When I write stories, I tend to flesh out certain type of persona for each appearing character, no matter how brief role they may have (I'm mainly referring to background and OC ponies here aka to ones who don't have canon personality). It's just my thing to do. However recently I received a review for one of my stories from the current mlpchan /fic/ Training Grounds, and one key plot fault the reviewer (who did most excellent job with it, especially when it came to my cursed phrasing issues. My respects to him.) pointed out was the fact one minor character was overshadowing the actual main character in the same scene, making her look far more important than she —as a minor character— actually is. When I look back at the said scene, I do see what the reviewer is saying, but when I thought about it... I don't see his fear; he does add that making a minor character memorable is important, and that was my intent in first place. Even if the said character will only have one appearance. For now, though, I will be thinking about whenever nulling her down or not.

But I think it would make a good topic subject; can a minor character indeed have too much personality? I'd like to hear what do you think.

Don't bother giving them detail if they aren't important to the story–only build upon their personality if they will be appearing more than once.

There is no such thing like "too much personality". In theory, the main hero of the Gaunt's Ghost novel series is Ibram Gaunt, but I think that in the end, the fans of Tanith First and Only will remember Mayor Rawne, Colonel Corbec or "Try Again" Bragg.

781897
There are only two instance where too much personality applies. The first is where the background character's presence overrides that of the main characters and/or setting too often. Being a scene stealer can be great at times, but if it takes over the story, you have a problem.

The second is if the character's personality clashes with the tone of the scene they are in. If pinkie is in an Amnesia: The Dark Descent setting and still keeps her upbeat, cheerful personality, it clashes with the horrific mood the setting is trying to induce.

781897 Only if you never intend on using them for any major part in the story. Otherwise, i see no problem with it since it always leaves a writer something to fall back on when he/she has run out of ideas or has hit a snag with their story.

Yes they can, one thing about the main character(s) of a story is that they are always the main focus of the story and therefore their character's personalty is always changing or growing based on the progression of plot. If like lets say Background character C decided to help your main character for a little while then it's okay to give them a little background and personalty but if you give them too much then they start to become either a secondary main character or as pointed out by your reviewer overshadowing your main character. The main character should ALWAYS be the focus of your story unless it's for plot development reasons. Though there are many exceptions to this rule.

I tend to have my side characters be like cameos, distinctive characters which the protagonists can interact with when some of them are doing something else, or when some world-building, or characterization without over-encumbering the plot is needed.

That way, for the reader, when they see a character return they're like, "Hey! It's that guy! I wonder what he's gonna do this time, how's the protagonist going to react to him?"

For example, one of my fictions needed a character with a thorough knowledge of how potions work, because potions play an important part in the story. However, the character themselves is not out and about adventuring, so they're a side character to these things, but I had a scene in which they're with a number of other side characters in which potions need to be explained.

I gave that character a "personality" in that I consistently portrayed them as matronly, and the quirk of using "Perfectly" in speech with regular frequency. They're also the character that is in attendance when the protagonist first wakes up after an attack. So I do recurring side characters that can fill in temporary niches to explain something or trigger something, but it is not enough for them to be present in the story at all times.

I don't think having well-developed side/background characters is a major problem.

Myself, I give all of my characters full personalities/histories (except nameless fillers and cannon fodder; they're all stereotypes). Whether they get a large amount of story time is entirely up to their actions, but the personality is still there. What I end up with is a very well realized world where everyone feels authentic.

I would recommend this:
- If you give a character a name, give them a life as well. They'll probably need it.
- If you don't give them a name, and they won't be getting a name (or even a nickname), then extra depth will likely be distracting and unnecessary.

My opinion: Yes, but with qualification. If your background ponies are starting to crowd out the stars, it is possible you have not focused enough on the star. I'm guilty of this, starting with a guard (Pumpernickel in "To Sleep") who got his tail stuck in Princess Luna's door and who turned into my POV plot-foil. (because having a main character talk to herself when you're trying to convince the reader she is not insane, was too hard)

781897

It's all a matter of how you want the story to progress. If you spend too long filling in the personality of a character who the protagonist is only going to interact with for 30 seconds, you're jamming filler into a story which you could otherwise be spending to develop the plot or get to something exciting.

Explaining a personality isn't bad. Describing them as if they will become the main character, or one of the main characters, and then never be used as such is an issue, as you're leading your reader to believe that that character will show up later in the story.

Then, when you never follow through with it, they're left with a lot of questions. One of the most prevalent is "Why did the writer not use that flower shop mare a while back? She's so much better than the protagonist."

That's another problem: you have the chance of actually outdoing your bloody protagonist with a character who is just more fun to read about. It makes the protagonist look worse by comparison. Now that's pretty embarrassing!

As short as possible, think of it like a pyramid mate,

The top of the pyramid is the pony/character(s) that are the main ponies/characters of the story, which requires the most detail if they are OC, which you said. But, you must not forget there might be surprise enterenaces through the story, depends on what you write. Just plan the story whole, then put your characters to their positions, top, middle, or low?

Hope helped.

I am crazy.

The answer is quite simple:
No, a minor character can NEVER have too much personality. Whatever character you create, he is your brainchild, which makes you his brainfather. As a parent, you should definitely not become estranged by knowing less about them than the reader.
However (don't you just love these howevers), a writer can show too much of a character's personality. While major characters are the focus of the story, which means they can almost do whatever they want, minor characters only serve the plot. If any of their actions doesn't add anything to the story (be it driving the plot, invoking a reaction from a main character, etc.) it becomes distracting and should be cut. It's not that hard to test, as all one has to do is see what the story looks like without that character's action.
Or, in other words, to misquote Shakespear: "Brevity good!"

It really depends on the context, some stories actually benefit from the protagonist being overshadowed, and in the stated case in question; I gotta say that it should qualify as is.

It depends on wether you plan on making use of the personality you give to the background character. If you aren't going to have them play a part in the story then you could overdevelop them and have them overshadow the main character.

Ask yourself if the character is going to play a big part in the story and if not then you have to decide how much of that character's personality to reveal.

The choices are yours and yours alone.

781897
Ohhh, an easy one!

Can they have too much personality? Usually not.
The only risk there is making a character so interesting that people will want to see more of them, which might never be provided. Which is lame.

Can they be given too much focus/time? Yes. Absolutely yes.
If you spend paragraph after paragraph detailing their life, appearance, backstory, character traits, oddities, etcetera, and then never show them again, or have them play any real role in a story? Yeah, you've just wasted everyone's time, and built up expectation with no payoff.

Uhh, isn't this interesting? Looks like we're getting different camps on the subject. So let's go take a look on both sides of the spectrum (and do note that everything I'm saying are all my opinions.)

781901
I both agree and disagree; yes, I agree that no one should bother focusing his/her attention on building up a perfect character with perfections and flaws if the said character will appear only once in span of the story. For example, when I made this said character, my main focus was on how she would socially act around other beings, did her dialogue and actions based on it and... pretty much left it there. But having litle detail on them, even if it is very subtle thing like using certain verbs and adjectives with their interactions with others, cannot be that harmful if you ask me.

781902
I honestly haven't read any of that Gaunt's Ghost series... but after quickly checking what it is, I think I'd enjoy reading it —not the biggest W40k fan but I like the universe and world building revolved around it.

781909
Yes and I think that 'scene stealer' is just what happened in my case, henceforth why I think this issue was raised in first place. On that second matter... I honestly haven't had any issues like that ever; but when you came to say Pinkie Pie and Amnesia type of setting, it would actually be interesting to see a story where she would have that upbeat nature for some time and once the shit begins, her sanity and therefore personality would transform to something else. But if she'd still be happy when having been hit multiple times and being to near-death situations, there indeed is a clear problem.

781939
You and I are about to same wavelength on this issue. Not perfectly but close enough.... I think

781946
That would actually make a good idea for someone-shot farce comedy; have the actual main character —say, Pinkie Pie— be constantly overshadowed by some random figures popping out of nowhere and purposefully making the reader feel confused on just what the hell is going on.

781965
Solving plot element problems are indeed one of good things side characters can do, and the way you say you did the said cameo is very much how I do mine.

781995
Like I said to 781901 I personally don't go to the lengths of creating full backgrounds for characters but I do make plans on how they will talk, act and feel when put to different situations. It really just falls down on what type of writer you are and what kind the story in question is. Mine is [Adventure] and [Comedy], therefore I want to elaborate silly perks in characters and use them to enchant minor humour in story elements.

782053
In the case of this story, I never explained the character's personality like that; it just doesn't fit my style to start outright telling how this and this character feel over this and this issue, let alone filling in their everyday feelings and emotions. I like to keep these secret and let the reader explore throughout the story's development (or at least this is my current attitude. Who knows what it might be in future).

The overshadowing was just my issue with this scene and it is something I need to fix.

782110
Eh, you haven't obviously met The Psychopath before. He is our local madman

782221
So great, I'm then a single father of... about 4-6 kids. Guess I need to contact social security tomorrow.

782330
Context defines everything when it comes to stories. It's around second or third of the Ten Commandments of Writing, right after sensible plot and proper grammar.

782443
Once again this is opinion based, and mine falls in your category.

And done... please excuse any grammar mistakes or silly phrasing, as it is around half two in the morning here I'll be calling in for today. Thanks for sharing your opinions, though, and hopefully we can discuss again on something else.

783191 Great minds think alike