(Thought this would make a neat discussion.) :)
What do you like/dislike about fan characters?
What peeks your interest and what do you love to see in a fan character?
And what can't you stand?

I like FC's that standout from the crowd. Like a unique animal that's never been used before and a power that's also unique. I don't have a Sonic FC yet, But when I do make one, I'm gonna mix things up a little. What I can't stand are recolours. You can't just change Sonic's eye colour, Paint 1 quill a different colour and call it "Original" Same with Dark forms and Super Forms. Not everything has to be the same as Sonic.

What I like and dislike? Well, I've got a long list o' those.

Like? I like it when I see something original. Something that's not just your average super-speed psychic hedgehog. Something that just stands out from the rest of the boring, boring ol' usuals. I like it when somebody puts thought into their character. When some person gives it a crappy sprite, a "parents died now lives alone seeking revenge" history, extreme godmods, and overall puts about fourteen seconds of thought into it. I know that on one of my fan characters, I worked for six hours nonstop just to write out the history. I wish that, just once, I could find somebody like that. Somebody who really knows how to make a good fan character.

What peaks my interest? Well, using an animal out of the ordinary. A dragon, a skunk, a dolphin, a sea monster, a mouse, an owl. These are some of the things I like to see.

What I really can't stand? Unoriginality. Speaks for itself, really. You make an unoriginal character, I look down on it. I also don't like ties to canon characters. When somebody says "he was brothers with Sonic" I don't like it. When somebody says "Tails was his father" I don't like it.

*ahem* With the other two, I prefer Originality in a character, someone who's almost or completely different than the canon characters. I also like a character's personality, depending on how the person created them to be; NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY ALL THE TIME, YA KNOW? Oh yeah, variety; don't you think we've seen too many hedgehogs, foxes (insert other common species here) already? They're other species/races to choose from.

I can't stand if the person treats their character like a robot, instead of giving them the chance to actually be themselves. STOP FEEDING FALSE INFORMATION TO GAIN INSTA-LIKE-THIS-CHARACTER-K?; very annoying. Background; yeah, I suffer from the "Mary-Sue" status with some, but I'm still developing my characters to make them more original than how they were at default.

If anyone, creates a character, and is somehow related to any canon character in anyway (mainly family), you wasted your own time.

There goes my two cents XD

I can't stand sloppy work, that's all I can complain about really.

I don't really have a problem with using the same species of animal, so long as you can mix it up and bring something new to the character. For instance, my character Zeb is a wolf. Not that original or exciting, huh? Well, I'm still working on him. Its better than the Knuckles recolor he once was, lol.

I love fancharacters, I have a ton of them myself! I don't like the overly god-moded or Gary/Mary Sues, though. I like to see what kind of love interests people create for Tails, and I created a few of them as well. However, I can't stand it when someone ages any character based off of a real-life time frame, they're not real, so they don't have to age over the years like the rest of us!

So it's just as logical to say they never age? How about coming up with a new system, then?

Look, we do what we can, SEGA doesn't provide us with a solar system chart and all that for Mobius, they haven't really gone in depth with mobius other than it's there. Years, Months, Days, ALL different. We don't really want to take our times making a solar chart to figure out how long it takes for a characters birthday to appear or when they'll become 13.

Look, I'm not trying to be rude, but wouldn't it just be logical to say they age the same as we do, doesn't that make it easier than calculating the distance from the Sun, the time it takes for Mobius and all the Science behind our time?
[/unneeded rant]

That's not what I'm saying at all, what I'm saying is that you don't have to age your character according to a birth date set in our time frame every year on that date, and stuff like that! I'm not saying they shouldn't age, I'm saying they age when the writer decides to further the time period in their stories and make them older when they're ready!

...You know, I was just beginning to understand your own opinion on creating/understanding a character, or fan character in this particular case...until I read the last three words in your statement. What do you mean by "when they're ready"? Did you mean speaking about the character's lifespan and when it is best decided for the writer/author when he/she (the character) should take on a whole new challenge in life? Or to just follow a preset plot and assume things will go as planned?

Care to elaborate, kind person, as I am still baffled by your words?

It depends on the author, myself, I've planned out at which points I've decided to skip a few years to make my characters older before, but I guess other authors just further the timeline when they're ready to move on personally without actually planning it.

To put it simply... here's just a list of some stuff I like, and, well... don't like about fanchars:

Dislike:

• Super-powered fan chars, ones that have every ability, know everything there is to know, has intimate relationships with official chars, and more. Slight, very slight relationships are okay with me, though.
• A char with a very unoriginal design. They could have much originality in their bio, but without an original design, it's nothing. What I mean by this is that I don't like, well, to put it bluntly... recolored and very minorly edited chars.
• A char with a species that is very cliche, such as hedgehogs and foxes... those are the worst yet. =_= People need to try to use something more original, even if by the slightest; you have a brain, use it~
• A char that has "unkown" and whatnot filled out for the majority of the fields in their bio. Come on... I mean, the char may not know some things about him/herself, but you as the author do (or should know). A couple is okay, though, but they just really have to fit in, such as leaving a cliff hanger for viewers if the fan char is in a fan fic or comic (but in that case, it just makes things more interesting. :3).
• A char whose fields have been filled out vaguely. Some things are okay, such as age (of course), but for some other things, more thought needs be put into. This isn't really that big of a "pet peeve" of mine, though. See exception above, also.
• Something with a really cliche background story and such, not the "his parents were killed when he was 7, so now he seeks revenge" crap. I'm not saying that I don't like negative background stories in general, but y'all really can do better than that.
• Elemental abilities. They're so... cliche. Unless you have very original reasoning and logic and such, then just forget it.

Like:

• When a char is of a more original species. However, I would say that it 'd be just a little more air-tight for mytholigical creatures, such as dragons; the author would need to think things through a little more to give a logical explanation. I also don't mind it too much if a common species is used... that has a VERY VERY VERY VERY original design and such. Even then, you've still wasted your time with him/her.
• Chars whose abilities have been well-thought out, such as trying to keep them more in range of the animal they are, yet going a little bit past the line in the process. Like stated above, I don't entirely hate elemental abilities... I like them a lot more, though, when their reasoning and such is very, very well thought through.
• A char with a good, well-thought through background story. Need I say more? O_o;
• A fan char who just basically has all fields covered and un-vaguely described (some exceptions, as stated above). Once again, I really don't know what else to say here.
• And last, but definitely not least, one that just stands out. Originality is nothing without uniqueness, but everyone's opinions differ with this one. :3

So basically the dislike and like categories are adjacent to each other. =3
I'm pretty sure that's all I had to say~ :F

In a way, I'd have to agree. That is, however, the author's choice, and I'd also say that it most likely isn't such a good idea to use a birthyear if they live somewhere like Mobius or Chaotix, because we really don't know the time period that's taking place.... Maybe it'd be okay for earth and other planets / locations that the author thought up, but above would probably still have to apply... for earth.

Very well put Speed. :) I just personally think that even an unoriginal design can be made interesting with a good story. But its always best to be original from the get-go. I mean, my two main characters (with the enormous help of Scitt) are now wolves, which are common. But I dont care, since I like their design and everything. Personal preference really.

Actually, it's kinda funny, because a PM I sent a little while back ago said the opposite of the bold print above. xD; I guess what I mean is that it's either-or: (at least in my honest, humble opinion)a fan char with a good appearance but a terrible bio is nothing, but it's also kinda a waste of time if the char has a good bio but awful appearance (even though this one can be fixed, and it's not stressed AS much as the first).

I forgot to mention that. xD;

And yeah, I personally think it's okay to have a common species (for SOME, not including hedgehogs and foxes in this one... you'd have to have a REALLYREALLYREALLY good bio to make up for the reasoning and such of that, probably D8), just as long as it actually looks like its own species. Wolves are a very good example. They're a very good idea to use for a fan char, but are usually misinterpreted, such as porcupines. As porcupines are NOT hedgehogs, wolves shouldn't be just a gray recolor of Tails or something. With some common species that are unsused by Sega chars, it just depends on HOW you use and protray the character. I think that wolves are one of the species that you can spawn some good ideas from. =3

What do I like - I like original fan characters. I don't really pay attention to them much, but I think everyone should have at least one. ^^
What do I dislike - I dislike taking another character's trait and putting it on Sonic, Shadow, Amy, whatever, and calling it "your own". I also hate art stealers as well

What I love to see in a fan character is it being unique. Y'know, something no one has ever seen. It's interesting to see other people's imaginations and have them develop a character of their own

I can't stand:
- Sloppy artwork claimed as "fan characters"
- Recolors
And basically anything above that. And just like I said, I don't take too much of an interest in them but I decide I'd try this one out

Unoriginality is pretty much the only thing I can't stand about a fan character.... Maybe also fan characters that do things an original Sonic character wouldn't do. (swear, do drugs, etc)

But isn't that BEING original through not copying off Sonic while still basing it off the Sonic universe?

Also, Shadow swears.

Well then that makes every Sonic fan character unoriginal in a way.

Also, I meant like excessively swearing.

Indeed they are. But, it's not like anything is original anymore.

Yeah, you got that right. :T7:

I don't like the fan characters that have their bios copying Shadow completely, it drives me insane, you need to set it apart. XD
I don't mind recolors, as long as they're not mary sues, the story-line's what I find the most important, but when you learn recolors are frowned upon it's best to make the next char more original.

What I do like is a character with depth to their back story, I'm a sucker for a good drama.
If the characters are not all happy at all times, that';s good.
For me I like to see characters who go through a lot of suspenseful circumstances and don't react positively every time.
I suppose I like fan chars who are not always happy and peppy at all times, I like to see them react differently.