Writer's Workshop #14: The Challenge of the Influence Character · 12:14am Feb 26th, 2015
The Influence Character is the most important character you've never heard of.
Yeah, I'm talking about the Influence Character again. Sue me. This is such an incredibly important and obvious role that it's a wonder it's not talked about more. The Main Character is supposed to grow and change; how? The Influence Character. Stories feel human and real because of relationships; which relationship in particular? The one with the Influence Character. Stories are supposed to feel difficult and stressful; who brings the stress? The Influence Character. All of the greatest modern stories you've ever read center around the relationship between the Main Character and the Influence Character. Seriously. Pick any story you enjoy, and I bet I can find the Influence Character in it. Star Wars? Obi-Wan Kenobi. Toy Story? Buzz Lightyear. Romeo and Juliet? Juliet. Every good writer knows this so instinctively that these sorts of characters just show up without even thinking twice.
Okay, I've done enough melodrama. How do you actually create an Influence Character? Or, if you've already got your story pretty well planned out, how do you know which character should be the Influence Character? Pretty simple. There are three things that make an Influence Character what they are. First, they directly influence the Main Character (hence the name). Second, they are usually much like the Main Character, only through a mirror, darkly. Third, the relationship between them and the Main Character is usually more important than the other ones. Here's an obvious example: “Boast Busters.” Who's our Influence Character? The one who forces Twilight to show off her talents. The one who is magically talented like Twilight, but who is showy and vain where Twilight is modest and humble. The one whom Twilight despises, yet who she ultimately changes to resemble. Yes, Trixie is the Influence Character. You can also see from the way the story is structured that Trixie is absolutely necessary to the story, both the overall one and Twilight's personal arc. Now that we can identify Influence Characters, let's look at each of those points I gave one-by-one and understand how to make an Influence Character really pop.
So first, the Influence Character acts to challenge and affect how the Main Character thinks. Do you remember how, in one of my lessons, I described how the Main Character can either change how they act or hold strong to their beliefs? The Influence Character is the impetus for that change or resoluteness. Again, this is basically the entire point of your story in the first place. The story began with the inequity throwing your Main Character off. They're trying to solve it the way they always did, but there's a good possibility that won't work. The Influence Character represents that possibility. They obstruct the Main Character and say, "Your way isn't going to work. You need to try my way instead!" If you've seen Big Hero 6, think about Baymax. (Or if you haven't seen the movie, the big white blob thing.) Hiro is depressed and directionless; Baymax's only goal in life is to help Hiro overcome that. As we see in the movie, Hiro can't defeat the man in the kabuki mask so long as he holds onto his grief and rage. Baymax helps Hiro by challenging Hiro's drive to hate himself and refuse to get better. Or if you want an example of a character holding strong, look at "Wonderbolt Academy." Rainbow's entire raison d'être is loyalty. She believes firmly in standing by your friends in order to succeed. But Lightning Dust challenges all of that. Her very existence says, "You can't get ahead in life by worrying about others. You have to care only about yourself if you want to be the best." The whole story is about Rainbow Dash's struggle to balance this notion with her loyalty. In the end, however, Rainbow Dash doesn't change. She decides to give up her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt if being a Wonderbolt means being like Lightning Dust. (Luckily, it's not. Lightning Dust had us all fooled.)
Another thing that makes Influence Characters so effective is that they're so much like the Main Character. Lightning Dust is a great example of this: she speaks, acts, even looks like Rainbow Dash! That one detail, the fact that Lightning Dust is self-seeking where Rainbow Dash is loyal, is the key difference between the two. I've heard people say that Lightning Dust acts a lot like Season 1 Rainbow Dash, and that's true, but what Lightning Dust really represents is what Rainbow Dash could be. If Rainbow Dash weren't loyal, she'd be Lightning Dust. Think of any of your other favorite movies. Star Wars, let's say. Look at how similar Obi-Wan and Luke are. Both are Force-sensitive; both have direct ties to Anakin Skywalker; both live on Tatooine. But the difference between the two is that Obi-Wan has a deep, abiding trust in the Force, whereas Luke doesn't. All Luke cares about is the fact that he's a nobody trapped on a desert wasteland doing menial labor he hates. This bitterness blinds him to the fact that the Force guides everyone to their proper place. If he would just trust the Force like Obi-Wan does, he would be content like Obi-Wan is. He would, in essence, be Obi-Wan. And lo and behold, that's exactly what happens. By trusting in the Force at that pivotal moment, Luke destroys the Death Star and comes into his own as a Jedi. Or for a pony example, look at "Pinkie Apple Pie." Our Main Character is Applejack, who's so insistent on trying to make the trip look good for Pinkie that she ends up getting on her family's nerves. Pinkie, on the other hand, is content to appreciate every moment, never worrying about whether things are going well or not. They're both focused on enjoying the family road trip, but Applejack's micromanaging prevents her from going with the (river)flow like Pinkie. If Applejack could just let go, she'd be Pinkie, and the story would be a success. The relationship between the Main Character and the Influence Character is so important precisely because it all happens inside the characters' brains. We see it in actions and decisions and thoughts, but it's not an objective existing thing like the overall storyline.
The last thing might be the most important of all. Stories are as much about relationships as about the events or the characters themselves. Look at all of my examples. Is Big Hero 6 the story about defeating a villain in a mask, or is it the story of the relationship between Hiro and Baymax? Is Star Wars a story about strengthening the Rebellion, or is it about the personal bond between Luke and Obi-Wan? Is "Wonderbolt Academy" about becoming a Wonderbolt or about the uneasy friendship of Rainbow and Lightning; is "Pinkie Apple Pie" about going on a road trip or about Applejack's delicately balanced relationship with Pinkie? Silly questions, right? All of those stories are about both of those things simultaneously. Stories, as I've mentioned before, are both solidly objective and deeply subjective. A good writer brings both of them to the table. Why do you think romances are one of the most popular genres around? Because they give us a personal relationship to invest ourselves into. It doesn't have to be a positive relationship; "Boast Busters" is testament to that. It does, however, have to be personal. Twilight is challenged to her very core by Trixie's self-identity. So long as Trixie is an obnoxious show-off, Twilight can never be comfortable being proud of her own magical talents. We see that in so many different ways: the way Twilight carries herself in the crowd, the way she talks to Spike at home, and the way she ultimately defeats the Ursa Minor. And all of those have one thing in common: Twilight comparing herself to Trixie. Twilight is totally out of whack until she can come to grips with the competing ideas in her mind, until she chooses the humility she believes in or Trixie's showing off.
So how can we actually apply this to writing? First, you need to know your intent. What are you trying to do with this story? What is your Main Character's central drive? Do you want that to change, or do you want them to hold steadfast to it? Once you know that, you need a character who will go against everything your Main Character stands for. Note that this isn't the bad guy, but someone who represents something so fundamentally different to what the Main Character believes that it creates a crisis of faith. Once you've done that, throw them together and describe the fireworks. If your Main Character relies on keeping control to solve their problems, give them an Influence Character that shuns control and refuses to be pinned down. How does that make your Main Character feel? How are they gonna play off each other? Anger? Sadness? Awe? Disdain? That's what will make your story feel right.
Just a quick little note. You may have heard the term "foil" before. The Influence Character... isn't that. A foil is a character that demonstrates qualities that help the Main Character shine. The Influence Character challenges the Main Character, making their qualities seem ineffective or insufficient. So in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet is Romeo's Influence Character, and Mercutio is his foil. Or in Hamlet, Horatio is Hamlet's foil, and his father's Ghost is the Influence Character. Both characters are great, sure, but the Influence Character is critical. You need someone to twist the knife and make the Main Character doubt themselves. The foil is sort of the exact opposite of that. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not as important.
Interesting... I now have a better idea of what you meant by the influence character and have given me a whole bunch of ideas to boot. Question, though. In order for influence characters to work best, do they have to share similarities with the main character or do they have to be completely different?
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Have you ever seen a show where one character said, "We're not so different, you and I," and the other replied, "No, we're nothing alike!" That's sort of the idea behind the Influence Character. They should challenge each other precisely because they are so similar and yet different in critical ways. So should they feel similar or different? That depends on your character's point of view. Do they see the similarities, or do they only see the differences? The example that immediately comes to mind for me is "Sonic Rainboom." How are Rainbow Dash and Rarity alike? They're both very self-conscious, they both can fly, they're both entered in the Best Young Flier's competition. But how are they different? Rarity doesn't struggle with her confidence, but Rainbow Dash does. Thus, only one of two things can happen: either Rarity will successfully drive Rainbow Dash out of the contest, or Rainbow Dash will hold strong to her inner courage and complete the Sonic Rainboom like she's been practicing.
It's this contrast between similarity and difference which makes the Influence Character influential. If Rarity never got her wings, if she never stole the show with her confidence, if she never entered the Best Young Flier's competition, she would not be sufficiently similar to Rainbow Dash to challenge her. But if Rarity weren't confident, or if Rainbow Dash were confident, then there wouldn't be any contrast, and there'd be no story. True, they don't always have to be that similar. For example, the only thing Pinkie and Cranky share in "A Friend in Deed" is that they're both in Ponyville. But that's really all they need, because Pinkie, by nature, is friends with everyone in Ponyville. So long as Cranky is in Ponyville but friendship-averse, he is challenging Pinkie's ability to make friends with him. In the end, it always comes down to what the purpose of your story is. What is your character's underlying trouble? What puts them and their Influence Character together? How does your Influence Character force your character to consider a new way to solve their trouble? That'll get you pretty close.