Fan character

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Fan characters are fictional characters created by fans of popular media franchises, generally created in the style or setting of the series. They are found in fan works in various media, such as fan fiction, fan art, fan comics, and fan games.

[edit] Fan characters in sprite comics

Fan characters' sprites are usually edited or hand drawn and are mostly used in fan comics and some times used in fan games. They are also often inserted into fan fiction and fan art. They are also commonly found in hoaxes; so commonly, in fact, that hoaxes containing fan characters are put into their own category, called self-inserts. Self-insert hoaxes are considered to be a very, very tired cliché, and are strongly disliked in the hoaxing community.

'Recolor' is the general term for a simply modified version of sprites and other images. Recolors are very well known throughout message boards and fansites in the Sonic the Hedgehog video games (mostly from the Sonic Advance series and Sonic Battle). They're usually created using bitmap programs such as Microsoft Paint when a certain character's skin and other features are replaced with a different color of some kind. Recolors are criticized by many for their distinctive unoriginality and simplicity.

However, there are still many other forms of fan characterization that don't just limit to spriting. Popular games, books and manga have their own breeds of fan character; often delving into the realms of fan fictions. While most people recolor the specific character or make them some kind of long lost relative/lover/new lover, many people are more creative and make their character more unique (i.e. adding accessories, interesting backgrounds (not always linked to other characters) and clothings and sometimes weapons. In fact, many people host websites entirely dedicated to spriting and making comics.