How do you feel about recognizable faceclaims?

Promedai

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This is something I worry about whenever I'm making an OC. I try my best to avoid using images of characters that are obviously TOO well-known (Cloud Strife, Goku, Daenerys, etc), but sometimes I find that the closet fit for my OC just happens to be a canon character from a game/anime/movie that my partner(s) might be familiar with. My distress stems from the thought that people will either not be able to see past the character they recognize, or that they'll feel like I'm ripping off a much cooler character somehow with my shitty OC using their image.

So the question becomes: what do you honestly think/feel when you see a familiar face being used as someone else's OC?
 
I hate it unless it's a fandom roleplay and they're playing that character... in which case I won't join it anyway because I loathe those sorts of roleplays. 8D

There is just so much good art out there that I can't see it as anything but laziness when people use recognizable characters as faceclaims (and same goes for images of celebrities when using real people faceclaims). Roughly 9 times out of 10, in my experience, they also just end up playing their interpretation of that character in the setting at hand rather than playing a truly original character. I'm not sure if it's intentional from the start or just a matter of gradually leaning that way because of the image they're using making them think of a character in certain ways that they did not originally intend, but it's really annoying. Even in the roughly 1 in 10 times they don't do that, it's still highly annoying if I'm familiar with the character because then I have to work hard to try to separate existing character from new character in my mind.

In literally every instance of it I have seen, I would rather someone give a purely text description of their OC than use an existing character as a faceclaim.
 
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For me, it's harder if it's an animated character that's familiar, since they're only ever known from being in the cartoon/anime/whatever they're in. Real life actor face claims are easier to reconcile because playing many different characters is what actors do anyway- so what's one more role in the grand scheme of things? That being said, I do try to use lesser known faces at times, but it's not a deal breaker if someone uses a well known fc.
 
Not a fan. I don't like using recognizable face-claims myself, just cos there's so many art/models out there to choose from. Seeing famous celebrities/cartoon/anime as face-claims kinda makes it hard to suspend disbelief, if you ask me.
 
im not a fan of fc's. I'd rather use the descriptions alone so that people can formulate their own picture in their minds of the character. I feel like using a face claim detracts from the work you put into creating the character in the first place
 
I don't mind faceclaims, but I prefer if they aren't recognizable, and I'll let my partner know if they are.

My personal preference is to use art I own or dollmakers, if I must have a visual. The latter is pretty fun to make!
 
For me, personally, using recognisable/popular FCs makes it difficult to separate the character from the FC. As Jorik pointed out, either creators will subconsciously lean towards working certain personality traits from that FC into their OC or people will come to have an expectation of how that character will be played. That, and there's always the risk of people liking that character just because of the FC, not because they like the character themself, which is not as fun as it may sound.
 
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of popular and easily recognizable FCs. My experience is that people who use them do often have a hard time separating character from FC, as well as often using them for "eye candy" rather than an accurate depiction of the character.

That said, while I generally prefer realistic art, I think FCs can be used to great effect as well. It all comes down to what the GM prefers, what 1x1 partners choose, and what best conveys the character. I do prefer obscure FCs or FCs I don't recognize when I'm using FCs, however. If somebody tells me they recognize it, odds are I'll find something better.

I do like to have some sort of visual depiction of my character, simply because it helps my writing process. Realistic art fits my preferences best, so I typically use that.
 
I dislike it, and it's further exacerbated if the fc I'm familiar with has a very distinct personality. Sometimes if the dc belongs to someone that's mostly generic, innocuous, or else just vaguely known to me, I can bear it.

As a whole, my biggest issues with this extend to real person fcs.
 
I do not require character art from my players and I do not give a shit what they look like other than for the purposes of NPC/Character interaction. If a RP demands overly stylized post templates I typically will not bid to join it.
 
My views are directly in line with @Jorick
I hate the use of canon characters and real faceclaims are just as bad in my opinion.
 
Depends entirely on the extent of popularity and the way the person handles it. If it's literally, like, Naruto or whatever, then I dislike it. If it's just a rather popular character that is then a.) well portrayed and b.) different enough, I don't mind it.
 
I love face claims. I think without them you end up assuming something about a character's body that isn't true or what was meant. For example, in one rp we used descriptions. I never mentioned muscles, but my partner created the fact that my female character had muscles in her arm. I let it go and let him have that re-imagining. I choose to ignore it. I think if someone picks a face claim you don't like, just imagine it someone close to that. Sometimes, it's only a guide line.

At the end of the day, I'm fine with either. I have a vivid imagination and I use that when writing with the no face character. If someone picked Chris Hemsworth for thier FC and he wasn't actually the actor but in the rp he is still a big time actor who plays a super hero then no.
 
I think extremely popular characters could be entirely avoided because there is so much art now that you can find something else that fits your character. Using a super popular picture just denotes almost laziness in lack of searching
 
There's a lot of art and pictures out there so real people pictures are not my cup of tea, even if there is not a picture of someone you look for I rather describe the appearance of an OC to someone.