# Original Character Do Not Steal Original Character Do Not Steal is a phrase DeviantART artists slap on their creations to warn against theft, but by 2008 it was already being used ironically to caption obvious rip-offs and terrible fan art. What started as a sincere copyright plea became a long-running joke about the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom and amateur original characters, or OCs. ## Origin The earliest documented ironic use came on March 18th, 2008, when DeviantART user Kurobon posted a Sonic parody titled 'LOL PENIS THE HEDGEHOG' captioned with 'original character do not steal'[3]. The phrase itself was already common among DeviantART artists worried about actual art theft, but Kurobon's post captured the sarcastic pairing that spread later: earnest warning plus terrible or derivative art. The originator of the ironic usage is unknown. - **Platform:** DeviantART - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2008 ## Overview The joke pairs the earnest 'do not steal' warning with art that nobody would ever want to steal in the first place, whether it's a lazy Sonic recolor, a poorly drawn anime character, or a blatant knock-off of an existing pop culture figure. The Sonic fandom became the running target because of the community's reputation for derivative fan characters, edgy hedgehog OCs, and palette-swapped clones like the fake blue hedgehog 'Blonic'[1]. By March 2014, DeviantART had tallied more than 29,000 submissions tagged with the phrase[3]. Users also fire off the phrase as commentary, calling out other artists whose 'original characters' look suspiciously like copyrighted properties[2]. The tone is almost always sarcastic now, with the sincerity of the original usage mostly forgotten. ## How to Use Post an obviously derivative or badly rendered character, especially a hedgehog OC that looks a little too much like Sonic, and caption it 'original character do not steal' to signal the self-aware joke. Common conventions include exaggerating the copy (a red-and-black Sonic recolor, a Naruto lookalike) or leaning into how sloppy the art is. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Original Character Do Not Steal? It's a phrase originally used by DeviantART artists to warn against theft, now more often used ironically to caption obviously derivative or badly drawn art[2]. ### Where did Original Character Do Not Steal come from? It came out of DeviantART's fan-art culture, where the phrase started as a genuine anti-theft warning before flipping into a sarcastic caption for bad or copied art[2]. ### What does Original Character Do Not Steal mean? Literally: don't copy my character. Ironically, it flags art that's either sloppily drawn or blatantly ripped off from an existing property like Sonic the Hedgehog[1]. ### How do you use Original Character Do Not Steal? Post an obviously derivative or poorly rendered OC, often a Sonic-adjacent hedgehog, and caption it 'original character do not steal' to signal the self-aware joke[1]. ### Is Original Character Do Not Steal still popular? It's a classic Sonic-fandom joke that still surfaces whenever people mock amateur OC art, though its peak was in the early 2010s[1]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fGFjoeyc6I]() 2. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Original%20Character%20Do%20Not%20Steal]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/original-character-do-not-steal]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/original-character-do-not-steal Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library