"Stealing" Characters?

[Rizzla]

Ah, yes.. Character copying.

I'm permanately paranoid that someone will accuse me of copying their character. I've been told that "there is no original idea", but FH and DA users don't seem to agree with that saying.
Now, there's inspiration and then there's copying. There is a fine line between the two.
If you make an OC who is vaguely similar design wise to someone else's, then I wouldn't call that copying. For example, I have a male OC with a dark color scheme, lilac eyes, and ram horns. If I see a female character with ram horns, a pitch black pelt, and bright red eyes and markings, I'm not going to maul the person. Chances are this person and I just had similar ideas, or said person was just inspired.

Those who copy characters are usually just too lazy to come up with their own ideas, young, or just very desperate mate beggars. In fact, I think it may be worse to have someone wrongly accuse you of copying there character than actually have your little precious copied while sitting in Bonfire.. If the person does an awful job and people can easily tell who's the real deal, that is (But that is almost always the case anyways).

[Misinterpreted]

I see this happen a lot. However it happens a lot with bios. People will copy other people's style of making their bios. I personally think its okay as long as they don't copy every single detail and act like they made it. Just get a little inspiration from it.

But with characters, this bugs me a bit because I've seen people copy names of a character of mine right after maybe an hour after I log on. It gets quite annoying because I don't know if they will use it to troll around and ruin my reputation or just using it as an inspiration. If they use it as inspiration, I'm fine with it. Just as long as they don't copy every single detail.

[.Ghostly.]

Mm. My lovely fursona, Nyx, has been stolen many times. You see, I've had Nyx since 2010 or 2011 for when I first started FH. I've had her ever since. I switched to Pirouette for a tiny bit but it was hard leaving my Nyx behind. But my nickname is Nyx which is why I named my fursona Nyx. I would call her Nyxie, Nyxie wyxie, So on so forth. Yes, Nyx is a common FH name but when they also take all the nicknames and like MY character design, that's when it's been pushed too far and it really does tick me off. So yeah.

[WolfQueen]

Mm. My lovely fursona, Nyx, has been stolen many times. You see, I've had Nyx since 2010 or 2011 for when I first started FH. I've had her ever since. I switched to Pirouette for a tiny bit but it was hard leaving my Nyx behind. But my nickname is Nyx which is why I named my fursona Nyx. I would call her Nyxie, Nyxie wyxie, So on so forth. Yes, Nyx is a common FH name but when they also take all the nicknames and like MY character design, that's when it's been pushed too far and it really does tick me off. So yeah.

well hate to break it to you but you said nyx is just a gender-bent scar/taka so it's not that original. there's no need to get worked up if someone also makes a character which is a gender-bent character from a popular movie.

[wolfdog01]

This has happened to me a few times. Like, once or maybe twice with Thyme...but many times with Maxwell, mainly from mate beggars...
Here is Thyme:


Simple design yes but the underfur is hard to get right, as well as the eyes. And I really only remember one time. And that as in Sky's Rim, years ago, me and my friends were chatting and one of them poofed then came back looking nearly the same as Thyme, just for fun. I was okay with that but then she kept getting closer and closer to the design and I think she started to copy my bio. I asked her nicely to please stop but she kept saying it was just a joke, eventually my other friends ganged up on her before she stopped and it was kinda awkward when she came back but then we went back to talking.

Here is Maxwell:


Again, a fairly simply design but my God....I spend a lot of time with him at Bonfire, right? Home of the Mate Beggars. Well I specifically remember two kinda of incidences were people have copied him. Once was someone named snow. He had the same colors, I think nearly the same size, but he had a forward Mohawk. Now that didn't bother me so much...but...he walked everywhere. Maxwell ONLY walks everywhere. And he kept sitting RIGHT next to me and staring for a minute before looking away. Idk if he was trying to get my nerve of what but I didn't do anything. The other was yesterday. I was watching the Mate Center and this chick comes over to me, same style and nearly the same colors and lays down right next to me. I tell her no before she even says anything and then gives me the excuse that her pelt changes color when she gets nervous...So...Idk...

That was a off topic ramble I feel o.o....whoops...
But anyways, copying/stealing chars doesn't bother me TOO badly because usually I can chat with them and then they usually end up admitting they wanted to look like me, so it's all good lol

[StarrieNova]

I have heard a lot, and seen a lot of people say that their characters were stolen. When in all honesty someone just made something very similar. I have never accused a soul of stealing one of my characters because I know someone either just liked the design, and decided to make theirs the same or they just happened to look similar to you.

Though I don't see very many people who would copy me since I use mostly presets for my most important characters. Though in my wish...I wish people would chill on the 'character stealing' thing. I see a lot of people in this community say things like that. When a lot of the time it's the whole cry wolf thing.

[Whinp]

I honestly don't care if they steal my design, after all, it may be just a coincidence, but once someone tell me I stole their character I lose my head. Yeah, even it's just a name.

I don't have time for those people. We all have this handy button called Block anyways.

[Lady_Alizarin]

Mm. My lovely fursona, Nyx, has been stolen many times. You see, I've had Nyx since 2010 or 2011 for when I first started FH. I've had her ever since. I switched to Pirouette for a tiny bit but it was hard leaving my Nyx behind. But my nickname is Nyx which is why I named my fursona Nyx. I would call her Nyxie, Nyxie wyxie, So on so forth. Yes, Nyx is a common FH name but when they also take all the nicknames and like MY character design, that's when it's been pushed too far and it really does tick me off. So yeah.

well hate to break it to you but you said nyx is just a gender-bent scar/taka so it's not that original. there's no need to get worked up if someone also makes a character which is a gender-bent character from a popular movie.

And a nyx is the name of mythical creature.... and a make-up line. So you're right; the name is not original.

Anyway, this whole character copying thing happens all the time on FH and other games. Some people do it to make the creature upset, to troll, lack of creativity, or out of boredom. There's nothing you really can do about these so called "character theives" except ignore them. They technically aren't breaking any FH rules unless they copy a moderator's character to impersonate a mod.

Since I've answered these kind of threads so many times...

[Nemena]

I've encountered it quite a depressing number of times. It's generally easy to tell the differences between coincidences, inspiration and blatant copying; one shouldn't immediately jump to conclusions-- especially regarding common character designs and names. There's only so many ways in which you can make a 0-0-0 black wolf; it's arguably the most frequently seen design in all of FeralHeart.

If your character name's a noun, adjective or a common IRL/RP name, it's pretty much guaranteed there's been no copying. For example: Drake, Carnage, Jack, Katie, Ravage, Samson etc. I've logged in to see characters with names identical to my own many-a-time! Heck, I once saw someone running around with my deviantART handle, Skreel. For names entirely plucked from the depths of your own imagination, it's a little more muddy.

Similarly, common designs are nothing to fret about. Black pelts, white pelts, red scars, funky siamese tails-- these are all extremely common. There's even stark similarities between brown and grey characters! Of course, if the pelt/mane/eyes/nose/underbelly were all identical, there'd be a bit of accusatory squinting, but similar-ish colours happen all the time through mere coincidences. I've made friends with my coincidental twins in Bonfire; it's best to laugh it off.

Regarding inspiration, I really work to make unique-looking hyenas. Their designs, somehow, often inspire other people-- especially within tumblr's FeralHeart community; some of the hyenas posted there look disconcertingly similar to my own. While this personally makes me uncomfortable at times for reasons beyond my understanding, there's generally nothing wrong with it providing the character's clearly different. Sometimes others' characters give you a nudge to try out something new and shiny! I've definitely done it myself. However, I'd recommend asking the player you're inspired by if the similarities are worryingly close.

Otherwise, blatant copying is as obvious as daylight itself. A character runs up to yours. Stares a bit. Logs out. A few minutes later, bam, your character now has a twin. Congratulations. It happens practically every time I log on-- and I absolutely loathe it. Of course, everything needs to be taken into perspective; it's just a game, and the offending player's likely a young teen or child that loved the look of your character! However, like art theft, it's best to give them a polite message-- let them know it's wrong without insults or shame.  Stay civil, ask them to change, let them know it bothers and upsets you. Generally, most cooperate and change their characters. For those that don't, it's best just to block them-- and report if they break the rules. It's infuriating at times, but it shouldn't hamper your enjoyment of the game.

I really need to take screenshots each time it happens, but the only good example was this. My gryphon's fairly unique, her name's entirely of my own creation and the species itself is relatively rare in the land of wolves and lions. When this dropped by a few minutes later, it's very clear it's a copy:

TL;DR: In general, copying does happen-- and it sucks-- but most incidents are simple coincidences, especially when it's regarding a common design and name. If you're certain it's a copy (unique design, unique name, they changed their character after seeing yours etc.) and it bothers you to the point of upset, politely whisper them and hope for the best. Never harass, never insult-- remain respectful even if they don't co-operate. The block tool, and the option to report, is always there if things head south.