And the Oscar for BEST supporting character goes to ….

You know how, sometimes, you read a book, or you see a TV show, or God forbid, a movie, and then there’s this perfect hero, this brilliant heroine, and they’re good, and kind and strong and you’re meant to like them, and you do like them, yet, for some bizarre reason that you can’t seem to understand, one of the minor characters comes out of NOWHERE, and bam, you’re in love. The hero and heroine are forgotten. 

Happens to the best of us.

Sometimes I think it must be on purpose. Writers create these wonderful secondary characters, so they must realize what they’re doing, right? Most often, though, I think it’s a matter of chance. You create a secondary character, and though you usually create him for a reason, he has no real arc. He just exists to create a response in your hero/heroine. But, of course, that only works for a while. Once you create him, he’s a character, on his own right. He develops feelings. Likes. Dislikes. He might even fall in love.

You didn’t ask for any of it. You didn’t plan for it. You don’t even want it. But there it is: a secondary character that refuses to stay in the background. One that demands its own story. Even if you never get to tell it, not completely.

TV has a few notable mentions (and I promise I’ll go over them sometime), but books, oh, books. There are just so many examples of this in books that it seems like a crime to only choose a few. But, since I already took like half of the planned space for this post rambling, I’ll just pick out a Top 3 of secondary characters in recent literature. The rest …well, there are always other posts.

1. Sirius Black, Harry Potter Series. The Harry Potter series has SO many secondary characters that deserve a mention, but I’ll stick with Sirius, if only because there’s so much going on behind the scenes with him. So much we STILL don’t know. So much scope for imagination. And, because, at times, you truly want him to come out of the shadows. The books are not about him, but you care, you truly care.
2. Haymitch Abernathy, The Hunger Games. He’s drunk. He’s sullen. He’s angry. He’s misunderstood. He acts like he doesn’t care, but, deep down, he cares too much. He’s just the type of secondary character you can’t help but love. And, if he has a tendency to say out loud exactly what you’re thinking while you read, well, that’s just a bonus.
3. Brienne of Tarth, Game of Thrones. She’s so seriously badass it’s hard to even describe it. If I’m reborn in a medieval time one day, I want to be like Brienne. It doesn’t matter that she’s big, and ugly. Brienne is, simply put, a woman who will not submit to stereotypes. A woman who will live her life in her own terms. And, isn’t that what we all want?

Jaime Lannister, or how to love a bad guy.

Let me start by saying there are SPOILERS all over this post, because, frankly, you cannot really talk about Jaime Lannister’s transformation without spoiling the books a little bit. The series just hasn’t given us enough yet. It starts with the hand, yes, but it’s so much more than that. There’s just so much more to Jamie, stuff we only get to really see when we finally get a POV from him, from Book 3 onwards. Stuff that made him go from one of the most hated characters in the books to a definite fan favorite, as we wait for Book 6. So, bear with me as I try to explain why Jaime Lannister is the perfect example of redemption done right in literature. 

I have many issues with George R.R Martin, and I’m still convinced that we won’t get anything that resembles a happy ending at the end of this saga. He’s got, in my humble opinion, too many characters and a plot that’s so encompassing it’s hard to keep track of. But the guy also has his strengths, and, despite the fact that the “redemption” trope has been done to death, I think that the character of Jaime Lannister is one of them.

He’s nothing but a token bad guy when we first meet him. His family, after all, comprises many of the stories “bad guys.” Tyrion has, at least, the advantage of being amusing. Jaime is just there. He’s not as smart as his father, not as manipulative as his sister, and not nearly as entertaining as his brother. He’s just another bad guy.

Well, at least until Bran catches him with Cersei. 

He becomes more than a token bad guy then, more than the Kingslayer, more than the guy sleeping with his sister, more than the ever-confident knight with the snide remarks. He dispenses with the theory that this book will be just another fantasy novel, and he becomes someone you hate.

Which is why Jaime Lannister ends up being such a surprise. 

It starts out slowly. In every interaction with Brienne. In his obvious respect for her. In the way that he lies to make sure she is not harmed. Later, after his hand is lost, it gets harder to conjure up the hate. A part of you wants him to just die, but Brienne doesn’t want that, and you end up agreeing with her. You root for him. You want him to get to King’s Landing, help free Sansa. He’s still not a hero, but he’s not at the top of your villains list, not anymore.

And then, he jumps into a bear-pit. And you can’t help but look at him the same way Brienne is looking at him. With wonder. With a twinge of affection. Because this man, who you’ve been hating for so long, has turned out to be nothing like what you thought he was. He’s turned out to be much more honorable.

And, yes, he’s still got issues. He still makes the wrong choices. But, in a way, that makes you like him more. Because now he realizes it. Now he wants to change. And, by the time Book 5 rolls around and Brienne is back, standing there, in front of him, you’re rooting for him. For the guy he’s become. The one who turned his back on Cersei. The one who tried, as best as he could, to keep his oaths.  

Some people see the relationship between Jaime and Brienne as a romantic one. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. In the end, what no one can deny is that, sometimes, the right person can change you. And, though, that, is a tried and true concept in fantasy, the way George R.R Martin gives us Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer and what he ends up becoming (and what he still has a chance to become), feels right. Feels new. It feels like, maybe, Jaime was right when he said: “There are no men like me. There’s only me.”

Who’s in charge: You or your characters?

This is one of those questions that seem almost absurd, because, of course, you are in charge. Your characters don’t really exist. They’re figments of your imagination, created for a specific purpose. They have not life of their own. You decide how they look, what they’re wearing, and even who they like. In the world of your own creation, you’re like God, and they, they get no say in what’s going to happen.

Except, anyone who’s ever tried to write anything, knows what I just said is …eh, well, not exactly right.

In fact, it’s mostly wrong.

Because you can plan your short story, you can plan your chapter, and then …well, then the characters come to play. And, as absurd as it sounds to people who have never tried it, they sometimes have a mind of their own.

“They’re not real, so they can’t really have an opinion on things.” My sister tells me. I beg to differ. They are very much real. I might have created them, but they exist. They want things. They have opinions about how/where to get those things. More often than not, those opinions differ greatly from my own.

They might exist only in my head, but they can do plenty of damage there.

Of course, I understand that they don’t really exist. They’re part of my imagination, and every time I feel like deviating from the plan, every time it feels like they’re complaining about the direction I’m taking them in, every time it almost feels like they’re pushing for things to change, well, it’s really my subconscious doing that. Deep down, when they push and complain and refuse to just do as I told them, it’s probably because there is another way. A better way.

It’s all part of the mysterious and often mystifying process of writing.

My friend Carina always gets in trouble with her characters, and I keep telling her, you’re in charge. It’s your story. Except, of course, it’s not. It’s their story. (I admit it). But, within their story, you are God. So, you might not be in charge now (you might never be in charge), but, I think that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as long as you listen to your characters/subconscious, and keep on writing.

Because, even if they think they are in charge every now and then, they don’t exist without you. You are the reason their story is being told. So, yeah, even if your characters are so well crafted that they fancy themselves real people, just remember…they still need YOU.