Recently, one of our Adventure Series had progressed to the stage where we could finally plan out our main cast.We were expecting that creating interesting characters would be the problem. We were wrong. The problem came when there were no limitations - where any and all of our ideas could fit. I was determined to find some gauge, some touchstone from which we could narrow and mold our selection into a dynamic and workable line-up.
My Cast Template
Broad Brush-Strokes through Precedent
Broad Brush-Strokes through Precedent
In many ways this post is a spiritual successor to RoT: Reactionary Devices, however this post is a lot more general, and focused on the cast as a whole. To create my template, I scrawled long unintelligible lists of details about my favourite main casts, from both shows I liked and didn't, in an attempt to see some linkage or pattern between them.
Naturally I began by matching characters to various collections of Archetypes, and while these pre-fabricated stand-ins are great for inspiration (with a shout out to my homies Theophrastus and Joseph Campbell) it was still too limiting. The Hero, The Damsel and The Big Guy Who-Seems-Tough-But-Actually-Has-A-Heart-Of-Gold are all great up to a point, but I felt my template still needed more flexibility.
Instead, I eventually decided upon three broader Character Attributes: Appearance, Mindset and Ability - each with three levels of strangeness in relation to whatever the 'norm' is in that world.
APPEARANCE - How the character appears. (Shape/Colour/Details etc)
A good cast is usually varied, showing the range of that world from the ordinary to the most ludicrous possible in the idea. And not just in shape and colour, but the sound of their names, or voices or even just their stance
Normal is usually a proportional Human - should still have interesting scars, or clothes
Unusual could be a Human with vampire teeth, or covered with tattoos or even a Half-Elf
Completely Alien could be a giant blue Dragon or an ewok
MINDSET - How the character thinks. (Personality/World-View/Priorities)
For more on balancing personalities, see RoT: Reactionary Devices
Normal is usually a reasonable person concerned with ‘the Plot’ - should still have interesting back stories, or quirks
Unusual could be a King who sees everyone as servants and cares for ‘the Plot’ only when it suites him
Completely Alien could be a bureaucrat from an alternate dimension who cares nothing for this world - like a Fixed Character, think Dr. Manhattan or even a young Buzz Lightyear!
ABILITY - How the character can act. (Physicality/Powers/Possessions)Of course, in your idea Dinosaurs might be Normal, and hence having a Human in your main cast would be Completely Alien. You must scale the idea for each idea. It might be a realistic drama, and a Completely Alien Appearance might only be a wheelchair - or tall, fat or even in some ideas I've seen: Simply female.
I wasn't going to include this - however not only do most shows have at least one character with an interesting Ability, but it becomes such a strong source of inspiration that soon that's all they write about (see Voyager with '7 of 9' and The Doctor)
Example of how easy a scene is to write with a good Ability
Normal is usually a standard Human with basic capabilities of that world - should still have useful and interesting traits
Unusual could be an alien with different dietary needs, or an insanely powerful warrior or even a very rich person
Completely Alien could be a superhero robot ghost - who is also an omnipotent werewolf
With most shows I looked at ranging from about 3 to 5 characters, and getting progressively more out-of-the-ordinary as they go on - I've averaged it out into the following template, ordered by how central they are, with Character 1 being the Main Character and so on:
Character 1
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Character 2
Character 3
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Character 4
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______So anyway that is the Template that I use and even though none of our ideas end up matching this - they always take on a life of their own - it has proven extremely helpful so far.
Here are a few of the ideas I looked at, and I look forward to people challenging it. I'd also love to hear what you think constitutes a good cast.
Red Dwarf
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Rimmer
(His Ability of course being a Hologram)
(His Ability of course being a Hologram)
Kryten
(Has Appearance and Ability of a Robot)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(Has Appearance and Ability of a Robot)
Cat
(Catlike Humanoid who is so self-centred he barely notices the plot happening)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(Catlike Humanoid who is so self-centred he barely notices the plot happening)
- Holly is an Ancillary Character
Futurama
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Leela
(Appearance: Cyclops)
(Appearance: Cyclops)
Bender
(A: Robot, M: "The What Room? The Bath What? The What What?", Ab: Robot)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(A: Robot, M: "The What Room? The Bath What? The What What?", Ab: Robot)
Zoidberg
(M: Finds strange things normal, and vice versa - often unconcerned with plot)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(M: Finds strange things normal, and vice versa - often unconcerned with plot)
Professor Farnsworth
(A: Old, Ab: Extremely Fragile)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(A: Old, Ab: Extremely Fragile)
- Hermes and Amy are Ancillary Characters
Family Guy_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Lois
Brian
(A: Dog, P: Dog)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(A: Dog, P: Dog)
Stewie
(A: Baby, M: Megalomanic, Ab: Dirty Diapers)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(A: Baby, M: Megalomanic, Ab: Dirty Diapers)
- I believe Meg and Chris are Ancillary Characters
The Mighty Boosh
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Howard Moon
Naboo
(A: Strange Dress and Really Short, M: Not from this world, Ab: Magic and Knowledge)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(A: Strange Dress and Really Short, M: Not from this world, Ab: Magic and Knowledge)
Bollo
(A: Gorilla, M: Slavish Animal Familiar)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(A: Gorilla, M: Slavish Animal Familiar)
- Bob Fossil is an Ancillary Character
South Park
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Kyle
(Ab: Jewish - I'm not racist, it's listed here because the show often makes use of this)
(Ab: Jewish - I'm not racist, it's listed here because the show often makes use of this)
Eric
(A: Obese, M: Often portrayed as an antagonist)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(A: Obese, M: Often portrayed as an antagonist)
Kenny
(A: Hooded and kind of Mute, Ab: Even though he is technically immortal, the show doesn't use this)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(A: Hooded and kind of Mute, Ab: Even though he is technically immortal, the show doesn't use this)
Avatar: The Last Airbender
(Ab: Assuming being a Bender is Normal)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Katara
Sokka
(Ab: Not having powers is Unusual in this world)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(Ab: Not having powers is Unusual in this world)
Toph
(Ab: Blind, rich and with some unusual Bending abilities)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______(Ab: Blind, rich and with some unusual Bending abilities)
Labyrinth
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Hoggle
Ludo
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Sir Didymus
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Fantastic Four (The Movie, as the Comic varies too much)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____
The Invisible Woman
The Human Torch
(A: Drawn in flames, M: Focused on Women and Fame)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____(A: Drawn in flames, M: Focused on Women and Fame)
The Thing
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____
Pirates of the Caribbean
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Elizabeth Swann
Jack Sparrow
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Star Wars
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Leia Organa
Obi-Wan Kenobi
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Han Solo
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Chewbacca
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______- C-3P0 and R2-D2 were more like Narrators or Looking Glass Characters
The Princess Bride
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Buttercup
Inigo Montoya
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Fezzik
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Top Gear_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Richard Hammond
James May
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______The Stig
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
The IT Crowd
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Jen
Moss
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Richmond
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Fawlty Towers
(A: Taller than everyone)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Sybil
(M: Often some sort of antagonist)
(M: Often some sort of antagonist)
Polly
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Manuel
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
I would say Rimmer's appearance is unusual because of the 'H' on his forehead. And Kryton would have an Unusual mindset because of his obsession with servitude.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post. I reckon there's a lot to discuss here.
omnipotent werewolf,now my new facebook status.
ReplyDeletethanks to you im gonna find my self over analysing shows and movies and characters, which i think is a good thing. so...ive noticed you like graphs, tables and catergories
omnipotent werewolf could be a band name!
ReplyDeleteGraphs + Tables + Categories = Everything Fits Eventually
ReplyDeleteOmnipotent Werewolf = Excellent Band Name