ColGray
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2023
- Messages
- 443
In my current project I've introduced an ignorant side character to both lighten the mood a bit and offer an easy road for natural worldbuilding. They're an outsider who can stand in for the audience and ask, What's that, to avoid in-world characters discussing things they should definitely know (e.g., A "cell-phone" you say? What is that??"). Making them powerful offers a fun juxtaposition (IMO).
I also realized I use this tactic a lot because it's fun to write and I enjoy reading it but it's a fine line between silly, fun and annoying and, if done poorly, or done too much, it can undermine a work rather than elevate it.
The example of, overdone = undermines the work, that pops into mind is Jar Jar Binks. He was the audience stand in for the world and underwater and being there to both ask and answer questions, but between speech patterns, stupidity, and just egregious silliness, he undermined the movie.
OTOH, Skippy, from the Craig Alanson Expeditionary Force series, is a fun example of a powerful, ignorant and silly character in an otherwise serious work who elevates the work narratively (putting aside the HFY + Everything Will Work Out tone, I'd still say the books are serious, especially at the beginning).
And I just remembered Fizban from the Dragonlance books (Weis and Hickman) and his gold dragon Pyrite--but they're very, very minor IIRC.
I'm trying to think of other characters who fall into this category and where they're done well or poorly. Any other chars that pop to mind, one way or the other?
I also realized I use this tactic a lot because it's fun to write and I enjoy reading it but it's a fine line between silly, fun and annoying and, if done poorly, or done too much, it can undermine a work rather than elevate it.
The example of, overdone = undermines the work, that pops into mind is Jar Jar Binks. He was the audience stand in for the world and underwater and being there to both ask and answer questions, but between speech patterns, stupidity, and just egregious silliness, he undermined the movie.
OTOH, Skippy, from the Craig Alanson Expeditionary Force series, is a fun example of a powerful, ignorant and silly character in an otherwise serious work who elevates the work narratively (putting aside the HFY + Everything Will Work Out tone, I'd still say the books are serious, especially at the beginning).
And I just remembered Fizban from the Dragonlance books (Weis and Hickman) and his gold dragon Pyrite--but they're very, very minor IIRC.
I'm trying to think of other characters who fall into this category and where they're done well or poorly. Any other chars that pop to mind, one way or the other?