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
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)
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
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.
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______
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
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
Lister_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Rimmer
(His Ability of course being a Hologram)
Kryten
(Has Appearance and Ability of a Robot)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Cat
(Catlike Humanoid who is so self-centred he barely notices the plot happening)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______- Holly is an Ancillary CharacterFuturama
Fry_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Leela
(Appearance: Cyclops)
Bender
(A: Robot, M: "The What Room? The Bath What? The What What?", Ab: Robot)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Zoidberg
(M: Finds strange things normal, and vice versa - often unconcerned with plot)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Professor Farnsworth
(A: Old, Ab: Extremely Fragile)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______- Hermes and Amy are Ancillary Characters
Family Guy
Peter_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Brian
(A: Dog, P: Dog)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Stewie
(A: Baby, M: Megalomanic, Ab: Dirty Diapers)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______- I believe Meg and Chris are Ancillary Characters
The Mighty Boosh
Vince Noir_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Naboo
(A: Strange Dress and Really Short, M: Not from this world, Ab: Magic and Knowledge)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Bollo
(A: Gorilla, M: Slavish Animal Familiar)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______- Bob Fossil is an Ancillary Character
South Park
Stan_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Kyle
(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______Kenny
(A: Hooded and kind of Mute, Ab: Even though he is technically immortal, the show doesn't use this)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Aang(Ab: Assuming being a Bender is Normal)_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Sokka
(Ab: Not having powers is Unusual in this world)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Toph
(Ab: Blind, rich and with some unusual Bending abilities)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Labyrinth
Sarah_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Ludo
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Sir Didymus
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Fantastic Four (The Movie, as the Comic varies too much)
Mr Fantastic_____Appearance___________Mindset_____ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____The Human Torch
(A: Drawn in flames, M: Focused on Women and Fame)
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____The Thing
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____
Pirates of the Caribbean
Will Turner_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Jack Sparrow
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Star Wars
Luke Skywalker_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______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
Westley_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Inigo Montoya
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Fezzik
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Top Gear
Jeremy Clarkson_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______James May
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______The Stig
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
The IT Crowd
Roy_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______ _____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Moss
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Richmond
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Fawlty Towers
Basil(A: Taller than everyone)_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Sybil
(M: Often some sort of antagonist)
Polly
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______Manuel
_____Appearance___________Mindset_____________Ability______
Mutt and I do this all the time and it's an excellent way to refine your understanding of good storytelling.
