Assuming we have our theme and story all rounded out, and working on the basis that our characters are simply vehicles used to communicate our overall message via their actions, a lot of our work on the protagonist is already done for us. We are aware of their key flaw, and we understand how their ultimate ending influences the direction of their character arc. We either prove our point through them winning or losing, or via them themselves realising or missing the lesson being taught.
Our antagonist also serves as a key means to emphasize the theme through contrast with the protagonist. They have a belief system that is entirely opposed, one that they themselves justify. They are further life-affirming to the audience because they represent the incorrect view and often the consequences of that incorrect view. Great antagonists tend to be how we’d behave without any moral compass, and thus we revel a little in watching them operate without any guilt.
Supportive characters also serve a similar purpose, often presenting a different perspective on how the world works and advancing the plot. However, there is a great way to make supporting characters more entertaining. In the Dungeons and Dragons world, they call it alignment, and it looks like this;
The Wikipedia article I linked to explains more, but basically, each type of character brings a different dynamic to any interaction they have. What I like to do is try to ensure that my supporting characters are placed in different categories, thereby creating a more multidimensional character makeup and, hopefully, making things more entertaining.
And Isn’t It Ironic… Don’t You Think?
When it comes to developing characters, I think we can overdevelop them in areas that don’t really matter much in creating a better story. Knowing their birthday, religious belief, sexual orientation, and favourite band doesn’t necessarily make them any more entertaining or believable unless those factors are highly relevant to their actions, and in turn those actions drive the story where we need it to go. In my opinion, the best factor to introduce to any character is some sense of irony; for instance, teachers who bully, therapists who are neurotic, servants who manipulate, and so on.
TURN & BURN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT WORK SHEET ******************************************** CHARACTER NAME: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALIGNMENT: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DESCRIPTION: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHY IS THIS CHARACTER ENTERTAINING? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- IRONY: