Everyone is familiar with the fact that characters are the actors that entertain us in a story. What may not be well understood is just what the important roles of those characters are as well as their types. Generally, what comes to mind is terms such as Main Character, Protagonist or Antagonist. While these are specific, I like to break characters up into more general roles such as Primary, Secondary, and Indigenous. In my book Mastering Your Scenes I get more specific as to what these are. For now, I will just explain that even the Main Character could take on a secondary character role at times and does so more often than you realize, especially if you are dealing with multiple Main Characters. This also could be the case out of necessity but arguably the MC will always be the MC regardless of the changes in their role. I am speaking more so in a case of instance rather than long term. However, I wish to deal with a character that is, dare I say it, essentially more important than your Main Character.
What character would that be?
The Indigenous Character of course, is whom I am speaking of. Simply put the Indigenous Character is the one that naturally occurs in a particular location in a scene. You know the background person. They sometimes are the lame minions with no names that are getting mowed down by your Main Character just to make them look good as they guard the bad guy lair. At other times they will be the nameless customers in a bank being robbed as well as the staff, just for an example.
Let me ask you some questions:
Have you ever read a scene with a character moving through a crowd on a busy city street, but it did not feel like they were in a crowd?
How about characters at a grand Gala event but it did not have the feel that there was anyone else present but the Main Character?
If so, you have an example of poor use of these Indigenous characters.
So, what is the purpose of the background characters?
The purpose should be to embellish and give depth to the scene so that the reader has the greatest immersive experience. In short, their role is to make the scene feel more real for a particular situation. This is what our focus will be. Look at the excerpt below from my sci-fi work in progress. This scene is taking place on the entertainment deck of a space cruise ship hosting a masquerade gala which is packed with people enjoying an aerial space display through a large moon roof on the ceiling. The main character is being tasked with carrying out a special mission as swiftly as possible to prevent the further torment of another character they care about. The longer she takes to do so the more that individual suffers. She hears the agonized screams through a small circular headset in her ear. To get to her mark, she must get through the party crowd and every bit of delay causes more suffering for the one she loves.
Excerpt from Fulfilling A Vow: Looking for Answers.
Manitra made a swift left facing movement, plowing through a couple and knocked a distracted woman into a man nearby, not even bothering to make sense of her incomprehensible rebuke as she growled back at her, while wiping the caviar and creme spread from the cracker she had torn from her face. A few others in her path only muttered their discontent not even bothering to turn away from the awe-inspiring aerial display they witnessed. She could see now that only about twenty people or so separated her from Charles Goulen. Her fists clenched and unclenched as she marched forward, she knew that there wasn’t much choice in the matter, not if Suzuko was going to potentially make it out of this alive. Still, that didn’t mean that it made the situation any easier. He had done nothing to her and had nothing to do with her executing her revenge against Ranthorus. So why was this happening?
Spittle shot from between gnashed teeth, at the feel of the prick of her right thigh, the rapid jolts of electricity that were reminiscent of Lady Death’s baton and the subsequent spasmodic jerks of her leg muscles. Manitra’s hands scratched in front of her like a cat trying to cling to a steep wall after missing their pounce, fingers hooking the unsuspecting shoulder and mid-back portion of the gentleman’s tux in front of her. His arms flailed incidentally grasping hold of the wrist of a woman nearby who slapped a few heads in rapid succession as the three of them tumbled down together. Ignoring the hurled insults of the two Manitra turned back like a snarling cougar and locked eyes with another Chinese man about six feet behind her. He stood crouched with one gloved hand holding a four-inch-long needle poised to launch.
“Fool he is getting away. After him now!” shrieked Imani’s voice in her ear.
Manitra winced but ignored the pain of the gentleman’s heel pressing and grinding into her fingers. It was his way of getting her back for his ungraceful meeting with the floor. She yanked the needle from her thigh keeping her eyes fixated on the Chinaman as she snapped to her feet, he remained at the ready waiting for her next move, but she looked away long enough to see Charles Goulen along with the Chinese Minister of Finance rapidly exiting from the dance floor, flanked on either side by another group of similar men.
Although this is just a snippet from this gala notice the use of the interaction Manitra has with all the party guests around her as she plows through them to accomplish her objective. The feeling of the crowd is amplified by the response they have to being jostled and shoved about by Manitra. These descriptions are kept brief to not take away from the pacing of the scene, but I am sure that you notice the greater feel that is created by doing so. Also, the reactions of the party guests are kept within natural expectations of the realistic things that could possibly happen in such a situation which also helps the reader to connect with the things taking place within the scene. Solely focusing on Manitra without mentioning the actions of the guests around her would not have the same impact.
While this is just a simple example of how to use the indigenous characters to add more breadth and depth to a scene, I hope you realize the importance of doing so. Always challenge yourself to give those background people the spotlight even if it is just a moment. It could be something as simple as a waiter who fumbles an order they are carrying and spills the contents of the tray onto the tabletop just as things are getting romantic between two Main Characters. Other times they could be used as nameless cannon fodder just to make the antagonist appear more of a force to be reckoned with as their leader witnesses the destruction of his team at their hands.
Whatever you decide to do I encourage you to take a step back and realize the true worth of those disposable minions for giving your prose more pizazz.
