Fan fiction or Original Work?

I wasn't sure if this was the proper thread to ask, but if you use a villain from a TV show in your work, is it considered a fan fiction or original?

 

That would be a fanfic. Someone owns that villain other than you.

 

I was guessing I would get that answer. Would it be acceptable to publish the work even if its a sort of a fan fiction?

 

It would generously be called a fanfic. It might be hard to prosecute as a copyright violation, but it's still basically stealing.

 

So basically, it would be best to ask the creator of the villain for permission to publish the story? That appears to be a better route if possible.

 

Even better is to create your own characters from the outset.

 

Yurp.

 

Agree with Cogito. Go with originality.

 

I should pretty much take out that villain and create my own, right? If I do that, I have no idea how to create a villain that will create the same effect as the one I'm using. It pretty much set the story in motion.

 

Who were you using? What makes this villain so potent?

 

Ask yourself what are the qualities of the villain you chose. What elements made you chose that person?

 

Well, the villain technically isn't a person. The elements that it provides is the ability to time travel/send someone back in time.

 

Ah. Well the good news is that that's been done so many times in stories that it can be used, generically, without it becoming fan fiction. Just create some sort of method for time travel, and bam, done.

 

Now I'm definitely stuck. Somehow I need to make a villain that is nonhuman/non animal that can send my characters through time, all while not ripping off the villain I originally used. Gahh

 

Welcome to the ever lasting battle of all authors Elevens.
I would go with originality, even if you start it off with a concept based off a character already made. I personally haven't done this, but I know a lot of people who have done it and have created their own very successful characters just from that skeleton. Quite honestly, what it sounds like to me, at the current point, is that you have a lot of work ahead of you and a very long road to travel done. I'm sure if you work on it, in time you'll find the solutions you need and the character you want to make the story work.
Best of luck.

 

A washing machine that sends people into the past?

 

Model your character after the villain that was used in the TV show. Extract the Form (ref: Plato's theory of Forms) that makes the villain "work", and apply it to your character, while using an appearance that is different from the original model.

Somehow this is starting to remind me of Steins;Gate.

 

You know, there's also the idea of your character holding literary characters in homage, and globing on a few particular traits of this one, as well as a few others. That can give you both the necessary traits you need, but it also hangs a lampshade on similarities throughout the genre. That's something your readers just might actually appreciate. I'd talk to a lawyer or publishing house about "Fair use" and copyright law doing something like that, but it might be a way around it.

 

The problem with FanFic is that it requires prior knowledge of the model. If your reader doesn't know anything about the character you've borrowed, you'll need to start from scratch anyway.

Unless you are directly appealing to people who know about your original character, or writing a 'sequel' to a known story, it's probably best to create an original character who maybe does the same kinds of things. That way you'll grab new readers.

 

Exactly. I've written fanfic for many years, and frankly, if your story depends that heavily on someone else's creation, it's fanfic and you shouldn't even try to publish it. Take the principals involved and make your own villain, one that will be understood by any reader, not just those familiar with the originator's.

 

Has anyone on this thread watched Doctor Who? Because the villain is a Weeping Angel in my story. The thing is, I think I break canon with it in the story(it travels too, not just the victim) and I agree that I should create an original villain with the same concept, but some suggestions about an alternative to a Weeping Angel would be helpful at the moment.

 

Ah the Weeping Angels, I remember them. That is an interesting base to start your villain off of, and you can make so much off of them if you do it right. Honestly though, I think you should try to work through making the villain yourself. Yes, we can give you a lot of ideas on what you can make (I personally have a character that's kind of got a start off another series) but it took me forever to just work most of her out (and she's still in development).
It's a lot of work, but you can do it ^^