Basics: unexpected characterizations

[Randall_Oelerich]

I was making notes to myself yesterday, going back to some basics about storytelling. A realization hit me that one way to come up with an interesting protagonist is to think of an unexpected characterization for him/her. The opposite of what one sees in real life (which is boring quite often). I thought about this, and realized many good movies do this (of course many do not-- like all the action martial arts and action hero movies i watched growing up LOL). Helps me understand how character can really help develop plot, how they are both intertwined, along of course with the story world and theme.

Here are a few examples, and it would be great if some others here could add to this list: female welder wants to get into ballet school (Flashdance); effeminate (or at least highly laid back) pirate (Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean); little girl solves a mystery (Kitt Kittridge, Nancy Drew); a boy-hero saves civilization (Lord of the Rings, Star Wars); kids as spies (Spy Kids); idiot bafoon who solves crime (Pink Panther); older woman who solves crimes (Murder She Wrote TV show);

 

[Nektonic]

Obsessive-compulsive man that makes a great detective due to his attention to detail -- Monk

Skinny woman with a big gun and an iron will defeats insectile alien monsters -- Ripley [Alien films]

Average-looking cop takes out a dozen terrorists all by himself (at the time this was very different) -- Die Hard

Guitar playing wanderer gets into big mix-up and becomes an action hero -- El Mariachi

Crooked cop instead of clean cut one -- The Shield [TV series]

Astronaut out of his element who sometimes looks like a big dufus next to his tough female costar -- John Crichton/Aeryn Sun from FARSCAPE [TV series]

Man who ages backwards -- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (this is also the premise of the film, but still a unique character)

Zen-like, coffee and pie-loving FBI agent Dale Cooper -- Twin Peaks [TV series]

Prom queen cheerleader with a darkside -- Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks

High-ranking Nazi's that are the good guys instead of the villains -- Valkyrie

Hard drinking, cigar smoking, rebellious fighter pilot that just happens to be a chick -- Starbuck from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica [TV series]

I can't think of anymore off the top of my head, but these seem like some good ones to me.

 

[Randall_Oelerich]

Great examples Nektonic. And your astronaut example triggered my memory of a funny old movie-- The Reluctant Astronaut (Don Knotts plays a skinny neurotic operator of a kids toy spaceship and ends up being trained as real astronaut; the last person we expect to be going to outer space).

It just strikes me a good basic technique for forming ideas for protagonists and stories, and how character creation can be so vital for crafting a good story. I mean, who wants to see some knights go fight a dragon in a cave? Okay it might be good, but now what if those knights fight a blood thirsty monster in a cave but the monster ends up being a bunny rabbit, LOL (Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail). Or what is astronauts need to save the world from an asteroid, but instead of astronauts we send up a bunch of unruly beer drinking oil rig workers (Armegeddon) -- plenty of material in such protagonists to craft some interesting scenes.