Thoughts on Standout Characters

It’s an odd thing. For many of us, fictional characters become guiding influences in our real lives. We follow their adventures. We worry about them. We quote them. We remember how they face their toughest challenges.

Conan Doyle famously killed off Sherlock Holmes. Then had to bring him back to life due to popular demand. (And he continues to live on in the stories of new generations of writers.) Dracula persists. So does Batman. Real people like Tesla have edged their ways into fiction as well. (Following a human pattern of legend making that has wonderful examples like Robin Hood, St. Nicholas, Wyatt Earp, St. Joan, and many others.)

Great characters often outlive the stories that created them. They become larger than life. And, in many cases, personal. For legends, writers have starting points. They refine history to give precedence to generosity, courage, suffering, horror, and many other traits. Some facts get in the way and disappear. Some truths get amplified beyond fact.

Writers can do something in between. They can create characters based on real people, including people they know.. Dr. Joseph Bell, who was a master diagnostician and Doyle’s teacher, inspired Sherlock Holmes. (And Dr. Gregory House was inspired by Holmes.) Many popular fictional characters were modeled after real people. 

Sometimes characters are more Frankenstein monsters, assembled from the parts of real people to create something new. Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly may have been such a character.

Most of my characters rise up from nowhere and audition for a role. Once they start talking, I may consult them about adding a trait from someone I’ve met, but I never force it.

Standout characters may draw on archetypes, but they are never cliches. I remember when cowboys ruled TV, NBC introduced a (very short-lived series) Destry. He was tall in the saddle and a sure shot, but “when trouble came this way, he went that-ta way.” He was a reluctant hero, and I was thrilled. Here it is, over 50 years later, and I still remember a show I only saw a handful of times. The reverence for biographies of geniuses is thrown out the window with Amadeus, where Mozart is childish and vulgar (but still lovable and dedicated to his work).

Comedy, of course, lives by creating characters who reverse expectations. Lucy and today’s Mrs. Mazel both reach past the dutiful wife and mother of the 50s because they dream of becoming performers. Unlike Lucy, Mrs. Mazel can, in a heartbeat, go from zany to serious, which makes it more subversive.

Tricksters, from Bugs Bunny to Ferris Bueller seem to become reference points for every generation. Often, they are funny, but I think there is more. First, for your trickster character to be memorable, he/she/it can’t be malicious (though they are not necessarily benign). Second, the antics usually need to present a kind of freedom that current audiences long for. Wish fulfillment both makes cultural restraints visible and provides vicarious fun. Third, their stories usually provide a benefit. In Ferris Bueller, the sportscar is beautiful and valuable, but it represents everything that is destroying Bueller’s friend, Cameron. Wrecking the car saves Cameron’s life.

Mercury, a trickster, was the portal god who allowed the taboo to be rescued from society’s junk heap when its true value could be embraced. The best trickster do that for their times. We are so grateful, we cherish them.

Sacrifice also makes a character special. Among many wonderful characters in A Tale of Two Cities, Sydney Carton is the one who sticks in my mind because of his unselfish act. (The act also provides redemption, a notable Dickens’ theme.)

Note that unexpected betrayal can also make a character unforgettable. Judas, Benedict Arnold and Quisling have all become synonyms for traitors.

Individual actions and decisions can define remarkable characters, but these all occur in context. Timing, relationships, culture, consequences, and power dynamics are all part of the equation that helps to make the action and decision resonate with readers and audiences.And I think there is one more thing: possibility.

So often, especially when the character is hurt or hurts others, turning points occur along the way in the story. When the high impact scene plays out, we are invited to wonder “what if” and to consider alternate paths. Returning to the experience and reflecting on what might have been can bring characters permanently into our lives.