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The answer depends heavily on the fandom. The Star Trek universe is so thoroughly fleshed out that you could write an engaging story without using any canonical characters (CCs); as long as you include familiar alien races, technology, etc, and otherwise follow the “rules” of the Star Trek universe. (But you couldn’t do that with, say, Brooklyn 99, because that show is all about the characters, not the world it’s set in. ) The broader point here is that readers will probably accept a fair number of OCs in a fic as long as they are engaging and fit in with the fandom and its characters. I included several OCs in my Star Vs the Forces of Evil story “Star’s Crossed Lovers,” and readers generally liked them because of the way they interacted with the CCs.

As one whose first fanfic had a non-canon character, I can’t go against that In the end, I’ve kinda sidelined that non-canon character, making her a refuge for Harry from the wizarding world, good girlfriend (+wife) with benefits. On the pragmatic side, writing an OC can be a good spot to build confidence to start into full originals too.

It depends on the source and your tastes. I generally prefer a majority of characters to be canon, but some settings that really isn’t possible. I attempted writing for the Neverwinter MMO setting, but those plots and characters were so loosey goosey within the setting that, aside from mentioning an event or character in passing my story didn’t even feel much part of that setting. By the time I had created that many OCs to be the entire cast, I realized I wasn’t writing fanfic anymore but an original fiction. I wasn’t attached to the canon-weak characters and events that I didn’t want or need them, I was doing ALL of the work of writing an original story without being able to take credit. It wasn’t hard to file off the original setting. (BW knows that hiatus’d story) MMOs with the generic nature of character interaction and repetition, seem very unlikely to build a gripping foundation for fanfic. The original Guild Wars had the bones for some gripping sequences, but with the very fluidity of the interative and constantly retconned canon, it’s not stable enough or even accessable years later to refresh the canon. Now single player games like NWNights and Dragon Age are released in large enough chunks they are stable enough for replay for fun or research as you have a copy of the game you played on disk. Canon characters are far better developed and rich for exploration and use in fiction. Few games have made as good characters. Too many characters mean they aren’t 3D enough to tempt my muse. I had hopes for project eternity game, but the supporting cast was too generic and boring, I believe that it is the canon characters (and lesserly- events) who drive my interest in fanfiction. If the significant cast is all original, I know I’m not as interested in reading. Writing about the adventures on the SS Vanguard that has no impact on the world just feels futile. What would be different if this happened instead of canon? Sometimes I’ve read even a single OC who can break the setting completely, the OCs need to play mostly by the setting rules too. (and not outshine canon) Some settings have so many minor characters that there’s usually an existing character for most any purpose, and these characters are already woven into the setting, OC’s need more work to get them to fit seamlessly into the setting and existing cast. (A small part of why Rey is a Sue is that her background is basically to be plopped into a saga that deals heavily in lineage and fate. She’s a rehash of early Luke without any real past, brought forth from the brow of the Mouse with less past than the leads of computer games) A good OC needs to be part of the world and have a good significant reason for why the character was offstage during canon. (wandering away again, sorry) I like using canon characters, and the challenge to keeping them in character but still have them deal with new problems and people. Banter and interaction with OCs is fun. It’s very therapeutic to have someone slap someone who’s being stupid in canon. But then many good stories can just reshuffle canon, like one where Kirk might have kidnapped Edith Keeler to the future. Few canon characters are that developed that you cannot develop them in a new way... or just better depicted than canon. We can show their thought stream better than video. In practice, my OCs seem to hold below about 25% of the significant cast. Mainly because the canon cast is as much a part of the settings as phasers and mithral. I find I cannot keep up with stories about the characters I like, and by definition I don't know OCs in OC laden stories. So I move on.

So, a few days ago, a friend and I were talking about this sort of idea. The discussion for this thread, though, is more a case of how many OC characters do you like in your fan fiction before it gets turned off? In the case of the only fanfiction I have up here, which is that of a Star Trek Online, aside from a few ‘cameos’ here and there, the cast is entirely original characters. The conversation between us was a discussion about how a lot of people would be turned off by that sort of story, which I do accept and actually kind of agree with (strangely, considering...), but how many OC characters in a fanfiction turn you off? Would it turn you away from that particular story or does it even matter? Giving my thoughts on the matter as a writer, I don’t really like using canon characters because I, personally, feel forced into a tiny box to keep them in character. As a reader, if the canon characters in a fanfiction don’t feel particularly right (given deviations accounted for in regards to whatever the story is being told; ie, sexual stories, I can give leeway in canon characters being different than author portrayed (if this makes sense...). It’s a major reason why I didn’t include any in the main cast of characters for STA. That said, as a reader, I do understand why someone could, potentially, be turned away if there are no canonical characters. (I feel like I’m rambling, so my apologies.)

I was sort of rooting for the kangaroo to make a goal…

I think it’s important to do fan fiction your own way. And being that this is really your first official foray into fanfiction that I’m aware of, if you want to ease yourself into canon characters or never really utilize them at all, that’s perfectly valid. It’s your story. It’s your decision. That being said, when I was a reader in the Tekken or Star Ocean fandoms, I never read fan fics where the main character or the love interest were OCs. I went into those fandoms for the characters, the universe was only a small part of the appeal. So a story without the canon character would defeat the purpose for me. Of course, it would be a little different if I was looking for fics in game fandoms where the main player character is an OC by design, like neverwinter and DA. With MMORPGs, it would be more about the universe and the cultures. That sounds more fun to write in than read in, for me though, since there wouldn’t be much in the way of established characters to draw me in. But for rich RPGs like DA with a semi OC main, that lies somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. I would probably still kinda avoid OC fics, but would be much more open minded. I understand not wanting to limit yourself with canon characters, and that’s perfectly valid. If I go into it expecting to be reading fan fiction, I’d probably have a problem with it, but I go into it expecting original fiction so it doesn’t bug me.

My fanfictions are game-based for the most part—Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age, to be specific. So, in essence, my player character is a form of OC to begin with, since I decide how the PC will respond over the course of the game. It’s not a huge leap to turn that into fanfiction, especially when I think the writers for the game were short-sighted, or narrow-minded. I do try to keep major canon characters in character, but there are always those less-explored non-player characters who catch my attention, and I won’t promise not to write them a full back story, and drop them into a few twists of my own devising…

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I’ll chime in. Thank you mods, like @BronxWench, etc, for keeping this site running. AFF is the only website I’ve actually hit that donate button on, and not regretting it (so far).