We all know that characters are the heart and soul of our story, but sometimes we get so focused on our protagonist that we forget the important role of the supporting cast. Supporting characters are the unsung heroes of storytelling, and it’s important that we give them the attention they deserve.
I’ve written about supporting characters in the past, in particular why they are such an essential part of a story. Today, I want to talk about the different types of supporting characters, and how they can contribute to the overall story arc. In the past, I’ve listed at least five distinct types. But it turns out there are far more than that, and they fall into three distinct tiers:
- First Tier: Antagonist or Opponent
- Second Tier: Allies and Advisors
- Third Tier: Adjacent Characters
Antagonist or Opponent
Perhaps the most important type of supporting character is the opponent (sometimes called the antagonist), because this character is directly connected to the central conflict of the story. The opponent often has motivations or desires that oppose those of the main character, thus creating tension and impeding the protagonist’s progress toward their goal.
Note that not all antagonists are necessarily characters in the story. In fact, while all opponents are a type of antagonist, not all antagonists are opponents. An antagonist is any person, creature, or entity that creates obstacles for the protagonist. This could be a character in the story, but it can also be some other non-human element like the storm in The Perfect Storm or the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park or the Matrix in The Matrix. An opponent forms when this antagonistic force is embodied in a character.
This distinction is important because while a non-human antagonist can certainly create problems for the main character, it’s very hard for the reader to root against an amorphous or faceless force. This is why sometimes we need a go-between character—which I call the day-to-day villain—to give that nebulous evil force a personality.
Think of Agent Smith in the Matrix saga. The Matrix itself is this big, shapeless mass of computer code, but Agent Smith gives the Matrix a face. While the Matrix is the primary antagonist in the series, this day-to-day villain makes the film’s conflict feel more personal and engaging.
In this way, there are at least three flavors of antagonist, and you can have one or more at play in any given story. First, there’s the obvious super-villain type like Lex Luthor in the Superman comics or Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada. Next, there’s the amorphous antagonist like the shark in Jaws, the tornadoes in Twister, or the examples listed above. Finally, you have the day-to-day villain who humanizes an amorphous antagonist.
Usually the amorphous antagonist and the day-to-day villain are a package deal, but sometimes you might also have a super-villain woven into the mix. An example of this is the character of President Snow in the Hunger Games series. He starts as more of a looming presence in the first book, with Cato and the career tributes as the primary villains for that part of the story arc. It’s only in book two, when President Snow develops a personal vendetta against Katniss, that he becomes a true super-villain. At that point, the career tributes from book 1 are long dead, and while we do have some new day-to-day villains in the Quarter Quell, they really only become a threat once Katniss is in the arena and Snow has temporarily faded back to the background.
Allies and Advisors
The second tier of supporting characters includes allies and advisors. These characters may not be quite as central to the story’s conflict as the antagonist, but they still play an important role. At this tier, the supporting cast can contribute to the protagonist’s journey in any number of ways. Allies can help the main character along by bringing to the table skills and abilities the protagonist might lack. Advisors, on the other hand, can provide guidance for the protagonist.
The thing that makes second-tier supporting characters interesting is when their motivations somehow contradict those of the main character. If all the characters in the story are rowing in the same direction and pursuing the same goal, things can get boring. But if the protagonist wants one thing and their best friend wants the exact opposite, now we have tension.
Not only that, tension between the main character and an ally is even more complex and interesting than that between the protagonist and antagonist. After all, the protagonist and antagonist are usually on opposite sides, so it’s expected that they fight against each other. But if the main character has to betray their closest friend or their love interest in order to get what they want, that’s a much more interesting situation.
Advisor characters can also create obstacles for the protagonist, though in a slightly different way. The wizened mentor has become a cliché, but you can give that character trope a fresh spin by making their motivations conflict with those of the main character. Because mentor characters are often authority figures, they usually have more power than the protagonist, and the protagonist will (often) listen to them. This means if the mentor holds back information or purposefully gives the main character bad advice, it can come across as a serious betrayal, adding a layer of complexity to that relationship.
Adjacent Characters
The third tier includes supporting characters that are relatively minor and play small, specific roles in the story. Some of these might appear as walk-on parts, like a server in a restaurant, or as members of a crowd. With walk-on characters, the challenge is not to let them steal the spotlight. Less is more, and not every bit part needs a description or even a name. There’s a reason the nameless red shirt character in any Star Trek show is always the one who dies on the mission.
With crowd scenes, sometimes you can simplify things by treating the whole crowd as a unit. In fact, you can use this technique with any number of supporting characters (major or minor) by grouping them together. Think of the younger sisters in Pride and Prejudice. Until Lydia elopes with Mr. Wickham, we often see two or even three of them behave as a single unit. This technique allows the author to keep the story streamlined, even though there are five Bennet sisters, sometimes all in play in the same scene.
Other characters might be almost ghost-like in that they don’t ever appear on the page, but their presence is felt throughout the story, like the role of Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. From the minute we first meet Luke Skywalker, we find out how important his father’s legacy is to him. It’s the reason why he wants to become a pilot, and when he discovers of his father being a Jedi, it motivates him to learn the ways of the Force as well. At this point in the Star Wars saga, we don’t yet know Darth Vader and Anakin are one and the same, so Anakin’s presence is more of a shadow than a concrete character.
Develop Your Supporting Cast
The questions I most often get asked about supporting characters are:
- Can the same character represent more than one type?
- Can you have multiple characters of the same type?
The answer to both of these questions is yes.
You can certainly have the same character play different roles within the story. Think of Darth Vader in the Star Wars trilogy. His Anakin Skywalker persona starts out as a shadow, then eventually morphs into the opponent when we get the big reveal at the end of The Empire Strikes Back and realize Vader is Anakin. You could even consider Darth Vader as a day-to-day villain with the Emperor as more of the amorphous antagonist (at least until he takes on a more concrete role in Return of the Jedi). In this way, Darth Vader fills multiple supporting character roles throughout the original trilogy.
And, of course, you can also have multiple characters contributing to the story arc in the same role, only with slight variations. Think of MJ and Ned, Peter Parker’s closest friends in the latest Spider-Man reboot. MJ starts out as the snarky sort-of friend who eventually becomes the love interest. Ned, on the other hand, is Peter’s best friend, “the guy in the chair,” feeding Spidey intel as he goes on some of his early missions. Until MJ shifts into the love interest, both she and Ned are filling the BFF role, but they do it in different ways. While Ned is always the supportive friend (both before and after he learns Peter’s secret), MJ is different. She challenges Peter and is at times suspicious of him, until she learns his true identity.
The purpose of analyzing your supporting characters is not to paint you into a corner. The more you understand your supporting cast, the more you can make adjustments to create the effects you want in your story. Remember: while your supporting cast can have backstories and fully fleshed-out personalities, their primary purpose is to contribute to the main character’s development. So, take some time to examine your supporting characters, and figure out what role they play in your protagonist’s journey.
Until next time, keep writing and keep being awesome!
P.S. For more info on Gabriela Pereira, the founder and instigator of DIY MFA, check out her profile page.
