Well, rather than taking it away, you could come up with some technological reason for the speed so that it isn't so much of a power, rather than a mechanical boost that can be taken away at any time. This offers an explanation for the speed as well as a definite weakness where there was none... that I can tell at least.

There isn't actually any law against creating a hedgehog anthro character who has super speed and brightly-colored quills.  SEGA can't sue you unless you're making money off of something clearly based on their particular speedy hedgehog.

That said, you need to consider what sort of world you're using the character in as to how she has powers.  It could simply be a genetically-carried power through the royal bloodline, it could be the result of a magic amulet or other mystical artifact only entrusted to the royal family, it could be the reward for some courageous act she did and some wizard or fairy gave her the power, or maybe it's cybernetic enhancements.

It also depends on the kind of world she's in as to what challenges she'll face.  It's one thing to fight dragons with swords, another to fight evil cyborgs with guns.  I'm afraid I can't offer more specific suggestions unless I know more about what sort of situation she would actually be in.

Forgot I made this topic. XD;

@Terg: Are you sure?  I mean...wouldn't they be able to tell that she was orriginally a fan character? (Sure, maybe I'm paranoid about this but.... >.>; )

Ok...I have two possible scenarios for how she would have gotten the speed:

One: She fell into a magic spring or something and instead of drowning...was magically given the speed ability.  However...this seems a bit contrived/corny/far-fetched...and a little bit logic-defying (as in...why would falling in a spring give her running-speed instead of like...swimming-speed or something?)

Two: (and this is a bit more logical, but darker) Her kingdom is in the middle of a war...possibly with another kingdom...and the enemy is doing a haulocaust-esque genocide on them...and using them as experiments...and she gets the speed through an experiment gone awry or something.  As I said...very dark...but it's what I'm leaning more towards.

Ok, I've been watching this thread for a while, and I feel like being the harbinger of harsh truths.

I mean...wouldn't they be able to tell that she was orriginally a fan character?

Trufax: Regardless of origin story, the fact remains that you have a cartoony anthropomorphic hedgehog who can run at supersonic speeds, and you yourself associate with Sonic fandoms, as a cursory search of your dA account, or even the fact that you're on this very board, is testament to. I think the inspiring factors are going to shine through no matter what in this regard.

The question is how much this matters to you. As Terg said, unless you honestly intend and expect to go commercial with this character's escapades, you don't have to worry about a crackdown from Sega. They don't tend to care about people basing characters on their franchise as you may have noticed. Even if you did go commerical, I don't think they would really care unless you were explicitly using their characters (or thinly-veiled dopplegangers thereof), since they are a games company, and some stories about similar characters aren't exactly direct competition.

So really it's down to perception. Like I said, it's going to be very hard to disguise the genesis of the idea for your character just by an origin story, simply by virtue of its similarity. And that could well be fine; if the setting and plots are otherwise unique, it's just a footnote fact that doesn't really impact. If you really want to seperate yourself from that, though, you're going to have to go at it with a sharp instrument and essentially reinvent your character all over. I went through a similar process a good while ago (I can't link evidence since said character has yet to have any significant public appearances), and apart from the high-level overarching plot, the character is almost unrecognisable from what he was. You need to be ready to make concessions for your craft.

As a side note, I know this isn't character workshop and outside the scope of the thread, and that I don't know anything about the setting in-depth, but the princess backstory could also be a concern. It's the first step on the slippery slope of becoming a Mary-Sue.

(May append later, in a rush right now)

Yknow...I'm not sure it WOULD matter (not that that completely assuages my missgivings about it...)...and I have two reasons that would prove it.

I recently went a little crazy, buying hedgie figurines at a toy store. (...What? >.>; ) One of them was a little glass figure (that looks nothing like Sonic) and the little shpeal on the back of the container that it came in mentions things about the character(AKA the figureine) "loves to play video games" and later "feels excited at the prospect of an adventure involving speed and he likes to race because he wins most of the time." Now I'm sure you see the connections.

And the other one...is a "Calico Critters" family set (I didn't realize they were still making those) of hedgehogs...and the description on the bottom says the family is in a band called "Sonic Six" More connections.

So...maybe it doesn't matter. If I were to get Reni to a point that she was different enough, I might be able to let her keep the speed.

I dunno...still makes me nervous though. Maybe all I really need to do (Besides reworking the various concepts) is get over that nervousness. *shrug*

Remove references to the sonic franchise and let the character develope in the universe you're creating for it. It will usually become an "OC" just through having to adapt to live in the new universe.

As for super powers, just explain them and keep them at bay. When I say that I mean don't resolve every situation the same way, force the character to rely on something other than speed. One of the reasons a lot of comics stagnant is they have only one weakness to exploit so everything is centered around that one thing. I'm not saying don't give them a super power, regular guy characters tend to be pretty boring as well if they don't get something special. You just gotta find a happy median.

~Tobe

The reason SEGA isn't preventing people from buying little trinkets that make cute little references to their mascot is because, let's face it, SEGA isn't competing against the makers of little glass figurines, and they probably appreciate the free advertising. They're not exactly losing money in that case since it's an entirely different market, and the designs of the hedgehogs themselves aren't remotely close enough to their particular mascot to be a copyright infringement.

THS and Rico have made very good points. Ultimately, you'll have to make some changes to the character to make them marketable - and you'll have to make some hard decisions about that. If I were to write commercially-viable stories about Tergonaut, I'd have to completely tear out all of the backstory he's gained as a part of his trip to the Mobius Forum World. Could I still have a story about a human who wears super-powered armor that gets him transported to another dimension for superhero hijinx? Sure! But he'd have to drop the SEGA logo shirt and the odd affinity for echidna girls. I could even keep the "Segans" in - if I changed the name and species of the race and removed all references to Sonic mythos (Badniks as security drones? "The Triple Threat" religion and societal structure? Power rings?). Some of that would be difficult to do, other aspects easier, but it's practically a reboot more than a simple reworking of the character. "Tergonaut" is kind of a weird name too, so I may have to come up with a name that's more universally appealing.

And it'll surely be more difficult for a character who's more strictly based on a video game character. Tergonaut at least was a human from a different dimension, and while there are a lot of references one could reasonably make to the inspiration behind the character's suit (Iron Man, Master Chief, Samus Aran, the Guyver), he isn't the child of any of those characters and isn't directly tied to their universes at all. Serenity's background has her as the child of Sonic and Sally - which is a big influence on the way that she's turned out, personality-wise as well as appearance-wise. The simple act of changing who her parents are would have a big impact on her background.

And if you're that worried about it and would look to create something more commerically viable than I'd have to suggest pretty much creating something new and original. Having Reni herself be used would require massive overhauling and if you're really that uncomfortable with doing so then a brand new character itself is pretty much the only other way forward.

Also I find more agreeing with Rico's post, especially the bit about character's having one weakness. This is why I absolutely, cannot possibly describe just how BADLY, detest Superman. Unbelievable godlike powers and his pretty much sole weakness is a rock called kryptonite.

...yeah.

(And let's forget that other nonsense about being punched to death by Doomsday. That was a terrible event and storyline, but I suppose it befitted a terrible character.)

I think I've got it!...Maybe. How about this...digging speed, as opposed to running speed. She can still be a runner...but more along the lines of normal athletics...where the super travel power comes in is in digging speed.

She's still not all that thrilled, but I think she's more willing to accept that compromise...until she goes and changes her mind again XD; Characters. Sheesh.

Super...digging doesn't seem fitting for a princess. I know you said you want to get away from super speed but what about teleporting. Still a bit related to super speed but not actually super speed...

hmm...teleporting...I already have a character that has that in a different story/world that I'm working on...and frankly...I'm not sure how plausible it is even for them. Teleporting seems kinda...I dunno...overpowered? And if I do make this move...I already have a character that would have a teleporting ability (via lightning)...not Reni, but her boyfriend, Surge (who will be FAR easier to port into OC-ness...despite him being the same species).

You make a good point about the digging being a problem for a princess...although Reni isn't really concerned about dirtiness. Hmm...flying?...no...she's not a fly-type character...and flying is overused anyway. Argh. She's being demanding on keeping the superspeed again.

hmm...teleporting...I already have a character that has that in a different story/world that I'm working on...and frankly...I'm not sure how plausible it is even for them. Teleporting seems kinda...I dunno...overpowered? And if I do make this move...I already have a character that would have a teleporting ability (via lightning)...not Reni, but her boyfriend, Surge (who will be FAR easier to port into OC-ness...despite him being the same species).

You make a good point about the digging being a problem for a princess...although Reni isn't really concerned about dirtiness. Hmm...flying?...no...she's not a fly-type character...and flying is overused anyway. Argh. She's being demanding on keeping the superspeed again.

Teleporting is overpowered if you make it overpowered. I mean sure the ability to appear in another spot out of nowhere seems like it'd be broken but limits can be set. Perhaps it requires a lot of stamina/magic energy. Maybe she'd only be able to teleport to certain areas...etc

Teleporting is overpowered if you make it overpowered. I mean sure the ability to appear in another spot out of nowhere seems like it'd be broken but limits can be set. Perhaps it requires a lot of stamina/magic energy. Maybe she'd only be able to teleport to certain areas...etc

Hmm...I suppose that might work...there IS a certain game that has designated teleport spots...but that means that anybody can use them...unless...she has some sort of talismen that means that only she (or anyone that has a similar talismen) could actually USE them. But then...I'd have to give her some other power to actually use to fight with...and again, in that case, I'd have to take the teleporting away from Surge, and I can't really do that. Aragh! XD;

Besides...she wants to keep the speed. And I want to let her keep it. But then...I'm right back where I started with my delemma. Unless I change her species...and I just CAN'T do that. *facedesk* XD;

No, you CAN. You just don't WANT to. There is certainly a difference there. You are the author, the creator; Reni is merely a character, and she only has as much say in the process as you allow her to. You should not create artificial restrictions on what your characters can or should not be, beyond specific moral restrictions (I think it's not something that is harmful to character development, say, to make a character who will not swear; in some cases that may be essential, depending on your market!).

While I admire the ability of some authors to tap into their characters' psyche, even to the point where the characters "write themselves" or even converse with the author, I think that when the characters start restricting their own development that it is better to be the adult and take charge of the situation. It's sort of like raising children; sometimes you have to deny them of what they want now, because you know it will benefit them in the long run. That doesn't mean they won't cry and moan about the denial of what seems to them to be an immediate and pressing need, because they don't have the maturity or experience to know what's good for them.

And, harsh as this may sound, Reni isn't that original as she is now. Most writers would have moved on from the "royal child of two canon characters with unusual color markings" concept long ago. And yet, a lot of what makes Reni the way you like her is because of her very origins, and it's clearly difficult for you to let go of that. If you take away Sonic and Sally as her parents (which you would absolutely have to do if you intended to make this an OC outside of the Sonicverse), then a lot of her traits suddenly don't make sense - her hatred of robots, her obsession with pizza (similar to her father's obsession with chili dogs), her royal standing, her coloration, her super speed. That would give you the opportunity to remake the character, giving her a different origin story, different power set, maybe even different personality. But then, it's almost like making an entirely different character...or at least an alternate "what if" version of the character if they were under different circumstances.

Unless you can get past your own limitations, Reni will remain an FC. It may be better to just go with a different, new character if you want to make an OC.

hmm...good point. Maybe I should just leave her as a FC for now and concentrate on developing other OCs...And maybe things will fall into place for Reni's OC-conversion later. But...I still want to make her an OC at some point. I guess I'm just not ready to right now. :/

I think you should simply not bother with FC to OC conversions.

Tergonaut wrote:

---

Most writers would have moved on from the "royal child of two canon characters with unusual color markings" concept long ago.

Rico's parents were nobility...

Terg I thought we were friends...

I think you should simply not bother with FC to OC conversions.

[html]<span style="font-size: 10px; font-family: verdana;">But that's the bulk of my own core universe. I think in contrast, though, the problem here is Vi wants to evolve and progress the character and title but she worries too much on the canoncity of the sonic roots she has come from. If I worried this much with Sengia.... it would of never got to where it is currently ( which still needs work). Evolve the world, build the setting, let the characters progress as you do so; don't worry about the fact she's a spunky hedgehog with accelerated speed.

Sengia still has obvious ties to mobius and I don't think I'll ever get rid of it's core quality people could make contrasting comparisons to:

- the kingdom of acronia is not dissimilar to the kingdom of acorn in archie/satam universes; chipmunk/squirrel ruled monarchy that not long after a long world war was split by a coupe from a former military officer.

I mean, my advice as I've said before is to move on with the worldbuilding and stop worrying about every little influence and root base.</span>[/html]

that's exactly it. And maybe I worry too much, but....I don't want to get sued by Sega!

Now you ARE worrying too much.