Do you think that creating side characters with shallow back stories is bad?

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Catlip Candy
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Do you think that creating side characters with shallow back stories is bad?

#1 Post by Catlip Candy »

I don't know the correct word to call it, but do you think that side characters with little background stories are bad?

For example, I have a story where there's this protagonist. However, later on in the story, we can see that there's some bullies that keep on bullying him. These bullies have no names in the story since they're just side characters. They could also be antagonists, but they don't really appear that much in the story.

These bullies bully the protagonist because of his personality alone. He's a complete weird and an easy target for them. However, do you think that I should at least give more story to the bullies and give them names, even though they just appear twice in the whole story???
All I ask from the readers is to give feedback on what they think I should improve more.
Even the harshest comments are welcomed and greatly appreciated, as long as it is your truthful opinion!
Please help me become a better visual novel creator!

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Re: Do you think that creating side characters with shallow back stories is bad?

#2 Post by Mammon »

Does every side-character need a backstory? No, that would make them main cast most likely. A side character may be insignificant and remain insignificant. No issue with that.

Does every side-character need a name? Yes, in visual novels I'd advice them to have one, regardless of how simple and insignificant it may be. In other mediums, even anime and other high-tier stories, there's no need. In visual novels however, the lack of a name to a character becomes abundantly clear and an eyesore when they're called Man #3 or Bully (left)

This by no means requires everyone to have a name, a more creative way of referring to them can even be preferable. When the protagonist makes a not-so-heroic-but-pretending-it-is speech or whatever and someone shouts something like 'Yeah, he's right!' or 'That's what she said!', a name would only be confusing. However, something funny like 'Random pedestrian' would be funnier than 'Man #1'. Same goes for characters who haven't been named yet. 'Unknown' or 'Mysterious figure' are neutral but a more creative namecalling can be preferred depending on the situation.
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Re: Do you think that creating side characters with shallow back stories is bad?

#3 Post by Scribbles »

for what you're talking about I would recommend names, and at least their motivation. Why are the bullying this person exactly? Not just b/c he's strange, but are they afraid of his strangeness? angry that he is strange out in the open? Don't like people interrupting the status quo? just a basic motivation like that will help you write the scenes without them seeming terribly cliche, but no you don't need to write full on back stories for them unless you wanted to :) there are dynamic characters (main characters), static characters(secondary characters- so someone who does have a backstory), and flat characters (think archetypes/tropes like Cinderella or almost any fairy tale character) Flat characters are good when they are brief and wanting to get a simple point across quickly, but they might still need names and the basic why of it, otherwise the reader might not take the situation seriously or be able to relate (also my character terminologies may be wrong it has been a while..... lol) but that's only my opinion! and probably leans more towards prose writing than VNs > <
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Re: Do you think that creating side characters with shallow back stories is bad?

#4 Post by Catlip Candy »

Hi! Thanks for all of your response! I guess that I really should give those bullies some names.

However, how about other really minor characters. For example, I have one character who only has two lines in the story. How can I have the chance to introduce them to the readers? His appearance is very short lived. He's a store owner who just nags at the protagonist and walks away. That's all. I don't even plan on drawing a sprite for him (/.\)
All I ask from the readers is to give feedback on what they think I should improve more.
Even the harshest comments are welcomed and greatly appreciated, as long as it is your truthful opinion!
Please help me become a better visual novel creator!

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Re: Do you think that creating side characters with shallow back stories is bad?

#5 Post by Yolo400 »

Since you have the honest critique thing I'll throw some in!

I don't think it's bad to have shallow characters. There are shallow people after all, but then again, just because someone is shallow it does not mean that their experiences are not shallow. Just their methods of interpreting them are.

You should create some character sheets for your bullies, even if you are not going to use them.

But I think you should throw things in there that will contrast the main character and will encourage the bullying of the main character. Why? It will become clear when you're writing the dialogue for these people.
NAME:

Physiology

Sex:
Age:
Height and Weight:
Color of hair, eyes, skin:
Posture:
Appearance:
Defects:
Hereditry:

Sociology

Class: Lower, middle, Upper:
Occupation:
Education:
Home Life:
Religion:
Race, Nationality:
Place in community:
Political affiliations:
Amusements, hobbies:

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Sex life:
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Re: Do you think that creating side characters with shallow back stories is bad?

#6 Post by Catlip Candy »

Thanks for the advice!! :O Although sometimes, some categories might be left N/A, but I'll definitely consider that!

So, now I might give names to the bullies, and then for the store owner, I might just call him "boss" (I hope that'd be okay for a character with just two lines) and besides the protagonist calls him boss anyways x)
All I ask from the readers is to give feedback on what they think I should improve more.
Even the harshest comments are welcomed and greatly appreciated, as long as it is your truthful opinion!
Please help me become a better visual novel creator!

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