If it's not obvious enough from my recent art posts, I've been thinking a lot about my OCs. These are characters I've always vaguely visualized, but finally having them materialized is nice. Although, one most wonder if "OC" is the right term. After all, what's original and unoriginal?

It's obvious I pull a lot of inspiration for my characters and I don't really try to hide it either. But when does inspiration end and outright theft begin? What really got me thinking about this was seeing these two images paired together.

And, I mean, c'mon, right? Hard not to think about it.

Really, Dr. Buzzsucker is one I'll admit was quite blatantly influenced by Baxter Stockman (and Doctor Octopus while we're at it). Though, if you want to go further back, '87 Baxter Stockman himself is quite similar to The Fly from 1958.

Lunaeus is a character I realized the similarities to instantly, but they were more unintentional. Derived more from their overlapping roles as leaders of malevolent ninja clans and leaning more on the samurai side when it comes to designs. As I caught the similarities, I did try to avoid make their designs TOO similar. Whether I succeeded or not, I dunno.

TMNT itself is a franchise that REALLY leaned into its inspirations, starting as a parody comic and all. It was a Frank Miller Daredevil comic mixed with the X-Men. The Hand = The Foot, Stick = Splinter, Cyclops = Leonardo, Wolverine = Raphael, mutant = mutant...I could go on.

Shredder you could argue is inspired by Darth Vader, especially in the '87 cartoon and '90s movie, and Vader was inspired by Doctor Doom. Doctor Doom was inspired by the visage of Death as a cold and inexpressive cloaked figure.

Am I saying all of this to justify myself? No, not really. Am I saying it to deride myself for being an unoriginal HACK? Again, not really. I'm more just thinking out loud about the cyclical nature of media, about where the lines are drawn when it comes to creating a character that takes inspiration, whether you meant to do it or your brain did it subliminally. It's interesting to think about.

Now reread all of that and take a drink whenever I say inspired or inspiration. Bet you're now in the hospital getting treated for kidney failure, aren't ya?

All the same, I've been having quite a lot of fun. Although, I'm a bit worried about audience retention. Not sure if the flood of original characters rather than fan art is causing things to dip, or if said lack of audience is more from me not being in the proper art portal...or just disappearing for a couple months. Maybe it's because I'm posting too much at once! Or nobody's interested, that's also likely. So many possibilities!

Still, even if nobody EVER gives a shit about these characters...well, it'd break my heart a little admittedly, but I'd carry on despite that. I really do love them, some admittedly more than others (Ninjiro and Jennifer my beloved idiots).

One day, I might even do something for them. Nothing animated (you look at my BBS Shitpost Collab submissions and tell me I could) and not a game, but maybe some comic pages spread out here or there. Show some fun interactions and maybe develop some of that sweet sweet lore only I know about right now.

Uhhhh, yeah, I guess that's it. I don't know why I wrote this. I don't know why I'm posting it. Nobody's gonna read it anyway. Guess I just had these thoughts and I needed to get them out before they make my head explode. If you actually made it this far without your kidney exploding or quitting because you can't stand this insane rambling, thanks.