunny character can't maintain a smile.
Ah, gotcha! I usually don't consider that sort of situation to be OOC. Like, it's not in line with the character's typical behavior, but everyone behaves a bit differently when pushed to their limits. To me that isn't a character acting counter to their nature (OOC), but just an example of them being placed in an extreme situation that we haven't seen them try to deal with before.
I do think that these deviations from normal behavior can be quite powerful, though. You truly know that things have gotten dire if the usually stoic, no-nonsense character is breaking down, or if even the sunny character can't maintain a smile.
