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For me, it depends on the kind of fanfic it is. One-shots and drabbles generally are canon-character centric. This does not exclude them from having OCs completely, but I usually use them only if there is a need for them. As in, we know a person must have existed but we don't know anything about them, or for the sake of the one-shot must assume there has been such a character even if canon's logic alone does not necessarily dictate that. With that I mean, logic dictates that if we have a canon character that has been born, they must have (had) parents, even if canon does not tell us anything about them. Or that if character is a teacher, they must have had students. On the other hand, if I want to write a one-shot about a canon-character angsting about, say, the death of their pet rabbit, and remembering how they bought it at a pet shop, how they used to pet it, etc. the one-shot's logic dictates there must have been an employee at that pet shop that said character met. Canon's logic does not dictate such a thing unless canon explicitly tells us that a. canon character had/has a pet rabbit and b. character bought that rabbit themselves/was there when it was bought. Multi-chapter story depends on the time-period and the plot. If it's set in pre-story times, chances are we know the names of a few people from then and the personality of even fewer. Which means OCs are basically unavoidable in most cases. Same if it's set after the story's end, or in un(der)developed/"glossed-over" parts of the story, which happens when there are time-jumps, etc. Otherwise, it comes down to the plot. The further you deviate from canon, the more likely it is that there is need for OCs. In such cases, the OCs are in my case never the main-character of the story, but they can play an important role. Say, a character turns down a job they accepted in canon and did something else, that means one will have to deal with different characters. Some may be canon (especially if the different job is also established in canon, possibly even with the character debating which of the two jobs to choose, but just picked the other one in one's fanfic than in canon) but others will not be, especially if it's a job where a character has to interact with not just colleagues and their boss, but customers as well. There are thousands of examples like that possible, and that's when still dealing with fanfiction that's mostly character-centric and where the OCs' existence is dictated by in-story logic. (Can't be born without parents, can't teach without students, can't sell clothes without customers, etc.) Sometimes, OCs are necessary not because the story's logic dictates they should exist, but because you need a character to fill a role and all of the existing canon characters are for various reasons unable to fill that role. (Couple of possible reasons: wrong personality, wrong morals, wrong personal circumstances, wrong gender, wrong age, wrong appearance, race, religion, culture, nationality, etc. Yes, several of these may seem shallow or even prejudiced, but they can nonetheless be valid reasons why specific characters cannot fit a role. If for whatever reason you need a neo-nazi, that would exclude people of jewish faith, people of colour, etc. If you need a teacher at a male-only school, that would exclude females, newborns, children, teenagers, animals, aliens, prisoners, etc.) At that point, you have a limited number of choices - slightly change a canon character (preferably while giving enough in-story reasoning that their behaviour makes sense, even if it would be OOC for their canon counterpart to do such a thing), bend a canon character so out of shape that it's an OC-pretending-to-be-canon, or add in an OC. Depending on the reasoning why certain characters won't fit, the former may not even be an option. The second option is hard to do in a way that won't infuriate anyone who has a passing familiarity with the canon character. TL;DR: OCs are okay where OCs are for various reasons either needed or preferable to other options.

I think the litmus test is really for 14 year old writers. Personally, though, I'm irked about the male/female option. How many people are born in the third gender for god's sakes? Granted, alot of these people were irreversably changed by surgery at birth, but that doesn't mean mentally that they feel out of place. Like for instance, a girl who is under extreme pressure from school for not having her period or breast growth at 17. Then she finds out, after taking dangerous medications to try to promote female puberty, she finds out waking in a hospital that she was really a hermaphrodite. It's a plot that's already something to read about. When I heard of cases like these, I sympathise with these people, I want to know if they had a happy ending or become finally comfortable with themselves. But no, the 18-20 year old wimmin always have to be the one shouting the loudest to be heard. "Oh, lookat me, I'm a girl and I hadn't had a boyfriend yet." What a standard plot device, ugh.

Litmus tests are for those with either little or no skill in creating OC's, too insecure in their writing and character creation, or for those who want a laugh on how high or low their character will score. All anyone has to do when creating characters is read one of the numerous creating-character books out there, or learn from their mistakes. Maybe the litmus test can be a guideline on what to avoid with OCs, but I never bother with them. I did one or two for fun and got a low score, but even if my score was high, that wouldn't change how I had the character. The Sue is in the writing, not the traits. Took three years to be where I'm at now, and none of those skills I gleaned from the litmus test.

I am writing an original character in a Forgotten Realms setting. I wanted to avoid the classic Mary Sue syndrome, so I put her in with only the pertinent references to her background and then stuck her in some rather humorous situations. I needed another cause for strife in the life of one of the main characters and for the other main; I needed a way for him to get what he originally wanted… A trade partner in the city of Calimport. So I made up Malehedectar and she seems to be doing well so far. It is difficult to write an original character with any substance in a well established fandom. You get a lot of people who will drop a fic for an OC, no matter how well written you think the original character is. The classic assumption is that no matter what, you have made the original character a fictional version of your self, and while that is sometimes the case it is not always true. The reason I wanted to write a fan fiction in the first place was to test the waters, establish my literary prowess. Which, as it turns out, seems to be getting on swimmingly, but I have had a lack of really critical reviews, so it is a bit skewed. But I do intend to write some fully original works just as soon as I crank out the rest of The Shifting Sands of Calimshan. When I am safely out of this fandom I will then have time to check out some of the original stories here, and I just can’t wait!! I would love to see what some of you fine writers have thought up, all original cast and crew!! No worries about the sticky Mary Sue!!