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 |  This is a continuation of my blogging here at WdC |
| Poor Characterisations There are some character types and character actions that I feel make a story weaker. So… it’s time for a list! So, these are taken from something I wrote many years ago, based on some stuff from the TV Tropes website  . I wrote this for a site that removed it a few years ago, and I can’t find my original, but I do have the notes. So, here goes!Character Shilling: When a character talks up another character for no good reason except to let the reader know how wonderful said character is without just info-dumping it into the prose. See Lilly Potter in the Harry Potter series – every character describes her as so wonderful and glorious. Compressed Vice: When a character develops a bad habit just for plot convenience, despite having never shown any signs of it before. Worse when it’s done to push forward a message. Like the caffeine episode in TV show Saved By The Bell. Conflict Ball: When a character causes conflict for reasons which go against what the character has been like or which are really pathetic. Like when Ross had a hair-trigger temper for a few episodes of Friends, just to create conflict. Demoted to Satellite Love Interest: When a well-developed character is shunted to one side just so they can be the love interest for a more main character. One example that annoys me is Mary Morstan, who marries Dr Watson in Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books, but becomes merely “my wife” after the wedding. Derailing Love Interests: When a writer has a love triangle and turns the preferred hero’s rival into an arsehole, or gets rid of them completely, so the preferred couple can end up together. See all the Elseworlds comics where Lois is killed off so Superman can hook up with Wonder Woman. Faux Action Girl: When you set up a female character as the strong hero but she does nothing much either strong or heroic. See Jinx from Die Another Day (James Bond film) where she kills one guy, then plays the “damsel in distress” a few times as the only other thing she does. Flawless Token: When the female or minority character is better than everyone else because they are female/ a minority; in addition, the male characters are incompetent simply because they are males. See the Star Wars sequel trilogy (or any Disney property under Bob Iger). Informed: When a writer tells a reader the character is stupid, smart, has great abilities, can do something… and then the character does not show this at all in the story. New Powers As The Plot Demands: When a character gets a new ability apropos to nothing because the plot needs it. In Superman IV: The Quest For Peace where Superman’s vision can suddenly build walls, for example. Romanticised Abuse: When a romantic coupling is not a healthy relationship. At all. The most blatant example is the end of the 50 Shades… series. Satellite Love Interest: When a character is there only to be the “perfect” partner for the main protagonist, and is not really essential to the plot of the work. Think Jennifer in the Back To The Future films. Stupid Sacrifice: When a character sacrifices themselves “for the greater good” when they have not examined all options, it is out of character for them as they have not shown any inclination to do this before, or it is because the writer just wants to kill the character off and this seemed as good a way as any. Like Vesper in the film version of Casino Royale. And there you have it, some bits of characterisation that I think do not work in writing. Am I gate-keeping? Sure. If you want. But I think your stories will be better if you choose to avoid these. |
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