All cheap and debonair

[sovay]

Talk to me about supporting characters. When you're supposed to fall for the heroine, and instead it's the second spear-carrier from the left who turns out to have the thorniest moral dilemma or the most fascinating backstory. This happens to me all the time; I can't be the only one. So who are your scene-stealers? Movies, books, operas—your own work—which character roles do you remember long after you've forgotten who played the protagonist?

(This post brought to you courtesy of Eleanor Cameron and L.M. Montgomery.)

Comments

[gwynnega]

Mercutio!!! So much more interesting than those crazy kids Romeo & Juliet.

[sovay]

Mercutio!!!

Oh, yeah. Especially when played by John McEnery.

[clarionj.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, definitely.

[setsuled.livejournal.com]

The only thing that comes to mind right now is Van Heflin's character in Johnny Eager (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033774/). Though Robert Taylor's wooden acting actually worked in that movie.

Maybe Kikuchiyo in Seven Samurai. Definitely Lady Kaede in Ran.

The trouble is, when I try to think of any such character, it's easy to see how they would become less interesting if more attention was given to them.

[sovay]

The trouble is, when I try to think of any such character, it's easy to see how they would become less interesting if more attention was given to them.

If you knew more about them, you'd be less interested?

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

Every single one of the supporting characters of Clive Barker's Abarat books, as well as the (immensely cool) setting itself, is infinitely more interesting than the protagonist. She's a Lost Princess, and we've all seen it before, but she travels with a version of the Horned Man who has a separate and separately conscious head on each antler spine, and is being courted by the King of Pain as he chases her through an archipelago in which each island is literally a personification of an hour of the day (as well as one for the Mysterious Twenty-Fifth Hour).

Unfortunately, she is so awful, so truly fucking flat and boring, and the plot is so lousy that I can't possibly recommend the books. It's a damn shame.

[sovay]

Unfortunately, she is so awful, so truly fucking flat and boring, and the plot is so lousy that I can't possibly recommend the books.

Well, feh. Because the King of Pain and the Twenty-Fifth Hour sound awesome.

[spectre-general.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to think of one, but I'm totally a protag-man. I loved Luke more than Han, I love Superman, John Carter and Taran of Prydain...

Oh, I know. Reepicheep. Totally steals the show.

[kraada.livejournal.com]

Reepicheep!

Man I loved that mouse growing up . . .

[kraada.livejournal.com]

I'd like to add a few names that pop into my head:
Silk (from the Belgariad/Malloreon),
Bester (Babylon 5 -- Londo and G'kar seem too main cast to count),
Harvey (Farscape)
Saffron (Firefly)

I may think of more and double post. But that's a start :)

[z0mb1e.livejournal.com]

I always loved Silk!

[sovay]

Bester (Babylon 5 -- Londo and G'kar seem too main cast to count)

I am extremely fond of Bester: I think he's my favorite of the human characters. I'd argue that Londo and G'Kar can be considered supporting cast if Sheridan and Delenn are viewed as the protagonists, despite their own extensive contributions to the plot . . . I love them no matter what.

[scanner-darkly.livejournal.com]

Hot Pie and Dolorous Edd from A Song of Ice and Fire.

I can probably think of a few more, but those are ones that immediately come to mind.

[sovay]

but those are ones that immediately come to mind.

I don't know them at all, but "Dolorous Edd" is a wonderful name.

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Matthew Maddox, A Swiftly Tilting Planet.

[sovay]

Yes. I'd almost forgotten him, but I think you're right. Mr. Jenkins was my scene-stealer for A Wind in the Door.

[zdenka]

Oh, yes, indeed. Especially with my loyal retainer obsession. In Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, I became obsessed with dy Lutez, a character who is mentioned briefly and is dead before the story begins. When the sequel came out in bookstores, I flipped through the first few pages for a mention of dy Lutez: Yup, still dead. Then there's Hozuki, who appears in one chapter of Volume 7 in Lone Wolf & Cub, a 28-volume manga series. Sir Gareth has always been my favorite in the Arthurian legend. I'm sure I'll think of more later . . .

[sovay]

Sir Gareth has always been my favorite in the Arthurian legend.

I've always liked Merlin and Mordred. And Sir Kay, although the latter may be mostly the fault of Phyllis Ann Karr's Idylls of the Queen.

I'm sure I'll think of more later . . .

Does Fakir count, or is he too much of a main character? Between him and Drosselmeyer, I'm happy.

[strange-selkie.livejournal.com]

Floria/Florian Del Guiz.
Badger, from The Wind in the Willows.
From my own work, I think Violeta stuck with me far longer than I thought she would. Sticks. Muh. Very sleepy.

[sovay]

Floria/Florian Del Guiz.

Absolutely. I liked Florian de Lacey right off, pretty much from his first entrance, but I was delighted when she turned out to be even weirder than he looked. Angelo Angelotti, too.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

The thing is, not uncommonly writers REALIZE that they're more interested in the secondary characters, and wind up pushing them INTO starring (or at least co-starring) roles. Hence Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the multiple plotlines of LOTR, Death in Terry Pratchett, and so on.

That said: Inigo and Fezig from Princess Bride.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

Oh, and:
-Nakor from the novels of Raymond Feist
-Philip (“Where is the Pirate King??”) Henslowe and John (“an’ the daughter mu’ilated wiv knives”) Webster in Shakespeare in Love

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Hours after I complete this, I will remember hundreds or thousands of supporting characters that fired my imgaination way more than the main ones, but for now, I'll go with what I can remember.

From the books I can remember, we have the Fool in Hobb's Farseer series, Mr. Flay from Gormenghast, Hermione and Ron (and the rest of the Weasley Family, esp. Fred and George) in Potter. Those are all obvious and easy.

For movies I draw a blank. Most of them I have seen recently are pretty sparse with characters, though I would have rather seen the sisters in The Descent escape than Juno or Ms. Crazy-covered-in-blood, even though she looked all cool and haggish.

Because I played a lot of video games the last couple of weeks, Auron, who was in Kingdom Hearts 2 and (apparently) Final Fantasy 10 was an interesting seeming dead fellow.

Finally, in my own work, my dearest darling that I had to murder out of Blue Vervain Quoholloi, the graveyard goblin, who could do almost anything you told him to do, up to and including get smarter and was every bit the hero the rest of his companions really were not.

[kraada.livejournal.com]

First: I love the Fool.

But I'm not sure he qualifies as a supporting character in Assassin's Quest (or any of the Fool's Errand trilogy), at the very least. Though I suppose one could argue that the Fool got more important because he was interesting rather than vice versa . . .

If I had to pick a Hobb character who was a supporting character the whole way through I'd go for either Chade, Burrich, or possibly Kettle (whom I liked far more than is probably appropriate) . . .

[muchabstracted.livejournal.com]

Who from L. M. Montgomery?

From Laurel K. Hamilton's series (which I don't recommend, though it might be fun to watch your head exploding in horror), Asher.
From Robert Jordan, Min.
Jack from The Blue Sword. As far as I'm concerned, the only interesting hero from Robin McKinley's Damar books was Tor. Luth and Corlath had their points, I suppose, but I never appreciated them as much as I was supposed to.

[sovay]

Who from L. M. Montgomery?

Dean Priest, from the Emily trilogy. For whose sake I have exceeded the character limit and must respond in two comments; I'm sorry about that. He's always been my favorite. Even when he hurts Emily as badly as he does (and he really does), he remains the character out of the entire series that intrigues me the most. And I'm not sure he's meant to. He's described rather attractively, if ambiguously, when he first appears—

Emily sat down, all at once more shaky than she had been through all the danger. Dean Priest leaned against the gnarled old fir. He seemed "trembly" too. He wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. Emily looked curiously at him. She had learned a good deal about him from Aunt Nancy's casual remarks—not always good-natured remarks, for Aunt Nancy did not wholly like him, it seemed. She always called him "Jarback" rather contemptuously, while Caroline scrupulously called him Dean. Emily knew he had been to college, that he was thirty-six years old—which to Emily seemed a venerable age—and well-off; that he had a malformed shoulder and limped slightly; that he cared for nothing save books nor ever had; that he lived with an older brother and travelled a great deal; and that the whole Priest clan stood somewhat in awe of his ironic tongue. Aunt Nancy had called him a "cynic." Emily did not know what a cynic was but it sounded interesting. She looked him over carefully and saw that he had delicate, pale features and tawny-brown hair. His lips were thin and sensitive, with a whimsical curve. She liked his mouth. Had she been older she would have known why—because it connoted strength and tenderness and humour.

In spite of his twisted shoulder there was about him a certain aloof dignity of presence which was characteristic of many of the Priests and which was often mistaken for pride. The green Priest eyes, that were peering and uncanny in Caroline's face and impudent in Jim Priest's, were remarkably dreamy and attractive in his.

"Well, do you think me handsome?" he said, sitting down on another stone and smiling at her. His voice was beautiful—musical and caressing.

Emily blushed. She knew staring was not etiquette, and she did not think him at all handsome, so she was very thankful that he did not press his question, but asked another.

"Do you know who your knightly rescuer is?"

"I think you must be Jar—Mr. Dean Priest." Emily flushed again with vexation. She had come so near to making another terrible hole in her manners.

"Yes, Jarback Priest. You needn't mind the nickname. I've heard it often enough. It's a Priest idea of humour." He laughed rather unpleasantly. "The reason for it is obvious enough, isn't it? I never got anything else at school."

—but by the third book he's become something like the villain of the piece, perhaps because the author didn't quite know what to do with him. In Dean, she had created someone who is broken in several important ways and yet has been good for Emily, the cynical dreamer who can lose his cynicism with her, the scholar and traveler who spins for her legends of the ancient world and anecdotes from foreign countries, Emily's link with all the myths and wonders of life outside New Moon and Prince Edward Island and, in some ways, the modern day. She assimilates him immediately into her father's place as the person with whom she can talk about anything, show all of her poems and expect fair criticism and consideration in return, believe in fairyland and whatever comes into her head: she trusts him implicitly.

[clarionj.livejournal.com]

I wonder sometimes if this happens when the writer's subconscious lets something loose, what had been restrained by the more natural, habitual main character. Maybe I'm reflecting on my own work, how in one of my novels a character came about unexpectedly and ended up running the show, though he was never the main character. I remember at a reading once an author said, well of course she loved such and such the most too, just as the readers did, because that character was who she'd like to be, but the main character was who she was.

Now, I have to think about your question a bit longer, think about what side characters I fell for (well, obviously, in the book I'd just read, the antagonist is the one who stole my heart). But I'm sure there's more. So, who came to mind for you?

[sovay]

I wonder sometimes if this happens when the writer's subconscious lets something loose, what had been restrained by the more natural, habitual main character.

Yeah; I think for many authors the parameters of a protagonist are more restrained, so all the really weird stuff precipitates out into the secondary characters, who don't come with the same expectations.

So, who came to mind for you?

Well, I was provoked by Prewytt Brumblydge and Dean Priest, but my liking for the supporting cast goes back to characters like Fflewddur Fflam in Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, Sempitern Walker in Dianna Wynne Jones' A Tale of Time City, or Puddleglum in C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair, all of whom I encountered in childhood and who made an impression on me one way or another—I leave out characters like Schmendrick (The Last Unicorn) or Howl (Howl's Moving Castle) or Sydney Carton (A Tale of Two Cities) who fall into the much rarer classification of weird protagonist. But I've got a list that goes on for pages. I'm the person whose favorite character in Aliens is Bishop, or whose favorite scenes in Dr. Zhivago are the ones with the doctor's cynical half-brother Yevgraf. Pooh-Bah gets all the best lines in The Mikado.

[oddmonster.livejournal.com]

Books:

--Crack from Martha Wells' excellent "Death of a Necromancer"
--Jessica Sorrow from Simon Green's Nightside books
--Bobbi Yee from Elizabeth Bear's "Hammered"

TV:
The only one who springs readily to mind is Angelo from "The Pretender". C'mon! He lived in the crawlspace! There had to be a great backstory there!

[sovay]

I haven't read or seen any of these! Clearly I need to expand my horizons. What do you recommend first?

[naomichana.livejournal.com]

Which L.M. Montgomery? I would have rather read a novel about Phil and Jonas than about Anne and Gilbert, personally. But, then, I'm also a chronic supporting-character person.

I am more interested in virtually any non-Fellowship character in LOTR than in the Fellowship ones. I liked Cordelia, Giles, and Anya best on Buffy. One of my favorite things about Madeleine L'Engle's books is the way her cast of supporting characters keep wandering in and out of multiple books. Virtually every Agatha Christie had more interesting supporting characters than the detective(s), but I think that was usually intentional. And I have to admit, I sort of wonder what became of Catherine Darcy and Charlotte Collins, but not enough to read godawful contemporary continuations of Pride and Prejudice.

[sovay]

Which L.M. Montgomery?

Dean Priest, from Emily of New Moon. See my rather lengthier than planned response to muchabstracted's comment.

One of my favorite things about Madeleine L'Engle's books is the way her cast of supporting characters keep wandering in and out of multiple books.

I am very fond of Canon Tallis.

but not enough to read godawful contemporary continuations of Pride and Prejudice.

This was the one that scared me . . .

scene stealers

[dethbird.livejournal.com]

EDWIN NEAL, the hitchiker from the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. For my money, his scene is the climax of that film. Everything either leads up to or tapers away from that plot point.

and Tars Tarkus, the Thark from the Martian novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Rick