How do you feel about comic relief characters?

[psy_wombats]

Usually I hate them if the only purpose they have is comic relief.

Yeah, that's a good guideline. Characters need a personality above everything else, and comic relief is not a personality. Trying to be funny is a personality trait, so is being witty, so is being hilariously awkward, and so on. Humor comes from the interaction between personalities, not because some character is designated as the funny one.

...though it seems certain personalities/interactions are more geared towards producing humor.

[armornick]

Like Itsuki in Shuffle! Most of the time he is an incredible dick, but then

in primula's route, he pulls something incredibly badass in front of TWO kings.

I didn't really like him until he pulled that off.

[LadyAvori]

I like minor characters, like friends to the MC, siblings, a reoccurring taxi driver, etc. to add to the world and the story. There can also be humor wrapped up with such characters, like their personalities. But for characters whose only connection to the story is that they bring comic relief annoy me. If a character has no relevance to the story or MC then they are a waste in my opinion. I only ask that comic relief characters have a connection to the story or the MC without dangling off to the side cracking jokes.

[Tsundere Lightning]

I generally don't like comic relief characters per se. I'd rather have characters who are comic relief in addition to another dramatic role.

Just as an example, and I know this puts me in the minority - I really, REALLY dislike Kenji from Katawa Shoujo. Rin Tezuka from same, on the other hand, is an obtainable girl and has deeper issues in addition to being a massive troll, and I love her for it.

If you're worried about them being too desirable as obtainables, add your comic relief characters in pairs? That won't stop everyone, but more people will be disinclined to break up a happy couple.

This is actually what I'm doing with Keenan and Yukiko, who are both epic jokers. Not that this will stop people from wanting the only glasses girl in Bliss Stage, but...

[Sexo Grammaticus]

If you're worried about people falling in love with your one-bit characters, then you should really worry less about what you're doing and worry more about the mental well-being of the segments of your audience who so quickly fall in love with one-dimensional characters whose entire personality is 'they say things I wasn't expecting!!!'.

Seriously, that's creepy as hell.

[psy_wombats]

If you're worried about people falling in love with your one-bit characters, then you should really worry less about what you're doing and worry more about the mental well-being of the segments of your audience who so quickly fall in love with one-dimensional characters whose entire personality is 'they say things I wasn't expecting!!!'.

Or take a look at the characters that /aren't/ throwaways and see why they're not standing up...

[yummy]

I think relief characters are a big plus in every VN. They take many shapes: main characters, main characters switching to secondary characters, insignificant secondary characters that suddenly become the center of a plot, or simply ordinary secondary characters.

But they generally are here for a certain reason.
In nakige, they provide some balance, in order to relief the reader from being too saddened to continue reading. They're also here for several reasons, depending on an author's whim. Sometimes they're here just for their cuteness, and they have this advantage to be expandable. But still, they do posess their own personnality.

Oh since this thread seems interesting, are pet creatures some sort of relief characters? And plushies, air friends...?

[LateWhiteRabbit]

Oh since this thread seems interesting, are pet creatures some sort of relief characters? And plushies, air friends...?

Pet creatures are in a show, book, or game, to be merchandising characters. They are there to have a mascot to slap on items to sell to fans - to "relief" them of their money.

[Fawn]

Hahahaha oh you guyyysss. You always make the best commentary. Anyways, some responses:

@Sexo Grammaticus: I find it creepy too. It's human nature though, everyone always wants what they can't have- Then when they actually get it, they don't want it.

@Yummy/WhiteRabbit: Haha xD Creature characters can be really influential. What are "air friends"?

Another kind of side character I'm considering is like the "cute relief" character. Cute as in "d'aww it's all fluffy", not attractive. Like someone's Little sister. (VERY little sister- like 5-6 year old little sister. If someone becomes attracted to that... ) Children in general could be good side characters. Kids say the funniest/cutest stuff sometimes, but they can also have insight on a situation that adults may not think about.