Anime OC Ideas: A Complete Guide With Killian Sifa

Looking for Anime OC Ideas? You stopped at the right place, as I’ll share some tips with you to help create your own characters.

The best example I can give in this context is someone I’m currently working on: Killian Sifa, from my original work, The Sinful Child. As you might have guessed, Killian is among the original characters I created to make my story complete and engaging for the reader, thanks to his backstory and his relationships with the other main protagonists.

 

Sources of Inspiration: Essential Resources for Anime OC Ideas

 

CindyMBK’s illustration of Killian from The Sinful Child

 

When creating my original character, Killian, I drew inspiration from shojo manga authors such as CLAMP, whose worlds I adore, including Lawful Drug, Gate 7, and Tokyo Babylon; the excellent You Higuri with her historical work Cantarella; and the dedicated Ai Yazawa with the manga NANA. My list of inspirations is longer, but these three manga artists are the primary authors who influenced the writing of my original characters, including Killian Sifa.

A classic approach for anyone aspiring to create their own work is to draw inspiration from other works, whether in the same format (manga, novel) or genre (romance, action), or targeting the same audience (women, children).

What matters is that you have taken the time to analyse your sources of inspiration to examine all aspects of the personalities of the characters you like. This allows you to better refine your anime OC’s personality without too many inconsistencies.

 

After all, you don’t want your readers to stop reading halfway through because of your characters’ nonsensical reactions.

 

I would recommend basing these anime OC on the genre to avoid creating a character that would be found primarily in a work aimed at girls. It would be problematic if your audience is more shonen-oriented. Of course, how you reinterpret your OC will have a real impact on your story because I can tell you in advance that many of my sources come from shonen or seinen.

 

 

Which Naruto Teams Would You Fit In?

 

 

Let’s take the example of a fan of both genres, shonen-ai and shonen, and you know in advance that your target audience is boys. If you intend to feature gay romance in your work, with a protagonist of the same calibre as the one in You Higuri’s Gakuen Heaven (whom I respect immensely, but whose work I find appalling), don’t be surprised if your success with male audiences isn’t what you expected.

However, you might find a female audience interested in your work; that will also depend on the shape your story takes.

 

Some might be surprised to learn that knowing your target audience is certainly the fundamental criterion to establish before launching a work, especially if surprises aren’t particularly to your liking.

 

Relationships: A Key Component for Manga Characters

 

Ai Yazawa’s illustration of Nana Komatsu, Hachiko, and Nana Osaki from NANA

 

Romantic Relationships: Creating Couples Capable of Overwhelming Pinterest

 

As artists who create shojo content, the strength of these works lies primarily in the romantic relationships between characters, both main and secondary. Look at how Ai Yawaza passionately conveys the emotions that Nana Komatsu (Hachiko) experiences every time her roommate and friend, Nana Osaki, appears on stage: we are transported into the story and, in turn, feel as if we are experiencing Nana’s emotions.

 

And what about the fabulous couple, Nana and Ren?

 

An intense love affair that I dissected from every angle. Nana and Ren sparked an addiction in me comparable to the one I developed years earlier when I first encountered Subaru and Seishiro in X/1999: an unforgettable experience!

 

The complexity of romantic relationships, more developed in shojo than in shonen, is a factor I considered and incorporated into my story through the character of Killian. If you read my first chapter, available for free on my website, you’ll notice the tension within the couple even before the phone call, which only reinforces your suspicions. The chapter focuses on Kayla Ilunga, but her fiancé’s refusal to attend one of her parties—for the umpteenth time—without offering a real explanation makes it clear that Kayla and Killian’s relationship is fraught with ups and downs.

 

 

What if You Reincarnate In Black Butler or Earl Cain?

 

 

If you’re a fan of CLAMP’s works or the manga NANA, you’ll notice this common thread in my own work: a focus on romances that defy easy idylls. By placing your anime OC in complex relationships, you help to define their personalities better and create a range of emotions, from warm to cold, because an incident always seems to occur just when you think the characters are finally about to live the happy life they deserve together.

 

Of course, we mustn’t fall into the trap of creating plot twists solely for the sake of shock value. The twists must be coherent and not at all far-fetched.

 

Family Relationships: A Framework That Highlights Rivalries Between Parents and Children

 

In addition to romantic relationships in your stories, family relationships are also a way to connect with your original characters. To stay focused on Killian’s example, let’s look at his conflicted relationship with his father in the chapter dedicated to Killian in The Sinful Child (chapter 3).

 

Sketches from the remastered version of The Sinful Child

 

Killian’s lack of enthusiasm for sharing a meal with his father naturally sparks curiosity. The reader might either criticise Killian for being stubborn when faced with a father trying to engage in conversation, or delve deeper to wonder what makes the male student so cold.

 

Regardless of the reader’s perspective, this is a strength that demonstrates you’ve successfully captured your audience’s attention with this idea of ​​a relationship involving one of your OC.

Despite Killian’s obvious reluctance, I didn’t make him verbally disrespectful toward his father, as this trait would be inconsistent with his image as a model young man in Beneath City.

 

Tense relationships between father and son are more common in shonen manga, where we often see a rivalry between the two. Shoto Todoroki with his Endeavor is one example, while Killua has a similar rivalry with the rest of his family (with a few exceptions).

 

 

 

Now that I’ve shared ideas for anime OC, along with how to find inspiration for writing their stories and establishing basic relationships, you’re ready to create your own original characters. To do this, all you need to do is analyse fictional characters that have resonated with you and that you’d enjoy seeing in a different universe.

And if crossover ideas have crossed your mind, it’s time to unleash your imagination and create your own original character!