When do you think is the right time for a character to leave a story and when do you think is the right time for a character to re-enter a story? The story can be a movie, a TV show, or a novel/comic series.
Characters' comings and goings
- Thread starter Joe Washington
- Start date
There are no hard and fast rules, but, in general, I tend to resist introducing a major new character in the last act . . . .
By the time you get to the end of a story, your characters and conflicts should be set up. It's a bit late in the day to start expecting your readers to care about some brand new character.
By the time you get to the end of a story, your characters and conflicts should be set up. It's a bit late in the day to start expecting your readers to care about some brand new character.
When I say a character, I mean a major character, someone who's been in the story from the beginning.
Checkmate
Commodore
Truman Capote's rant at the end of Murder By Death really drives that point home, I think.
But yeah, other than things like that, there is no real answer. Characters should come and go as they make sense and in a way that feels natural.
Okay, in general, if you have multiple main POV characters, you probably don't want to touch in on all of them fairly frequently. I tend to get itchy if I realize that I've abandoned a character for several chapters. "Ohmigod, we haven't seen Dmitri for five chapters now. I need to give him a scene!"
I don't agree with that. The show should feel like real life to a point and new people come into your life at all times, how do you know when your finale act is and who will play an important part or not? If a new character is needed for the story and doesn't feel out of place then new characters should come in at all times. However if new character is just there for the hell of it because the network feels there needs to be 5 main cast instead of 6 (or something else stupid) then no. We need to trust the writers.
The great thing about Farscape is characters come and go as the story fits, some die, some just leave the ship, it brings in something real that TNG never had. I actually wish Picard left the show, stayed a Borg, would have brought in some change to a Star Trek show.
Farscape at the end of the show had about 5 main characters left from the pilot, but two were puppets, but there was still other main characters introduced along the way. To you the other 4-5 characters aren't main characters even if they are in most of the episodes sense they joined the show?
Checkmate
Commodore
First of all, he said he "resisted" doing it, not "there is never ever an occasion where it's acceptable."
Second, there's a big difference between adding characters naturally to the story (especially a serialized one like Farscape, doubly so when it wasn't intended to be the "final act"), and introducing a character out of nowhere simply because you wrote yourself into a corner and needed to do it to get out of it. You know, like in way too many murder mysteries.
If the character has a good arc, I don't think it should matter. To me a good arc is something natural, where the character has a clear beginning, middle, and ending.
In American television this is very difficult as a character's popularity, the actor's contracts, etc. seem to prolong a character's stay on a show, while, conversely, a decision to pursue other acting jobs often takes a character off a show long before their character had a chance to have a good arc.
The problem I've been having is that the longer a show goes on, the more I start to dislike a character. It started with Ross on Friends, who was the character I wanted to follow the most at the beginning because of his unrequited love for Rachel. The whole, "We were on a break" thing ruined my interest in the character, and by the end he was my least favorite character on the show (even behind Phoebe's brother, who was pretty damn annoying). While my feelings at the end were not as strong towards J.D. on Scrubs, I went from, again, rooting for him, to really disliking him at the end of season 3. As the series went on, I began to root for him again, but I never liked him as much. By the time he was wrapping up his appearances in the last season (after an admitted high point before shifting the focus to a teaching hospital), I was eager for his appearances to be over, in order to shine the light on the more likable character, Cox, Turk, and the new interns among them.
In American television this is very difficult as a character's popularity, the actor's contracts, etc. seem to prolong a character's stay on a show, while, conversely, a decision to pursue other acting jobs often takes a character off a show long before their character had a chance to have a good arc.
The problem I've been having is that the longer a show goes on, the more I start to dislike a character. It started with Ross on Friends, who was the character I wanted to follow the most at the beginning because of his unrequited love for Rachel. The whole, "We were on a break" thing ruined my interest in the character, and by the end he was my least favorite character on the show (even behind Phoebe's brother, who was pretty damn annoying). While my feelings at the end were not as strong towards J.D. on Scrubs, I went from, again, rooting for him, to really disliking him at the end of season 3. As the series went on, I began to root for him again, but I never liked him as much. By the time he was wrapping up his appearances in the last season (after an admitted high point before shifting the focus to a teaching hospital), I was eager for his appearances to be over, in order to shine the light on the more likable character, Cox, Turk, and the new interns among them.
I wasn't thinking about a continuing tv series. I was thinking about a novel. If a book is 350 pages long, you probably don't want to introduce a new major new character 20 pages before the ending.
And, you'll notice, I threw in all sorts of qualifiers like "tends" and "probably" and "in general."
The notable exception would be stories like THE WIZARD OF OZ or THE THIRD MAN, where, even though the Wizard or Harry Lime don't actually appear until late in the story, people have been talking about them and trying to find them the entire story.
I'll use his/her quote...
If the new character is well written, has a point, and some depth I don't think it should matter.
When it fits the story?...
Conventional story telling works well enough, but more and more I like the jarring and unexpected entries and exits.
Buffy getting a sister at the end of season four was one of the greatest "WHAT THE!?" moments in TV.
On the flip side Derek Reese getting killed like a common extra in TSCC was a great way to reestablish the badass-ness of the terminators and really up the stakes making you feel like anyone was vulnerable.
Both examples work so well for me because there was no build up, both were totally unexpected and much much more dramatically powerful because of it.
Buffy getting a sister at the end of season four was one of the greatest "WHAT THE!?" moments in TV.
On the flip side Derek Reese getting killed like a common extra in TSCC was a great way to reestablish the badass-ness of the terminators and really up the stakes making you feel like anyone was vulnerable.
Both examples work so well for me because there was no build up, both were totally unexpected and much much more dramatically powerful because of it.
