#ratgoo

This is weirdly reductive, Anon.

What separates "real characters" and "OCs" for you?

Let's focus on your Oogtar example. Who is Oogtar? He's a character created by writers at DiC, completely isolated from Nintendo, for one of the cheapest cartoons on earth.

He was created, almost exclusively, because demographics said kids wanted a cool human, relatable kid character. History for the show explains his original name was "Bartzan" because they wanted a character like Bart Simpson on the show to cause trouble.

Oogtar sucks. He looks bad, it sucks listening to him speak, and he's a gigantic idiot in ways that are not funny or entertaining. Nintendo never once used Oogtar in anything else. Miserable character in a miserable show.

Tangle and Whisper on the other hand fit in with the existing cast rather well, and the fact that Sega is slowly adopting them into official games is proof of that (not the least because they are slowly bringing in more comics people to handle game-related stuff).

Tangle is like if Sonic had two left feet. She's got a lot of natural talent but not a lot of skill. That doesn't stop her from throwing herself into the heart of every problem. She stumbles, a lot, and makes quite the mess, but she's never malicious and ultimately sets things right. Kind of a "doesn't know her own strength" character, with a big personality that fills the room and a heart in the right place.

Whisper is a type of character completely new to the Sonic franchise. In a world full of high energy people fighting in a rebellion, Whisper is quiet, calculating and reserved. She's been through a lot. She was once part of a squad of highly skilled mercenaries and she watched her best friends die by the hands of a traitor. She carries the burden of that trauma, that survivor's guilt.

But she's friends with Tangle. Officially unofficially more than friends. She isn't made of stone, she isn't letting her scars define who she is, but she has those scars just the same. How she chooses to engage with her own baggage is central to her character. And Tangle completes her -- Tangle draws Whisper out of her shell, and Whisper reigns Tangle in when she's about to go too far. They make each other better people.

Unlike Oogtar, who only exists to generate cheap laughs and stupid problems, Tangle and Whisper are three-dimensional characters with weaknesses and strengths. How they view themselves, each other, and the rebellion at large creates interesting dynamics that can shift the tide of battle in new directions. They also look cool as hell (especially Whisper).