by Lucy E. Zahnle

Created on: May 24, 2010

Minor characters are the forgotten worker bees of any piece of fiction. They show the readers who the main characters are, reveal the thoughts and motives of those characters, and move the plot forward. They set the stage for the main characters to steal the show and receive little or no appreciation or recognition for their efforts.

Minor characters allow readers to “see” the primary players from the outside. Readers can judge the moral fiber and world outlook of the main characters through their interactions with the minor characters. For instance, if the primary treats the minor rudely or violently, the reader’s assessment is that the primary is a villain. If the minor character defers to the main character, bowing or addressing the primary with a title, the reader can assign class and wealth standings to the main character.

Descriptive passages that describe main and minor characters can also provide clues to readers about the status and lifestyle of main characters, especially if the author is writing about a world with which the reader is unfamiliar. Comparisons of dress, comportment, living arrangements, and even speech between major and minor characters can show the readers where a main character stands in relation to the world in which he or she lives.

Dialogue between minor and major characters can reveal back-story and clarify major plot points for readers, especially in the opening pages of a story. Since writers want to begin their stories at an exciting point instead of taking one or two chapters of exposition to create the exciting situation, dialogue between major and minor characters can outline the main character’s perilous, humorous, or curious predicament in a few sentences instead of a few chapters. Often, a quick, revealing dialogue between major and minor characters is much more interesting than long pages of exposition.

Minor characters also allow an author to develop a main character’s personality. Dialogue lets the main characters bounce ideas of their trusted minor character confidants, display their innermost feelings to the minors, or provide explanations for their actions that they would not be able to reveal to anyone else. Minor characters, in effect, act as sounding boards for major characters so that writers can show readers what the main characters are thinking without constantly saying “He thought that…” or “He reflected that…”

Minor characters can also be

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