The Story:
The story begins with you dreaming, dreaming about being on your turf. It is a dream of great joy, of greatness…but then a dark shadow forms on the face of the world. You look around and the sky shatters like glass! The sky begins to feel Icy, and then you see a figure form. You manage to adjust in the darkness and you see a little girl.
She seems to be of the age of 5 years old wearing an old Victorian outfit holding onto her little teddy bear. Her eyes are closed, yet tears flows down from her white cheeks. You reach out with your hand to assure her all is fine. But then her eyes opens with pure black eyes. The Icy breeze picked up as she spoke.
“Thou can do…thou can do” She hissed
“Do what?” you ask
“To fight…to defeat…then to save” She said “Will thou fight all foes?”
You agree or disagree…but before you can answer you appear on a Floating Island. There is pure darkness all around the gleaming Island. You look at your surroundings in awe and then turn to ask the girl “Why?” and give your answer. But she is gone, but as if knowing it, you feel that a fight will begin with you and another, but why fight? You know fighting will grant you existence and answers.

The Contest:

A tournament should be delightfully immersive. The idea of entering your character should be exciting to you as well as to the other entrants, seeing combatants from all walks of life and areas of the ‘world’, so to speak. In this case, our little art community here. Your character should have something to offer, fill out a part of the spectrum that no one else does, sport a style all their own. Just like actual fighting games, where the roster is comprised of a cast with differing abilities, pros, cons, goals and endings.
Remember…it’s all on you now!!!

The Audition:
Important! Please Read!
Unlike first-come first-serve OC tournaments, this one will operate a little differently in its inception. In an effort to discourage those who would enter on impulse and later drop due to lack of interest/etc, there will be an audition phase to choose the combatants.

Interested parties should draw a picture of their character in their dream ready to fight in the dream realm.


The picture can be as simple or as epic as you want to make it, but just enough to show this is something you’d enjoy being a part of. It would be fantastic to have a common place for us all!

Have either a reference sheet of your character ready, or images in your gallery to assist your opponents in drawing your character. These will be needed if you are selected for the roster.
(Note: Send me a comment with link to character design, so I will post it for your…fellow fighters)
The Judges:



The Prizes:

Grand Prize: A 3 year subscription for Deviantart paid by yours truly.

Second Prizes: A 2 year subscription for Deviantart paid by yours truly.

Third Prize: A 1 year subscription for Deviantart paid by yours truly.

To all 3 finalists: A mystery prize will be given to you all by myself!!! Whoever wins will get a print of the whole series of comics they did as a 100% comic as a DA print paid by me. (Basically: winner gets their entire OCvsOC comic as a print from the start to the end with the 3 year subscription paid by me)

(Note: I know you can subscribe for 1 year at a time so I will pay for each year when the dues are in until the prize is done with. BUT, if you want to donate a ‘year’ to a friend I will be more than happy to discuss it with you.)

The Stages:
After your run-in with the girl, you are delivered to the Island Nightmare is situated on. There are a number of places you can set your battles here. I’ve posted a picture of it ([link])
You are encouraged to use the settings, but not remain to any particular details. It should be how you personally envision it. Nor do you have to use a different setting each time. If you want to be inside the forests no problem too.


Map one more time: [link]

1. The Ruins – Island Nightmare is a monument of ruins and a great light house. In vision of both genius and insanity of the demented dreams of kingdoms and empire devised by the minds of humanity. Feasibly, your character could spend every match in here. It may look small, but it’s bigger than it looks. When inside the very light house a world of darkness, cold, and shifting is birthed. It is the very place one enters their nightmares. Mirrors seen everywhere, arches, spiral stair cases, meat hooks hanging from the very roof, the sound of wayward minds lost within their very minds, the awful smell of old mold, and the feeling of an ancient evil locked within the combines of the ruins. There is a cliff to its back, and a drop off on three sides too.

2. Misty Woods – A large part of the island is covered in thick forested areas, with crisp, cool fog blanketing what areas trees don’t possess. Visibility is quite poor.

3. The Grass Lands - As if stepping into a safari on TV you step into the waist high grass of the Island. When there you feel the dry air breezing onto your face, the tall grass offers protection and yet it hides many things… dangerous or not…

4. Canyon - The canyon is basically a big rocky area with a chasm running a length of a ways through, with rough, uneven footing.

5. The Bluffs - The cliff area outside the great walls don’t lead to very much, outside of a falling into nothing. But then that’s one way to defeat an opponent. It is even rougher than the canyon, and very uneven…only to be fought on if the person knows what they are doing other wise any novices are surly to fall into the void before a minute is up.

6. The Lake– The Lake is deep than what the crystal blue makes it look. Its depths is all but lifeless airless watery death trap. The water seems endless. A Small knoll of woods is close by too…

7. The River/Waterfall – From the lake a narrow river snake Winding River that goes over the edge of the Island into the abyss. Around the waterfall are rocks and crevices that could be easily used to fight on over the darkness just inches away from the edge into oblivion. It is even rougher than the canyon, and very uneven…only to be fought on if the person knows what they are doing other wise any novices are surly to fall into the void before a minute is up.

8. The Hole- A perimeter of the island is dominated by gargantuan sink hole with a hole to the void waits. It is a mix of the Bluffs and the Canyon…only it is a hole with a 360o wall. Don’t worry; it is only 500 feet (3ft=1 meter) before you fall out of the hole and fall into the void.

9. The Far Wood - Basically like the misty woods but one side is the canyon and the other three sides is the fall into nothing. There are many sink holes, ravines, crevices, and cramp forested areas…not to mention earthquakes.

10. The Hill Lands – Close to the old ruins, there is land all around with hills. Hills that are big, small, and all alike! There is tall grass and easy to see a person and not them seeing you as well as great places to hide! Careful though…you may fall of the Island OR end up in the ruins.
The Rules:

Characters:

1. Fancharacters will be turned away at the door (NO Naruto fan boy character for example, or Witch fan character, ect…. Nothing from any popular franchise’s universe, unless of course, it is your own franchise.

2. One combatant per slot. HOWEVER, each entry can be a collaborative effort between artists. If you are a writer who gets an artist friend to draw for you, fine. If you can only pencil and want a friend of yours to color, sure, go for it. I’d do it like that too! lol

3. Characters can use familiars, summons, dopplegangers, separate entities, etc. I just don’t want squads of OC’s squishing into ‘one’ combatant slot. All the same, big giant Capcom-esque group special moves could still work. Haha. So basically, other characters can ‘lend a hand’ a la fighting game special moves, but not be consistently battling alongside the combatant in every match. The focus should always be on your main combatant. If you and your ‘Buddy’ works together too much I will pit you both against each other (I will send you a warning, if not listend to and it is done again then you two will have to fight)


Battles:

1. Battles can be done one-shot portrait(OSP) style or in comic format. This contest should be, after all, about expanding your artistic horizons, and there’s nothing like trying your hand at comics/osp to learn a thing or two about perspective, composition, pacing.. and of course backgrounds. (I would prefer comics, but I won’t be picky! )

2. Comics don’t have to be in color. Of course a masterfully colored/grayscaled entry is going to stand a much better chance than flat pencils, but it’s entirely up to you and what you feel most comfortable with.

3. Battles don’t necessarily have to end in death. Nor are they going to be judged by gore, badassery or cleverness alone. It just needs to be a ‘defeat’. I’m looking for creativity here, an overall high standard in all categories, or whatever makes your art ‘you’. If you err on the side of comedy, be funny. If you like super gore, go for it. (Try to stay decent with accordance of the rules on DA..) The main thing is, bring yourself to the table here, with your own cards laid out, the way you want them. I am not going to force you into anything, just hope you respect the rules.

Long story short, just show your original character defeating who you are matched up with. And make the judge(s) want to see more.

4. The battle will take place on the Island. The settings will be illustrated later in the entry.

5. How many rounds? It depends who is in the contest… it is meant to be your best, good, epic, and sweet, but with matches that really count. You will have a full two and a half weeks to submit your entry, in an effort to encourage working at your own pace and giving it your all. The contest will be culminating around new years,and if school demands extended time to enter, I will be more than happy to let the remaining folks have it.

Any other questions? Post them here. If you ask something that was already answered in the Rules or anywhere above, you won’t be addressed.

Oh, and by the way.

Auditions begin now.

Auditions close the 13th of June. And the roster will be displayed on the 1st of June. From there on in, the battle begins.


IN SHORT, THIS IS HOW IT WORKS, STEP-BY-STEP. PLEASE READ EVERYTHING HERE IF YOU ARE CONFUSED.

1. Have an original character. They can be old, or created just now. They do not have to pertain to the Island Nightmare universe. Any character of yours! Provided it is not a fan character from an established series.

2. Create an 'audition image' which will act as your registration for the roster. Not everyone will make it. After submitting your audition image, I decide who is in and who isn't based on the overall creativity and dedication displayed in the audition image.
The audition image must depict your character on the Island as if on a comic book cover, start your character being approached in their native dreams on their native turf. They will be taken to the island where the tournament is being held. This can be a portrait, or a comic in itself, simple or complex. Just show us that you want in, and you're in this for the long haul. It can have any number of other characters in it. Just make sure your combatant. Turn ins begins on the 25th of May!


Upload your audition image and note me with a link to it.

3. Wait until the audition period closes on the 13th. A week or so later the roster will be announced, and you will be paired off with an opponent.
In the mean time, submit a reference sheet of your character, or link to images of your character from your gallery so your opponent knows how to properly draw them.

4. Draw either a single image or an entire comic about your character defeating your opponent, somehow or another. Death doesn't need to be included, it can be defeating them, humiliating them, just basically putting them out of your characters way so you can move on.

5. The judge(s) will view your entries and pick which displayed more creativity, composition, cleverness, etc. The winners will be announced when all the entries are in.

6. Rinse, repeat, until someone is the top winner.

Good luck to you all!