Image Credit: Images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos. One image directly from Pixabay.
Supporting characters in stories have much the same role as supporting actors do. Without them, the story is incomplete. They add richness and depth to a story too, especially if they are involved in the sub-plots in novellas and novels. But their task is to either help or hinder the lead characters in their task. They don’t overshadow the leading character either.
For a villainous character, their supporting character can help increase the difficulties faced by the hero/heroine. That in turn increases the tension in the story and the risks of failure for the hero/heroine. For a more noble character, their supporting characters can help them achieve their objective quicker and limit the risks faced by the lead and increase their chances of success.
Why The Need for Supporting Characters
In quest tales, it is reasonable to suppose a need for supporting characters (note the plural) given the lead will not be able to do everything.
For a quest, it is not unreasonable to assume your lead character will need (a) guidance, (b) companionship (ideally by folks who can help defend said lead character, quests are rarely safe options, given even the geography and the weather can be hazards!), and (c) to supply the skills your lead character will need but does not possess. Nobody can be brilliant at everything.
From a writing point of view, it pays to work out why you need a supporting character and what their role will be. Also why is it this supporting character you will be writing into the tale? What is special about them? What will they contribute?
Every character must be in a story, even a 100 word flash fiction piece, for a good reason. Readers want to care about the characters you create. This goes for your supporting ones too. So it should be clear as to who does what and why they are needed.
My Favourite Supporting Characters
I can think of so many supporting characters I love. My overall favourite is Sam Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings. Frodo would not have succeeded in his mission without him. Sam does not pretend to understand all Frodo is going through but he is there for Frodo in the darkest times. Sam shows considerable bravery as well as loyalty. We all need friends like Sam. Did Sam set out to be brave? No. But he did remain true to himself and his courage came from that.
Can you imagine Sherlock Holmes without Dr John Watson? I can’t. For one thing, Holmes needs a narrator to tell his stories. Holmes himself cannot do that. It is not in his skill set. He doesn’t have the people skills to do it either!
Agatha Christie’s famous detective, Poirot, needed Captain Hastings. Why? There is at least one novel where Poirot tells Hastings that he sees the obvious, the things the murderer wants Poirot to see and think. Poirot naturally then thinks outside of those boxes. I also think he needed Hastings to act as a sounding board and given it is clear in the earlier books, Poirot faced some discrimination as a Belgian refugee, Hastings may well have made it easier for Poirot to establish his career. Supporting characters can act as guides or as “way clearers”.
In the Discworld books by the much missed Terry Pratchett, the supporting characters of Captain Carrot, Lord Vetinari, and practically every member of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch add humour and show us more about the lead character, Sam Vimes himself.
How he interacts with the others around him, especially over further books, shows how he develops as a character. We also see the supporting characters develop, a sure sign of terrific writing, but none of them overshadow Sam Vimes. (If ever there was a character in fiction you would want on your side in a fight it is him!).
Oh and for a great quote from Lord Vetinari, it’s hard to beat the following:-
“The female mind is certainly a devious one, my lord.”
Vetinari looked at his secretary in surprise. “Well, of course it is. It has to deal with the male one.” ~ Terry Pratchett (from Unseen Academicals).
And as for interaction between Sam Vimes and Lord Vetinari, you can get a good flavour of their relationship from this quote:-
Vetinari drummed his fingers on the table. “What would you do if I asked you an outright question, Vimes?”
“I’d tell you a downright lie, sir.”
“Then I will not do so,” said Vetinari, smiling faintly. —Thud! by Terry Pratchett
Outlining Characters
For my own stories, I like to know what my characters are likely to be made of before I write their stories up. For my flash pieces I often have only the one character but they can refer to others unseen so I need to know something about them too. Why has my lead character mentioned them?
My story should show something of the impact they’ve had on my lead character, otherwise there is no point in mentioning the other character at all. So although “off stage” the secondary character has to matter. I may not need to know so much about the secondary character but I still need to work out what I do need to know.
Naturally I need to know far more about my lead character – what is their major trait, what drives them, what do they fear etc. Then I can decide if their traits are a help or a hindrance and, yes, being the cheery kindly soul I am, I usually do drop my characters right in the fictional mire and see what comes from that.
I can get a brave character to face something horrendous, say, and either prove their courage or they find it abandons them and they need the help of another character. That kind of story is interesting to write and read because the main character would have to change after needing help from someone else, especially if that help came from someone they had looked down on previously.
This is a classic fairytale theme too. How often does a character despise someone who looks old and powerless but then discovers to their horror that same someone is a powerful magical being who curses them for their arrogance? The Beauty and the Beast is a great example of this. The Beast in this case was then dependent on Beauty for redemption.
In The Lord of the Rings Frodo knew he needed Sam’s support. Even later, when he turned on Sam (due to the malign influence of the Ring of Power), Sam stayed loyal. Sam saw through Gollum too when Frodo could not or would not.
Sometimes a secondary character is needed to make the lead see sense, even if they fail in that attempt.
Whenever I am reading a longer work, I look out for the secondary characters with my writer’s hat on. Why has the author included these? What role do they play? I can learn a great deal from a simple analysis like that. And it doesn’t spoil my enjoyment of the story.
When you’ve been writing for a while, this kind of analysis is going on in the background. I want to find out what happens in a book as much as anyone but I know the kind of things to look for as I do so and the role of secondary characters is something of especial interest to me.
Conclusion
I’ve mentioned before that when it comes to the character -v- plot debate, I am firmly on the side of the characters. I have to care about them to want to find out what happens to them. So they’ve got to hook me from the start, whether I am reading a novel or shorter works. I also want to see what the secondary characters get up to and I like to play “spot the important secondary character here”.
Often if a character is named, look out. They will have a vital role to play in the story. But there can be other secondary characters who add something to the storyline but only make a brief appearance – consider them as cameos if you like. But all must fit into the story. All must have a good role to play.
So over to you then. Who would you name as your favourite secondary characters in books/films etc? (I mention films as so many of the great books get adapted for film. When the films get it right, as they did with The Lord of the Rings, they do conjure up the pictures in your head that you had as you read the book and the secondary characters come to life in the right way too).
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
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