So here's my issue. I am working on a story that has one protagonist, about 3 main characters (protagonist included) and around 15 to 20 side & minor characters. I have noticed that I've created a cast around my protagonist. With that I mean that the characters either emphasize certain aspects of the MC's personality or they have an impact on them. To be more specific (this is a Fantasy novel taking place in a desert-like country; there are 4 countries total with different political systems; MC's country is a parliamentary monarchy): The protagonist (I'll refer to as P from now on) is 21 years old and a blacksmith working for the palace. He inherited the job from his father. P wanted to become a knight at first. His father agreed to pay his education because he believes a good blacksmith knows how to use the weapons because only then will he truly know what qualifies as a good weapon as well. P is really talented at handling weapons and quickly gained recognition for his skills. He was called a prodigy and on his way to become one of the royal knights but failed all of his exams multiple times. While being a skilled fighter his inhibitions to cut an arm off or leg off or even kill someone were so high that he was useless in any fight. He froze when he had to do hard sparring and when he had to guard someone. He was useless in any fight. So he gave up on his dream to step into his father's footsteps. He doesn't enjoy this job and feels regretful towards the past. Instead of changing things though, he just accepts them as they are, not taking any initiative. This is his flaw that he will have to work on throughout the book. He will never become a knight as it clashes with his core values (life is invaluable) but he will become someone who caves his own way. Because he never become part of the royal court, he is still very well connected to the people in the capital. He is good at dealing with people and very well liked. His characters is cheerful, kind and polite. However he often wishes for more exciting things to happen and therefore he has kind of a mischievous spark. He likes drama and rumors and is often very well informed about other people's business. While he doesn't like to be involved in them, he likes to watch and see things infold. In rare cases he eggs things on. That's the gist of his character. And here are some characters and their influence: The prince (main character) - His best friend. They met when he trained to be knight. The prince loves the country and wants to protect the people. They are his main priority and he would give up anything for them. He is very direct and upright but also short-tempered and impatient. He also doesn't trust a lot of people. The prince looks out for P .He is the one who keeps reminding him of his values and helps him unterstand who is. However he is also hindering P's growth because he just has this one unwavering view on P. This kinda changes at the end of the novel but only slightly and only because the prince had to change as well. The mysterious new girl (main character) - Her reason for meeting P has a lot to do with the plot of the story, so I won't get into that too much. This girl doesn't care for rules at all. A free spirit at heart, she does what she likes. She is very mischievous, cheeky and cunning. P is attracted to her for exactly that reason. She just lives. When she is around, he forgets about his fears and limitations and he becomes reckless and does dangerous things. She is very loyal to her friends and throughout the entire story it is unclear whether she is on P's side or whether she'll betray him (he knows that; that's btw. also one of the reasons the prince despises her). It is later revealed that this girl has seen the worst side of humanity which made her very unforgiving. She can be incredibly cruel. Childhood friend (side character) - A is the daughter of something similar to a duke. Due to certain circumstances, she is engaged to the prince who feels very indifferent about her. She is a rather quiet person and struggles with all the pressure her family puts on her. She would love to change herself but keeps failing, over and over again. She is a very sensitive person and very empathic towards others. She strives to become a strong person but basically has no support system. She is also in love with the prince. Knight (side character) - A stunningly beautiful woman who is also rather small. She is looked down upon by some other knights for being too small and/or female (even though there are other female knight but they are often taller and look less fragile). She is very rigid and unemotional because she believes that is what she has to be in order for others to take her seriously as a knight. She is a very proud person and sticks to rules religiously. She forces herself to be strong.
I didn't read all of that, but I did read the first paragraph (and I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night ). You can do both. I like using a character web to compare and contrast characters against each other, I think it can make for some interesting possibilities in the storytelling. But still each character needs to be developed sufficiently.
IMO all characters should stand on their own, but that doesn't mean they can't also support or contrast with the MC. So long as that's not 100% of their personality, you know? I think some of the characters you have listed out sound really interesting!
I think characters who are only there to serve the main character will feel very flat and sometimes quite obviously like plot devices. However, them having their own lives and drives and back story doesn't mean they can't interact with and influence the protagonist's story. It sounds like you have already put quite a bit of thought into the side characters and their motivations so I wouldn't worry too much. Basically as long as they seem to have motivations that aren't solely 'do X so protagonist will do y' I think it's ok. I would also warn about the 'pixie dream girl' trope. This is basically when a (usually woman but can be a man) is very 'live in the moment' and free spirited and quirky to get the protagonist to loosen up and learn to just go with the flow. But this is at the expense of the woman having an actual personality beyond 'look I'm quirky!', not having a solid back story, never facing repercussions for anything and basically not having a personality or motovations beyond making the protagonist learn to embrace living. There is nothing wrong with having someone who is free spirited or quirky and wants the protagonist to let go a bit, but there should be more to them than just that. It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into your characters but I would say to make sure the mysterious new girl is properly fleshed out and has some other things going for her too to avoid this trope. Good luck
Thank you so much for the heads up. That's really sound advice. The girl was actually supposed to be the protagonist of the story when I first came up with the idea which is why she does have quite the backstory. How her personality developed is tied into her backstory as well as her abilities. For example she is an illusionist which means she has the ability to make others see anything she wants them to. Those seeing the illusions can feel pain or emotions or whatever but no harm is ever done to their physical body. That's kinda the gist of it. There are a few more rules to it but in general that's her ability. That's why I thought this very cunning and mischievous personality suits her. I mean if you use illusion magic right, you can sorta mind-control people though only indirectly. That's also why this rule bending suits her so well. While she is all that, she has sort of a power problem. She knows her ability is pretty strong which is why she believes she will come out on top no matter what (this will blow up in her face). In the end she appears fearless while in truth she is just reckless. She also is somewhat of hedonist and an anarchist, so she doesn't accept rules just because she doesn't want to, not because that's a clever thing to do. Her personality is very twisted with no moral compass making her neither good nor bad. What drives her most of the time is her self-interest. She will however always choose those she loves over herself. In general she is hard to predict for those around her. The protagonist likes her but he feels and knows that she is very dangerous especially because of her free but also unpredictable nature. She also does some twisted things throughout the story. But they are never black and white. E.g. she does horrible things with great intentions and amazing outcomes for everyone but her methods are just terrifying. With that being said, I will review her again. I definitely don't want her to fall into that category/trope. I love all my characters but she and the protagonist are especially dear to me, so I want others to see them the way I do. I want my readers (if ever release this story) to enjoy their adventure as much as I do and I think that's only possible if these characters come to feel like real people on the pages. Edit: There's something I wanted to add. Her humane side is emphasized when she is around the protagonist because she really comes to like him after some time. She dislikes him at first because he is friends with the prince but after some time she and the protagonist begin to share some sort of admiration for each other. She usually is cheeky, cheerful and sweet around him. She does some bad things when he's around but the depth of her twisted personality reveals itself only around others. The protagonist sees both sides of her personality which is why he is unable to trust her fully even if he might want to.
That sounds great! From that description she sounds like a very interesting character with a complex inner life so I wouldn't worry about the trope. Happy writing!
Someone once told told that every character. no matter how major or minor they are, should all have enough substance to replay the main character and take over the story to make it theirs. Perhaps not to be taken as literally as I took it at eleven years old, but what she meant was, they do need to have a stake in the story. What your character is doing must affect them; negatively or positively. We all contrast with those around us but we are still 3 dimensional people. Even if you just understand the root cause of your characters actions that can give a minor character a lot of substance and make them feel like they have lived before the story. I think one of the most important things you can give side characters is the feeling they have lived a life without having to drag up any real details of their back-story. Characters that simply are there to serve the main character are usually very obvious as they are flat and usually thrown to one side once their purpose is over.
