Side Characters - Tumblr Posts
Oh yeah I forgot it was Canada Day today- :/
Uh, happy birthday?
Also this one background character looks really pretty ngl. I haven’t read the whole thing of the IDW sonic comics, only 1 and 11, so if this isn’t a background character then yay :D
Sir Rothchild by Dirk Dinkster#1594
Samurai Jack (C) Genndy Tartakovsky
Types of side characters
1. Foil Characters: These side characters are designed to contrast with the main character, highlighting their qualities or flaws. Foil characters can provide a different perspective and challenge the main character's beliefs or actions.
2. Mentors or Guides: These side characters serve as mentors or guides to the main character, providing wisdom, guidance, and support. They often have more experience or knowledge in a specific area and help the main character navigate challenges or learn important lessons.
3. Comic Relief Characters: These side characters bring humor and levity to the story. They provide comedic relief during intense or serious moments and can help balance the overall tone of the narrative. Their wit, clumsiness, or unique personality traits make them enjoyable and entertaining.
4. Love Interests: Love interests are side characters who are romantically involved with the main character. They add a romantic subplot to the story and can contribute to the main character's personal growth and development. Love interests can be supportive, challenging, or even create conflict within the narrative.
5. Antagonists or Villains: Side characters can also take on the role of antagonists or villains. They oppose the main character's goals and create conflict and tension in the story. Antagonists can have their own motivations, complexities, and backstories, making them more than just one-dimensional obstacles.
6. Friends or Allies: These side characters are the main character's companions, friends, or allies. They provide emotional support, camaraderie, and assistance throughout the story. Friends or allies often share common goals and values, and their relationships can help showcase the main character's growth and strengths.
7. Family Members: Side characters who are family members of the main character can play significant roles in shaping their identity and backstory. They can provide emotional connections, conflict, and a sense of history within the narrative.
8. Background Characters: While not all side characters have to be highly developed, background characters help create a sense of realism and immersion in the story. They populate the world and add depth to the setting, even if they have minimal impact on the main plot.
9. Rivals or Competitors: These side characters compete with the main character, pushing them to improve, overcome obstacles, or achieve their goals. Rivals or competitors can be a source of conflict, motivation, and personal growth for the main character.
10. Witnesses or Observers: These side characters serve as witnesses or observers of the main events in the story. They may provide insights, commentary, or serve as a narrative device to convey information to the reader.
Lil's friends Wally, Serena, and Bette
GRRRR ARGH AHRHRHEHW GRRRRRR
IM SO FLIPPIN JEALOUS DUDE UGHHH
So i'm reading this smutty yuri romcom, ykno? And as always, I take interest in the side character--
Long, flowing gray locks of hair fall against her tall, majestic stature. Her eyes are a matching shady mellow green, maybe even hazel, that's always dazed out. Even so, it still pairs well with her sleepy nature and adorably demanding wants when she awakes from slumber, clinging to someone so she could find comfort. It seems she prefers not to be alone, her and I are in the same boat to that.
In short: She's so cuuuuuuuuuteeeee uGH--✨💖
Just gimme the tall sleep depraved cinammon roll, pLeASE I'LL BE GOOD TO HER, I KNOW I WILL.
These are side characters for Scars but I made them a mood board anyway,
Abigail and Jennifer, basically Heathers gals.
Burgerpants!Horray for Burgerpants! :3
Here to give you the Content you want and Need !
So, have a strong Love for Underappreciated Side or even background Characters, and have decided because I can almost never find Content about them, I shall make it, so Send me Requests for Characters you would like a Drawing, Headcanon Post or One-Shot of, I am willing to do:
•Fluff
•All Ships,unless they are Incest or Pedophilia
• Angst
•Slight NSFW (Not much tho, sorry Pals)
• Character X Reader
•Prompts
•AUs
I am an Artist and a Writer, so you won't get Animation or something like that, But I try and make all Requests, Fandoms I'm doing in the Tags (Note: The Characters listed of said Fandoms, are NOT the Only ones I will be doing, just the ones where I know People can find this)
also, I genuinely don't care if you don't like what I do ^-^ Have a Good Day !
Mafalda turned, and Tonks was nearly dangling out of the swing, her head tilted, eyebrows raised in concern.
“What happens to you?”
Tonks laughed softly, pushing off a little, the swing creaking gently back and forth. “I know us Hufflepuffs don’t look like much, but I can defend myself. I’m an Auror, you know, I’ve got three years of training.”
“I don’t mean you’re not capable, I just mean—” Stupid, stupid Veritaserum. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you when I inevitably make a mistake.”
A loud, sudden dragging sound told her that Tonks had pulled herself to a stop.
“It’s like when you fly up to the rings and throw the Quaffle,” she said, voice earnest. “You don’t think about missing the hoop, because you won’t.”
Now, a laugh escaped Mafalda.
“You’re not really trying to make a Quidditch analogy, are you?”
“You were a Chaser, weren’t you?”
Mafalda flushed, her hands growing warm against the cold metal chains, and hoped the moonlight would hide it. “You noticed me?” She’d hardly thought Tonks — a popular, charming older student — had been all at aware of her existence.
“Of course I noticed you.”
She held Tonks’s gaze for perhaps a little longer than she should have, something strange and warm snagging in her stomach, just in the place a Portkey would.
I have a habit of falling in love with my side characters which detracts from my main protagonist. I've even elevated some of my side characters to minor-main characters(characters that are usually around the protagonist and contribute quite heavily to the plot) but my main-main protagonist still gets overshadowed. Any suggestions on how to fix this please?
You know… a lot of people would argue that you should push your side character into the main character role to solve this problem. For me personally, I reject this advice because… I feel when I make my characters, they already slot perfectly into the roles I wanted them to be in. In all of my stories, it would make no sense to take a side character and suddenly push them into the main character’s spot; the reason they are a side character at all is because a main character presented itself to me first.
That’s not to say that, on the whole, promoting a side character to a main character is bad advice… I just wouldn’t accept it as the only advice out there. Do what feels right to you, always!
It’s hard work but there are other ways, such as…
Spend More Time With Your Main Character(s)
If you feel like your love for your side character is making it harder for you to develop the main properly, then you need to take a step back from the side character, and spend more time with your main. Truthfully, it’ll be difficult if you’re already used to indulging your side character… but try the following:
The same rules apply to all. If you write your side character a backstory or a oneshot, or anything at all extra to the story, do the same for the main. After all, if you have time to spend developing an already well-developed character, you have time to develop the ones really missing your attention! Sorry about it ; ;
Get enthusiastic! Create playlists for your main character, draw your main character, imagine alternate universes for your main character… basically, do what you have to do to drive enthusiasm for your main! Really get to know them as much as you know your side character.
Get ruthless. Writing a scene where the side character appears? Find your main is totally infatuated with every move they make, every word they say, all of their mannerisms, their furtive expressions, and vague hints to their past? Cut it out. Only keep what is important.
Learn what is important. Do you know what’s not important? Whether your main knows your side character’s favourite food. Or that they tap their foot to music in the stores they pass. Or that they have a lengthy tale about that one time they crashed a spaceship into one of Jupiter’s moons. Keep it simple and to the point! Create mystery around your side character, but don’t solve it on the exact same page.
Start putting the main everywhere. So you’re in the mood to write and you really want to spend just another hour with your beloved side character on, like, drabble 18 in your ‘extras’ folder, right? No! Include your main as well! Write or doodle scenes where these two characters get to spend time together, and make it all about your main as practice for when you’re working on the real story.
The point being… your main character should take center stage; this is to get you into the practice of treating them as the star, not your side character.
Learn to Make Sacrifices for the Sake of the Story
You’ve got a main character for a specific reason, right? You want their story to be the one that gets told. Otherwise your side character would be the main… And if you’re not prepared to make that big of a change, it’s time to make changes elsewhere.
And if that means getting rid of what you deem to be interesting scenes that focus solely on your side character, then so be it. How do you know to do this? Well…
Read over your scenes where the side character appears and then look at this check list (tick off everything the scene meets in relation to the side character):
My side character aids (or inhibits) the main character in some way.
My side character provides new information to my main character*.
My side character causes (or fixes) a problem that my main character is facing.
My side character sends my main character in a new direction, or helps them to/prevents them from move(ing) forward in some way.
* New information can relate to plot-specific information, or character development information (either for another character, or the side character themselves).
If you have a scene where none of these things occur, then your side character doesn’t need to be there. They’re a support or they’re a hindrance, and they needn’t be anything else.
The same goes for scenes where the side character has served one (or more) of the purposes on the check-list above, but then remains in subsequent scenes anyway for no other reason than because you want them to be there.
This is when you have to decide if your side character even needs to be in the story for the whole length of it in the first place. As much as you love them, if they get to a point where they don’t serve a purpose (or risk overtaking the main/another, more important side character) then they either exit the stage and don’t come back until later, or exit via a suitable death scene and definitely don’t come back at all.
Still Set Time Aside for the Side Character
This doesn’t mean you should give up on your side character entirely though. You can still spend time with them if it is something you enjoy. Not only is it writing practice for you, but it means you can filter all of the side character love into one document, and save the real story for another.
Whether you want to write drabbles, oneshots, backstories or alternate universes all about them, or create doodles or just about anything else you can think of, don’t hold back! It’s important to have fun whilst writing too, you know, even if writing the actual story itself will be a hard slog.
Just make sure that… if you do write a side character-specific side-story, you’ll write one for your less-loved main character too (going back to the first header, heheh).
Resources
That moment when your supporting char is really your MC
Writing Excuses 10.5: What Do You Mean My Main Character Is Boring?
FYCD: ‘major character’ tag
I hope this helps you out somewhat. They’re not 100% guaranteed to work for everyone, but these are things I have done for myself to try and dull-down my own over-enthusiasm for my side characters. If it means anything, I find using my blog as an outlet to fawn over my favourite side characters is a good way to spend my time dedicated to them, so that the rest of my time can go into writing a good story that isn’t overtaken by my side characters, heheh. Make a tag for them and just do whatever!
Best of luck.
- enlee
Life as a side character/ghost/support can get boring as frick when you don't got that interesting friend to stick by, likeyou try to join a friend group but get ignored and I'm dry af sometimes i just got empty brain so I don't got much to talk about ocational and the group i vibe most with are not that common Aaaaaaaaaa
 Concept art of of rottmnt movie or the “ bad future “
I wanna be the love interest of the borderline feral side character. If anything happens to me they'll go on a murderous rampage that completely derails the plot of the story so the writers have to be nice to me.
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