Mitzy's Guide for Maiar OCs

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Wassup my demons. It's me, ya gurl.

And I'm back   at it   with   murdering

More   of   this   community's   ocs. A

real shocker, I know

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⇥ I n d e x ⇤

                              I. Introduction

                               II. Basics

                               III. Appearance

                               IV. Backstory

                               V. Abilities

                               VI. Headcanons

                               VII. Ending Notes

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For those who don't know what a Maia is, let's start with the basics.

The Maiar are a race of powerful beings and part of the Ainur, primordial spirits that shaped Arda according to Iluvatar's vision. There are two types of Ainur: the Valar, lords and ladies that rule over certain aspects of Arda, and the Maiar, their servants and helpers.

While there are only fourteen Valar, there is not a know number as to how many Maiar there actually are. We can however assume there are quite many, as they have a city of their own where they dwell in while in Aman, a city called Valmar.

Considering the importance of the Valar to Tolkien's creation mytho, it is not really all advisable that people do Valar ocs, however with the little restrictions given to us when it comes to the Maiar, it's literally a creator's playground.

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So first of all, let's talk Maiar, shall we?

As part of the Ainur, Maiar have been around for a very, very long time. They were first created by the thoughts of Eru and they have a sole purpose: to serve their master.

Each Maia is attributed to one Vala, and they are masters in the lore their masters rule. Examples we can see examples of this even in the movies! Mairon (Sauron) for example, was an exceedingly great Smith, that's because he was a Maia of Aule, the Vala related to the earth and metals. Another instance in which this is proved is with Aiwendil (Radagast)'s relationship with animals. He's extremely found of them because he's a Maia of Yavanna, the creator of animals.

Maiar are not exactly Gods, for the Valar are more powerful than them, But they are not demigods either, as that would imply they are half god half something else. Maiar can be put more correctly under a Lesser God category.

The Ainur are very powerful, however they of course have their own weaknesses. They are not unbeatable, not even the Valar are.

Maiar are not mortal. They are not dependent of their physical forms to live, since afterall they were nothing but spirits before they even formed bodies, however they can "die". If an Ainur's body takes too much damage, their spirit with leave their current form to create a new one, a process that can take a very long time. Another way a Maia can come back to life is if their Vala resurrects them themselves. It's not very clear in The Two Towers, but that's how Gandalf managed to come back to life: Manwë, king of the Valar, brought him back to life.

It is very rare to see Maiar serving a Vala that is not their own, however it is not impossible. It is not impossible for them to change the Vala their serve. This was what happened to Mairon for example; he was a mighty Maia of Aule who was seduced by Melkor and so became his Maia

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Not much is told about the Maiar's overall appearances, however we have some somewhat solid bases we can still work with.

For starters, Maiar do not usually stay attached to one physical form. They are just outer shells that while usually pretty should be kept practical due to their work-based lives

Another reason why they do not stay attached is because they are shapeshifters. They change their bodies however they please, which allows them to do things such as turn into animals or just change their hair color in the blink of an eye

Speaking of which, don't go too far with the "they can look however they want" thing. They might be the defying logistics there with their abilities, but let's keep things realistic. Avoid using colors that you would not usually find in something in the nature like genuine pink hair or green skin. A harmonious color palette immediately can change one's opinion on a character and it really makes them more dynamic and less cringy.

Grabbing on to the last topic about keeping things realistic, please do so in other things other than hair and skin color, like the character's features themselves. It's interesting to have a silhouette which immediately allows you to point out what character it is, but making a neko or a half-wolf isn't exactly the most mind and eye appealing thing.

As another note I'd like to mention outfit choices. We do not know what kind of clothing people in Aman use besides maybe the Noldor, but we can guess that they are not prancing around in bright bikini bottoms. Keep their outfits something realistic and that you'd maybe wear in a fantasy world. Also do some research when it comes to colors. For example, unless your character is very socially important, there are very little chances that they'd wear purple clothes.

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When it comes to backstories, the fact that maiar are able to pretty much do as they please leaves quite the freedom. You can make prehaps a servant of Nienna who mourns over a destroyed Middle Earth in her Lady's halls, or even a jokester who disguises as a normal human and roams the streets of Gondor. The options are limitless.

Not completely related to background, but the Maiar have a naming process too! Their names are Quenyan adjectives that describe them. For example, Mairon means The irable, while Curumo means The Skilled

Please though, make sure of two things while working: one is that your story makes sense. If your Maia, for example, left their Vala for some reason, give them a strong justification as to why that happened. Help us emphasize with your characters damn it! The second point is that you don't meddle with the time line of Arda. Maiar are very, very old, which means that they ed through some of the most marking moments in the history of Arda. Watch out for things like that

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One of the things that differs maiar from the other races of Arda is their unique sets of abilities

First of all, as mentioned before, they can shapeshift into pretty much anything they want, either completely or partially, but they can actually lose this ability

If a Maia "dies" they can lose their powers partially or completely. We see a case where this happened when Sauron died in Numenor. After his drowning, he was no longer able to take a beautiful form

Certain Maiar can have powers not just related to themselves, but also to others. It is rarely physical, but they are able to corrupt or purify the minds of the children of Iluvatar (at least a few are able to corrupt men, not so sure about the elves)

Another of their abilities is their relation with the world around them. The Maiar can create things, just like their Valar. A Maia of Yavanna would logically be able to grow plants, while a Maia of Aule would be able to stand incredible temperatures from the core of the earth, as for a Maia of Irmo, they might be able to people through their dreams or create visions

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Note: this section is not related to the Canon Lore. These are some things that I use while creating ocs that some of you might like! You can feel free to discard this section or you can feel free to use these headcanons yourself! :)

It is in a Maia's nature to feel the need to serve. They were solely created with the purpose of following the Valar's orders, and that is an extremely important key factor in their existence. If they become masterless, they might be fine at first, but eventually a weight will fall on their shoulders, and they'll stop feeling like they have a purpose. They'll feel helpless and it might drive them into insanity

The Ainur are not naturally the size of the children. Of course, they can change their size, but at first they were like Gentle Giants. They only started taking smaller forms when Orome met the elves, since that way it'd be easier to interact with them

Also taking time before the elves appeared. The Maiar did not have a body with skin. They are very in sync with their elements and their place in the world, so they embraced their motifs more literally. Maiar of Ulmo were scaly like the creatures underneath, the servants of the Fëanturi were practically formless and practically ghosts, the people or Yavanna had their skin made of rough tree bark and so on. They started taking more humanoid forms only when they first saw the elves and ired their forms

The Maiar have a very special adoration for their Valar. Not in an actually romantic way,

*cough* exept for Melkor and Sauron

but more like a special iration. Kind of like how a student is supposed to look at their mentor. They just love their Vala, and might actually get kind of clingy to them. Almost like children, really

The relationship between Maiar and Valar goes much deeper than the simple servant-master relationships. Just like the Maiar learn with the Valar, so is a Vala able to learn from a Maia. The Valar often turn to their servants for advice and have a close enough relationship with some to actually confide in them when it comes to more important matters.

Speaking of relationships, let's talk love, shall we? When it comes to finding 'the One', Maiar are kind of a mix between men and elves. They might at first mingle around with other people for a while, but once they actually fall in love and get married, their heart belongs to that person forever, and their love is solely for their s/o's. That is unless they are mortal. It will be extremely heartbreaking for a Maia to lose their partner if they are of a mortal species, but they'll eventually move on and get remarried if they so wish. They never forget their past mates though.

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As always, these things are just small facts that might come in handy for some, I am not going to check each and every Maia's bio to make sure they are following Canon

If you do follow this guide, you can tag it with #MMG (Mitzy's Maiar Guide) so I can check it out! I'd love to see how I can help others improve :eyes:

In case you need any questions regarding the Ainur or help creating your OC, don't hesitate to pm me! I'm more than glad to help!

Pretty much like the Elf oc guide, this is still a work in progress. I'll come back every now and then to add or edit some things

And for last but not least, in case your OC contradicts anything in this guide, don't automatically classify it as trash or start hating on it. Even the most wonderful things start out as imperfect! All it needs is love, effort and development

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The End!

(for now)

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The art cover was made by Phobs! You can find her in several Tumblr blogs :

phobs-eh.tumblr.com

phobso.tumblr.com

melkorwashere.tumblr.com